copl 2012
DESCRIPTION
Presentation: Challenge Advanced Readers in the Elementary Classroom, Celebration of Professional Learning, City Schools of Decatur, GA on January 3, 2012TRANSCRIPT
Challenging Advanced Readers in
the Elementary Classroom
Alison Eber4th Grade Teacher at F.AVE
Where to find this info
Website (includes presentation):
https://sites.google.com/site/advancedelementaryreaders
/
OR
http://goo.gl/wvLh0
Email me: [email protected]
Background
Photo by brungrrl on flickr, cc license
Characteristics
TASK: What are some characteristics you’ve observed of the advanced readers in your classrooms?
Go to http://goo.gl/QG5Hk and share your ideas in the document.
Advanced Readers
Reading at least 2 years above grade level expectations
More stamina
Pick up strategies quickly
Seem to have a deep repertoire of strategies
May or may not be classified as gifted
What’s Happening
The Impact
Underachievement
Decreased motivation
Disengagement
Problems later in school
SAVANT
Strategic
Authentic
Varied
Age Appropriate
Networked
Time Sensitive
Strategic
Strategies of ALL Good
Readers
Poster available at http://www.fortheloveofteaching.net
MetacognitiveSkills
Students need to understand the
strategies they’re using to know how and when
to apply them.
Metacognitive
Reading
Resources
Available at website for download
Vocabulary & Word Play
Analogies and metaphors
Connotation vs. denotation
Word etymologies
Word ladders
Other word games
Word Games
Discovery Education Brain Boosters
http://goo.gl/mHjKZ
Take a few minutes to explore and see if you can find any boosters that might be interesting to your students.
Critical Reading
Higher level thinking questions
Different perspectives and alternative interpretations
Themes, hidden meanings, and author bias
Worth, utility, and credibility of texts
Justify divergent thinking
Creative Reading
Go beyond the text to fill a gap of missing information or background knowledge
Understand author’s choices
Additional chapters, scripted adaptations, interpretive poems, or other derivative works
For Fiction
Write an alternate ending
Retell the story from another character’s perspective
Change the setting and explore how that impacts the story
Adapt the story into a screenplay or alternate format (Script Frenzy)
Fan Fiction
Derivative works based on TV shows, movies, books, cartoons, comics, games, etc.
Complex study of characters and writing style – mimic the original author
Canon, alternate universe, and crossover
See www.fanfiction.net for samples (likely blocked at school)
Weeding through it
For Nonfiction
Inject or remove bias from an informational text
Change the text structure and organize differently
Create additional diagrams, illustrations, or figures that could be helpful to readers of the text
AuthenticCombining Purpose and Text
Examples
Inquiry projects
Book reviews
Song lyrics
Letters to the editor
Blogging
Varied
Reading Preferences
Informational texts
Fantasy
Historical fiction
Dark or controversial topics
Larger inter-textual networks
Stuck on a genre?
Evaluate writing quality
Aesthetic values
Informational texts
Word choice, organization, outside research, bias, graphic materials, and authority
Narrative texts
Realism, character development, pacing, dialogue, and use of setting
Push toward breadth
Reading logs
Collateral reading
Genre-specific skills
Develop expectations for texts
Age Appropriate
Other tips
Fiction at age level; nonfiction at reading level
Turn to the classics – eBooks
How vs. What
Interesting language
Ambiguous ending
Character role models
NetworkedReading is social. Kids should connect.
Online social networksSpaces created for kids to connect over books.
Teach responsible online use.
Grouping
Between classrooms
Between grade levels
Mentoring
Idea Circles
Time Sensitive
Pacing
Curriculum Compacting
Digging into topics
Set clear expectations
Decide on timeline
Co-develop rubric with a goal in mind
Questions or Comments
Picture by Horia Varlan on flickr, cc license
Where to find this info
Website (includes presentation):
https://sites.google.com/site/advancedelementaryreaders
/
OR
http://goo.gl/wvLh0
Email me: [email protected]