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Defining High Quality Reading: Revisting Read Alouds With Some New Lenses

Defining High Quality Reading: Revisting Read Alouds With Some New Lenses. A Close look at the power of critical literacy and unanswerable questions to transform read alouds and Reading lives Bergenfield, NJ Schools 6 th , 7 th and 8 th grade teachers March 2011 Ginny Lockwood.

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Defining High Quality Reading: Revisting Read Alouds With Some New Lenses

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  1. Defining High Quality Reading: Revisting Read Alouds With Some New Lenses A Close look at the power of critical literacy and unanswerable questions to transform read alouds and Reading lives Bergenfield, NJ Schools 6th, 7th and 8th grade teachers March 2011 Ginny Lockwood www.GinnyLockwood.com

  2. Defining High Quality Reading Reading, when engaging and successful, calls us to action…emotional, intellectual and often social action! Reading, when engaging and successful, can and should change one’s view of the world and of how to live in more aware and involved ways within it. www.GinnyLockwood.com

  3. Framework for Reading Instruction www.GinnyLockwood.com

  4. Have you ever found yourself… • Using books to teach skills rather than using books to engage readers? • Asking higher level questions only to receive literal recall from books? • Faced with passive quiet listeners? • Trying to endlessly elicit responses that don’t come? • Prepared for and excited about a read aloud that did not quite live up to your hopes and expectations? • Generally frustrated that what you know is possible seems so unattainable? www.GinnyLockwood.com

  5. Various Purposes for Reading Aloud • Enjoying great books and loving reading • Learning about content • Giving children access to books they may not be able to read independently Today’s purpose: • Engaging with texts and classmates and the world in ways that make an impact and leave us pondering things that matter • “For me, this book really spoke to the issue of….” • “Having read this book, I am left thinking a lot about…” www.GinnyLockwood.com

  6. From Harold Bloom’s “How to Read and Why” We read deeply for varied reasons: • That we cannot know enough people profoundly enough • That we need to know ourselves better • That we require knowledge, not just of self and others, but of the way things are • That we search for a difficult pleasure www.GinnyLockwood.com

  7. During Interactive Read Alouds • We experience literature in ways that: • Engage readers emotionally • Engage readers intellectually • Engage readers authentically and purposefully • Invite readers to ponder, linger and reflect • Inspire readers to read better and in more powerful ways on their own www.GinnyLockwood.com

  8. Impact on Student Reading Quality www.GinnyLockwood.com

  9. Invisible If I stay very still And breathe very quietly, The magic happens: I disappear -and nobody sees me -and nobody hears me -and nobody even thinks about me And the teacher won’t call on me. It’s very safe being invisible I’m perfect! I can’t make mistakes -at least nobody sees them, so nobody laughs. From: My Name is Jorge on Both Sides of the River By Jane Medina www.GinnyLockwood.com

  10. Interactive Read Aloud: Choosing Texts Closely consider… • Genre • Author • Content • Context • Culture • Overall literary quality • Overall aesthetic quality “Conversation creates the conditions for us to rediscover the joy of thinking together.” -Margaret Wheatley; Author From, “Turning to One Another” www.GinnyLockwood.com

  11. Choosing Books for Read Aloud • What’s grabbing me about this book? Why did I add it to my stack? • What about this book might grab the hearts and minds of my kids? • What are some debates I can imagine engaging in when talking about this book with other readers? • What makes this a high quality piece of writing? www.GinnyLockwood.com

  12. The Duality ofPowerful Interactive Read Alouds Talk and Discourse Comprehension and Meaning Making • Modeling and engaging readers in the use of specific types of talk structures • Modeling and engaging readers in increasingly complex and higher levels of conversation • Actively engaging readers in the “busyness” of reading well • Implicitly engaging readers in employing comprehension strategies while making meaning of text www.GinnyLockwood.com

  13. Something to Think About… “By changing the way we talk, we change the way we think, not just as individuals, but all together. -William Isaacs Author of, “Dialogue: The Art of Thinking Together” www.GinnyLockwood.com

  14. The Interplay of Meaning Making • Literal ~ Holding onto the gist of the story • Inferential ~ Making sense of and thinking more about the story, especially what’s not on the page • Unanswerable ~ Pondering something bigger launched by the story www.GinnyLockwood.com

  15. “I think that when we teach, we need to remember that human beings want to work with heart and soul on endeavors that matter.” -Lucy Calkins Something to Think About… www.GinnyLockwood.com

  16. Concepts for Critical Reading/ThinkingFrom, “For a Better World” 2001; Bomer and Bomer; Pages 28 – 37 • Groups • Power • Taking Things for Granted (Naturalization) • Fairness/Justice • Voice/Silence • Multiple Perspectives (Different Sides of Stories) • Representation (Showing What People Are Like) • Gender • Race • Class • Money • Labor • Language • Intimate Relationships and Families • Relationships to Nature • Violence and Peace • Acting Alone or Together (Individualism/Collectivism) www.GinnyLockwood.com

  17. Eyeing the Possibilities When planning for talk around critical literacy lenses and the unanswerable think about: • Character decisions, or unusual behavior • New information is given about a character • Strong emotions • Heightened interactions (conflict, big news, etc.) • Evidence of problem or resolution • Surprise • Anticipation • Themes/Lenses • Perspectives www.GinnyLockwood.com

  18. Angling Questions: Inside the Story • What are you thinking? • Why did the character do that? • What does it tell you that she acted that way? • Should he have done that? Why? Why not? • What should happen because of that? • What does the character want? • How will he try to get it? • What do we think the character needs? Does she think she needs it? • Is there a problem? What are characters doing to make it better? Worse? • Is the character changing? How? How can we tell? www.GinnyLockwood.com

  19. Angling Questions: Beyond the Story • What are you thinking? • What is going on here? • What is really going on here? • Is this fair, right, wise? • Are characters doing their best? • Does this match what you know about the world? • Is this how things work in your experience? • Is there another way to look at this? • What would you say to the characters if you could? • What do you think they’d say to us if they could? • Do you think the author wants us to know, believe, or change something? What? How do you know? www.GinnyLockwood.com

  20. Give Them a Little Substance • Move beyond the obvious • Imagine possible interpretations • Plan through lenses for critical thinking and analysis • Embrace the unanswerable • Consider the symbiotic relationship between content and conversation www.GinnyLockwood.com

  21. Interactive Read Aloud: Try it! • Read, “Mr. Entwhistle” first as a reader, not a teacher of readers • Reread the text through a teacher’s lens • Where might you model your own thinking? • Where might you ask literal/inferential questions? • Where/When might you ask an unanswerable question? Why? • Are there particular lenses for critical analysis through which you might question/analyze the text? www.GinnyLockwood.com

  22. Initial Introduction of “Tier Two” Words* • Define the word in simple terms as it is encountered in a text • Discuss the word in the context of a shared experience • Discuss the word in the context of individual students’ experiences  • Ongoing use in and out of school *Bringing Words to Life; Robust Vocabulary Instruction; Beck, McKeown and Kucan; 2002 Vocabulary Development A more varied and extensive vocabulary makes a direct impact on comprehension of texts and the ability to discuss them with others. www.GinnyLockwood.com

  23. Planning for Interactive Read Alouds: Try it! Mama by Jacqueline Woodson Across the Alley by Richard Michelson www.GinnyLockwood.com

  24. Reflecting and Moving Forward • How might you choose texts for Read Alouds slightly differently? • How might your planning/preparation process change? • How might you judge the success of Read Alouds? • What will give you the satisfying sense that the work is impacting students’ independent reading? www.GinnyLockwood.com

  25. A Few “Take Away” Thoughts • Substitute, “Should…” for “Will…” • Plan for the unanswerable • Decisions • Relationship dynamics • Outcomes/resolutions • Themes • Critical literacy lenses • Teach reading not books • Books don’t have “right” interpretations • Read Alouds level the playing field for ALL readers! www.GinnyLockwood.com

  26. “Ignorance is not so much about not knowing an answer as it is about not knowing that there is a question, not being able to think when thinking is required.” -Frank Smith Essays into Literacy Something to Think About… www.GinnyLockwood.com

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