VPSS English Level 1

1. VPSSEnglishLevel 1 Metacognition, SSR, and Autobiographical Narrative

2. The Gallery Walk Process • In pairs, walk the room, stopping at each poster. • Discuss the photos on each poster. • Respond to each poster with reflections, concerns, ponderings, etc. • Read what others have written and respond.

3. Finally stand by the one the you relate most with. • Discuss your thoughts about the poster with the others in that group. • Choose a spokesperson to share the group’s thoughts with the class.

4. The Gallery Walk • May be used as a focus activity, a pre-assessment, or culminating activity. • Provides students with the opportunity to actively engage with topics currently being studied. • Encourages cooperation, listening skills, team building, higher order thinking, oral presentation skills, and collaborative construction of knowledge.

5. What is VPSS? • Subject Matter Verification Process for Middle and High School Level Teachers in Special Settings • Advanced certification that provides subject matter coursework and content-specific professional development

6. VPSS Requirements for English-Language Arts • Apply effective reading and writing strategies related to: • Linguistics, Language, and Literacy • Reading process • Metacognitive strategies • Language acquisition and development

7. VPSS Requirements for English-Language Arts • Literature and Textual Analysis • Comprehensive study of literature • Analyze informational and literary works

8. VPSS Requirements for English-Language Arts • Rhetoric, Composition, Conventions • Write extended essay responses to literary and non-literary texts • Command of written and oral conventions

9. Requirements • 36-40 hours of instruction • 100% attendance • 100% participation • Lesson plans • Autobiographical Narrative • Literary Analysis (Reading) • Literary Response (Writing) • Expository Reading and Writing

10. Assessment • Attendance and participation • Lesson Plans • CSTP Standard 3: Understanding and Organizing Subject Matter for Student Learning • CSTP Standard 5: Assessing Student Learning

11. VPSSEnglish-Level 1 Outcomes • Know and apply effective reading and writing strategies • Demonstrate an understanding of literature and textual analysis • Demonstrate an understanding of composition and rhetoric • Demonstrate competence as readers and writers

12. VPSSEnglish-Level 1 Outcomes • Compose thoughtful, well-crafted responses to literary and non-literary text • Know and demonstrate an understanding of current research relating to teaching English language arts to students in special settings.

13. Parking Lot • Wall chart • Questions • Comments

14. Working Agreements • Begin and End on Time • Respect the expertise in the room • Mind your cell phones • Safe environment to share ideas, ask questions, show confusion • Focus on the task • Full Participation

15. Day 1 - Agenda • Metacognition • SSR • Autobiographical Narrative • Grammar Instruction • Assessment

16. Metacognitive Process • Making the invisible, visible • Thinking about thinking • Goal: To become consciously aware of their mental activity and are able to describe it and discuss it with others.

18. Social Dimension • Creating safety • Investigating relationships between literacy and power • Sharing book talk • Sharing reading processes, problems, and solutions • Noticing and appropriating others’ ways of reading

19. Personal Dimension • Developing reader identity • Developing metacognition • Developing reader fluency and stamina • Developing reader confidence and range • Assessing performance and setting goals

20. Cognitive Dimension • Getting the big picture • Breaking it down • Monitoring comprehension • Using problem-solving strategies to assist and restore comprehension • Setting reading purposes and adjusting reading processes

21. Knowledge-Building Dimension • Mobilizing and building knowledge structures (schema) • Developing content or topic knowledge • Developing knowledge of word construction and vocabulary • Developing knowledge and use of text structures • Developing discipline and discourse specific knowledge

24. Practice • Read “Father’s Butterflies” • Take notes as you read • Circle difficult words • Mark when you get “stuck” • Note what you do when you get “stuck” • Share your thoughts with your group • Directed Think-Write-Pair-Share

25. What do good readers do? • What did YOU do to make sense of the text? • Difficult words • Long sentences • Forgetting what you read • Create a list of strategies • Identify strategies • We MUST identify these strategies for students and call out the strategies when used

26. Metacognition “On the Go” • Think-Pair-Share, or any variation • Exit slips • Sentence Frames • Meta Logs • Metacognitive letter • End of a project • After a test • End of the trimester • Watch your time • Allow 2-5 minutes at the end of the period to debrief with students • Set a timer • Select a time keeper

27. The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them. Mark Twain

28. What is SSR? • Students self-select books • Begin with a short time-span • Slowly build up to longer periods of time • Builds stamina • Occurs daily

29. Names for In-School Practice Reading Programs • SSR Sustained Silent Reading • USSR Uninterrupted Sustained Silent Reading • DEAR Drop Everything and Read • FUR Free Uninterrupted Reading • IRT Independent Reading Time • WART Writing and Reading Time

30. Nouns, pronouns, irregular verbs Are sad and dull and stale, Unless they’re fired with the spark Of a mighty, wondrous tale. Adaptation of poem from an unknown author

31. However, research tells us most students get very little practice reading: • Reading practice declines markedly after fifth grade. • On average, high-school students spend about as much time in literature-based practice as kindergarten students. • Schools graduate students that have practiced reading an average of only seven minutes per day over their entire academic career.

32. Research tells us students who read more demonstrate markedly higher achievement. • Students in the top 5% read 144 times more than students in the bottom 5%. • Students in private schools read 67% more than public school students.

33. Research shows Reading makes you a better reader.

34. Reading improves your spelling.

35. Reading improves your vocabulary. Students learn an average of 45 words with each novel they read. Word meaning is picked up 10 times faster by reading than intensive vocabulary instruction.

36. Reading improves your writing. Research shows that both style and complexity of sentence structure is increased as the amount of reading increases.

37. 8 Factors for SSR SuccessThe SSR Handbook by Janice L. Pilgreen • Access to books • Book Appeal • Conducive environment • Encouragement to read • Non-accountability • Distributed time to read • Staff training • Follow-up activities

38. 1. Access to Books • Classroom libraries • Multiple genres • Range of readability levels • Students are allowed to check out books • Students not required to bring something from home to read

39. 2. Book Appeal • Offer materials that are interesting • Use an Interest Inventory with students • Use teen book lists • Variety of genres • Include read-along books and tapes • Self-selection • Display materials attractively • Feature a book or genre of the week or month When asked, help a student find a good book match

40. 3. Conducive Environment • Provide a quiet, uninterrupted environment • Seating that is not cramped • Students permitted to select a comfortable environment • Reading Corner • Time to share their reading informally with peers

41. 4. Encouragement to Read • CA Reading/Language Arts Framwork • Students in grades 6-8 should read up to 1 MILLION words independently each year • Students’ vocabulary typically DOUBLES from grades 4-8 as a direct result of reading • Adult modeling of reading • Share personal habits of reading • Move from desk and sit with students as you read • Share books that you are reading • Engage in teacher conferences • SSR followed by debrief with peers • Parent involvement • Input in development of the SSR program • Suggested ideas to support at-home reading

42. 6. Non-Accountabilty • Provide a non-evaluative atmosphere • No requirements related to productive tasks or follow-up language work • Students allowed to stop reading a book if they find it uninteresting and encouraged to pick up another one. • Emphasis is on the pleasure of reading

43. 7. Follow-up Activities • Goal is to sustain student excitement about books they are reading in a non-evaluative setting • Peer discussions, literacy circles, • Book sharing, peer read-alouds • Might need to develop a waiting list • Book Talks • Create a class recommendation list

44. 8. Distributed Time to Read • Give between 15 –30 minutes of reading time • Minimum of twice a week • Goal is for free reading to become a habit

45. Book Pass • Have enough books for each member of the class • Teach students HOW to preview a book • Read the title • Notice the Author • Read the back, inside flap, or any other commentary • Browse chapter titles • Read the first five pages • Allow time for class discussion

46. Metacognitive Log • Can be used in all content and elective classes • Purpose: Students pay attention to their thinking, begin reflecting on learning process • Use/provide sentence stems • Metacognitive Letter • Goal setting • End of a project

47. Metacognitive Sentence Stems • I got confused when… • I was distracted by… • I started to think about… • I got stuck when… • The time went quickly because… • A word/some words I didn’t know were… • I figured out that… • I was reminded of…

48. Metacognitive Reflection • How can the learning strategies discussed and practiced today help you differentiate for the various needs of the students in your class? • How can making thinking visible support students’ success in your class? • Take two minutes to jot down your thoughts and ideas. • Share

49. R/LA Standards Trace • Autobiographical Narrative • Sort the standards in order by grade level (6-12) Discuss: • What patterns do you notice? • What might you emphasize in your class?  • How does the language develop?  • What, if any, skills drop off?

50. Personal Reading History • Think about your experiences learning to read • Plot out your history on a story board • Use images, symbols, illustrations • Narrate your history to a partner • Partners, write down key words • Write a one sentence description for each experience