Goldfields NetworkLiteracy Coordinators

ComprehensionMay 27th, 2010

Teddy’s Story

http://www.makeadifferencemovie.com/

Turn and Talk

• What have been some of the challenges in your role??

• Where are you making a difference??

Global CafeThe Global Café is a cooperative learning strategy that allows students / participants to gather and share information quickly. It also allows participants to piggyback ideas, thoughts and experiences.

• What is comprehension? (What do effective readers do to make sense of the texts they read?)

• How do we teach comprehension? (How do we organise the learning for our students?)

• How do we assess comprehension? (How do we know they understand what they are reading?)

1. Participants form random groups of between 4 – 8.

2. Each group labels their café location with a name.

3. A recorder is assigned by each group. This person remains at the table throughout the entire process and records the conversation as authentically as possible.

4. The participants are given a topic to discuss. Topics can be the new learning point, a review of previously learnt information or a reflection of understanding up to this point.

5. At table groups, the conversation flows as in a coffee shop with participants sharing factual information, opinion, and personal experiences related to the topic. The recorder can contribute while capturing the key aspects of the conversation.

6. After 5 minutes, participants randomly move to a new coffee shop. New groups at coffee shops are formed with different members.

7. When the new coffee shop groups are formed, the recorder shares the key aspects of previous conversations. This new group continues with conversing about the topic while the recorder takes notes.

8. The activity concludes with feedback from each recorder on interesting points.

Expert JigsawThis activity is characterised by participants within a cooperative group each becoming expert on different aspects of one topic of study.

• Article 1Comprehension strategies for

early readers• Article 2Why teach comprehension?• Article 3 Comprehension under

construction• Article 4Helping students develop systems

of strategic actions for expanding thinking

1. Assign students to “home” teams of 4 or 5 students. Have students number off within their teams. 2. Assign study topics to “home” team members by giving them an assignment sheet or by listing their numbers and corresponding roles on the board. 3. Have students move to “expert” groups where everyone in the group has the same topic as themselves. 4. Students work with members of their “expert” group to read about and/or research their topic. They prepare a short presentation and decide how they will teach their topic to their “home” team. You may want students to prepare mini-posters while in their “expert” Groups. These posters can contain important facts, information, and diagrams related to the study topic. 5. Students return to their “home” teams and take turns teaching their team members the material. I find it helpful to have team members take notes or record the information in their journals in some way. You may want them to complete a graphic organizer or chart with the new information. 6. Involve the class in a whole-group review of all the content.

Think Pair Share – Video ObservationWork with a partner. Partner A is to observe the teacher, and Partner B is to observe the students. Record your observations and share with the group.

• What is the learning intention of the lesson?

• What is the teacher doing to support student understanding?

• What are the students doing to enhance their understanding of the text?

• How will the teacher know if they have learned the skill?

1. http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid72342307001?bclid=23703871001&bctid=1889922658

2. Guided reading (Coral Reefs)

3. Shared reading (Iraq)

When and how do we teach students to understand the texts

they read?

Effective lesson structure

Whole class Independent or group Whole class

Mini lessonModelling a strategy

•Independent reading•Individual conference•Response to reading•Small group focussed teaching:

Oral languageRead aloudShared readingGuided readingReciprocal readingLiterature circlesBook clubs

Reflection on learning

20% 60% 20%

Use our prior knowledge and

clues in the text to make inferences about characters.

it helps us to understand what

characters are like and why they

behave as they do.

How is this person feeling?

sadness, anguish, sorrow

How is this person feeling?

happiness, joy

How is this person feeling?

fear, shock, terror

How is this person feeling?

anger, fury

How is this person feeling?

surprise, shock

How do we infer?

1. Prior knowledge2. Clues in the text3. Make predictions

Why do we infer?

• The author doesn’t always tell us exactly how a character is feeling or why they act they way they do.

• It helps us to understand a character’s feelings or actions.

What you are inferring about the characters in your text and the clues

you have used.

Group Check-In

• What have been some of the challenges in your role??

• Where are you making a difference??

My renewed focus for making a difference is......

Goldfields Literacy Wiki

http://goldfieldsliteracy.wikispaces.com

Review your roleThe suggested role of a Literacy Coordinator is to:

• Coordinate literacy across the school as a key leadership position with an allocated time to do the role according to the size of your school.

• Develop and implement a 2-4 year Literacy Plan with the school staff • Review and manage multiple sources of data. Use data to direct teaching and learning

resources. Give feedback to show positive, static and negative change.• Promote and model best teaching and learning literacy practice across the school.• Facilitate a Professional Learning Team with a focus on literacy.• Facilitate classroom observation and coaching.• Contribute to Regional and Network Literacy Coordinator workshops.• Present the Regional modules to whole staff each term.• Liaise with other Literacy Coordinators in the Network and across networks.• Use the NLIO as a resource to assist with all aspects of literacy improvement in the

school.• Be the point of contact for the NLIO to distribute information and resources to staff.

Group Check-In • What have been some of the challenges in your role??

• Where are you making a difference??

Purpose: To check where the group is at in their thinking about a particular issue. Use: As an opening activity, summary activity or intervention during a process. Time: Generally 30 seconds per person in the group (this can be modified to suit the situation). Procedure: The facilitator provides the group with a prompt that they will respond to, taking turns to move around the whole group. Each person in the group MUST respond. This protocol emphasises turn taking and being concise, as each participant only has 30 seconds within which to respond. It provides practice in wrapping up and moving to the next participant using a non-verbal signal. eg. A nod of the head or shift of the eyes. The facilitator needs to identify the signal that the group feels comfortable with.