Literacy:

Sue Klemmer / Camden Hills Regional High School / NEACT 2011

improving reading comprehension in chemistry

Norms

• minimize side talk• get up whenever!• ask questions any time

In the next 90 minutes ...

6 specific tools for improving reading comprehension skills

What does this look like in the classroom?

What is “literacy” and how do we know when we’ve got there?

1. Do you have clear expectations of what you want students to be able to do?

2. Do the students know what your expectations are?

What is it?

•What does it mean to be “scientifically literate”?

•What are the hallmarks of a student with “excellent reading skills” in chemistry?

1. Pick a “recorder” and “reporter.”

2. One by one (“roundrobin”) introduce yourself and share what it means to be scientifically literate, as recorder jots down ideas.

3. Do a 2nd round on what excellent reading skills look like.

4. Look over your lists and find “bright ideas” to share with the rest of us.

5. Your reporter will speak for you.

Lexile Scores

score = 1210L

Jane Doe’s score is 1150• anything rated above 1150+50

= 1200 she’s likely to have trouble reading

independently• anything below 1150-100 = 1050 she’ll likely find very easy

# students < 1160 = 8/79 = 10% likely to find Zumdahl text difficult (rated 1210)# students <1230 = 16/79 = 20% likely to find Creations of Fire text difficult (rated 1280)

CC grades 9-10

CC grades 11-12

get Lexiles at www.lexile.com

Time = Effort? Difficulty?

1. NEVER “reading for reading sake”: always in support of teaching science.

2. These strategies must be explicitly taught and practiced.

What do you do?

•Make a list of the types of strategies you use when you read PD content.

•What factors influence you to pick one strategy over another?

1. Change“recorder” and “reporter.”

2.Create a tally list of all the strategies used by the group

3.Be prepared to share the most common strategies.

4.Do a 2nd list of influencing factors.

5.What do you notice about this list?

6.Your reporter will speak for you.

Concept Maps

one of the more time-consuming strategies to teach

very powerful in tandem with other strategiescan be very helpful to teachers in spotting

misconceptions See me Wednesday for more!

• asks students to understand RELATIONSHIPS

rather than DEFINITIONS• important to have labeled links that create “concept-link-concept” sentences

Sample Map #1

What do you notice?

#2

Survey Says ...

68%

58%

Highlighting

if the PURPOSE is mastering content, try … “red/green” for main points and confusion “circles/lines” for key vocabulary &

definitions/examples if the PURPOSE is reading research, try …

“bold/underline” for claim vs. evidence “box it” to identify parts like procedure, etc.

if the PURPOSE is review or application, try … “underline/star” for all the places where the author

talks about what they already know vs. new examples or applications

electronic vs. paperhave a purpose!

Highlighting Assignment

The goal of reading this article is to understand the difference between accuracy and precision. Use one color of highlighter to mark all direct references to accuracy, and another to mark direct references to precision. Remember: BE STINGY!

THINK-PAIR-SHARE Do it. (5 min!) Pair up: (3 min!)• Discuss the

differences in your choices.

• How is this different than one-color highlighting?

Be prepared to share something enlightening that your partner said.

Know-Learn-Want

actively engages what students already know “hooks” their curiosity can students find the main idea? also useful as a “probe” for understanding (don’t teach

what they already know; spot misconceptions)✘ not good for dry text✘ not good if you want students to know details

• KNOW: list 3 things you know about thetopic before reading

• LEARN: list 3 things you learn from thereading

• WANT: list 3 things you now want to knowabout this topic

Anticipation-Reaction Guide

actively engages what students already knowa highly structured strategy

useful for difficult text, to help find key points requires more prep on part of the teacher

• consists of about 6 true/false statements• some “low Bloom” level statements (clear answer in the text)• some “high Bloom” level statements

(infer or synthesize from text)

Ant.-React. Assignment

Follow the directions on the “Anticipation-Reaction” worksheet.

THINK-TEAM-SHARE Do it. (7 min!) In your teams: (5 min!)• Pick a new reporter and a new recorder.• Share your answers to each question. If there is disagreement, come to consensus.• Which questions are higher on “Bloom’s”?

Be prepared to share your insights.

Frayer Squares

F-squares ask students to think comprehensively about multiple aspects of the same topic

this is a good choice for detailed readings there are multiple versions of F-squares; you

can tailor the “corners” to suit

Blank Square

Frayer

One of my “lenses’ for chemistry is the “three worlds” idea.

I thought about redesigning the corner of the F-sq. ... meet two goals at once!

BUT: My texts aren’t organized this way ... so it would not help students’ reading comprehension.

cautionary tale – keeping the purpose in mind!

observable world

atomic world

mathematical

world

Frayer Square Assignment

In May, my students read sections in 2 different chapters of our text – one on acid nomenclature and the other on the nature of acids & bases. They could takes notes in any format.Here are 2 samples from students who chose to use Frayer squares.o What do you notice about

their reading skills?o Write a “warm” red and

“cool” blue sticky note feedback to each student.

ROUND ROBIN Do the assignment on

your own. (3 min!) In your team: (5 min)• Go one round with “I

noticed ...”. If you noticed something similar to someone else, paraphrase her first and then add your comment.

• Share your warm & cool feedback for each student.

Be prepared to share something that “resonated.”

Survey Says ...

54%

39%

Survey Says ...

65%

45%

Annotated Sample Problems

• goal: have students actively read sample problems in their textbook

• goal: students will focus on the process, rather than memorizing “plug ‘n chug”

This is very much a “work in progress”.

✘Columns always seem to be wrong size.✘Many students find it awkward.

Current Annotation

Survey Says ...

65%

56%

Future Annotationwork backwards!

Then:Redesign “annotation” form to meet dual goals of better reading comprehension and performance expectations.

With Math & Science Teachers•Survey expectations for “shown work” on tests.• Identify common elements and unique needs.•Develop a “learning progression” of expectations

Creative Annotation

1. Independent readers analyze & reflect upon their own capabilities.

2. These skills develop more efficiently with teacher assistance.

Building Metacognition

SURVEYS can be useful for you and your students.• How much time do you spend taking notes?• Is strategy “x” helpful? easy? does it change the way you

read?PEER REFLECTION is a powerful tool and saves teacher time!• “think-pair-share”: do it on our own, then share what

you’ve done with a partner, then pairs share best elements of each other’s work with another pair or the class

• “warm-cool” feedback: using 2 different colors of sticky notes, provide a specific comment on something done well (warm) and a constructive comment on something that could be improved (cool)

• “ask and receive”: each partner completes an index card “I’d especially like feedback on …” and gives it with work to partner for coachingEXIT SLIPS ask students to reflect on and communicate

their understanding of content and/or confidence level with skills.

Survey Says ...

Resources