Kathleen NolteStrategy CollectionJuly 2011

I have included ten strategies that will aid in my future students’ reading comprehension. Each strategy will include a definition and an example of an organizer I would use with the particular strategy.

Strategies Discussed

1. Discussion Webs p. 2

2. Question Answer Relationship p. 3

3. Jigsaw Groups p. 4

4. Exit Slips p. 5

5. KWL p. 6

6. Point of View Guides p. 7

7. Double-Entry Journals p. 8

8. Monitoring Comprehnsion p. 9

9. Inferring p. 10

10. Synthesizing p.11

References p.14

Des Moines Register Article p.15-17

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Strategy #1: Discussion Webs

Discussion webs encourage students to engage the text and each other in thoughtful discussion by creating framework for students to explore texts and consider different sides of an issue in a discussion before drawing conclusions (Vacca, 2010). Conversation is an important part of learning. Discussion webs help students have an authentic conversation without the teacher needing to be there to guide the conversation. The teacher just needs to generate a question for the students to ponder. The students are then paired into groups where they think-pair-share to pros and cons or the texts being compared and form a conclusion statement in a larger group of three or four.

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Question:

Conclusion Statement:

Yes No

Strategy #2: Question Answer Relationship (QAR)

Question answer relationships make explicit to students the relationships that exist among the type of question asked, the text, and the reader’s prior knowledge (Vacca, 2010). Using QAR helps students become aware of and skilled in using the four learning strategies associated with QAR to find the information they need to comprehend (Vacca, 2010).

Where are Answers to Questions Found?

In the Text:

Right There

The answer is in the text. The words used in the question and the words used for the answer can usually be found in the same sentences.

Think and Search

The answer is in the text, but the words used in the question and those used for the answer are not in the same sentence. You need to think about different parts of the text and how ideas can be put together before you can answer the question.

In Your Head:

Author and You

The answer is not in the text. You need to think about what you know, what the author says, and how they fit together.

On Your Own

The text got you thinking, but the answer is inside your head. The author can’t help you much. So think about it, and use what you know already about the question.

Adapted from “Teaching QAR” by T.E. Raphael in 1986

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What author says?

Strategy #3: Jigsaw Groups

Jigsaw teaching requires students to specialize on a specific area within a topic that will be shared to an overall group. Think of this strategy as a puzzle. Depending on what topic is being investigated will decide how many students will per specific area. Once the students have become experts on that specific area they were assigned to they will form groups to complete the rest of the areas in their “puzzle.” Each person in the group is responsible for learning and teaching their information to the other group members. The following is an example jigsaw lesson found at http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/american-folklore-jigsaw-character-30524.html.

American Tall Tales and FolkloreJigsaw Group Discussion Worksheet

Story Title: _________________________________________________

Everyone: Read the story and discuss the questions.Each person: Report to the class about one part of the story.

Reporter

_______________ Main CharacterWhat does the main character look like?What special abilities does the main character have?

_______________ SettingWhere and when does the story take place?How is the setting important to the story?

_______________ Support CharactersWhat other characters appear in the story?How does the main character relate to them?

_______________ Main Plot PointsWhat are two or three important events in the story?What is the main lesson or main idea of the story?

_______________ Problem and SolutionWhat problems does the main character face?How are those problems resolved?

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Strategy #4: Exit Slips

Exit slips are asked by the teacher at the end of a lesson. For example, they can be given as students leave for a special. They are a way to bring closure to what was learned. The students may be asked to summarize, synthesize, evaluate, or project (Vacca, 2010). The exit slips can provide the teacher with direction for the next class. Some of the following ideas were from http://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/exit_slips/.

Prompts that document learning:

1. Write one thing you learned today. 2. What are three most important things you learned this class period?

Discuss how today's lesson could be used in the real world.3. Rate your understanding of today's topic on a scale of 1-10. What can you do to improve

your understanding?4. What confuses you about the material you read for today or what we covered today?

Prompts that emphasize the process of learning:

1. I didn't understand… 2. Write one question you have about today's lesson.3. Provide a one-paragraph summary of today’s lesson.

Prompts to evaluate the effectiveness of instruction:

1. Did you enjoy working in small groups today? 2. I can use this knowledge, strategy, or process again when I....

Other exit prompts include:

1. I would like to learn more about… 2. Please explain more about… 3. The thing that surprised me the most today was… 4. I wish…

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Strategy # 5: KWL (What do you know? What do you want to know? What did you learn?)

KWL is a well proven instructional strategy that engages students in active text learning. Vacca explains this strategy in the following sentences (2010). The strategy begins by asking students what they know about the topic to be studies. Then it asks the students to make a list of questions about the topic that they want to know. This leads to a list of what students do learn as a result of their engagement in the strategy. Be sure to use discussion, a graphic organizer, and have students write a summary to clarify and internalize what the students have just read (Vacca, 2010).

K – What I Know W – What I Want to Know L – What I Learned and Still Need to Learn

Categories of Information I Expect to Use

A.

B.

C.

D.

E.

F.

G.

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Strategy #6: Point of View Guides (POVGs)

Point of view guides (POVG) connects writing to reading in a creative way. They help students with thoughtful reading and writing by digging deeper “under the surface” of a character or subject. According to Vacca (2010), several key characteristics of POVGs include the following: they are questions presented in an interview format that allows students to think about text from a different point of view and perspective, encourages speculation, inferential thinking, and elaboration by placing students in role-play situations, engage students in writing to learn by having them actively contribute their own experiences to the role, and require first-person writing on the part of students as they respond to a situation. The following example is taken from http://www.readingrockets.org/books/fun/exquisiteprompt/scieszka/, but changed slightly to go with the Des Moines Register article, I’m here from Ukraine, where can I stay?

Prompt for Writing POVG

What makes where you live special? The house that Karina thought she was going to call home didn’t exist at first. If the money could tell this story, it might tell a story about how there used to be a lot of me, but now I am dwindling fast. There isn’t much left of me to help Karina because I’ve already flown her to the United States, fed her, and put a roof over her head for two nights at a hotel. Now, let’s look at what house Karina ended up staying in. What stories could this house tell? Pretend that you are the house Karina is staying at for the summer. Write a story about what happened when Karina came to visit for the first time. Did something funny happen or something sad? Remember that you are writing from the point of view of a house. Be sure to tell what your house looks like, where it is, and who lives there. Don’t forget to go back to the story to recall any important details.

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

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Strategy # 7: Double-Entry Journals (DEJ)

Double-Entry Journals help students read between and beyond the lines of a text. One side of the entry encourages students to record details from the text such as select words, short quotes, or passages from the text that interest them or evoke strong responses (Vaccas et al., 2010). They can either record exactly what the text says or record it in their own words. The other side of the entry invites students to interact with ideas in the text which promotes higher level thinking. This helps with the process of constructing meaning (comprehension) of a text.

Double-Entry Journal

Idea From Text Reaction / Connection

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Strategy #8: Monitoring Comprehension

Monitoring comprehension involves thinking within the text. The goal of this strategy is to have students merge their thinking with the text information, building knowledge as they continue to read. This process helps students monitor meaning, articulate their thinking, and become strategic readers who develop new insights (Harvey & Goudvis, 2007).

Discussion Organizer: Use this to track your thinking as you read.

Information that I don’t understand: Things that seem surprising or interesting:

Vocabulary that I want to know: Things that remind me of other things I know:

Adapted from readwritethink.org

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Strategy #9: Inferring

Teaching students to infer involves teaching them to draw conclusions or make predictions. A simple statement could be said. It means reading between the lines. Inferring involves using the context to figure out the meaning of an unfamiliar word, noticing a character’s actions to surface a theme, visualizing, interpreting the meaning of language, making predictions, and drawing conclusions (Vacca, 2010). Students merge their background knowledge with clues in the text to come up with an idea that is not explicitly stated by the author when making an inference (Vacca, 2010).

While reading, highlight or mark a sentence to record under words in the text. Share your personal response under my background knowledge to the words in the text. Then record your brief explanation under the inference column. Use the prompts if needed.

Words in the Text My background knowledge

I think… Maybe it means… I predict… I’m guessing that…Inference

1

2

3

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Strategy # 10: Synthesizing

Synthesizing involves thinking beyond the text; therefore, this strategy takes higher level thinking. It means putting together information from the text and from the reader’s own background knowledge in order to create new understandings (Harvey & Goudvis, 2007). Harvey and Goudvis also add that synthesizing is like putting a jigsaw puzzle together. It takes adding to our store of knowledge and reinforces what we already know and other times we merge new information with existing knowledge to understand a new perspective, a new line of thinking, or even an original idea (Harvey & Goudvis, 2007).

*The graphic organizer on page 12 and 13 for this strategy.

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Key Concept Synthesis

Directions: Use the following graphic organizer to identify the four most important concepts (in the form of single words or phrases) from the reading. Think about identifying the four most important concepts this way: If you had to explain the reading to someone who had not read the text, what are the four most important concepts you would want to them to understand? Use a highlighter and marginal notes to identify important concepts as you read, and then complete the graphic organizer once you have completed the reading.

Four Key Concepts(with page #s)

Put the Concept in your Own Words Explain Why the Concept is important & Make Connections to other Concepts

1.

2.

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3.

4.

Adapted from William E.B. DuBois Elementary at http://www.dubois.cps.k12.il.us/Strategie_Charts_Documents.htm

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References

Goudvis, A. & Harvey, S. (2007). Strategies that Work (2nd ed.). Portland, Maine: Stenhouse Publishers

Lesson Plans. (n.d.). ReadWriteThink. Retrieved July 17, 2011, from http://www.readwritethink.org

Munson, K. (2011, July 17). I'm here from Ukraine, Where can I Stay?. Des Moines Register, pp. 1,4.

Reading Rockets: Exit Slips. (n.d.). Reading Rockets: Reading Comprehension & Language Arts Teaching Strategies for Kids. Retrieved July 17, 2011, from http://www.readingrockets.org/

Vacca, R.T., Vacca, J.L, & Mraz, M. (2010) Content Area Reading (10th ed.). Boston: Pearson

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Munson: I'm here from Ukraine, where can I stay?http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20110717/NEWS03/107170336/Munson-m-here-from-Ukraine-where-can-stay-

Karina Mykolyuk felt hopeless, alone and stranded in the middle of suburban American strip malls.

The 21-year-old university student from Ukraine had dreamed all her life of visiting the United States, especially after hearing stories from many of her friends who had spent summers here. But now that she had arrived as part of a work travel program, she was on the verge of homelessness.

This was two months ago. Mykolyuk had secured a temporary J-1 student visa and lined up a housekeeping job at Drury Inn & Suites in West Des Moines. The hotel is situated within the West Glen shopping center. It's on the northwest corner of the busy intersection of Mills Civic Parkway and Interstate Highway 35.

Mykolyuk says her agency in Ukraine reassured her that housing would be easy to find - much easier in Des Moines than a larger city, particularly when the cost was split among three students.

But the two fellow female students who had planned to travel with Mukolyuk were refused visas and had to stay behind. And attempts to find affordable housing online from overseas had failed.

So Mukolyuk arrived May 20 in Iowa, after flying from Kiev, Ukraine, to Chicago, then traveling by Megabus from O'Hare airport to the Walnut Street drop-off in downtown Des Moines.

There she stood in the rain, clutching her lone suitcase. She lacked both an umbrella and a clear sense of what to do.

Mukolyuk is a third-year student studying both English and Spanish, but fluency is a different thing on a Midwest street corner compared to the classroom. A friendly woman helped her board the correct bus to West Des Moines.

And Drury Inn helped Mykolyuk with a room for a couple of nights, but couldn't house her the entire summer. The work travel program contract states that "housing is participant arranged."

So Mykolyuk wandered along Mills Civic Parkway in a fruitless search for a place to stay. She had $900 in spending cash, part of the $4,000 that family and friends had scraped together to fund her trip.

She put in a frantic call to her one connection in the States: her godmother in New York City, also from Ukraine.

"Please help me," Mykolyuk begged her godmother, "because I don't know what I should do."

Later that day, Ellie Titarenko of Clive received an email from New York. The message was a desperate plea typed in all caps, seeking some sort of connection with the Russian community in Des Moines.

Titarenko's email address happened to be included in an obscure online article about a Russian spring festival in Des Moines in March. It was buried deep within the website belonging to television station WHO, found only by scrounging on Google.

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That tenuous connection was Mykolyuk's salvation. The exasperated student roomed with Titarenko's mother for a night, and then was welcomed into the home of Yuriy and Olena Protasov in West Des Moines - within walking distance of her job at Drury Inn.

The U.S. State Department tallies 105international students in Iowa this summer in the work travel program and a total of 1,257 with J-1 visas.

J-1 visas in general provide a non-immigrant cultural exchange that "fosters global understanding." And the summer work travel program subset of these visas lets international college kids spend their school break working in the U.S.

Mykolyuk is one of three J-1 employees at the Drury hotel in West Des Moines; the other two workers are from Thailand. Placements are coordinated on this end by a human resources consultant in St. Louis, where the Drury chain also is based.

About 130,000 international college students participated last year in summer work travel, including 9,240 from Ukraine.

But Ukraine and five other countries - Belarus, Bulgaria, Moldova, Romania and Russia - are governed this year under a stricter pilot program intended to "enhance the safeguards for participants," according to the State Department. Officials last year received a significant increase in complaints of "fraudulent job offers, inappropriate jobs, job cancellations on arrival, insufficient number of work hours, and housing and transportation problems."

But all is well with Mykolyuk now that she's settled into the Protasovs' home. One evening last week featured a conversation over a dessert of pineapple cake, watermelon and sweet tea.

The Protasovs and their son, Anton, 21, arrived a dozen years ago from Kiev, after the collapse of both the Soviet empire and Ukraine's economy. They began learning English through church and Des Moines Area Community College.

Like Mykolyuk, Olena at first worked as a housekeeper even though she had been an accountant in Ukraine; she now works as an accountant once again. Yuriy began in the produce department at Dahl's and today runs his own trucking firm.

Titarenko and her husband, Michael, hail from western Ukraine near the Polish border. Their family has grown in the States with daughter Sofia, 3, and 10-month-old Andrew. Dozens of Titarenko's family members also live in the metro, which means that the guest list is pushing 150 for Andrew's upcoming baptism.

Titarenko works as a registered nurse in critical care at Mercy Medical Center and has emerged as a lead organizer for the local population that hails from the former Soviet nations. She's seen the festivals in Des Moines staged by Italians, Latinos, Asians and other ethnic groups.

"Why don't we have something?" Titarenko wonders. "Our culture is so rich, and our language is beautiful."

These families worry about losing their own native tongue. So they've begun to organize Christmas shows and other events in rented rooms at St. Pius X Catholic Church in Urbandale, where 100 or more people have joined them. (Anton even dressed up as Santa.)

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Titarenko also is looking for help to launch a new website to promote and unify her local community.

That way, the next student in Mykolyuk's shoes should have an easier time tracking down his or her fellow Ukrainians in Iowa.

The Protasovs, left, and the Titarenkos, right, sit with Karina Mykolyuk between them at the Protasovs’ house in West Des Moines, where Mykolyuk is rooming during her summer work and travel program. From left are Yuriy Protasov, Anton Protasov, Olena Protasov, Mykolyuk, Ellie Titarenko, Sofia Titarenko, Michael Titarenko and Andrew Titarenko.

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