Assessments

Hinchman Chapter 19:
Assessments in the secondary classroom extend far beyond gauging basic comprehension. Assessment data should lead teachers to improve and support student learning and should lead students to self-reflect on their own learning. Assessments are also cumulative results of previous years of schooling, so teachers must meet students where they are and provide supports and challenges to foster growth. 
Literacy development is a nonstop process that extends into adulthood, and it is ever-changing. Foci change as new perspectives and conditions emerge to address changing literacies and modalities. To address the diverse needs of adolescent readers, especially struggling readers, RTIs are typically used in some form or another.
Content-Area Reading Inventory (CARI): 
CARI assesses reading, thinking, and study processes of students in content area texts, and its results are used to create more individualized lessons for students. CARI is teacher-made and should reveal potential issues students will have with a text as well as skills and strategies students will need in order to effectively utilize the text. CARI development consists of three steps: 1) identify essential skills (reading, writing, and thinking) needed to competently manipulate a text as well as produce an outcome; 2) select excerpt from the text that is complete in itself; 3) design 3-5 guiding questions and prompts to help students navigate through the text. CARI can focus on book parts, understanding visual information, understanding content vocabulary, determining and summarizing key ideas, and creating study reading aids. 
Once students complete their CARI, teachers tally the results, they can tailor their instruction to fit individual needs through whole-class, small-group, or individual instruction.
Vocabulary Self-Awareness:
Vocabulary knowledge should be assessed prior to reading so deficiencies in needed academic vocabulary can be addressed. This is done through a Vocabulary Self-Awareness chart that lists key terms from the lesson. Students should use + or √ or - to indicate their level of knowledge and familiarity with each term and should write self-created definitions for words they mark with + or √. As the lesson progresses, students should be revising their charts to indicate a growing level of knowledge and familiarity, and teachers can monitor progress and offer additional support to students who are struggling.
Assessing Competencies with Academic Concepts Through Youth Media:
To help students become more successful, there should be a seamless transition between out-of-school texts and classroom practices. These out-of-school texts include everything from comic books and fan fiction to video games and music. Teachers can channel these outside interests to create connections between them and concepts and strategies being taught in class and to promote multimodal output.

Afflerbach: 
Three Important Questions for the Assessment of Adolescent Reading:
1) Why? (establishes goal) 2) What? (connects what is taught with what is assessed) 3) How? (establishes type of assessment)
Defining Reading:
PISA's definition of reading ("understanding, using, and reflecting on written texts, in order to achieve one's goal, to develop one's knowledge and potential, and to participate in society") should be expanded to incorporate expected outcomes as well as the skills used while reading including fluency, decoding, vocabulary development, and comprehension. As students advance in school, the size and complexity of content area texts increases, so students must self-monitor and continue to develop content-specific strategies to help them be successful in describing, comparing, synthesizing, and evaluating what they read. There are two balances that must be met to ensure adequate literacy growth in students. One is between reading development and content learning, and the other is between summative and formative assessments.
Successful Assessment of Reading:
Cognition (strategies students use when they read/content they are expected to learn), observation (deepening knowledge of content-area concepts and reading), and interpretation (inferences drawn from assessment results) are all vital to the creation, implementation, and interpretation of assessments in the content area. Assessments must encourage and promote high levels of reading achievement and motivation as well as the creation of engaging curriculums.
Determining the Suitability of Reading Assessments:
CURRV framework helps evaluate reading assessments by examining its consequences, its usefulness, the roles and responsibilities related to it, and its reliability and validity.
Types of Assessments for Adolescent Reading:
-Performance Assessments: Complex tasks are required to gauge students' ability to use what they have learned. These tasks include: comparing and contrasting, accounting for differences, writing creatively or persuasively to synthesize information, or creating an artistic output. Performance assessments have rubrics to clearly communicate performance level expectations and to provide students a blueprint to an advanced level of work. Performance assessments to do provide information on the development of reading skills, and they lend themselves to be graded subjectively and consistently.
-Portfolio Assessments: Thinking and reflection are at the core of portfolio assessments. Portfolios come in many forms but are flexible so as to allow adjustments for audience and purpose, and they allow students to see their growth and development. Students should reflect on the work in their portfolio through self-assessments and discussions with teachers and parents.
-Teacher Observation and Questioning: At its most basic, questioning involves answering comprehensions questions at the end of a reading. However, it should be expanded to include questions not only about content and reading skills and strategies development but also questions that model how students should be thinking on their own. Allowing students to think aloud can produce a fluid assessment of knowledge. 
-High Stakes Testing: Very little valid, usable information can be gleaned from the results of state testing because students become apathetic and complacent when testing and because so much time passes between the administration and the score reporting.
What We Need to Know Next:
Assessments must move past multiple choice and short answer and become a more holistic representation of content knowledge and literacy growth. Professional development and trainings are needed to help teachers understand the characteristics of effective assessments as well as how to create them.

Text-to-Text: Most texts I've read regarding assessments have pushed the use of assessments that extend past multiple choice and short answer as they do not help students engage the content knowledge they learned by manipulating and applying it in different ways.
Text-to-Self: I don't retain information for any significant length of time when I know the test is multiple choice. I remember it long enough to take the assessment, and then it's lost and takes a lot of relearning and patience to find it again.
Text-to-World: Being able to analyze and manipulate and apply new knowledge is an invaluable tool. We unconsciously use it throughout our day during tasks like driving. We need to teach students the importance of being able to synthesize information and extend themselves so that they'll be more productive citizens.

Questions:
1) What assessments do you use that demand higher-level thinking and produce useful data but that the students enjoy completing?
2) What do you use to create your assessments? Do you collaborate with other teachers, or do you typically create your own?

Literacy Learning through Discourse, Multimodality, and Technology

Hinchman Ch 4: Discourse Study
As diversity increases in American society, teachers must take into account students' diverse literacy identities, and Discourse (defined here as thought, word, and action organization and constraint) can be a valuable tool in acknowledging and valuing these differences. Discourses that are acquired in childhood based on cultural upbringing at home are known as Primary Discourses, and they differ from Secondary Discourses that are learned outside the home. When they don't match up, literacies differ and must be explicitly taught and the learner has 4 options: 1) assume identity of Secondary Discourse (school & home identities remain separated), 2) reject identity of Secondary Discourse (Discourses still remain separated because learner does not learn or cannot understand Secondary Discourse), 3) learn enough of the Secondary Discourse to function (Secondary Discourse is learned and used enough to get by, but learner doesn't buy into it), or 4) force Secondary Discourse to acknowledge Primary Discourse causing Secondary Discourse to shift (borderland discourse occurs in which metacognition is used to influence literacy in both Discourses). Clearly, option 4 allows for the most growth opportunity as literacies are allowed and encouraged to feed off each other.
Benefits of Discourse Instruction: 
A deeper knowledge and understanding of literacies (foreign and familiar) can be gained from Discourse through oral language, digital/pop culture texts, print-based texts, and other text forms. After explicit instruction in Secondary Discourses, students used cognitive dissonance and gained metacognitive abilities to analyze them on their own through the lenses of both Discourses and to appreciate and accept alternate Discourses. Mutual respect gained leads to greater sense of citizenship and has a positive effect on society.
Discourse in 21st Century Teaching & Learning:
CCSS, MLE, and PC are shaping literacy instructional practices and all three dictate what a 21st Century student must master in order to be literate and a positive, productive member of society who is able to critically think and effectively communicate and who values and embraces diversity.

Hinchman Ch 16: Multimodality and Literacy Learning
Multimodality is an intricate part adolescents' lives, so literacy in these diverse literacies is a must. Therefore, school cannot be strictly text and writing based. Students must be taught and required to not only interact with but also create various forms of texts and texts types.
The purpose of multimodal texts is to create more connections and provide more experiences and opportunities for interaction for students. Students are required to analyze and connect information across texts thereby increasing and deepening comprehension and understanding of the content.
Conceptual Understanding:
Conceptual understanding requires students to connect information across various types of texts ("new literacies") and must be inquiry-based whereby students are given a theme or question to guide them in their readings. Incorporating electronic and media texts requires a different type of thinking and promotes conceptual understanding because comprehension is interpretive and not literal. 
Diverse Perspectives with Multiple Text Types:
There are 4 domains of practice in which multimodal meanings are made: 1) discourse, 2) design, 3) production, and 4) distribution, and these must be used to create layers of meanings by requiring students to analyze/create multiple forms of texts and media.
Design and Multimodality:
Design has a conceptual and expressive side, and the two sides can significantly change meanings when applied analytically. Using various medias to illustrate a concept allows students to comprehend the differences in viewpoints and emotions and appreciate significances of each side. It also forces students to more critically think and question the completeness and validity of information they are presented. 
Multimodal Connections:
The layering of multimodal texts produces a deeper conceptual understanding allows deeper personal, popular culture, and current event connections. Students have more meaningful written products because they are able to actively connect the texts to events and experiences familiar to them.

Kim and Kamil Technology
There are 3 critical areas related technology and adolescent literacy: computerized literacy instruction, social technology's effect on literacy development, and influences on adolescents' attitudes toward technology.
Computerized Literacy Instruction:
Using the computer to aid instruction allows students to improve comprehension and learn at their own pace. It allows provides students the opportunity to expand their comprehension through the exploration of vocabulary and additional information. Computer-based guided reading, cloze activities, and context clue practice helps raise standardized test scores, but computer-based instruction should be used as a supplement not a replacement for whole-group, classroom-based instruction.
Computerized Instruction of Strategies:
Visuals are often ignored or passively observed by students in content-specific texts, but they are critical in overall comprehension. Students must be explicitly taught how to incorporate the visuals in their reading as well as how to process, analyze, and apply them. These visuals extend to multimedia documents which contain hypertexts, links, graphics, and other resources for obtaining additional information. Again, students must receive explicit instruction on how to navigate and successfully employe these resources.
Structured Computer Learning Environments:
Computers can quickly provide additional information in a controlled manner whereby restrictions are in place or students are guided through a lesson. The more guidance a student is given, the more successful they are, especially when they are explicitly taught how to navigate and utilize the resources they are given.
Computerized Writing Instruction:
The use of technology in writing leads to an increase in students' motivation to write not not necessarily an increase in quality of writing. Grade levels, technology proficiency levels, and instructional support are all variables in gauging the success of computer-based writing instruction.
Social Development of Literacy Skills:
Emails, chatrooms, and other forms of electronic communication help increase adolescent literacy and encourage participation from all students, especially ones who shy from face-to-face interactions. Technology also requires students to articulate their point more clearly as they must rely on words and not their tone and gestures.
Variables and Attitudes:
Not all students are comfortable utilizing technology, and gender and age play a role in attitudes toward technology as females and older students are typically less receptive to technology than males and younger students. Students of lower socioeconomic statuses typically show more interest in technology than those in higher statuses perhaps because of the novelty of technology.
Computerized Reading Instruction:
This should focus on vocabulary assistance and guided reading instruction where students are given help in developing strategies as well as on hyperlinks that promote metacognition through analysis of additional material.
Computers and Writing Instruction:
Computers are most effective at providing assistance, but technology can hinder the progress of students who are not as familiar with computers. Improvements can stem from the provision of detailed writing prompts as well as structured guidance of writing strategies.
Social Aspects:
Literacy and social skills improve when students are provided the opportunity to communicate with peers via technology. They also increase technological literacy by manipulating various aspects of programs.
Encouraging Positive Attitudes toward Computers:
Taking into consideration the ability to access computers, gender, and age, teachers can tailor software and activity choices to appeal to all students and make them feel more included. Ensuring that all students have access to a computer either at home or at school also improved attitudes toward technology.

Text-to-text: We have read several times about the benefits of incorporating many different texts in lessons as well as requiring students to produce works that incorporate multiple genres and modalities.
Text-to-world: Technology and multimodalities are a vital part of everyday life, and for students to be productive, critically-thinking citizens, they must learn to navigate, analyze, and manipulate various forms of media critically.
Text-to-self: In my lessons, I incorporate various genres and viewpoints related to the anchor piece so that students can not only experience different genres but also see how they are connected and interrelated to each other, and they can manipulate and coalesce their thoughts and connections into a written product.

Questions:
1) How do you incorporate computers and technology into your lessons?
2) What types of multimodality lessons do you find successful in your classroom?

Adolescent EAL/ELL Readers

Hinchman Ch 2:
Because being bilingual is seen as an advantage across the globe and because students learning English are not expected to forego their native language, there is a push for newcomers to be referred to as EALs (English as an additional language) instead of ELLs (English Language Learner). Hispanics make up the majority of ELAs in the United States, but they, like other nationalities, do not always share similar customs, traditions, and socioeconomic statuses, so we must respect each students' differences. Also, being labeled as EAL/ELL doesn't automatically mean that the student is an immigrant as several students are reared in a multi-language household.
DSL (discipline-specific language) is made of two parts: oral and written. DSL are domain specific vocabularies that students must master. Emphasizing DSL and explicit content instruction will help not only EALs but general ed students as well.
There are several strategies teachers can use to ensure all students, including EALs, are held to high standard and are able to complete complex tasks such as analyzing content-specific texts:
- deconstruction of juicy sentences: analyzing focal sentence(s) for linguistic and conceptual reasoning as well as structure so that scaffolding is firmly in place
-close reading through annotation: modeling is encouraged so that students know what they should focus on and have the opportunity to read/analyze same text 3 times with 3 purposes (verbal pronunciation/emphasis, comprehension, clarification).
-content-area conversations: emphasis of academic langauge through scaffolding and intentional planning where the teacher outlines which and how vocabulary and concepts will be targeted.
-explicit writing: topic sentences of paragraphs need to be explicit and students rely on notes to finish explanation so that students can focus on communicating content rather than figuring out which format is appropriate for which content.

Garcia & Godina:
ELL students come to the classroom with a wide variety of backgrounds, but it is clear that they face challenges greater than native speakers. Classroom support is vital to the success of ELLs, especially in grades 5-12.
-Literacy Performance of ELLs: high-level reading strategies such as accessing prior knowledge, inferencing, questioning and summarizing clearly help ELLs more than low-level strategies such as decoding, restating, and vocabulary identification. Also, emphasizing comprehension by encouraging the use of both languages simultaneously rather than keeping them separated also helps ELLs succeed. Physical interaction and manipulation of new concepts help ELLs learn content quicker than taking notes, reading the textbook, and listening to lectures.
-Literacy Instruction of English Language Learners: writing process approaches taught in the gen ed classroom can be more effective than those in an ESL classroom, but it does have its limitations. The ETR (experience-text relationship) was developed as an alternative to both and uses themes to make connections between texts and personal experiences and relies on literature logs and instructional conversations. The use of culturally-relevant texts also increases motivation and comprehension. Finally, CALLA (cognitive academic language learning approach) is effective as is teaches content through sheltered instruction and explicitly taught metacognitive strategies.
-Effective Schools for ELLs: academic goals and expectations are vital to effective instruction as well as direct, active academic involvement of teachers, administration, students, and parents. The focus on continuing native language development while emphasizing higher-order thinking skills also increases literacy in ELLs.
-Guidelines for Effective Literacy Instruction:
 - backgrounds and development must be taken into consideration for all students
 - native-language instruction as well as English-based instruction should work in tandem
 - instruction in both settings must be coordinated whereby difficult topics are introduced in sheltered instruction before in gen-ed classroom
 - teachers must shelter instruction for ELLs by emphasizing inquiry-based and small-group/cooperative learning as well as making sure the native language and English can be used interchangeably as needed to ensure comprehension and connection
  - content instruction must be standards-based for all students with appropriate scaffolding in place
 - ESL-ELA must be offered as an opportunity to interact with age-appropriate literature and make personal connections to text
 - strategy instruction through modeling and guided practice of specific strategies such as questioning, summarizing, and inferencing will boost comprehension
 - process writing must be combined with explicit and structured writing instruction
 - process literacy approach with strategy/explicit instruction is vital especially when it comes to content that is unfamiliar

Connections:
Text-to-text: The scaffolding and connections that teachers must create for ELLs are no different than those used for struggling (and proficient) readers. The more relevant information can be made and the more connections to prior knowledge and experiences that can be made, the more success is ensured.
Text-to-self: I have taken several years of Spanish, and I know that I always did better when I could connect cognates in Spanish and English. Also, reading texts that were of interest led to a higher level of comprehension than with texts that were not interest-based. 
Text-to-world: Explicit instruction leads to greatest success no matter what content area or field it is applied to. Showing students exactly how something works and exactly what is expected only guarantees success. It eliminates questioning and second-guessing and provides a model for them and future activities. 

Questions:
1) What scaffolding techniques are most useful to you in your classroom?
2) What explicit writing strategies do you employ in your classroom?

Struggling Readers

Synthesis
Chapter 5
By middle school, students have assumed and assigned themselves reading identities based on the perception of their parents, teachers, and peers rather than themselves, and they live up to the expectation set forth, especially when becoming a better reader means becoming vulnerable and exposing oneself as a struggler who cannot read or comprehend at the same level as one's peers. Few students are willing to accept this social risk and, as a result, do not grow despite their desire to do so. In order to help the "struggling" readers, we must engage them in a discussion that analyzes how they currently perceive themselves as literacy learners and how they would like their identity to change, and we must empower them and encourage literacy growth not by dictating what skills they will work on but by allowing them to voice which skills they want to improve through meaningful discussion. This establishes ownership and by explaining the relationship between lessons and learning goals and students' literacy goals, students are more likely to participate and grow although a shift in literacy identity may take several months. We also must help students understand that misperception, misanalysis, and incomprehension are normal for everyone as they read by providing opportunities to show our own struggles, normalizing difficulties for everyone, creating an environment that encourages discussion, especially ones regarding struggles and difficulties in reading comprehension, and giving students the opportunity to explore and evaluate literacy strategies to help them. Emphasis, therefore, should be on how the students address their struggles, not how they fixed them.
Chapter 15
Textbooks are an excellent source of information, but beyond using them to find basic comprehension answers, few students can successfully navigate them because they are not well-written and students are unable to interact with them. Although research shows that multiple text sources are more effective than the textbook, students must still become experts in textbook literacy through motivation to read the textbook as well as explicit instruction and guided practice.
Engaging Readers Prereading activities, especially anticipation guides, that provide relevance, choice of texts/tasks, an increase in self-efficacy are crucial. Other strategies include establishing problematic perspectives, comprehension canopy, text twin to bridge concepts to popular culture, text sets, and focusing on critical literacy.
Embedded Comprehension Instruction Content-area teachers must focus on textbook reading strategies to develop and support literacy skills in their content through engaging and interactive content-based lessons, such as academic vocabulary analysis and graphic organizers, that also provide strategy modeling instruction. 
Explicit Strategy Instruction Metacognition and a wide variety of literacy strategies are imperative to students becoming successful readers. The following explicit instruction steps can help improve comprehension: name strategy, explain steps and how/when it is useful, think aloud during modeling, and provide opportunities for guided and independent practice. Focusing on text features is also imperative. Once students are familiar with how a textbook is set up, literacy strategies involving vocabulary, text organization, and inferencing are more easily engaged.
Teacher-Gudided Comprehension Teachers must model good reading and explicitly remind students of strategy steps, and they must ensure that students are able to determine importance by identifying main ideas and make inferences. Interactive Reading Guides (one example is a Reading Road Map) allow students to interact with a text through thoughtful interaction and small group discussion while Question-Answer Relationships help students identify main ideas and make inferences through categorizing answers to questions into 2 categories: "In the Text" ("Right There" and "Think and Search") and "In My Head" ("Author and You" and "On My Own").
Gradual Release of Responsibility To ensure success, a strategy must move progressively from explicit instruction to small-group or partner discussion to independent use.
Constant Strategy Reinforcement Vertical (discipline-specific) and/or horizontal (more generic) alignment of target strategies helps ensure successful literacy development in struggling readers and allows one teacher to introduce a strategy while other reinforce it through an RTI approach.
Chapter 18
Multiple intelligences, universal design for learning, and sheltered instruction are three models of differentiated instruction which teachers engage in on a regular basis either by adjusting lessons for different sections of the same class, groups of learners with similar needs, and individual learners to ensure that all students meet an objective. Teachers must modify content, processes, products and assessments to address students' readiness, interests and learning styles through careful planning and clear learning goals. 
Multiple Intelligences This caters to a wide-variety of learners including not only general education students but also ELLs and those with learning disabilities. Teachers must deliver content using different intelligences and provide opportunities for students to create products based on their intelligences.
Universal Design for Learning UDL began as an approach students with cognitive and physical disabilities but has been adapted for all students and promotes high expectations for all learners. The three primary brain networks (recognition, strategic, and affective) are engaged through instructional goals, methods, materials, and assessments based on three key principals (multiple means of representation, multiple means of action and expression, and multiple means of engagement) and through the use of technology and media.
Sheltered Instructional Observational Protocol Although SIOP was originally designed for ELLs, it is effective for native speakers as well because it requires teachers to provide scaffolding and explicit instruction through 30 features in 8 components (lesson preparation, building background, comprehensible input, strategies, interaction, practice/application, lesson delivery, and review and assessment), and it engages students' background knowledge (building new knowledge, activating prior knowledge, and developing academic vocabulary) to connect prior knowledge and experiences to the content. Flexible grouping and determining essential knowledge are also important parts of SIOP.

Connection
Text-to-self: I did not enjoy history when I was in school despite wanting to primarily because I was not able to connect to and completely understand the textbook. I think I would have been more successful if I had been exposed to different texts instead of the textbook exclusively and if more of my teachers had used strategies similar to those in Chapter 15.
Text-to-Text: None of the strategies presented in these chapters are new. They have been explored in some way or another in our textbooks, especially the content-based strategies, as well as many of the articles we have studied as a faculty.
Text-to-World: I struggle with motivating readers on a daily basis, and I know that the rest of my team struggles with getting students to read and understand their content and textbooks. I have had success with designing lessons and assessments that engage multiple intelligences, and I think it would be interesting to see the other contents try the same.

Questions
1. How do you engage your struggling readers? How much choice do you offer?
2. What type of products/assessments have you created to provide opportunities for all students to be successful?
3. What differentiated strategies have worked best for you?

Narrative and Argumentative Writing

Synthesis
Narrative Writing: McKeough:
Features of narrative texts: sequentiality, particularity, intentional states, and canonicity and breach (which addresses plot development and character development)
Development of narrative features:

• 1st grade: able to introduce characters, express characters' feelings and desires in relation to conflict, identify at least one explicit mental state, and create appropriate sequence of events
• 1st-2nd grade: able to include breach and characters' mental states and a resolution
• 3rd-4th grade: able to write more complicated event(s) that impede resolution and add more mental states
• 5th grade: able to fully resolve problems and complications in resolution, fully reveal characters' motivation
• 6th-7th grade: able to reconcile various experiences with characters' personality traits or enduring mental states thereby making more psychologically complex characters
• 8th-9th grade: able to include additional enduring states and traits that appear as both internal and external conflict
• High School: able to increase psychological complexity and resolve dialectic of internal and external conflict through literary devices such as psychological/social similes and metaphors, flashback and foreshadowing, paradoxical consequences or juxtaposed alternatives, and perspective taking

Supporting Development: Teachers must show students how to read established narratives with a "Writer's Eye" which takes into account the following: literary elements and techniques, setting and character selection development, text structure, diction, author's purpose, and author's choice of genre. Students must analyze the features after they have read the text for comprehension, and texts must get incrementally complex as students age. After analyzation, students must be challenged to mirror the author's strategies in their own writings. In middle and high school, teachers need to be conscious to include more narrative writings in their curriculums and can begin placing more emphasis on character development. 

Argumentative Writing: Ferretti and Lewis:
While we all consistently engage in argumentative discourse, woefully few of us are considered skilled arguers as our arguments are poorly developed and do not take alternative perspectives into account. The same applies to students' writings, but they typically also lack transitions among arguments and do not attempt to integrate or rebut alternative perspectives.  The use of verbal discourse to establish standards of quality argumentative thinking and develop students' ability to think and write argumentatively through partner work or online discussions. This approach forces students to address and rebut alternative perspectives which they can then translate into their writing.  Students must understand that resolving an argument through writing is a problem-solving process, and strategies must be taught to help them manage this type of writing.  Students must systematically progress from writing on commonplace topics to literacy and content-area based topics as these require higher-level thinking and incorporate highly specialized knowledge and skills and the ability to critically evaluate opposing views. Writing arguments at this level establishes higher levels of content comprehension and application.
Dialogic Approach: 
Teachers must not be apprehensive about introducing topics that can create conflict and competition because topics that don't lend themselves to some degree of controversy translate to ineffective, inauthentic argumentative output that lack any argument at all. Teachers must incorporate writings for real audiences that are based on real-world social topics that students have vested interest. These writings encourage broader thinking especially about the alternative perspective and more application of the rebuttal technique. Again, using dialogue, face-to-face interactions allows students to successfully establish the components of a successful argument through role-play, and these role-plays can scaffold the writing process and act as a pre-writing technique that produces a more effective product. They also "normalize" the ability to acknowledge and address alternative viewpoints. Technology can improve argumentative writing as well, and if done correctly, technology improves argumentative thinking better than frequent, consistent essay writing.
Strategies:
SRSD (self-regulated strategy development) provides this support through 6 phases:

•  Develop Background Knowledge: strategy's purposes and benefits explained
• Discuss It: strategies taught through mnemonics
• TREE (develop argument): Topic, Reasons for opinion, Examine reason from audience's perspective, Ending
• PLANS (plan): Pick goals, List ways to meet goals, Notes (make them), Sequence notes
• STOP (plan): Suspend judgement, Take a side, Organize ideas, Plan as you write
• DARE (plan): Develop topic sentence, Add supporting details, Reject possible arguments from other side, End with conclusion
• AIMS (introduction): Attract reader's attention, Identify the problem of the topic so reader understands the issues, Map the context of the problem/provide background needed to understand problem, State thesis so premise is clear
• SCAN (revision): Does it make Sense? Is it Connected to my belief? Can I Add more? Note Errors.
• ASCQ (revision through critical questions): Ask and Answer Critical Questions; argument from consequences strategy (policy based on potential positive/negative consequences) and argument from example strategy (cases and instances to illustrate generalized claim)
• PLAN & WRITE (plan/draft): Pay attention to prompt, List main ideas, Add supporting ideas, Number your ideas before drafting, Work from plan to develop thesis, Remember goals, Include transition words, Try to use different types of sentences, add Exciting, interesting words
• Model It: strategies are modeled for students
• Memorize It: mnemonics are memorized through practice
• Support It: student assumes more responsibility for applying strategy
• Practice It: strategy is internalized, maintained and generalized

Content-Area Arguments:

Literary: Students must first be able to analyze and interpret literature by recognizing patterns of language that allow students to comprehend and interpret the text. They must also translate their interpretations into a written argument supported by repetitions (repeated patterns of imagery, symbolism, syntactic elements) and oppositions (repeated patterns that stand in opposition to one another) through quotes, references to the text, and explanations.

Strategy: THE READER to plan and write interpretative arguments based on repetitions and oppositions:

• Develop a THEsis
• Back up the thesis with REAsons
• Include Details through quotes and text references
• Explain how quotes and text references are related to reasons/thesis
• Review main points in a conclusion

Historical: Students must construct an interpretation of an event based on the analysis of various sources and evidences through corroboration, contextualization, and sourcing. 

Strategy: This can be done through STOP and DARE strategies as well as an historical reasoning strategy that includes two self-questioning routines:

• Consider source and analyze for inaccuracy and answer 3 questions:
• What was author's purpose?
• Do the reasons make sense? 
• Do you find evidence of bias (examine word choice and how many points of view were in document)?
• Focus on conflicting perspectives and answer 5 questions:
• Is author inconsistent?
• Is person described differently?
• Is even described differently?
• What is missing from author's argument?
• What can you infer from reading across sources?

Response:

Text-to-self: I have struggled with getting my students to see, acknowledge, and dispute an opposing argument. We will be writing an argumentative essay in a couple weeks, and I'm going to try a couple of the strategies to see how much of a difference they make.

Text-to-text: The approaches to analyzing literary and historical texts in the Ferretti and Lewis article mirror what we've read in the Hinchman and Jetton texts, especially corroboration, contextualization and sourcing in history.

Text-to-world: I think one of the reasons students have such a hard time seeing both sides of an argument is that representation of alternate viewpoints in society, politics, and media typically takes the form of a list of negative characteristics and ideals. They do not typically present a developed counter-argument. Examining these in class and discussing what would make them better could be one way for students to become more aware as well.

Questions:

1. What method do you use to teach argumentative writing, and do you typically write essays or do have your students produce an alternative form?

2. In the secondary setting, what narrative writings have you assigned, and what expectations and rubrics did you give students? Do you feel it was successful?

Writing Instruction

Hinchman:
The chapter emphasized that we do not promote and encourage writing enough in the classroom. Without adequate practice, students do not learn to write for themselves, and instead, they rely on unoriginal, formulated writings. We must teach students to analyze their audience and write, rewrite and rewrite again while they rethink about their topic. Writers' Notebooks seemed to be a great solution. They allow students to write daily in class, go back and review and revise their writing, and give the teacher the opportunity to meet with students individually.

Sweeny:
The article focused on how writing and literacy has changed with technology. Students rely on technology daily and use it for many purposes including "to socialize with friends...to seek out information...[and] to pursue their interests" (124). Because of this, we must begin to incorporate technology in the writing process and show students that their electronic communication is a form of literacy. We can do this by integrating music, online resources, mentor texts from online sources, and word processing. Computer programs allow students to publish their finished products in a variety of formats which help them understand new literacies. There are also a variety of outlets for publication, so students are not limited to writing on paper.

Hansen & Kissel:
The authors broke down writing instruction into three guidelines:
Guideline 1: Writers are decision makers. Students need a safe environment to write in, need to be able to connect to what they're writing about, and need choices and options in their writings. They also need to be able to choose their genre and the way that they will write their final products.
Guideline 2: Writers consider their audience. Students must be aware of the various audiences they write for, so they need experience writing to various ones and they need to be able to adjust their vocabulary and voice for their audiences. Obviously, some audiences are easier to write for, especially their peers, which makes them more passionate about their writing. Finally, teachers need to encourage writing beyond the standardized test writing because they limit and squash students' writing creativity.
Guideline 3: Writers evaluate their drafts. Emphasis should be placed on the writing itself rather than grades so students are more open to writing. Students should be reflect on and evaluate their own writings to improve them, and when writing is taught to the test, students' writing and creativity suffer, and they become less interested in writing. Finally, students flourish when they're able to write/communicate in a way that is comfortable and familiar to them.

Connections:
Text-to-self: Thinking of my own experiences in the classroom, I get more participation and thoughtful responses when students are able to write about themselves or something that is meaningful to them. I am looking forward to finding other formats for their final products, and think that visual literacy and online formats would be interesting to experiment with.

Text-to-world: I think it is difficult at times to remember that social networking and the like fall into the literacy category, but it is an extremely important part of our students' lives, so we have to be cognizant of it and try to incorporate as much technology into our classrooms as possible so that students will embrace literacy and writing more.

Text-to-text: All three texts emphasize the importance of not teaching a prescriptive essay format so that students have the freedom to explore various genres, formats, and audiences. Allowing individual freedoms provides students a safe writing environment where they are more open to exploring new things.

Questions:
1. How do you incorporate social media and visual literacies in your classroom?
2. Have you tried Writers' Notebooks in your room? How much time per class period/week did you devote to writing in them?

History and Art

Synthesis
Jetton:
History is tough! Chapter 8 discussed protocols through analysis of two students, Ayesha and Brad, who had different approaches to reading and thinking about history. History provides a unique opportunity to examine validity and viewpoints through analysis, synthesis, and inference/evaluation of various accounts and texts. An effective teacher will guide students through various texts and give them opportunities to discuss their findings and opinions rather than relying solely on a textbook to teach major events because the teacher knows that students must be able to synthesize and evaluate sources in order to be productive and successful historian. The skill of reconciling different viewpoints, though, is a much-needed lifeskill and can be applied to other content areas as well.

Chapter 9 discussed literacy in the arts and the unique challenge of literacy in subjects that rely on symbols, sounds, and artifacts rather than written language. The arts are a prime area in which to incorporate multimodal literacies such as videos, songs, podcasts, paintings, photographs, and the like. The arts have unique vocabularies and literacies that students must master, and students must be able to synthesize and apply their arts-specific vocabulary and background knowledge in order to understand, identify, critique, and create materials. These skills require higher-level thinking which can also translate into other content areas.

Hinchman:
This chapter also stressed the importance of students critically thinking about historical texts rather than relying solely on the textbook's explanation. The authors stated that historians (and therefore students) needed to do 3 things with historical texts in order to think about ideas: source, contextualize, and corroborate. An effective way for teachers to get students to do this is to provide them with conflicting, contradicting texts that challenge them to sort through facts, opinions, points of views, and purposes in order to glean a true understanding of what actually occurred.

Connection
Text-to-self: I don't remember analyzing contradicting texts in history; I only remember being exposed to various primary source documents. For me, history was mass memorization, and I never did as well in class as I wanted, and I never really learned as much as I had hoped it. I wonder how different my history classes in high school would have been if there was more of a focus on reconciling viewpoints rather than just memorizing facts.

Text-to-text: These chapters continued to reiterate that disciplinary texts are written differently and take different skill sets to work successfully through them. These books as well as others on disciplinary texts all stress the importance of using different literacy strategies in the different content areas.

Text-to-world: As I stated above, being able to recognize there are different versions and viewpoints in history as well as in everyday life. Being able to appreciate this and analyze what you hear and realize you may not have all the facts before forming an opinion would help students in their personal lives as well.

Questions: 
1) How do you motivate reluctant readers to navigate multiple and sometimes complex texts when they lack the motivation/skills to read the textbook?
2) How do you incorporate art into your curriculum? How receptive are students to it?

Disciplinary Texts - Science

Synthesis:

Hinchman: This section talked about Eduardo and negotiating his success in science class.  As an ELL, he struggled initially with science and lacked motivation to do work or participate in class, and he was a frequent distractor. His science teacher Will focused on academic literacy through Talking to the Text and double-entry I Saw/I thought notes and on metacognative discussions. Will continued to expect more and more out of Eduardo's contributions in discussions, and Eduardo gained enough trust in his abilities as well as his teacher to attempt more participation. Once Eduardo experienced small successes, he began attempting more and more, and as the year progressed he became a leader in the classroom.

The premise of "negotiating success" is ongoing "literacy learning opportunities, explicit strategies instructions, collaborative learning structures, and metacognative inquiry into reading and learning" (321-323). Holding students to high standards promotes more willingness to participate and the chance to succeed.

Jetton: This section spoke of the challenges of reading science text, specifically with vocabulary (basic meanings in addition to layered meanings), comprehension (ability to put concepts in different formats together), fluency (knowing where to get information & when to use it), and writing (being able to communicate formulas as well as more intricate lab reports and other data formats). In order to best learn the text, students should focus on the various meanings of vocabulary, actively engage with the vocabulary and text, and write arguments to support findings.

Connections:

Text-to-self: I struggle trying to get students to attempt work they believe is too difficult for them. It can be a big struggle to get them to trust me enough to attempt it, but it's worth the effort when they realize they can do it.

Text-to-text: I think the strategies in this chapter mirror strategies for other disciplinary texts: having to understand academic vocabulary, having to actively work with the text, and writing to reinforce concepts.

Text-to-world: It is important for students to understand how to approach various texts and the different types of thinking that each discipline requires. I think if they can be more aware of the approach to take in each discipline, they will have more success without having to depend solely on the teacher to guide them.

Questions:

1. What strategies are most effective for you when attempting to engage unmotivated students?

2. What do discussions look like in your classroom? How are they arranged/monitored?

Math Literacy

The Hinchman text focused on the importance of using all three components of mathematical systems of representation: symbolic notation, visual representation, and linguistic system.  The need to activate prior knowledge is necessary for students to succeed as is the ability to rephrase what the problems are saying. I thought the strategy shown in the chapter was interesting as it had the students visually represent the problem as well as explain the problem verbally and through writing.  Being able to explain something to someone else is a great way to learn a new concept, and it helps you learn the material better.

The Jetton text brought up an interesting argument in that most mathematical concepts are presented through objects rather than textually which leaves students at a disadvantage.  Students need to be exposed to content area texts in order to become proficient at computational fluency, conceptual understanding, and mathematical processes. The authors presented a 3-step approach to mathematical literacy: identify the texts that will be read/written during the lesson, identify the literacies needed for the lesson, and develop a lesson that allows the students to successfully navigate the text and literacies. They also stressed the need for successful, sustained collaboration between math and literacy teachers.

The Moji video information is similar to the two texts in that we must help students work through texts so that they are active participants with the text, not just processing it.  The emphasis in the video was on the 5 Es: expose, engage, elicit/engineer, examine, and evaluate.

Connections:
Text-to-self: I know that when I was able to apply background knowledge or connections to content area texts, I was more successful. In my own classroom, I try to help students make connections as often as possible so that they deepen their understanding.  I know that I would have been more successful at math if I was able to see how the information was relevant and I was able to manipulate the work more rather than just simply be given the processes to solve problems.

Text-to-text: Most literacy texts I've read stress the importance of having students apply background knowledge and connect with the text in order to be successful.  Texts also stress the importance of being able to verbally express how to solve problems or explain ideas rather than just solving problems or answering basic comprehension questions.

Text-to-world: I think we have to attempt to make everything we teach relevant to students' lives or they will not successfully learn the material.  Of course, there will be times where that will not be possible, but the more we can make them aware of how it applies to their lives (not just in math, but in all subjects), the more they understand the need to learn the material and the more receptive to new ideas they will be.

Questions:
1. What are some strategies you use to help students think more critically? I struggle to get them to want to think deeper and apply their background knowledge, and I am sure that they are the same way with their other subjects.
2. Do you know of any cross-curricular projects that could connect math with either ELA or history/social studies so that students can see & apply concepts in other content areas?

Synthesis:

Jetton: I really enjoyed this section as it made me examine how I create and teach my own curriculum. I think one of the biggest concepts that stood out to me was that students are aliterate—that they choose not to read and write. I think, though, that incorporating some of the strategies outlined in the chapter could potentially alleviate the issue. One of the easiest ways to get kids to want to read and write is to get them interested, and as a teacher, it is our job to engage them. The Jetton text states that “…the concept of the purpose of literature is that literature is written by people through the ages in an effort to share with readers a glimpse into the human condition at that one place and time” (143). I think that if we can impress this upon students and find ways for them to connect with the text, we will be successful in getting students interested in reading and writing. 

The authors outlined a plan that allows students to successfully connect with the text while also learning critical reading skills. Before reading, they stressed that it is important to not provide too much background knowledge to the students so that they don’t enter the text with preconceived notions. They also state that the themes should be presented prior to reading so that students have a purpose for reading. During reading, students need time to focus on reading and connecting with their text.  Once they finish reading their section, then they can discuss connections, theme, and other literary elements with their peers and teacher.  After reading, there needs to be a meaningful summative assessment which does not include a multiple choice test.  They suggested a multimedia project incorporating the focus of the discussions.

Hinchman I thought the sourcing, contextualization, and corroboration technique outlined in the text could easily be adapted for any subject. They used focused on the use in science and social studies, but I think it could be adapted for ELA when looking at the validity of various sources. It is an effective strategy for all levels, helps struggling readers improve, and helps students write better.

Text-to-self: When we started our literature circles this year, we did not provide much background knowledge to students other than brief descriptions of the book as well as the theme that all the novels. It has been fun seeing them connect to the text through theme and other during-reading activities. After reading a section, they complete a reflection sheet which asks them for a summary, connections to the text, an illustration or symbol (depending on which we’re focusing on), a favorite quote, and an examination of diction. We had a few ideas about an end project, but we are going to have them use technology to create a presentation about the symbolism in their novel.

Text-to-text: Most books regrading literacy talk about the importance of making connections and it’s relationship to student success.

Text-to-world: I worry that a lot of what (& how) we are pushed to teach will continue to push students to the aliterate status.  There are so many things that we know we have to teach that we sacrifice quantity for quality.  Really, though, if students have the opportunity to connect to text, write about something they’re passionate about, they feel more competent and successful and are more willing to branch out to other types of texts and writings.

Text Complexity and Disciplinary Text

The Hinchman text compared text complexity to small children playing soccer, and I think it is a fabulous analogy.  When they first begin playing soccer (or reading), they are only able to concentrate on one skill/strategy at a time.  As children mature and become better readers (or soccer players!), you must add skills and strategies to their repertoire so that they can become better, more engaged readers.  If children are not challenged when they read, they cannot and will not grow as readers.  Teachers must consciously balance challenging texts with their non-challenging ones, but they must also model specific strategies to help their students, especially with content-area texts.  Setting a purpose for reading, examining text structure, and monitoring comprehension are vital for students to understand more complex, content-based texts.  Each discipline area has unique vocabulary and text structures, and students must have a navigator to help them make their way through them until they are proficient enough with the strategies to do it themselves.

Text-to-text: 

The strategies outlined this week in the Jetton text were expanded versions of the ones presented last week in Chapter 4.  The strategies were also similar to the ones outlined in Chapter 8 of the Hinchman text.  All the readings stressed the need for a purpose for reading, and that is vital for every reader to establish.  All the strategies are designed to help with comprehension which is vital in more complex texts.

Text-to-world:

I think that just as any good coach pushes his/her players to become better people and better athletes by challenging them, a good teacher must do the same for his/her students.  Allowing students to remain stagnant readers because it's easier for them and they enjoy it only sets students up for failure in education.  They must be challenged and engage with a variety of texts in order to become proficient and be able to interact with highly complex disciplinary texts.

Text-to-self:

I thought the table in the Hinchman text on page 103 was extremely useful to help identify text complexity.  I actually had the opportunity to talk about with a student after he chose a low Lexile level book.  We looked up the Lexile level online, then looked up where it ranked on the chart.  When he realized that it was in the 4th-5th grade level (he's in 8th), he agreed that he would find another book that was more appropriate for his level.

Questions:

1. When incorporating Internet-based documents into the curriculum, should students be allowed to freely search for the information, should they be given guidelines or specific sites to search, or should they be given direct links to find the information?

2) What are some of the effective strategies that you use to engage students in non-fiction articles?  I've used the RAP IT with limited success, and wondered if anyone had tried any of the other strategies?

Comprehension

Synthesis: 
Hinchman text:
Fisher and Frey went through various reading strategies including having a purpose for reading, modeling, close reading, and other strategies that include a focus on self-questioning, summarizing, inferencing, self-monitoring, connection, and analysis. I liked how they stressed the importance of using a variety of texts across the contents so that students can make connections between different subjects. I also thought their emphasis on all kinds of discussions was insightful.

Jetton text:
They stressed that texts can and should come from a variety of different sources and that teachers need to be "flexible and open to various options" (92).  They also believe that teachers need to use a cyclic planning process and take their students' socio-economic and cultural backgrounds into consideration when planning.  Learning goals are important as are some of the same strategies Fisher and Frey outlined: purposeful reading, questioning, inferencing, cross-curricular connections, and discussion.


Connection:
Text-to-self:
The articles validated what I do in my own classroom.  We do a lot of close readings, and after readings, we have activities to summarize, inference, visualize, and reflect on the text they completed.  We also have a lot of discussions about the text as a whole class as well as in small groups.  Finally, I try to connect our readings and vocabulary with what they are studying in their other core classes.  I think that the strategies have helped my students increase their comprehension overall.

Text-to-text:
The articles remind me of several articles we've read and studied during our CT time at school as well as departmental meetings.  I think they are applicable to any content and could easily be integrated into any class.

Text-to-world: 
I think more emphasis needs to be put on making connections between core classes.  I know that would have made learning a lot easier on me when I was in school, so I try to have students make as many connections as they can through readings, vocabulary, and any questions they may have.

Questions:
Has anyone tried the RAP IT comprehension strategy with any success?
What types/formats of discussions have you had success with in your classroom?

Vocabulary

Synthesis:

Vocabulary is vital to learning across all curriculums.  When students lack an adequate vocabulary, they struggle in school, they lose interest in learning, and they can shut down.  To help students, all content-area teachers must teach vocabulary, but just teaching the words is not enough.  According to Karen Bromley, students must interact with the vocabulary through vicarious experiences, direct experiences, and direct instruction in order to truly comprehend the words.  Wood and Blanton's article went into a more in-depth analysis of content-area vocabulary, but they also stressed the importance of multiple exposure to vocabulary words in a variety of different ways.  Although it discussed the importance of vocabulary and teaching it in a variety of ways, the Manzo, Manzo, and Thomas article focused more on the decline of vocabulary and its impact on American society. 

Response:
Bromley (Ch 7): I really enjoyed this chapter, and I know that I can implement some of the strategies easily into my classroom.  I shared the Root Word Web and Inspiration Organizer with my co-teacher, and we are going to implement them when we begin our unit on root words.  I think they're simple and easy strategies, but they will help students learn the root better than the other strategies that we've tried so far.  I also liked the concept of Teach-Teach-Trade, and I want to share this strategy with my science and social studies teachers.

Wood and Blanton article: I liked how they went into detail about the different content-area vocabulary.  Even though words are central to language arts, I think I take for granted how difficult math, science and social studies content vocabulary can be.  (Unless I sit back and remember how many times math made me cry in high school!)  After reading this, I am going to help my students relate the words in our curriculum to their other subjects, and hopefully more discussions and applications will help increase their vocabulary.

Manzo, Manzo, and Thomas: I loved this article, and I completely agree that vulgarity is taking over as "low frequency" words become obsolete and old-fashioned.  I think a large vocabulary gives one an advantage over those who are content to live with a limited, vulgar one.  I shared this article with my students, especially when they complained about having to read outside of class.  We discussed the difference in mass media when I was young and now, and we discussed how important learning new words was to their success.  

Questions: 

1) When reading to increase word exposure and vocabulary base, how important is the type of material being read?  Should students be focused on higher-leveled material, or are easily-accessible texts sufficient?

2) What is an engaging way to incorporate higher-level vocabulary in on daily basis in a classroom with students with reading levels varying from 3rd-10th grades?

Test post :)