{"content":{"sharePage":{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"74541821","dateCreated":"1438566694","smartDate":"Aug 2, 2015","userCreated":{"username":"mkh22","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/mkh22","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/thefacultyroom.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/74541821"},"dateDigested":1532760770,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"Chapter one Transacting with Texts","description":"One of the points that immediately struck me as being of importance was that "instruction needs to be organzized so that readers are encourage to become actively engaged with texts". As I read through this, I admit I feel fortunate to be a Language Arts teacher. My curriculum lends itself to this type of instruction although I am realizing I need to promote more discussion and speaking about the text. What occured to me is how difficult this concept could be where the informational text (text book) is involved. Botel goes on to state that if reading in school is regarded as completing assignmnets, readers are unlikely to learn strategically. This is how I was educated when interatcting with an informational text. Read through it and find the answer. I find I've retained very little of that knowledge except for areas in which I had a strong interest. I love the idea of giving students access to a variety of opportunitites with different types of texts. Imagine studying The Great Depression and reading newspaper and magazine articles from that era.
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\nAnother point that had great meaning for me was Botel's description of writing and its close relationship with literature. I've always understood this, but my understanding now has a new layer. Writing IS directly related to reading, but it is also part of the reading process. When many teachers hear the word "writing", they immediately envision a lengthy assignment to complete and grade. This is not what Botel is suggesting, rather writing as a means of interacting with the text. I completely agree with the statement where he suggests that many middle and upper level students struggle with writing because of their lack of exposure to a variety of texts.
\nThe last thing that I found of great importance was the statement about reading aloud. I read aloud often and use audio books in my classroom. Giving below grade-level readers access to the text is a great step in getting them interested in reading. This concept was actually proven in my classroom last year. My lowest class (the majority of the class being below grade level) read Mildred Taylor's Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. The entire book was consumed via audio book. My co-teacher and myself were delighted with the conversations and writing that was produced throughout the novel. The kids were so excited there was a sequel to the book, they begged to read it. We ended up using the sequel as a read-aloud in the classroom, and although I did not get through all the curriculum I normally do, it was time well spent. I know many of the students went on to ask for the entire series or were downloading the next book on their devices. They were eager to interact with a new text based on prior knowledge. This gave them practice and hopefully was a step in helping them to better their reading practices.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"83168507","body":"I also use audio books for the lower level IEP classes, and we are also amazed at how well the students write as compared to if they read it independently. When we do independent reading with the lower sections, it is in very small chunks and is then completely summarized by the teacher; often the students just wait for the summary as compared to taking the initiative to learn the material on their own. I love the fact that you did Let the Circle be Unbroken because the students come to me in eighth grade telling me how excited they are to read the prequel The Land. Their prior knowledge from your class makes our discussions very exciting! I feel I used to do more speaking and listening before the initiative of the Common Core. The Coach books often consume a large chunk of my time; therefore, the projects and "fun" times had to disappear in order to complete the supplemental material. This year my goal is to find a way to interact with the text more instead of the "search and find" method of answering. I am also going to try to use the media to supplement my material as well; you gave me that idea with your Great Depression idea!","dateCreated":"1438781804","smartDate":"Aug 5, 2015","userCreated":{"username":"rcorson","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/rcorson","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}}],"more":0}]},{"id":"74529505","dateCreated":"1438363292","smartDate":"Jul 31, 2015","userCreated":{"username":"rcorson","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/rcorson","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/thefacultyroom.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/74529505"},"dateDigested":1532760770,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"Chapter One Transacting with Texts and the Plainer Truths Reflection","description":"While reading how to utilize transacting texts by engaging students in a variety of authentic purposes, I now have multiple ideas of how to interact with the students in my reading class. I have always believed that all lessons should have an authentic purpose; therefore, we do a lot of text to self connections within the classroom. The Plainer Truths suggest using discussions, enactments, and other media to define the purpose of the reading. Discussion is not an option in my classroom; it is required of all students to participate and join in on the enlightening discussion within the classroom. We do presentations such as what I call "character cards." With the character cards, a certain number of students are assigned a specific character that evening and must write a first person point of view reflection based on what happened to that character in that day's reading.
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\nI enjoyed the reading the piece on "schemata" because I am often telling my students to "read between the lines." When teaching poetry, I am constantly having to reconstruct the idea that some things are and can be subjective. Not everything is black or white; we do have grey areas as well. Eighth grade students struggle with taking prior knowledge and filing it into an implicit piece of writing. The students who struggle the most with this are the top level students because they want the RIGHT AND CORRECT answer as opposed to suggestions or ideas. This is where bringing the "new to the known" is important because as the year progresses, the students become more comfortable with problem finding or solving as opposed to being "empty vessels" of information.
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\nThe final piece of the reading that struck home with me was the reading aloud in the classroom. I always read to my classes, yet for some reason I get flack from some fellow teachers who think the eighth graders should not be read to in the classroom. Now, I do not JUST read to my students; we do a variety of strategies such has large group reading, spirit reading, deck of cards reading, dice reading, small group reading, and independent reading. Some of these stragegies are typical in the classroom, and some I have completely made up to keep it interesting. The times that I do read aloud to the class, it is amazing to see their faces react to the Literature because they can hear the inflection and the passion I display in the reading. I know which parts of the text I want to read, and which parts are best they read alone, and by using these strategies intertwining with each other, we have a good flow within the classroom.
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\nWhen reading new material, I always look for something that would take my teaching to a new level. In this particualr text, I believe this would be the section on the BDA effect. I know I do the before and during aspect, but I truly struggle with the after. I often get trapped by the "bell" and before I know it, I am writing in my plan book to "continue lesson and make sure to wrap up..."; this year I am going to focus on tickets out the door or exit slips. I believe this would take me to the new level of the "grand conversation" between the students, the teacher and the text.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"83141043","body":"I too resonated with the reading aloud strategies. I would love to swap ideas. I use many of your strategies, but I see a few I don't recognize. I also do many of the things suggested to interact with the text, but I am lacking in the speaking (sharing ) part of it. I struggle with the after part of the BDA model as well and I am thinking of strategies to combat that.
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\nI also place a lot of emphasis on prior knowledge and relating your own life\/experiences to the text, and I completely agree that the top level students are the ones that struggle with this. I'm beginning to wonder if they are not just as large a challenge as our lower level kids. Our top level kids may not be interacting with the text as we think but merely getting answer to complete the assignment.","dateCreated":"1438567480","smartDate":"Aug 2, 2015","userCreated":{"username":"mkh22","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/mkh22","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}}],"more":0}]},{"id":"74508059","dateCreated":"1438123080","smartDate":"Jul 28, 2015","userCreated":{"username":"musikfan1","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/musikfan1","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/thefacultyroom.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/74508059"},"dateDigested":1532760770,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"The Plainer Truths - pp. 12-15: 2 VIP's","description":"One important point of significance that Botel makes is that all readers bring some level of schemata to the table with them when they read a particular passage, and this has a profound effect on the degree of comprehension. I never realized how significant this is. Reading a text is not simply the act of ingesting words on a page but rather the first step in a process of planning, predicting, hypothesizing, and search in order to take control of the reading process in order to better comprehend the material (Botel, p.13). This process is going to look very different for each student based on their particular schemata. As teachers, it is up to us to facilitate that process and work with our students to develop good reading skills. A second important point that Botel highlights are the two types of texts which readers will encounter - literary and informational. I find it interesting that in my own educational experiences, I seem to remember most of my personal reading experiences focusing more on literary texts rather than informational. I think that my own personal bias comes into play here as I always enjoyed literary reading much more than informative literature. (Sciences and math were never my favorite subjects!). Nevertheless, we need balance in our reading experiences, and the informative side is important as students do need to learn critical thinking which leads to debate and development of arguments. Everyone should be able to stand on their convictions and beliefs, and literature can help to influence and shape those things.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[],"more":0}]},{"id":"72230034","dateCreated":"1424749235","smartDate":"Feb 23, 2015","userCreated":{"username":"slbender","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/slbender","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/thefacultyroom.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/72230034"},"dateDigested":1532760770,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"The Plainer Truths","description":"Writing needs to be meaningful in order for students to benefit from doing it. This is one of the ideas that sticks out to me and one that serves as a simple reminder to pose questions\/prompts that will make the students want to express their opinions. The writing process uses a different part of the brain to anchor ideas than does verbal communication. Because of this, students should be given as many opportunities to write as they are given to speak.
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\nGroup discussion allows some students to assume passive roles, and such passivity is not conducive to individual learning. It was mentioned in the reading that "even a brief jotting frequently improves the quality of discussion and increases the number of students who regularly participate." As good teachers our goal is student involvement. If we can get each student to write even short bits about the topic of discussion, the student is running the idea through his\/her head and is interacting with the concept in a personal way that best fits his schema of preexisting knowledge. Frequently writing about a topic that one is learning will provide the student multiple opportunities to interact with the topic and this learn it more fully.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[],"more":0}]},{"id":"72228934","dateCreated":"1424744784","smartDate":"Feb 23, 2015","userCreated":{"username":"tbartello","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/tbartello","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/thefacultyroom.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/72228934"},"dateDigested":1532760770,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"The Plainer Truths","description":"Posting for J. Robinson
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\nThe main theme resounding throughout the reading was the vital role that writing plays across the curriculum. Many long-held practices in education have proceeded with teaching writing in isolation, as well as, the other core content areas. The idea of writing across the curriculum allows students to move beyond the necessity of memorizing facts verbatim and regurgitating that information back in the words of the textbook\/teacher. Students play an active role in synthesizing the material, internalizing comprehension, and relaying the information back to others in their own words. This was captured in the Vygotsky quote when it began with, \u201cWriting should be meaningful (for students).\u201d
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\nThe second idea that stood out to me was moving beyond the time-honored traditions of what \u201ctrue writing\u201d is. Again, many still hold fast to the idea that writing is this lengthy process that requires specific guidelines be met so that the teacher can view the original document, make the suggested grammatical changes, and have the student re-write for a final copy. The idea of the purpose behind the writing to begin with and the actual process it go through is in direct contrast to what we typically see. The idea that writing begins as a social process and can be as simple as a poem, commentary, notes, letter, etc. takes the focus of writing to write to writing to learn.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[],"more":0}]},{"id":"72225868","dateCreated":"1424736370","smartDate":"Feb 23, 2015","userCreated":{"username":"aahull","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/aahull","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/thefacultyroom.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/72225868"},"dateDigested":1532760770,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"The Plainer Truths","description":"The role of the teacher in the writing process is what stood out to me the most. I could absolutely relate to the statement that "student writing is a burden." As indicated throughout the chapter,I dreaded assessing student writings. I now know that I was trying to fix too much at one time. It became overwhelming for both me and the students. After reading a student's piece of writing I had an idea of what it should sound like. I would then lead them to those revisions. As the passage said, I was interfering with the writing. I love the suggested comments that we can use when conferencing with students! I love the term co-investigator when referring to the student\/teacher writing conference.
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\nI was particularly interested in the discussion of pre-writing as well. Most of us think of pre-writing as written activities to gather and organize ideas to use in a writing. However, it begins with life experiences. It then can become a conversation. Eventually, it then becomes written words. We all have great brainstorming activities that we have our students use before writing a draft. I love the idea of using similar activities after a draft has been written. What a great revising tool!","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[],"more":0}]},{"id":"72224880","dateCreated":"1424732632","smartDate":"Feb 23, 2015","userCreated":{"username":"andyhull2","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/andyhull2","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/thefacultyroom.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/72224880"},"dateDigested":1532760770,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"The Plainer Truths","description":"One thing that stuck out to me was in the Integrating Writing with Reading section. I do believe that writing can engage all learners. the example given about class discussions and students being passive is very true. I've noticed that any time we write, even briefly, and then discuss, the whole class is more comfortable with sharing and the participation rate goes way up. I would like to try having the students share with a partner before having a class discussion to see how that affects participation. Full participation is always one of my goals and writing activities require everyone to think and not just the person volunteering their answer.
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\nAnother point that stuck out to me was in the Writer's conference section. Students learn what questions to ask and can then use those questions when conferencing with other students. I like that some teachers require their students to come to the conference with an agenda. This allows the student to come prepared with questions and ideas about how to improve the writing. It also shows that the writer wants to learn something. I have had conferences with students after writing(prior district trainings), however, I will add the agenda part to how I've already used one-to-one conferences.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"79604146","body":"Posting for J. Robinson
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\nResponse to andyhull2:
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\nI agree that having students share with one another is beneficial. It\u2019s like a gauge that lets them know if they are on the right track. This usually boosts their confidence and students who wouldn\u2019t normally volunteer or participate are now actively involved.
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\nI\u2019ve never done the student-created agenda, but also think it would be a nice add-on. I find myself needing to review what they\u2019ve written, which can take time on longer writings. This would speed up the conference times if they come prepared for specific points of discussion.","dateCreated":"1424744838","smartDate":"Feb 23, 2015","userCreated":{"username":"tbartello","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/tbartello","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}}],"more":0}]},{"id":"72221260","dateCreated":"1424717887","smartDate":"Feb 23, 2015","userCreated":{"username":"lmurgas1","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/lmurgas1","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/thefacultyroom.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/72221260"},"dateDigested":1532760770,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"The Plainer Truths","description":"One point of the text that caught my attention was about the importance of writing across the curriculum. Too often, students are given a writing assignment which is only read at critiqued by the teacher. This strategy does not result in creating writers. Students need to be given opportunities to write in various content areas to a diverse audience.
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\nThe second point that struck me was integrating writing with reading. Although this is not "recreating the wheel" the text describes explicit strategies to use to engage students in writing while comprehending text. Comprehending text, for many students, is difficult. Using strategies such as Before, During and After can build comprehension skills while developing writing skills.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[],"more":0}]},{"id":"72221224","dateCreated":"1424717754","smartDate":"Feb 23, 2015","userCreated":{"username":"tbartello","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/tbartello","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/thefacultyroom.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/72221224"},"dateDigested":1532760770,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"The Plainer Truths","description":"The first thing that I found very interesting was that having all students write, "may appear to slow down the teacher's coverage of material, but the students' active use of language insures a high level of meaningful involvement and participation in the class and the likelihood of better comprehension and retention of the material being taught." I find it interesting because you often have a classroom discussion of assess what the students know about, but by having all students write about the topic, the classroom teacher will be better able to gauge the the understanding of each student in the classroom.
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\nThe second topic I found interesting was the responding to student writing section. I have conferenced with many students and written more comments than I can imagine. It never occurred to me that I was changing the focus of what the student was writing about or that the student may have revisions in mind that would make changes that would change the focus of the story.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[],"more":0}]},{"id":"72220488","dateCreated":"1424715893","smartDate":"Feb 23, 2015","userCreated":{"username":"MUedell","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/MUedell","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/thefacultyroom.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/72220488"},"dateDigested":1532760770,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"The Plainer Truths","description":"There were several points that stuck out as I read. The first point is that students should be involved in the writing and should want to do it rather than it being a requirement. This is my tenth year of teaching, and each year I have some students who absolutely enjoy writing while others dread it. It has always been my goal to \u201cmake students love\u201d writing. I have been successful thus far. I start every year by asking the students how many of them would like to go a particular vacation destination, but they just don\u2019t think they will every get the opportunity. I proceed to tell them that I can make sure they get to that place by the end of the year. Of course, no one believes me, but I tell the students you can go anywhere or do anything you have ever wanted with writing. My experience has proven that when students choose their topics and ways to compose their writings, they appreciate it and learn more! Hence, I agree with the reading that students need to be involved and the writing must be meaningful to them each, personally.
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\nThe second point that resonated with me was that revising and editing is on-going. Even after we feel that we feel our material is ready to be published, we still may change the writing. I always show examples with my own writings that were composed many years ago. We always find something that can be improved upon. I always tell my students, \u201cwriters are never finished","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[],"more":0}]}],"more":true},"comments":[]},"http":{"code":200,"status":"OK"},"redirectUrl":null,"javascript":null,"notices":{"warning":[],"error":[],"info":[],"success":[]}}