Session+3

=3.1 Monitoring Understanding=

Almost everything that goes on in my classroom is a way for me to monitor students' understanding. This includes formal “after reading” activities and assessment like projects, essays and open responses and tests and quizzes, as well as regular “during reading” things like journal entries (dialectical journals), student-run discussions, think/write/pair/share, free-writing, verbal check-ins, “tickets to leave,” etc. How much understanding students demonstrate determines how I proceed in a given lesson / unit. With more technology, I imagine integrating digital / internet tools, such as those we are using in this course, to monitor their understanding. One specific application might be for students to post responses online before class, allowing me to get a sense of their understanding before the next class and adjust my plans accordingly.

=3.2 Strategy Overview Summary & Reflection=

This article provides an overview of before, during and after reading strategies. The authors explain the purpose of breaking up a lesson / unit in this way (to prepare students for learning, to help students comprehend and construct concepts, and to help students reflect on what they have learned). It includes specific strategies for each stage, as well as student activities for each strategy.

I definitely approach each unit (and most individual lessons) using the “before, during, after” framework, and use many of the specific activities this article suggests. For example, I start every unit with essential questions, design during-reading activities to continually return to these essential questions, and make sure to have students reflect back on the questions at the end. I actually spend a lot of time in the “before reading” stage, especially at the beginning of a new unit. Sometimes I question myself about spending so much time on the “lead-up,” but I always come back to it, because I have found that it really helps. Giving students a sense of purpose as well as a meaningful understanding of background knowledge as they approach a new text is a very valuable strategy that “pays off” as students proceed through the unit. Not only do they comprehend more completely, but they also get a sense that what they are learning is meaningful and related to the “real world.” Finally, when it comes to before, during, and after reading strategies, I find that it is important to tie the three together, consistently revisiting the questions and predictions generated in earlier stages. Among other things, this lets students take stock of what they are learning (and the fact they //are//, in fact, learning), which is empowering in itself.

=3.3 Wordle as a Before Reading Strategy=

What does it seem that Wordle can do for the user? Wordle seems like a great “before reading” activity because it offers a unique way to preview the text. Seeing the words all jumbled up gives students a taste, and a general idea of what the text will be about, without the need to completely understand it or come to any definite answers. Because the most common words are bigger, students can predict what some of the main ideas of the text might be. I could imagine some interesting and effective “before reading” discussions about what students notice in and what they think it might suggest about the text.

How useful does Wordle seem to be as a before reading strategy for students? As I wrote above, I think Wordle could be a very useful before reading strategy. I love that they are dealing with the actual language of a text, but in an abstract way that frees them up to make predictions. Sometimes I preview a text by having the students read, for example, the first paragraph, and while I do find it useful in some ways, I also notice that students can feel more pressure to really “get it,” right of the bat, which is not necessarily my intention. A Worlde would eliminate that pressure.

What type of learners would benefit from using a Worlde? Any type of learner could benefit, but clearly this would work well with visual learners who could immediately hone in on the larger words, etc. Also, depending on how it is used, a Wordle could help with vocabulary, letting students preview some of the most important words in a text, which they could then look up or discuss with peers. This would be helpful for all, but especially for English Language Learners and students with comprehension-related disabilities or limited vocabularies.


 * Wordle of //The New Yorker// article: "Fresh Hell: what's behind the boom in dystopian fiction for young readers?" by Laura Miller**

media type="custom" key="9864303" Assuming that I had no idea what the article was about, I could look over my Wordle and notice the words "Hunger" and "Games" displayed prominently. Other words that pop out are "dytopia", "dystopian" and "dystopia, as well as words related to literature, like "novels","stories" and "readers." Putting all of this together, and accessing my prior knowledge about dystopian literature and the young adult dystopian series //The Hunger Games//, I can predict that the article is going to be about //The Hunger Games// as an example of dystopian literature. I also notice words relating to age and generation, like "adults", "teenagers", "adolescent" and "children." I also notice the letters "Y.A." These observations lead to my prediction that the article will be about dystopian literature as it relates to different age groups. Other words, such as "society", "social" and "community" also fit in with the genre of dystopian literature.

=3.4 During Reading Activity - Annotating a Text=

media type="custom" key="9877307"

After having read the article, I can see the predictions I made using the Wordle were fairly accurate. The article did focus on dystopian literature for young adults, comparing and contrasting it to the classic adult dystopian novels, and making the claim that dystopias can serve an allegories of high school. Based on the Wordle, I expected the article to focus more directly on //The Hunger Games//, but this was not the case.

Annotating the text is the most basic and perhaps the most useful during-reading activity. As I tell my students, it is one of the techniques we teach them that they are very likely to continue using in the future, even when nobody is telling them to. I like to show them examples of some of my own books, which are always covered in notes. Marking up the text using technology appeals to me in some ways and not in others. Personally, I prefer to have a hard copy in front of me and to actually write on it as I read, in part because I dislike reading anything extensive off of a computer screen, but also because I can get more of my thoughts down when writing by hand than I do when I have to take the time to go through the steps / wrestle with the highlighting tool, etc. I appreciate seeing my own handwriting on the page, making little illustrations, etc. That said, using technology has its perks. I have had students use the comment function on Word, and find that they tend to be more thoughtful and more interested in the whole process when they are doing it on the computer. I also like how easy it is to share comments and to get ideas from multiple people through Google docs or Crocodoc. And of course, it saves paper, which is always a good thing.

=3.5 Top Five Vocabulary - After Reading Activity=

1) Dystopia – an imagined, nightmarish society; the opposite of a utopia. Fiction writers create dystopias to reveal the darker sides of humanity and to warn of the possible consequences of current societal ills.

2) Utopia – an imagined, “perfect” society. Many characters in dystopian fiction believe themselves to be living in utopias.

3) Allegory – an entire story that serves as an extended metaphor. Dystopian fiction can be allegorical. The author claims that the dystopias in some new Y.A. novels are allegories for the adolescent experience.

4) Protagonist – the main character or “hero” of a work of literature.

5) Didactic – intended to teach a lesson. Dystopian literature is often intended to be didactic in showing the readers the negative consequences of the aspect of society he is critiquing.