The End, for Now!

I am ending this blog on past articles on the teaching of English that are still relevant today. Not enough interest. RayS. .

Public Relations

Question: What is the value of public relations in discussing reading/writing programs with the public?

Answer/Quote: “Why are good public relations essential to your reading and writing programs? If parents and your public understand the programs, they will be much more likely to support them…. Also, if parents understand and support your reading and writing programs, their children will reflect their positive attitudes.” P. 738.

Quote: “Finally, be ready to answer questions. Questions will arise, and can be answered, as you provide information and services, but there are some additional things you can do. You might consider publishing pamphlets that address aspects of the reading and writing programs in your district. Titles for consideration may include: ‘What are the Reading/Writing Programs Like in Our School District?’ ‘How Can  You, As a Parent, Help at Home with Reading and Writing?’ ‘Questions and Answers about Invented Spelling,’ ‘Questions and Answers about Content Area Reading,’ etc. Make these pamphlets available to each school,, Perhaps teachers could offer them during parent-teacher conferences.” P. 739.

Comment: Another of my failures as K-12 English supervisor—public relations. The preceding suggestions are good! RayS.

Title: Reading Supervisors: Good Public relations: An Essential Ingredient.” Pat Hagerty. Journal of Reading (May 1989), 7388-739.

Vocabulary in the Disciplines

Question: How can vocabulary from different subject areas be used in an English class?

Answer: Teachers from all subject areas give the English teacher basic words in their subject areas. The teachers whittles the list to about 150 words.

Comment: Need to use a variety of methods to introduce the words and to reinforce their meanings. One thing is for sure: the meanings need to be reduced to one, two or three words to help in remembering them. Interesting idea. RayS.

Title: “Cross-Curriculum Word for a Day.” S Switzer. Journal of Reading (October 1991), 150.

College Remediation

Question: How can you blunt the negative feelings about a remediation course at the college level?

Answer: Use materials from the students’ prospective field of study, including magazines, journals, and books from the field of study.

Comment: Could be difficult to manage, but if students bring materials from their field of study, might be workable. For example, a project might be developed in which students analyze a textbook, journal and magazine articles in the field, types of writing required. Sounds like an interesting idea that will need some managing. RayS.

Title: “Integrating Study and Business Curricula for a City College Reading Course.” GM Seidman. Journal of Reading (October 1991), 149-150.

Reading Aloud

Question: How can I interest students in reading by reading aloud, regardless of grade level?

Answer/Quote: “When reading aloud, I stop in midsentence and begin the day’s work without reference to or explanation of the reading….”

Comment: That’ll get them thinking. Pick an interesting passage from a book and read it aloud. It will also cause them to ask questions about the book. Interesting idea. RayS.

Title: “Amazing What Can Happen When You Read to Them.” Petey Yung. Journal of Reading (October 1991), 148-149.

Reading Strategies

Question: What are the effects of teaching students reading strategies?

Answer/Quote: “Comprehension difficulties are often related to readers’ failure to participate actively in the reading process. Teaching students to become more strategic when they read increases their understanding of important textual information, as well as their motivation.” P. 132.

Comment: Students feel as if they are more in control of what they are doing when they have strategies for preparing themselves for reading, as in the FLIP strategy (Friendliness, Language, Interest, and Prior Knowledge) for assessing the difficulty of a reading assignment in a content area (Schumm and Mangrum), for dealing with difficult material, for helping to remember key vocabulary words, etc. A strategy is not a skill; It’s a method for dealing with a situation in reading or writing or spelling, etc. RayS.

Title: “Self-Questioning and Prediction: Combining Metacognitive Strategies.” TE Nolan. Journal of Reading (October 1991), 132-138.

Adult Illiterates

Question: what do we need to consider when working with adult illiterates?

Answer/Quote: “The individual who is illiterate is part of a system within the family and society and cannot be considered in isolation…. That person has failed to learn to read and any attempt to teach him or her must address the failure and resulting anxiety and loss of self-esteem. What s/he experienced in attempting to learn to read,, any special efforts that were made to help the individual, how the person has compensated for not being able to read, what efforts were made to hide the inability to read, and how that affected the person’s life academically, socially and emotionally are critical factors in determining the psychological scars the individual carries into adulthood because of the inability to read.” P. 126.

Comment: I’m not suggesting that a person who has not been trained in working with adult illiterates try it as an amateur. I’m just alerting my readers to the complexity of the problem. RayS.

Title: “The Use of an Educational Therapy Model with an Illiterate Adult.” MJ Scully and CL Johnston. Journal of Reading (October 1991), 126-131.

Reading in the Content Areas

Question: How can students assess ahead of time the difficulties they will face with a content reading assignment?

Answer: The authors use an acronym, FLIP as a method for assessing the difficulties—or the readiness to read—an assignment in a discipline.

F – Friendliness—how friendly is my reading assignment? Does it contain the following features? Table of contents; chapter introductions; margin notes; key terms highlighted; pictures; index; headings; study questions; graphs; signal words; glossary; subheadings; chapter summary; charts; lists of key facts. The student then rates the “friendliness” of the text from 1 to 5, from (1) “boring” to (5)“friendly.” If there are some “friendly” features, they should rate it “3.”

L – Language: How difficult is the language in my reading assignment? “(5) means there are no new words and mostly clear sentences and (1) means there are many new words and complicated sentences.”

I – Interest—how interesting is my reading assignment? “Here students read the assignment’s title, introduction, headings and subheadings and summary and examine its pictures and graphics. A ranking of (5) would suggest that the student finds the assignment very interesting; (1) would suggest that the assignment seems boring.”

P –Prior Knowledge—what do I already know about the material covered in my reading assignment? “The quick survey completed during the ‘I’ step should let readers determine if they have prior knowledge of the assignment’s subject matter. A rating of (5) here means the reader has a great deal of prior knowledge about the topic, while (1) is fitting if the reader has never heard the information before.”

Comment: An excellent method for “previewing” a reading assignment in a content discipline. I wish I had known about this technique when I was teaching. Would give the teacher a clear understanding of students’ readiness for reading an assignment. Also tells the students a great deal about the nature of the text. RayS.

Title: “FLIP: A Framework for Content Area Reading.” JS Schumm and CT Mangrum. Journal of Reading (October 1991), 120-124.

Adult Literacy

Question: What are some problems with adult literacy training in the U.S.?

 Answer/Quote: “Adult literacy programs face a multitude of problems: In the United States they attract “less than 7% of the illiterate population and they must provide for widely differing reading levels among their adult students….; they suffer from lack of both funding…and age-appropriate materials….; their tutors, though dedicated and well intentioned, often lack the skills necessary to teach and motivate adults…; and the drop-out rate is extremely high, ranging from 50% to70%..... Moreover, instruction is strongly skill based, presented by tutors with little training who are usually encouraged to use only their sponsoring agency’s materials….” P. 108.

Comment: That’s a boatload of problems. FYI. RayS.

Title: “Interactive Computer-Assisted Instruction with Adults.” R Finnegan and R Sinatra. Journal of Reading (October 1991), 108-119.

Semantic Mapping

Question: What is semantic mapping and why use it?

Answer/Quote: “…Carrell, Pharis, and Liberto (1989) recommended semantic mapping to introduce key vocabulary from a reading passage and to provide teachers with a means of informal assessment of students’ prior knowledge. In their research, ESL (English as a Second Language) college students trained in semantic mapping showed increased comprehension of content area texts.

Quote: “The procedure begins with class brainstorming in which students generate associations on a topic. Because this type of associating triggers attention and builds on students’ prior knowledge, brainstorming serves as an advanced organizer for understanding the potentially related information that follows in the reading assignment. The teacher then conducts a discussion in which students organize in a map the information generated by brainstorming. Once reading is completed, students revise their maps, applying knowledge of text structure and important concepts in an organized, visual format.” P. 97.

Purpose of the activity: building background knowledge of information about the topic of a reading assignment.

 Comment: The more people know about the topic of a reading assignment, the better they will comprehend it. RayS.

Title: “Instructional Strategies for Second-Language Learners in the Content Areas.” M de la Luz Reyes and LA Molner. Journal of Reading (October 1991), 96-103.

Collecting Sentences

Question: What can be gained by students’ collecting and displaying sentences?

Answer/Quote: “Adolescents enter their middle school reading classroom…and begin reading sentences from charts on the walls. Occasionally someone hands the teacher a slip of paper with a sentence and the name of its author from their outside reading. A girl notices that the sentence she submitted yesterday has been added to a chart; a sentence that a boy wrote last week is also on one of the charts.” P. 92.

Quote: “Students comment on length and sentence structure, word choice and vocabulary, imagery and metaphor, and, of course, the book and its author. They hear their peers talk about what they have found interesting: information, ideas, language, images, illustrations, and the books themselves.” P. 95.

Comment: A wonderful habit to attract students to language. I have been a collector of “significant sentences” for years and years. I still review the sentences from my collection from time to time, and I use them often in my writing. A good way to involve students in language. RayS.

Title: “Sentence Collecting: Authentic Literacy Events in the Classroom.” RB Speaker, Jr. and PR Speaker. Journal of Reading (October 1991), 92-95.

Technical Vocabulary

Question: When introduce technical vocabulary: before, during, or after reading?

Answer: Before and after reading, teachers presented the words in a sentence, using an overhead projector, and then discussing  meaning of the words in class. Students used a glossary during reading. No statistically significant differences in the three methods.

Comment: I still prefer pre-teaching technical vocabulary. Students are alerted to it and see and recognize it. I have done some experiments and found that students did not see or recognize the technical terms when reading if not pre-taught. RayS. 

Title: “Technical Vocabulary: When Should You Teach It?” Jeanne Shay Schumm. Summarizing the following research: DM Memory (1990) Teaching Technical Vocabulary: Before. During or After the Reading Assignments? Journal of Reading Behavior, 22, 39-53. Journal of Reading (October 1991), 90.

Middle School Instructional Practices

Question: What are some prevailing middle school instructional practices?

Answer:

“More telling, mentioning, or assigning than actual teaching.”

“The lecture approach as the predominant means of conveying information.”

“Writing vocabulary words on the board and having students look them up in the dictionary.”

“Telling the class to open textbooks and begin reading.”

“Providing no guidance for learning from written/oral material.”

“Assigning reading with little or no preparation, direction, follow-up or discussion.” P. 85.

“Having students answer end-of-chapter questions.”

“Expecting students to work independently when textbooks are too difficult.”

“Assuming that students have the study skills necessary to complete assignments.”

“Asking mostly literal level questions.” P. 86.

Comment: See my book. Teaching English, How To…. Raymond Stopper, Xlibris, 2004, for information on how to right these ineffective instructional methods. RayS.

Title: “The Case for Improved Instruction in the Middle Grades.” KD Wood and K D Muth. Journal of Reading (October 1991), 84-90.

Informal Adult Reading Assessment

Question: What is a technique to use with adults in literacy classes?

Answer/Quote: “Jones and Parker (1991) have explained how the Language Experience Approach (LEA) can be used as an informal assessment technique for adult beginning readers. The examiner asks the adult to tell a personal story and takes notes verbatim as the adult speaks. Next, the adult is to read aloud the story that he or she has just dictated. If the adult has difficulty with this task, the examiner reads the text while the adult follows along and then the student is asked to read the text independently. This procedure is recommended for gaining insights into general reading ability, use of reading strategies and general oral language facility. Evaluation of progress in a literacy program could be achieved by collecting and reading LEA stories over time.” p. 258.

Comment: There is no end to the usefulness of the Language Experience Approach in reading, at whatever level. I continue to be impressed by it. RayS.

Title: “Adult Literacy Assessment: Existing Tools and Promising Developments.” Alan M. Frager. Journal of Reading (November 1991), 256-259.

Vocabulary and Context

Question: What are context clues friendly for readers?

Answer/Quote: “Bonnie Konopak and John Koonopak) 1986) of Louisiana State University identified four characteristics of contextual clue presentation that is more considerate to the reader: (a) a context clue in close proximity to the target word, (b) clarity of connection between target word and context clue, (c) explicitness of contextual information, and (d) completeness of contextual information.” P. 249.

Question: Suppose context clues are not reader friendly?

Answer: Be sensitive to context clues that don’t help much and provide assistance in understanding the word. In that case, students should use a dictionary, glossary, or thesaurus.

Comment: In my experience, many words are not context “friendly.” In that case, students should use a dictionary, glossary, or thesaurus. They should record the meaning in as few words as possible, a single word if possible. Easier to remember the meaning. RayS.

Title: “Beyond JR: Research from Elsewhere.” Jeanne Shay Schumm. Journal of Reading (November 1991), 249.

Reading Books and Magazines

Question: Do you read every book that you buy?

Answer: No. We buy many more books than we read. And magazines, too. Do you have unread stacks of New Yorker, Harper’s, The Atlantic and Smithsonian lying in various corners? What are you going to do about it?

Comment: You have to get into the reading material, overcome inertia.

For novels, try my technique of reading for ten minutes near the beginning, near the middle, three-fourths and near the end. When you lose interest, try reading a paragraph a page until you are caught again and want to read everything. Lose interest again? Try the

Information books: Read the foreword, the first and last paragraph of each chapter. Caught? Read everything. Try reading the first sentence of each paragraph in a chapter. Caught? Read everything.

Magazines? Read the title, sub-title, first paragraph and last paragraph of the first article. Know enough? If it’s important enough, summarize. Need to know more? Go back and read the first sentence of each paragraph. Then summarize if it’s important enough. Go on to the next article.

Try reading fifteen minutes a day. RayS.

Title: “The Popular Passion for Pap.” Wayne Otto. Journal of Reading (November 1991), 246-249.

Book Report

Question: What is an alternative to a book report on novels like The Lord of the Flies?

Answer: At the end of every chapter, students draw a picture with 3 to 5 sentences describing the picture.

Quote: “So what happened? More than I expected. Besides the cooperation and enjoyment I observed during the unit, a student questionnaire indicated many gains. Most students responded that the pictures helped them to remember the story. Looking back at the pictures was a comfortable review. Also, ‘When you’re absent you’ll know the most important thing that happened in that chapter because students were eager to share their pictures with their peers”

Comment: Worth a try. Try it yourself first. RayS.

Title: “A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Worksheets.” Beth Cox. Journal of Reading (November 1991), 244-245.

Code of Ethics for Reading Professionals

Question: What are some important issues in the International Reading Association’s code of ethics?

Answer/Quotes:

> “It is the obligation of all members to maintain relationships with other professional persons, striving for harmony, avoiding personal controversy, encouraging cooperative effort, and making known the obligations and services rendered by professionals in reading.”

> “It is the obligation of members to report results of research and other developments in reading.”

> “Members should not claim nor advertise affiliation with the International Reading Association as evidence of their competence in reading.”

> “Professionals in reading must possess suitable qualifications for engaging in consulting, clinical, or remedial work.”

> “Information derived from consulting and/or clinical services should be regarded as confidential….”

> Professionals in reading should recognize the boundaries of their competence….”

> “Referral should be made to specialists in allied fields as needed.”

> “Reading clinics and/or reading professionals offering services should refrain from guaranteeing easy solutions or favorable outcomes as a result of their work…..”

Comment: Just a reminder. Could refer to professionals in any area of the teaching of English. RayS.

Title: “International Reading Association Code of Ethics.” Journal of Reading (November 1991), 230.

Constructing an Argument

Question: What are the steps in constructing an argument?

Answer:

Claim (Main idea)

Ground (Support)

Warrant (Inferences)

Backing (Justifications)

 Questions:

What is my main point? (claim)

How do I go about supporting it? (ground)

What makes me think that the support is appropriate? (warrant)

What additional support do I have to validate further my claim? (backing)

Example:

Claim (main idea): “The Philadelphia Phillies will not be able to repeat as National League baseball champions this season.” P. 201

Ground (support): “The Philadelphia Phillies are not likely to repeat as National League baseball champs because they have released or traded four veteran players who provided needed leadership down the home stretch last season. Furthermore, their young players who played unevenly last year have not proven themselves over the long haul. Finally, some of the older remaining veteran stars on the team had lackluster  seasons and show signs of decline.” P. 201-202.

Warrant (inferences): “A baseball team needs to have proven players providing experienced leadership in order t win the pennant in the highly competitive, evenly matched National League.” P. 202.

Backing (justifications): “…we might back the warrant that a National League team needs proven players to win the pennant by referring to the official records of major league baseball and to sabermetrics, the mathematical and statistical analysis of baseball records.” P. 202.

Comment: This is the Toulmin model for argument, broken down into steps, terms, explanation and example. Useful. RayS.

Title: “Developing Self-Monitored Comprehension Strategies Through Argument Structure Analysis.” Julia T0-Dutka. Journal of Reading (November 1991), 200-205.

Case Studies

Question: What are case studies and what should they consist of?

Answer/Quotes:

“A case study is not a human interest feature nor uninterpreted diagnostic notes but a professional analysis of one case that is illuminating to other professionals. It should provide useful, interesting information about the type of student, the techniques used with that individual and the results of interventions.”

“A rationale for selecting the case should be presented.”

“The case study should be tied to the professional literature.

“Full specifics about the student’s circumstances and abilities should be provided.”

“The instructor’s actions and their results should be specified.”

“Interpretations of events should provide new insights.”

“Recommendations should be made. The writer should sum up by saying why the case was worth looking at and what it suggests for other professionals.” P. 195.

Title: “Call for Case Studies.” Journal of Reading (November 1991), 195.