Adult Book Club Practices

Note: This topic promised some interesting ideas for book discussions in the classroom. Unfortunately, the language of the article was opaque, often cloaking ideas in verbiage that can only be described as “edu-speak.” I am beginning to find that otherwise promising ideas are killed by the educational jargon of the writers. The title of the article was simple and straightforward, the article, not so. RayS.

Question: What can we learn from practices in adult book clubs that might be used in literary discussions in the classroom?

Answer:

> Avoid monopolizing the selection of books for discussion by having a clearly stated procedure.

 > Participants should use their experience in interpreting the text.

> Participant should extend conversations by building on others’ responses.

Title: “Practices of Productive Adult Book Clubs.” R Beach and S Yussen. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy (October 2011), 121-131.

Truth about Homework

Question: How do you usually assign homework?

Answer/Quote: “Teachers in secondary schools routinely assign homework to students for the purpose of practice. If it were really practice of familiar concepts, this might work to strengthen students’ level of understanding. Unfortunately, in too many classroom, homework is assigned on concepts that are not yet understood. In many instances, as the MetLife survey on homework demonstrated, secondary teachers’ ‘very often or often’ assigned homework because they ran out of time in class (Markow, Kim & Liebman, 2007, p. 30).” P. 71. 

And how do students respond to the homework they are assigned?

Completers, who take the work home and get it all done and done correctly.

Slackers, who, for whatever reason, do not complete the homework.

Bewildered, who give the homework a try and do most of it incorrectly.

Cheaters, who copy the homework of a peer in an effort to please the teacher and not fall behind in class. P. 71.

Quote: “As was shown in each of the examples we have shared, the teachers did not assign homework as an afterthought, but instead as a well-integrated dimension of their instruction. It was the independent practice that occurred only after the students were well prepared, and it was also an integral dimension of what was to follow in class.” P. 74.

Comment: You can prevent downtime at the end of class by having students start the homework assignment, giving students time to ask questions about the assignment. RayS.

Title: “Homework in Secondary Classrooms: Making It Relevant and Respectful.” D Fisher, et al. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy (September 2011), 71-74.

Reading Process

Question: What is the nature of the reading process?

Answer/Quote: “Reading comprehension habits are the split-second thoughts that kick in constantly to help a proficient reader actively construct meaning. They make up the majority of the thinking processes we use during reading, even though we seldom notice them. For example, a good reader seldom stops and thinks, ‘I need to relate this to my background knowledge,’ ‘This would be a good time to predict,’ ‘A quick summary right now will help me comprehend better,’ or ‘At this point I should visualize.’ Rather, a good reader does these things in the blink of an eye without, in a sense, even thinking.” P. 67.

Comment: But they need to be taught. RayS.

Title: “Toolbox: Reading Comprehension Habits for Every Classroom.” Jeff Zwiere. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy (September 2011), 67-69.

Trying Strategies in Journal Articles

Question: How should you attempt to try strategies with your students that you borrow from articles in journals?

Answer/Quote:

1. Evaluate: “Determine which literacy strategy will best help your students to learn the concept(s) you are presenting.”

2. “Try it: Sometimes you have to modify the strategy to fit what you are teaching.”

3. “Assess: Determine how well the strategy worked…. Obtain student feedback on the strategy.”

4. “Revise. Make changes to the strategy if necessary. Try the revised strategy again with different material.”

Comment: What works with the teacher in the article, might not work for your students. A good rule of thumb is to try it on yourself first. RayS.

Title: “Collaborating to Cross the Mathematics-Literacy Divide: An Annotated Bibliography of Literacy Strategies for Mathematics Classrooms.” ES Friedland, et al. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy (September 2011), 57-66.

Math and Literacy (2)

Question: What are some techniques used in math classes that encourage literacy?

Answer:

“Shares strategies for reading and writing in mathematics instead of just reading and writing about mathematics. The strategies emphasize moving fluently among multiple representations, analyzing mathematical texts,  and evaluating mathematical reasoning. Strategies such as student discussion of the implications of changing words in a theorem or definitions support deep conceptual learning.”  MJ Bosse and J Falconer. (2008). School Science and Mathematics, 8-19.

“Provides a graphic organizer that guides students through a modified version of Polya’s problem-solving process but still allows them to solve a problem in their own way. Its layout requires students to think, plan, and break the solution process into steps of their own choosing before computing. The graphic organizer can be used for any type of problem with no more than a three-step solution. Discusses how to introduce the graphic organizer by using a think aloud, multiple student answers, and analysis of incorrect answers.” S Braselton and B Decker (1994). The Reading Teacher, 276-281,

“Describes how to apply several reading strategies to mathematics instruction. A knowledge rating chart indicates prior knowledge of vocabulary and whether or not the student can apply it in mathematics. ‘Word Problem Roulette’ is a cooperative problem-solving strategy in which students solve a problem verbally and then write the solution in a round-robin style. A sample three-level math problem guide helps with problem analysis, but restricts students to solution methods using the computations or formulas provided in level three. ‘Possible Problems’ requires higher level thinking as students create a math problem using all of the words, symbols, or numerals in a list. Applicable to any math content and to any level.” SJ Davis and R Gerber. (2004). Journal of Reading, 55-57.

“Discusses three types of journal prompts for first-year algebra students: content, process, and affective. The content prompts push students to articulate mathematical relationships and to create personal yet precise definitions. One powerful prompt asks students to write about how their understanding about a mathematical concept has developed or changed. While some suggested process prompts focus on study habits, others have students reflect on their own problem-solving approaches.” BJ Dougherty. (1996). The Mathematics Teacher, 556-560.

Comment: There are many more examples of annotated articles relating mathematics to literacy development in this article.  The authors of this article urge the preparation of annotations for articles related to content in math, science, English, etc. and then publish them in their journals. An interesting idea. RayS.

Title: “Collaborating to Cross the Mathematics-Literacy Divide: An Annotated Bibliography of Literacy Strategies for Mathematics Classrooms.” ES Friedland, et al. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy (September 2011), 57-66.

Math and Literacy (1)

Question: What are some techniques used in math classes that encourage literacy?

Answer:

“Discusses how to use informal language and nonmathematical word meanings to help students make connections to mathematical vocabulary.” TL Adams. (2003). The Reading Teacher. 786-795,

“Presents fifth-grade math journals that feature solutions to student-created real-life math problems. The process of creating a problem….” LR Albert and J Anots. (2000). Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School, 526-531.

“Survey, question, reread, question, compute, question and other comprehension/study strategies help students meaningfully read mathematics textbooks with their unique structure and text features.” ML Barton, et. al. (2002), Educational Leadership, 24-28.

“…writing prompts for journals in the middle school mathematics classroom. Prompts for writing about prior mathematics content are useful for identifying lingering misconceptions and connected content knowledge. Prompts related to current mathematics content encourage identifying and generalizing patterns, posing and evaluating conjectures, and creating and evaluating mathematical arguments.” JA Baxter, et al. (2002). Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School,52-56.  

Comment: To be continued. The authors of this article urge the preparation of annotations for articles related to content in math, science, English, etc. and then publish them in their journals. An interesting idea. RayS.

Title: “Collaborating to Cross the Mathematics-Literacy Divide: An Annotated Bibliography of Literacy Strategies for Mathematics Classrooms.” ES Friedland, et al. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy (September 2011), 57-66.

Teaching Poetry

Question: Why don’t English teachers like to teach poetry?

Answer: They feel inadequate for teaching poetry. Here are their preconceptions:

(1) Poetry is boring.

(2) Poetry is for the elite.

(3) Poetry is inaccessible.

(4) Poetry is a frill.

 (5) Children’s poetry writing is too difficult to evaluate.

(6) Analysis is at the heart of understanding poetry.

(7) Poetry is a solitary art.

Comment: The cure for this malaise is to teach your own personal, favorite poems. RayS.

Title: “ ‘Wiki-Ed Poetry’: Transforming Pre-service Teachers’ Preconceptions about Poetry and Poetry Teaching.” J Hughes and S Dymoke. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy (September 2011), 46-56.