Question 1:
How does the shift in the Alaska Language Arts standards impact teaching and learning in my classroom?
Teaching literacy through content-rich non-fiction has always been my passion. I have always believed informational text was the foundation of good literacy. As an adult, I estimate that I read at least 70% quality non-fiction material. However, with the recent shift in Alaska State Standards to include 50/50 fiction/informational text in K-5 grades, I have increased teaching non-fiction in all areas cross-curriculum.
With the new standards shift, I have integrated informational text in various ways. In Music class, we read about composers, musical concepts , instrument families, and related content. When possible, we play instruments and do activities that provide a kinetic connection to the reading material.
The new standards in math require more high end analytic thinking. Students have to think about their thinking and respond to statements verbally and in writing such as: Explain your thinking. Therefore, whenever I can write or type meaningful questions or specific directions, the students have another opportunity to practice (a very typical real life skill.) Using content literacy skills in art is a natural connection. I have students engage in 'reading art', which helps the students make inferences, expand vocabulary, connect to cultural themes and many other related literacy skills.
The KPBSD district purchased a new literature program two years ago. The program (Journey's) includes two non-fiction support stories each week that are great sources of informational text which relate to the core text. The program also has a great vocabulary connection which includes two new stories, two new sets of informational type vocabulary words, and reading comprehension questions that address all of the weeks' readings. The link below connects to the Indiana districts Common Core discussion. This intentional and well organized reading system address the literacy shift to provide a "Coherent set of non-fiction texts that support building knowledge".
Some of the reading in my 2nd grade class is accessed through classroom computers. Our 2nd grade classroom has 6 computers for student use. The students read stories and take quizzes associated with the Journey's program, read via instructional game type programs, use Aims Web reading resources to track fluency, read science selections through Discover Education's programs and can listen with headphones to quality reading of the same materials. The children rotate through computer assisted reading groups, while other children read with the teacher in small reading groups.
One big change in my classroom this year is to include many fiction and informational texts which are directly related to Alaska history, culture and current events. Dr. Katy Spangler's literature class was a vault for Alaska cultural books for children. For example, the story of the Alaska State Flag is a must in Social Studies and Music class. Another significant change is to establish an in-class special library that includes current topics of study. Currently, we are studying the Life Cycle of plants. I have borrowed books from other teachers, our school library, in addition to our own books and made a special library. The students often pick the books from the informational text rather than the fiction bookshelves during free reading.
The second shift has to do with higher level thinking. All of the curriculum integration in the first part of this blog include inquiry, critical thinking, analyzing, inferring, grasping ideas and details, etc. At second grade level, the students are just beginning to learn how to reference material. Second graders begin to show text dependent responses. The biggest change for me is adding cause and effect graphic organizers, Venn diagrams, and other tools to help students dig deeper and to think about their thinking. The Language Arts program already has text dependent questions embedded, however, for the other subjects, I am having to think and plan carefully to include them whenever possible.
The third shift (vocabulary) is supported by the Journey's program with "Curious With Words", a comprehensive daily activity to teach tier two words. Our staff at our site spent last spring collaborating on a book called, "Bringing Words to Life." The book is the best book I have ever read on teaching vocabulary (available on Amazon). Our school has integrated many of the ideas in various classrooms. I added a word bank on the whiteboard where any student can add a tally mark to the board if they use or hear the words being said at school. I also added vocabulary words to P.E. (like sportsmanship), Science, Health and Social Studies. Many of the words are tier two words. Our school is still in the process of implementing the new standards. During this transitional year, our site is connecting our School Improvement Plan Goals to the corresponding anchor standards. This work is being done using the collaborative model throughout our district in a PLC (as opposed to a PLN) format.
Question 2:
What is the question I would like to research over the next eight weeks?
Will using content rich non-fiction, informational texts enhance the fluency and comprehension of 2nd grade students at McNeil?
Much of the reading will be done on classroom computers with comprehension, sentence diagram, cause and effect and other tools embedded into the reading programs.
References:
Barry, A.L. (2012). "I was skeptical at first": Content literacy in the art museum. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy. April, pp. 597-606.
I love the idea of incorporating informational texts in music, and also the idea of using books related to Alaska and culture. Thank you for sharing. Also, I am really interested to see how your research project goes. I will be following along. Thanks again for sharing your ideas!
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that the standards require a 50/50 split between fiction and non-fiction. I like that kids are exposed to the creative world of fiction. With continual cuts to music and arts programs, it's good to know that the kids are getting a good dose of creativity with reading. I also like that literacy skills are being promoted across multiple subjects. Many of my math students have difficulty making the connection between mathematics principles and real world application. Getting used to this in the early grades will undoubtedly help them as they continue in their education.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments you left on my blog site. It was good the hear that you have used Vernier temperature graphing in your classroom. Vernier systems are used extensively in our high school chemistry, physics, and biology classes. Your kids will probably deal with them again throughout their schooling. Vernier has tons of online resources for educational use. Although most of it is geared toward high school and college, you could probably find a few ideas to use in an elementary school setting.
Keep on encouraging a passion for reading with your kids! It will be something they will value for the rest of their lives.
Lenore, your opening made me think of a funny part in the movie "Sideways". The main character who is a (failed) author is talking to his friend's future father-in-law, who is asking him about his latest book. The main character tells him it is sort of about his life, and the father-in-law tells him, "Good - I like nonfiction. There is so much to learn about this world. I think you read something somebody just invented - waste of time." I laughed at that because it was funny for obvious reasons - the main character was a novelist - and also because I've always kind of been torn about time spent on fiction and non fiction (in education) for the same reasons. I do think that when we get kids into the higher grades, we probably still spend far too much time in fiction. This does not mean I don't think there's value in fiction, I do. However, it's unrealistic of us to expect that the text structures kids will have to encounter can be handled without some equal time and experience with non-fiction texts. Your focus on academic vocabulary will serve you will in your research project - with those kinds of texts, its so important! Interesting project, and it sounds like you already have a lot of good ideas, and are enthusiastic about trying out new things with your kids! Good for you!
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