Reading First Action Seminar

Los Angeles Unified Schools

January 2005

We have evidence that …

• Skillful teaching creates successful students.

• When the school works from a shared and explicit vision of academic success, then the work of the teachers, coaches, and school leaders is more focused and learning is more likely to improve.

The school needs to…

• Have an established vision of how to work to improve achievement based on coherent instruction.

• Establish methods and systems focused on academic improvement that are collegial and collaborative.

• Take intentional, coordinated actions to improve teaching and learning.

Keep Doing What Matters

• Consistent improvements in achievement through improvements in teaching must be our essential focus.

• Develop co-accountability between teacher, coach, principal, and director as our tool to improve schools.

• Learn together how to improve teaching in the room with the students.

Three Goals for Vocabulary Instruction

• Provide students with skills/opportunities to learn words independently.

• Teach students the meanings of specific words.

• Nurture a love and appreciation of words and their use.

-Bauman, Kame'enui, & Ash, in press

Expectations for School Teams

• Coaches’ depth of knowledge and ability to make the content accessible to every teacher at any grade-level is paramount.

• Administrators’ depth of knowledge and follow-up is critical to successful implementation.

• 75% of professional development should be aimed at helping teachers apply new learning in the classroom.

Follow-up Conversation

1. What evidence did you see of strategy instruction at your school?

2. How did you use the information provided in the last professional development?

3. How does the data reflect the evidence seen and actions taken?

4. Share the data collected, evidence seen, and the actions taken since the last seminar. Colleagues will give constructive feedback.

Tonight’s Objectives:1. Identify actions to move the instructional practice of

teachers.

2. Determine how to extend vocabulary instruction beyond the transparency and dictionary.

3. Recognize meaningful practice as a follow-up to vocabulary instruction.

During your classroom observations, what evidence do you have that vocabulary development and instruction is extended beyond strategy instruction (transparency) and the dictionary?

Student Writing Project Using the Writing ProcessThe required writing tasks are connected to the theme,reading and language arts lessons, and story content.

Understanding the LessonDesign of Open Court

Concept Question BoardEmerging Ideas and Vocabulary

StrategiesComprehension

Skills

Preparing to ReadPhonics & Word Knowledge

Reading and RespondingVocabulary/Reading Selections

GroupDiscussionof Concepts

SmallGroup

Discussion

InquiryJournal

TeacherRe-teach

SmallGroups

StudentFluencyPractice

StudentApplication Student

FluencyPractice

TeacherConfer

w/groupsAboutWriting

ReadingAnd

WritingWork

WritingTasks andSeminar

IWT20

minutesextra

teachingtime

IWT20

minutesextra

teachingtime

TeacherRe-teach

SmallGroups

StudentApplications

StudentFluencyPractice

TeacherPre-teach

SmallGroups

Language ArtsLessons

Spelling andDictation

Unit Theme & Explorations

Deepening RationalePlease read…

1. Introductory Section of Bringing Words to Life

page 1 - top of page 3

Section titled What Does It Mean To Know A Word?

page 9 - page 12

2. Excerpts from The Voice of Evidence in Reading Research from the handout packet.

Thank you for the gift of silence!

Salient Points from the Reading

• Robust vocabulary instruction was found to be effective in learning word meaning and improving reading comprehension.

• Students learn words better if they are actively engaged in the task of inferring vocabulary meanings from context rather than simply being given the definition.

• Vocabulary can be directly taught and acquired incidentally. Development can be fostered by structuring learning tasks to meet students’ needs, employing group learning formats, and expecting high engagement by all students.

To “Know” a Word• Receptive Vocabulary: Requires a

reader to associate a specific meaning with a given label as in reading or listening.

• Expressive Vocabulary: Requires a speaker or writer to produce a specific label for a particular meaning.

Reflect upon the vocabulary and periodic writing assessment. Which assessment involves use of more rigorous expressive vocabulary? Is this consistent with the data?

To “Know” a Word• Stage 1: never saw it

• Stage 2: heard it, but…

• Stage 3: recognize it in context. It has something to do with…

• Stage 4: know it well

(Dale, 65)

• No knowledge• General sense• Narrow, context-bound

knowledge• Having knowledge of a word

but not being able to recall it readily enough to use it in appropriate situations.

• Rich, decontextualized knowledge of a word’s meaning

(Beck, McKeown, & Omanson, 1987)

You Try It!

WordKnow it well, can explain it, use it

Know something about it, can relate it to a situation

Have seen or heard the word

Do not know the word

heuristic

surreptitious

hegemony

canonical

sensitive

dubious

Which Words Could We Use for Vocabulary Instruction?

• Underlined words in the selection

• Words from the vocabulary section of the teacher’s manual

• Problem words from Clues and Problems or words needed based on prior knowledge of students

• Words suggested in EL Support Guide

(Words from the assessment come from point 1 and 2.)

Three Tiers of Vocabulary

• Tier 1: The Most Basic Words

cat, mother, go, red, talk, chocolate

• Tier 2: Words of General Utility for mature language users. Words that exemplify the rich use of language by a good writer.

unique, convenient, influence, ponder

• Tier 3: Low Frequency Words that apply to specific domains

nebula, tidal pool, resistivity

The most productive instructional efforts should be directed toward the second tier.

Beck, The Effects and Uses of Diverse Vocabulary Instructional Techniques

 

Vocabulary Tiering Worksheet Selection: _____________________

Tier 1: High Frequency; everyday basic words (ELL and low language student focus)

Tier 2: High frequency for mature language users; general utility words (Focus instruction on these words)

Tier 3: Low frequency; domain/selection/unit specific

Pre-Teach for Comprehension Limited focus for intruction

EL

Preteach

Word Wall

Concept

Board

Where is vocabulary strategy instruction taught and practiced?

Where is vocabulary developed?

• Unit Opener

• Blending/Word Knowledge

• Transparency

• During Reading

• After Reading

OCR Supplemental Materials

What are the multiple preteaching and reteaching opportunities in the support materials?

What opportunities are there for deeper learning?

Problems with Dictionary Definitions• Weak differentiation

– Conspicuous : “easily seen”• How is this different than visible?• Lacks element of “inappropriate or out of place.”

• Vague language– Typical : “being of a type”

• More likely interpretations– Devious : “straying from the right course, not straight forward”

• Walking a line? Not getting lost?• Lacks element of “dishonest.”

• Multiple pieces of information– Exotic : “foreign; strange; not native”

• Lacks element of relationship, i.e., “strange because it comes from far away.”

Developing Student-Friendly Explanations

• Characterize the word– Be as particular as possible.– Model typical usage.– Don’t be all inclusive - at least not at first.

• Use everyday language– Lexicographers eschew verbosity.– As teachers, we are not limited by the space requirements of the

dictionary. We can talk around the idea until we provide enough context for it to make sense.

Digging DeeperPlease jigsaw strategies for guided practice…

1. Word Associations (page 44)

2. Have You Ever? (page 45)

3. Applause, Applause (page 45)

4. Idea Completions (page 45)

5. Questions, Reasons, Examples (page 56)

6. Making Choices (page 56)

7. One Context for All the Words (page 56)

8. Facets of Word Meaning (page 74)

Personal Thesaurus L

New wordsknown word

antonym

target word

Personal Thesaurus

scintillating

dull

lively

intelligent

clever

L

New wordsknown word

antonym

target word

Personal Dictionary

New wordIllustration

My own sentence

Dictionary definition

Definition in own words

Personal Dictionary

scintillating

We had an exciting, scintillating

discussion about our vacation.

Possessing or displaying dazzling liveliness, cleverness, or wit

Very exciting, smart, clever

Planning for Multiple Exposures

• Take into account all of the teaching opportunities and resources available to extend vocabulary instruction.

• How could the instruction be embedded into a weekly lesson plan?

School Team Action Plans

1. What are your objectives?

2. How will your team continue to improve vocabulary instruction at your school site?

3. What are your plans for following through on the professional development?

Writing Objectives

S = Specific

M = Measurable

A = Actionable

R = Realistic

T = Time-bound

An Opportunity to Share

• Pair up with another school team.

• Share your action plan.

Team A Team B (7 minutes)

Team B Team A (7 minutes)

“Enabling and monitoring the school action plan is where ‘the rubber meets the road.’ Here, action plans are put into practice - instructional programs are modified, schedules are changed, professional development is carried out - and evaluated on an ongoing basis to determine their effectiveness.”

-Middle Level Leadership Center (www.mllc.org)