reciprocal teaching

I made a bunch of these posters for group work after reading Reciprocal Teaching At Work by Lori Oczkus. She uses the formula: predict, question, clarify and summarize in small group instruction. I like to use this idea with groups of 2-4 kids. Each child gets to pick a box or two to write in but all of the work has to be done as a group. The lesson on the poster was from a nonfiction article in National Geographic for Kids called Our Oceans. Before I had the children open the magazine I told them the topic (oceans) and had them do the top of the poster: What do you know about...After they have brainstormed I had them open up to the article and predict what it will be about by doing a 10, 9, 8....(I count backwards slowly while they do a sort of picture walk to look for clues in the text features as to what the article might be about.) Next they read the article as a group and fill in the section that asks what questions came to mind as they read, and the section marked clarify   which is the vocabulary piece ( they have to list the word they didn't know, the definition of the word, and how they figured it out). Lastly they summarize  the article. The part they love about this lesson comes after it is complete. I give every child in the group a sticky and ask them to privately write the name of the person in their group who worked the hardest. Everyone wants their name on that sticky. Its a great motivator for many kids. Sometimes I even give them a "grade" for how well I think they worked together. Lori Oczkus also wrote Interactive Think Aloud Lessons. I liked that book as well. Christine

make your thinking visible poster

Here is a picture of the poster I use with the lesson in the previous post. After the children have listened to the story and made their thinking visible on the mat, they come up to the poster with their favorite question or inference and add it to the correct column. Christine

Make your thinking visible

After I have taught the following reading strategies: background knowledge, visualizing, inferring, and questioning I start using these mats. I tell the children to "make their thinking visible" by writing down on stickies what is going on in their brains while I read a story aloud. Excellent readers use all of the strategies simultaneously, therefore I have them practice in a way that allows me to assess their ability to read critically. We are now fully into the apply stage. Next, I might ask them to tell me what they visualized or questioned and go up to place their stickies on a poster for the whole class. I use these posters/mats all year (probably once or twice a month)for whole group instruction. I have even given them a worksheet that looks like the mat for homework to use with their nightly reading (instead of summarizing the chapter). Christine

Text to self connections

The first reading strategy I teach in September is the easiest one...making connections. Children find this easy, natural and enjoyable. I love the book: Up North at the Cabin. Most children have gone on a vacation or stayed with family members so they can make some connection with this book. I usually have them write about a connection they made with the book and label it T-T (text to text), T-S (text to self), T-W (text to world). For more practice with making connections I might read Earrings! by Judith Viorst or Slower Than The Rest. Another favorite is When the Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant. It is very easy to find a book that can be used to make connections. Directly after teaching/modeling this strategy I expect it to be applied whenever we are reading whether its the Trophies anthology (basal reader) or a paperback. If fact, for the rest of the year, the words I made a text to self connection or I used my background knowledge need to be internalized and spoken often. The idea that critical readers NOTICE when they have connected with text is extremely important. Do not teach it and put it on a shelf. Apply, apply, apply.
Christine