PROFESSIONAL ISSUE #2
BY LAURA ROBB
WHEN STUDENTS WRITE ABOUT INSTRUCTIONAL AND INDEPENDENT READING
The research of Dr. Steve Graham shows writing improves reading comprehension, recall, and is compelling. You can download Graham’s 
research and meta analysis by going to www.carnegie.org/literacy and download the PDF file, Writing to Read (2010). Not only does the study show that it’s important for students to complete informal and formal writing about their reading, but it also shows that process writing improves reading comprehension.
Share this with colleagues who teach English and reading-writing workshop as well as colleagues who teach science, social studies, and mathematics. Read and discuss the study over two to four professional study meetings using these questions. Most questions can also be used with any professional material being discussed:
- How does this information apply to my classes?
- How much informal and formal writing do I do?
- How can I have students write more frequently?
- Does Graham’s study link to practices I am already employing? Explain.
How will it motivate and engage students? - Why should talk always precede writing?
- What can I use immediately?
- What do I want to do but need time to examine?
- How can I work with a colleague or my grade level team to effect these changes?
- How much writing should be formal essay writing? Informal journaling and using twenty-first century technology?
- Who can I turn to at school to help me use new literacies?
PROJECTS FOR STUDENTS TO COMPLETE
In the next section, I have included directions for using technology directed to the student so individuals, pairs, and groups can work together.
Motivate Your Students to Read, Think Deeply, and Share Ideas Using 21st Century Technology
From my work in middle schools all over the country, I’ve learned that middle school students share certain characteristics, no matter their geographical location. For one, they’re tech savvy, and they adore using technology at school and at home. While their aptitude for using the latest technology often exceeds my own, I know that to effectively engage these students in the classroom, we must capitalize on their proclivity for all things digital. Like you, I want my students to choose their books and read widely and deeply. I want them to explore ideas they’re passionate about in books, magazines, and on the Internet. A tall order, but definitely possible when we integrate technology into our independent reading program.
“I want to do it myself ” is one of the mantras of middle school learners; I hear it in classrooms everywhere. They are striving for independence in all aspects of their lives, and we, as their teachers, need to honor their efforts. One simple technique for doing this, while at the same time better managing our reading instruction, is to provide meaningful, motivating ways for students to interact with their texts independently, such as the activities offered on the pages that follow. This approach respects students’ budding autonomy and frees you to confer, reteach a lesson for a small group, or scaffold learning for students who need extra help.
I recommend allowing students to choose from a menu of digital projects such as those provided in this staff development issue. They can analyze and evaluate their reading in highly motivating formats: texting, blogging, e-mailing, podcasting, social networking, or creating PowerPoint presentations. An ongoing study (started in 2001) by Dr. Andrea Lunsford of Stanford University clearly shows that digital writing does not negatively impact the traditional tasks that students complete for their classes. (Learn more about this study by reading “Clive Thompson on the New Literacy” in Wired Magazine, , or by visiting the Stanford Study on Writing at ssw.standford.edu.)
Lunsford points out that today’s students are redefining writing and the notion of audience because they write for school and spend hours
| "Since I’ve addressed each activity to students so they can work independently, it’s important to read the activities that follow care- fully to make sure that they comply with your school and classroom technology policies." |
communicating with friends and family outside of school. Allowing students to write about reading in school using their preferred modes of communication can engage them and bring relevance and meaning to reading and writing.
The activities that follow tap into students’ techno-strengths while fostering high-level thinking about text. Because digital formats are more playful and inventive, they motivate middle school learners to read and communicate their thoughts about independent reading. And isn’t that, after all, our goal?
Five Motivating Digital Projects
E-mails Reveal Character
- Choose two characters from your book and write a series of e-mails between them. E-mails can relate to an event or problem they lived through or a problem they solved together and should show each character’s traits.
- Choose two characters from two books that are part of a series. In your e-mails, show how the characters changed from one book to the other. Use these questions to help you compose: How did a key decision change the characters? Why did new settings cause changes? How did the introduction of a new character cause change?
- Podcasts Provide Real Audiences
- Post podcasts on your school or class Web site.
- Record a book talk or book review on a podcast.
- Work with a partner who has read the same book to create a short play or Readers Theater script that centers on one main event. Make a podcast of the drama and read the different parts using different voices.
PowerPoint Presentations
Design a PowerPoint presentation that features one of the following:
- New information you learned and how it affects others.
- R easons why you loved the book and why others should read it.
- Connections you made that deepened your understanding of problems and issues at school, in your home community, and in the world.
- Present your PowerPoint to your class.
Design a Facebook Page for a Character and Share It With Classmates
- Choose a character you connected to and create a profile for a Facebook page for that character. (Write the information in a word processing program; you won’t actually create the Facebook page on the Internet.
- Fill out the character’s profile with name, age, hometown, activities, interests, favorite movies, favorite TV shows, favorite music, and favorite books. For the “About Me” section, describe the major problems he or she has dealt with.
- Draw a picture of the character or dress up like the character and have a photograph taken of you.
- Organize your data and photo on construction paper using the layout of a Facebook page for your class presentation.
- Additional Facebook Options
- Draw a series of pictures with captions to post as an album about a significant event in the character’s life.
- Write a post about a key event in the book from your character’s point of view. Have at least two other characters comment on the post in a way that reflects their perspective as described in the book.
Texting to Think and Learn
You don’t need to have a cell phone at school to complete these texts. Simply write out the texts as you would on a phone. You can use your cell phone at home to text about characters and themes, but it’s important to write the texts so you can share with classmates and your teacher.
- Choose a book you read and loved.
- Pick two different characters from your book who lived through the same event, dealt with the same problem, or participated in the same conflict.
- Compose a text-message exchange between these two characters in which they discuss their perspectives about their shared experience. Write the text messages for both characters if you’re working alone. If you’re working with a partner who has read the same book, write the text message for one character; your partner will write the texts for the second character. Follow these steps:
- Take notes to prepare for the series of text messages.
- Name the title and author of your book.
- Describe the event, problem, or conflict in detail.
- Name each character. Create a short list of personality traits for each one. This will enable you to show personality differences in your text messages.
- Compose two or three text messages between the characters. Write these on notebook paper, using texting shorthand if you like. The texts should reveal each character’s reactions to the event, problem, or conflict.
- Make sure that each text message stays true to the character’s personality and the way he or she felt and reacted during the situation.
4. Rewrite the set of text messages in standard English.
5. Turn your work in to your teacher.
More Texting-About-Reading Ideas
- Have two minor characters text about the protagonist, decisions made, and how he or she handled a specific problem or conflict.
- Work with a partner who has read the same book. Text about the theme or main issue the book raises. Include your feelings and the connections you made to your life, to other reading materials and/or videos, and to world problems.
Blogging About Books
- Blog about a recent read. Be sure to state the title, author, and genre; then include your thoughts about one or more of the following in your post:
- Why you enjoyed the book.
- New information you learned and how it changed your thinking about a topic.
- Ways you connected to one of the characters and how the connection helped you better understand the plot.
If you don’t have a class blog, you can create your own using one of these resources. If you’ve never blogged before, ask a classmate or the tech person at your school to help you get started. www.classblogmeister.com
www.blogger.com http://bloggers.com |
- How the characters dealt with a particular issue explored in the book. (See the box below for a list of possible issues to think about.)
- How you rate the protagonist’s decision-making abilities; refer to and discuss at least two important decisions.
- How the protagonist dealt with the book’s central problem; evaluate his or her problem-solving ability.
- Invite classmates who have read your book to respond to your blog by making comments and/or asking questions.
Issues Your Book Might Address
Here are some issues to look for. You can also identify an issue not listed here.
- War Conformity Cliques Family Relationships Prejudice
- Cheating Telling Lies Environmental Issues
- Peace Nonconformity Outward Appearances Loss
- Human Rights Justice/Injustice Bullying Friendship
- Peer Pressure Stealing Rebellion Fears
Podcasts for Teachers to Listen to as Part of Professional Study
- Go to http://www.heinemann.com/books-multimedia.aspx
- Listen to podcasts with Donald Graves and Jim Burke
- Go to http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/tech-how-podcasts
- Listen to podcasts on Computers and the Internet and Teaching with Technology
- Go to http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/printouts/podcasts-nuts-bolts-creating-30311.html
- Learn how to create podcasts.
- Go http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast/podcast_directory.php?type=topic&id=-
- Click on Technology for podcasts related to that topic.
- Go to http://reading.org/General/Publications/Podcasts.aspx
- Listen to podcasts by outstanding educators on a wide-range of literacy topics.
Books and Materials for Teachers to Read and Study With Colleagues On 21st century technology
- Go to http://www.adlit.org/article/20832/
- Read the policy brief from NCTE on 21st Century Literacies (2007).
- “Fresh Perspectives on New literacies and Technology Integration” by Linda D. Labbo and Karen Place. In Voices from the Middle, March 2010:9-18.
- The Digital Writing Workshop by Troy Hicks, Heinemann 2009.
- Teaching With the Internet, K-12: New Literacies for New Times, 4th edition, by Donald J. Leu, Deborah D. Leu, & Julie Coiro, Chritopher-Gordon Publishers, 2004.
HOLD MONTHLY TEACHER SHARE SESSIONS
Try to set a time during a common planning period or before school starts to meet each month with colleagues interested in bringing digital learning into their classrooms. Explore web sites together, learn from each other, and share student projects to better integrate twenty-first century literacies into your curriculum.
