Deeper+Reading+Group

This group will be reading and sharing ideas about //Deeper Reading: Comprehending Challenging Texts, 4-12// by Kelly Gallagher. Most recent meeting notes are first.

March 25, 2010 Chapters 9 and 10 (the end) Colette did the propaganda techniques with her 11th graders when teaching persuasive PSSA writing. We discussed how "manipulative language" may be used to "sway" readers, etc. I likened this to Patrick Henry's speech in the VA Convention. We discussed what (as in the book) "subject" lines grab their attention so that they will open an email, and how grabbing a readers attention when writing is a good thing. I also LOVED the statement on pg. 216 ""consider what my students need and when they need it. This is where the art of teaching comes into play." I've had to do a lot of this in my classes this year, and it is so true! Deb liked that they used everyday stuff like the newspaper and the spam lines, so students would be aware of the propaganda. Cathy liked the way backward planning works and the way it. Angie agreed to the backward planning, Bob liked the connection to the real world. He is now using backward planning to plan his tests. Liz commented on the use of standardized tests and teaching to the tests at the beginning of chapter 9. Koren is going to have her student teacher use the list on page 162 when teaching Lord of the Flies. Missy is using a similar theme activity for Transendentalism and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She used songs from YouTube. Danita said the The Most Valuable Idea on page 160 is accessible to her kids with a simple connection to an important idea. Angie liked the resources to the political cartoons and the way he takes the reader through a lesson with the aids article. He also cautioned against over-teaching. Julie used much of chapter 9 with the senior reading workshop class - real world articles, propaganda, slanted viewpoints. Renee plans to use Newspaper Scavenger Hunt on page 182 in her Comp/Comm class. She also liked the newspaper reading minute presentations. She uses the casting call and baseball cards on page 163. Members present or contributing via wiki: Hill, Blauch, Bowerman, Nye-Smee, Lauric, Maxton, Kutz, McKay, Rehrig, Rizzardo, Bolen, MacLeod, Wertz.

February 25, 2010 - postponed numerous times by weather-related incidents Chapters 7 and 8 Ann is going to try the iceberg on page 135 with Janie in Their Eyes Were Watching God. Jamie tried circles of reflection on page 157; kids did really well. Angie liked the most valuable idea, real life examples, with connections. She's going to do that with Anthem and Communism. Hawkins noted that the Prop and Stat kids who can read get it. Anchor questions on page 160 seem like essential questions. Liz remembered that when she read Amelia Bedelia - try some examples of thinking. Jenn uses something similar to the Casting Call with justifications; she's finding that her current class requires really concrete instructions and tasks. Missy talked about the Collins Writing concept we will meet in training tomorrow. Julie is going to use the Brake Pedal/Accelerator Pedal graphic organizer on page 136 for Okonkwo's motivations in TFA. Angie liked the "Why do we read this book" thinking on pages 157. Colette did the "With and Without Metaphors" assignment for "Oranges" by Gary Soto. She did this with her level one juniors, who definitely grasped the concept that using metaphors in writing makes for a much richer experience. Members present: J. MacLeod, Senft, Hawkins, Rehrig, Maxton, Clarke, Bolen, Wertz, Hill, Bowerman

December 10, 2009 Chapter 6 Ann did silent discussion without realizing it ahead of time. Plan defense and prosecution for trail in book. Lauric - silent discussion on 114. Open for discussion. Danita uses the Moodle journals forum. Everyone needs to create their own thread, comment and comment on 2 or 3 others. Have to do it quietly. Colette had them go back and write trouble slips when students got lost. Cathy noted that underlining and annotating really helped. Julie tried save the last word and it didn't fly well, was over in 5 minutes, so not discussed. Colette used sticky notes for Domino. Students had to tell what was the most important domino and why, which one would change the story if it was removed. Missy used open ended sentences (70) on Moodle. Renee likes conversation logs on page 120. Students mark the ones that they think had the highest thinking. Bob liked group exams. Missy: Did you have kids write their own exams? Renee used it with a group of low readers. Jen uses collaboration in comp/comm because she can create groups in which everyone can participate and be an asset. Members present: Senft, Hill, Bowerman, Lauric, Kutz, Blauch, Nye-Smee, Rizzardo, Rehrig, Bolen, Wertz, Clarke

November 12, 2009 Chapters 4 and 5 The group choose suggestions from chapters 4 and 5. Collette is planning to try the domino chart for the novel 19 Minutes. Ann is doing Word of the Day (77); guess what it means? What does it say, mean,, matter. 30-15-10 (73); Missy is using teach each other strategy. Angie - 20 questions (58). Prior to reading, the student did a websearch before reading Anthem. Jamie - bullets at beginning of chapter 4 (55). Barb - word wall with vocabulary that relates to math, similar to 30-15-10. She plans to use say, mean, matter for stats class. Deb - comprehension piece from early chapter 4, mark parts they didn't understand, also likes bullets. Koren - Humpty Dumpty/Yertle the Turtle to find deeper meanings (82), might use it for freshman poetry. Cathy - word attack strategies, comprehension, wants to try color coding or trouble slips. Jocelyn - paragraph plug-ins (100) to force students to re-read and open the book again. Jen - word game (47) to show they tried to do the assignment. Liz - uses the bullet and the word game with terms in Julius Caesar to write a paragraph turned into a pair share. Julie - Blame chart (102). Members present: Kutz, McKay, Blauch, Hawkins, J. MacLeod, Nye-Smee, Senft, Hill, Bowerman, Bolen, Rizzardo, Rehrig, Maxton, Clarke

October 1, 2009 Chapters 1, 2, and 3 The group members noted that several of the activities listed were similar to activating strategies or summarizing strategies in LFS. In the "Second Draft Reading" chapter, Collette and Angie had success with the "Love" activities for extended metaphors. Other good ideas discussed were the anticipation guide (page 40) and the word scramble (page 49). Barb discusssed reading in the math curriculum and how cold reading has not been successful while framing and modeling activities have. Participants also commented on the general idea of reading more and different materials such as news articles in their classes. ESL students especially benefit from reading as much as possible to gain language skills. Members present: Bowerman, Senft, Blaugh, Hawkins, Lauric, Rehric, Nye Smee, J. MacLeod, Maxton, Clarke, Bolen, Hill, Rizzardo, Quinlan, Wertz, McKay