Fast ForWord is a game-based, reading intervention program that strives to improve reading brain functions in the areas of attention and sequencing, as well as guided reading in the areas of fluency and vocabulary. The program is responsible for many success stories and helping at-risk schools improve their standardized test scores.
My sixth graders recently demoed the program, and their concentration was amazing. We plan to use this program in the second semester with our students as a means of remediation and intervention. Coupled with Read 180, the program is proven to help students, especially those who are “on the bubble” of passing our state ISTEP+ test. I am looking forward to using this program more in the upcoming year, and I think it is worth checking out for anyone interested in helping readers succeed!
Check out some of the following sites for more information:
Fast ForWord
Video Testimonials
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Inspiration
Inspiration software is a wonderful tool teachers and students can use in many ways, such as creating webs and other graphic organizers. This software program allows you to organize information in any content area, including reading. For example, a student can create a character web or story map after reading a book as an assessment piece rather than writing a dull book report. Inspiration and its companion programs allow students to develop 21st Century Literacy Skills by analyzing and interpreting information, as well as communicating clearly. The Inspiration website provides many more research-based reasons, as well as information for those interested in trying out this wonderful program.
http://www.inspiration.com/Educators
Here are just a few of the benefits cited on the above website.
• Teach and reinforce writing and critical thinking skills
• Engage students with collaborative learning
• Extend learning time and facilitate student-teacher interaction
Here are a few templates my district uses for Language Arts:
Inspiration Templates
http://www.inspiration.com/Educators
Here are just a few of the benefits cited on the above website.
• Teach and reinforce writing and critical thinking skills
• Engage students with collaborative learning
• Extend learning time and facilitate student-teacher interaction
Here are a few templates my district uses for Language Arts:
Inspiration Templates
Monday, December 13, 2010
Digital Book Talks
Motivating adolescent readers can often feel like an insurmountable obstacle. However with all of the new technology available to both teachers and students, learning about new, great reads is easier than ever. Digital book talks allow students to browse books they may be interested in reading and hear/watch a brief plot synopsis. I think this is a great idea to not only interest students, but to include them in making their own digital media creations. I just briefly showed my class one book talk last week, and they were very interested in making their own. For more information, visit any of the sites below:
The following link takes you to a research paper on digital book talks influence on reluctant readers: the file will open in a pdf document
Looking for a certain book? Just try your favorite search engine; I was surprised by the number of digital book talks I could find for common books and books I would love my students to read. Scholastic (a teacher's best friend) even has many online resources!
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Lester Laminack
On October 6th, I was lucky enough to attend a conference at Valparaiso University. The subject was read alouds, and the speaker was author Lester Laminack. He really altered my thinking on read alouds, not that I didn't find them important before, but his words really hit home as to just how important quality read alouds are for nurturing readers and writers. Here are some snippets of the things that I learned that day. Some of them may repeat, but he drove some things home throughout the day and I figure if I wrote them more than once because I head them more than once... then I can share more than once!
Reading is a gourmet experience- slow down and enjoy it. I really feel like with all of the things I have to find into my day, that I did rush through books sometimes. It seems like something obvious, but I hadn't really thought enough about it I guess.
No one writes well until they've heard good language. Lester talked about "luscious language" and how much hearing stories that use this language helps developing writers flourish. It isn't just enough to read aloud to children- you have to be very selective in the books you choose because they are going to learn from the writing style of these authors. After his conference, I still kept some of my fun read alouds, but also brought in books with language that I used to deem above my students' heads, like some Patricia Polacco books with more in depth plots and sophisticated language. Well, thanks to the Fancy Nancy and brave word charts, my kids ate these books up! When they came back from library the next week, over half of my class had books written by Polacco checked out! I also noticed a shift in the vocabulary they used in their writing. Of course, they still write like first graders, as they should, but they attempted to use more sophisticated vocabulary and I noticed a change in the voice of their writing.
Don't ask a question if you don't intend for them to answer.
The things we do to raise test scores cost us the passion of reading. I feel that although I used quality read alouds in my reading workshop minilessons, I wasn't as passionate about them before this conference. Today when I was reading to the class, I said how much I loved the book ( Lester said sometimes we are so busy with a teaching point we don't read a book "just because" or because we love it) and one of my girls said, "You love EVERY book!" My passion was coming through in our new after lunch read aloud routine. During these read alouds I try (though it is hard) not to have a teaching point, not to turn and talk with partners, etc. Of course, I do have to talk about vocabulary once in a while, and I can't stop the kids from noticing fancy words themselves, but we stop as briefly as possible and just enjoy the language.
Revisit a set of 10 books 5 times each. Resist the temptation to teach the book. Introduce books like friends; revisit, not reread with a specific purpose. The first time you read any book, it should be just because. Explain to kids that we watch movies we love over and over, and we play video games we love over and over, too.
We need students to value knowledge, not comply to get it.
The best thing you can do when you read is question, not answer.
People that write a lot, read a lot. If you want them to write it, fill their ears with it.
Sit dow and practice read alouds with colleagues. To be honest, I have only done this once, with Skippyjonjones, by Judy Schachner. I have to admit, my colleague and I laughed pretty hard and we couldn't wait to read it to our kids to get a similar reaction!
Leveled readers are like training wheels, they are practice, not the actual game. Use read alouds to support leveled readers and provide background knowledge. Guided readers do not provide a lot of background knowledge or comprehension opportunities, especially at the lower levels.
Teach by function, not by definition. Learn how and why, not just how.
6 possibilities for read alouds throughout the day
1. Very first act of school- show them this is the most important part of school. It helps build community. Choose books on friends, families, exceptionalities. Choose books that help kids view people of other ethnicities or religions as equal.
2. First transition in the day, from reading to math or writing to math. We lose between 5 and 10 minutes a day in transition. Tell the kids you are going to start reading and be ready for math at the end of the read aloud. Keep in mind that it takes 20 days to change a pattern, so be consistent in using the book as a transition.
3. Right before lunch- read poems for 10 minutes. Read a poem a week and do 5 lessons per poem. He says only 1 by Jack Prelutsky and 1 from Shel Silverstein.
Monday- read the poem 2 or 3 times to find the rhythm, read it different ways.
Tuesday- read it again and find something in it
Poems are great places to find places for inferring.
4. Right after lunch
5. Link read aloud to math, social studies, science, etc.
6. To close the day. Put a basket of books near the door and give them a gift as they leave. He said that often during the day we are testing them and asking them to read to us, or answer questions about what we read to them, but this is a pure and simple gift.
Here are some links to books by Lester Laminack:
Unwrapping the Read Aloud: Making Every Read Aloud Intentional and Instructional (Theory and Practice in Action)
Cracking Open the Author's Craft: Teaching the Art of Writing (Theory and Practice in Action)
Learning Under the Influence of Language and Literature: Making the Most of Read-Alouds Across the Day
Reading Aloud Across the Curriculum: How to Build Bridges in Language Arts, Math, Science, and Social Studies
Children's books by Laminack:
Reading is a gourmet experience- slow down and enjoy it. I really feel like with all of the things I have to find into my day, that I did rush through books sometimes. It seems like something obvious, but I hadn't really thought enough about it I guess.
No one writes well until they've heard good language. Lester talked about "luscious language" and how much hearing stories that use this language helps developing writers flourish. It isn't just enough to read aloud to children- you have to be very selective in the books you choose because they are going to learn from the writing style of these authors. After his conference, I still kept some of my fun read alouds, but also brought in books with language that I used to deem above my students' heads, like some Patricia Polacco books with more in depth plots and sophisticated language. Well, thanks to the Fancy Nancy and brave word charts, my kids ate these books up! When they came back from library the next week, over half of my class had books written by Polacco checked out! I also noticed a shift in the vocabulary they used in their writing. Of course, they still write like first graders, as they should, but they attempted to use more sophisticated vocabulary and I noticed a change in the voice of their writing.
Don't ask a question if you don't intend for them to answer.
The things we do to raise test scores cost us the passion of reading. I feel that although I used quality read alouds in my reading workshop minilessons, I wasn't as passionate about them before this conference. Today when I was reading to the class, I said how much I loved the book ( Lester said sometimes we are so busy with a teaching point we don't read a book "just because" or because we love it) and one of my girls said, "You love EVERY book!" My passion was coming through in our new after lunch read aloud routine. During these read alouds I try (though it is hard) not to have a teaching point, not to turn and talk with partners, etc. Of course, I do have to talk about vocabulary once in a while, and I can't stop the kids from noticing fancy words themselves, but we stop as briefly as possible and just enjoy the language.
Revisit a set of 10 books 5 times each. Resist the temptation to teach the book. Introduce books like friends; revisit, not reread with a specific purpose. The first time you read any book, it should be just because. Explain to kids that we watch movies we love over and over, and we play video games we love over and over, too.
We need students to value knowledge, not comply to get it.
The best thing you can do when you read is question, not answer.
People that write a lot, read a lot. If you want them to write it, fill their ears with it.
Sit dow and practice read alouds with colleagues. To be honest, I have only done this once, with Skippyjonjones, by Judy Schachner. I have to admit, my colleague and I laughed pretty hard and we couldn't wait to read it to our kids to get a similar reaction!
Leveled readers are like training wheels, they are practice, not the actual game. Use read alouds to support leveled readers and provide background knowledge. Guided readers do not provide a lot of background knowledge or comprehension opportunities, especially at the lower levels.
Teach by function, not by definition. Learn how and why, not just how.
6 possibilities for read alouds throughout the day
1. Very first act of school- show them this is the most important part of school. It helps build community. Choose books on friends, families, exceptionalities. Choose books that help kids view people of other ethnicities or religions as equal.
2. First transition in the day, from reading to math or writing to math. We lose between 5 and 10 minutes a day in transition. Tell the kids you are going to start reading and be ready for math at the end of the read aloud. Keep in mind that it takes 20 days to change a pattern, so be consistent in using the book as a transition.
3. Right before lunch- read poems for 10 minutes. Read a poem a week and do 5 lessons per poem. He says only 1 by Jack Prelutsky and 1 from Shel Silverstein.
Monday- read the poem 2 or 3 times to find the rhythm, read it different ways.
Tuesday- read it again and find something in it
Poems are great places to find places for inferring.
4. Right after lunch
5. Link read aloud to math, social studies, science, etc.
6. To close the day. Put a basket of books near the door and give them a gift as they leave. He said that often during the day we are testing them and asking them to read to us, or answer questions about what we read to them, but this is a pure and simple gift.
Here are some links to books by Lester Laminack:
Unwrapping the Read Aloud: Making Every Read Aloud Intentional and Instructional (Theory and Practice in Action)
Cracking Open the Author's Craft: Teaching the Art of Writing (Theory and Practice in Action)
Learning Under the Influence of Language and Literature: Making the Most of Read-Alouds Across the Day
Reading Aloud Across the Curriculum: How to Build Bridges in Language Arts, Math, Science, and Social Studies
Children's books by Laminack:
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