This Learning Unboxed episode discussion focuses on the
sixth shift in Katie Engan, Cunningham, Jan Burkins and Kari Yates' book, "Shifting the Balance: Grades Three to Five Six Ways to Bring the Science of Reading into the Upper Elementary Classroom." In this session, the team
emphasized ways to make independent reading both meaningful and purposeful in classrooms. They challenged the assumption that independent reading, if self-selected, is meaningful just because students are compliant, quiet and busy.
Motivation, purpose, autonomy, choice of text, teaching students to self-regulate, offering opportunities to respond to texts were all considered to be key in improving independent reading. The podcast also discussed the idea of different levels of reading and the potential impacts of these on a child’s self-perception as a
reader. The team gave practical suggestions, such as grading books in classrooms according to different skill sets that students might be working on, performing book talks and book tastings, and fostering a community of readers within schools.
The goal is to provide effective scaffolding for independent reading while also managing small group instruction. The conversation ended on a positive note,
urging teachers to make incremental changes to improve literacy instruction. Even the most transformative change begins with a single first step and it is important to keep the momentum going by trying new things.
Resources
· Mo Willems – Elephant and Piggy
· Mike Anderson “Learning to Choose and Choosing to Learn”
· Nell K Duke The Active View of Reading
· Mirrors, Windows and Sliding doors
· Penny Kittle and Kelly Gallagher– 180 Days · First Chapter Fridays
The Learning Unboxed team discusses the topic of fluency in reading instruction and its critical link to comprehension. Drawing insights from the book, "Shifting the Balance" by Katie Egan Cunningham, Jan Burkins, and Kari Yates, the discussion delved into the various facets of fluency beyond just speed or pace, including accuracy, rate, and prosody. The conversation emphasized the importance of fluency as a bridging process between decoding and comprehension, analogizing fluency to driving where skills improve with practice.
Miscomprehension often stems from fluency issues, and it is recommended that explicit, intentional teaching of fluency is crucial to student success. Teachers are encouraged to stretch their students’ reading level for fluency work rather than sticking to only simple texts. The discussion also touches on building routines for teaching, and assessing fluency, as well as integrating relevant, purposeful texts into instruction. Finally, self-assessment methods for students are also outlined as an important tactic.
Resources
· Reading Models- Reading Rockets
o Nell Duke’s Active View of Reading
o Scarborough’s Rope
· UFLI fluency passages
· LLI kits – for Reader’s Theatre (Classic Tales all have Reader’s Theatre scripts)
· AI tools to create Reader’s Theatre – specifically mentioned Chat GPT
This episode from Learning Unboxed focused on the importance of continued word reading instruction in intermediate-grade classrooms. The Learning Facilitators highlight the challenges that teachers face, particularly in meeting the varying needs of students who may lag behind in their reading skills or those who need further development in terms of managing multisyllabic words.
They emphasize the importance of targeted assessments to determine students' weaknesses and adjust teaching methods accordingly. They share strategies such
as orthographic mapping, marking up big words, and set for variability as tools teachers can use to aid students in reading longer words. The team also discusses the significance of instilling a mastery focus, which ensures continuous revision and practice of taught skills and not leave them once the students have understood them.
The episode touches on the complexities of the English language and how a thoughtful and sequential approach to teaching can enhance understanding. They suggest ensuring purposeful and meaningful teaching of morphological pieces for better decoding strategies. They also emphasized the necessity of maintaining a focus on phonemic awareness and word building across all grades.
Overall, the team suggests an all-encompassing approach, combining targeted assessments and explicit instruction to meet the varying needs of intermediate-grade students.
Resources
This podcast discussion mainly centered on the importance of vocabulary in reading comprehension and overall student learning. The third shift in the book is 'Recommitting to vocabulary instruction'. Incorporating vocabulary in language and daily activities and using context to understand new vocabulary words were noted as effective strategies. Vocabulary was described as the "glue" holding stories and ideas together, impacting 80% of reading comprehension scores.
This shift supports explicit instruction, such as pre-teaching vocabulary in different subjects, notably in science and health. Teachers were encouraged to create a word-laden environment and to show enthusiasm in learning new words. Practically, teachers could implement varying strategies, including the use of literacy books, hexagonal thinking, making neologisms, teaching prefixes, using the 'expanding expression tool' (EET), and the Frayer Model. The learning facilitators shared resources such as The Noun Project, the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, and the Magic School AI vocabulary generator were to facilitate teaching vocabulary.
Resources
Tiered Vocabulary:
Tier 2 Words (from PVSD Scope & Sequence)
The 3 Tiers of Vocabulary for Classroom Instruction - Miss DeCarbo
Strategies and Resources we refer to:
-Book: 180 Days – Penny Kittle and Kelly Gallagher -Beautiful Word Project
-Using AI to generate vocabulary and texts MagicSchool.ai
-Frayer Model template with non-examples
-The Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English – student friendly definitions -The Noun Project website – Comprehensive Icon Collection
This episode of Learning Unboxed Podcast focused on rethinking the role of strategy instruction in learning to comprehend, as part of a series based on the book "Shifting the Balance: Six Ways to Bring the Science of Reading into the Upper Elementary Classroom". The discussion emphasized how comprehension is an outcome, not a skill, that continues to develop as vocabulary and background knowledge expand. The learning facilitators highlight the importance of considering all the cognitive processes involved in reading, from word recognition to language comprehension.
The podcast discussed the Active View of Reading model, which shows how executive functioning skills, such as motivation and strategy use, play a crucial role in learning to read. The model also highlights the importance of fluency in lightening cognitive load and facilitating deep, critical thinking about the text.
One misunderstanding addressed was that students need multiple strategies to comprehend well. The hosts argued that it's more important to spend time on background knowledge, vocabulary, working memory, and understanding text structure. They also discussed the strategic, high leverage thinking moves identified in the book that can unlock comprehension across any text.
Links
Reading Models – Active View of Reading & Scarborough’s Reading Rope
Executive Skills and Reading Comprehension: A Guide for Educators (Second Edition) by Kelly B. Cartwright
The Reading Strategies Book 2.0: Your Research-Based Guide to Developing Skilled Readers by Jennifer Serravallo
The Six Shifts
Cognitive Load Theory
This episode discusses the book 'Shifting the Balance: Grades Three to Five. Six Ways to Bring the Science of Reading into the Upper Elementary Classroom' by Jan Burkins, Kari Yates, and Katie Egan Cunningham. The Learning Facilitators highlight the importance of teaching that is evidence-based, valuing complex models like Scarborough's reading rope and the simple view of reading. The team emphasizes understanding and developing the strands of language comprehension and word recognition in education. This episode focuses on the idea of fostering a lifelong, curiosity-driven learning attitude in children and practical suggestions to do so.
Links
Nell Duke’s Active View of Reading
