Close Reads

We are super pumped to share with you one of our favorite strategies to use with our students while reading, and the coolest part is that you can do this during science, social studies, math, or reading time! If you haven't heard of Close Reads yet, please let us introduce you!

What are Close Reads?

Close Reads is an instructional strategy that focuses on the "four corners of the text". Students have to read a selection of text carefully, reflect, and answer questions that require a deeper level of thinking. The answers lie solely in the text itself, without the students having to possess prior knowledge. Would prior knowledge make it easier to answer the questions? Possibly, but if the questions being asked can be answered using the text itself, then students who lack that prior knowledge will not be at a disadvantage. Close Reads can be used not just during reading, but during science or social studies. If you know the Common Core Reading Standards, then you know how important integration is. If you have always wanted to bring your science or social studies into your reading block, Close Reads will make the transition easier! As you begin using Close Reads, you will find that it becomes more of a discussion about the text. Close Reads go beyond what is written on the pages of the text. It includes all facets of a text, which is what the CCSS Anchor Standards are.

How Do You Use Close Reads?

Close Reads can be done whole group or small group depending on the purpose. You can choose to give your students a copy of the text or display the text on a white board. You can choose to have students read the text independently, with a partner, or you may want to read it to them and they follow along. If you want to see assess your students' listening comprehension, then you can read the text to them to take away the potential obstacle of having to read the text themselves. Close Reads can take anywhere between 20 to 45 minutes, depending on the age level of your group. There are also different ways for students to respond to the questions. I have had a class discussion by writing the question on chart paper or the white board and then recording student responses, had students write their answers independently, posted the questions on sentence strips in a pocket chart and give each student a sticky note to write their answers on and then stick in the pocket chart, or place 2-3 pieces of chart paper around the room with a different question written on each one and have the students travel to each question in a small group and write their answers/add to the answer already written. By mixing it up, students don't get bored, and they are constantly being challenged. You could also give your students the opportunity to write the questions themselves. You can give them question stems that guide them in the direction you want them to go, and then let them finish the question. So many possibilities!

How Do You Select the Text?

Well, that depends on your purpose. Are you wanting to integrate science or social studies? Then you might choose a scientific or historical text. Are you wanting to focus on a specific reading skill such as character analysis? Then you would choose a text excerpt that has a strong character and is rich with details that can be used to analyze that character. I ask myself this simple question: Why am I using this particular text? If my answer is, "I already have it in the basal"...well, that answer is not validating why the text should be used. Always ask your self, "What is the purpose for the Close Read?" and "Does this text fit this purpose the best?" So many times teachers reach for that stand-by text that has been read every year, or the story of the week from the basal. Not saying there is anything wrong with that, but if that is your reasoning, you may want to look for another text to use because clearly that text is not a good fit for your Close Read. Some teachers like to select the text first and then find or write questions that can be used. I think it's easier to look at what standards I am teaching, pull out questions that would fit the purpose of teaching those standards, and then look for a text that would be a good fit. You can't just whip out a book and grab some questions to ask. You MUST read the text before hand and really think about what questions are most appropriate for the purpose you have chosen.

How Are Close Reads Different From What You Already Do?

Chances are, you already have your students reading and answering questions about a text. I have found the biggest difference to be the quantity of questions I ask and the depth at which my students go. In the past I use to have my students read a passage, and then I had several questions I would ask. When my students gave me an answer, I would ask them to read from the text the clues or the sentences that gave them that answer (you know, prove your answer!), and then I would move to the next question. With Close Reads, you want to continue to have your students dig into the text. Having them share where in the text they found the answer is only the BEGINNING! Asking "How did that inform your answer?" or "Why do you think the author used those words?" are only two of the many questions you can continue to ask. We know the CCSS are rigorous, and to really get the students to think deeply requires asking them the right questions....questions that may stump them, and will most likely need to converse with other students and you in order to determine the answer. Often times one student will give an answer, and another student will add, and so on. Many times I end up only getting through 2 questions in a 30 minute segment because of how deeply we discuss the text. Another big difference is the wait time. Don't jump in to save your students! Allow them time to think and then share. Waiting can be the hardest part because we don't want our students to struggle, but giving them time to fully think about what to say lets them know that they don't have to rush an answer. I have modeled several Close Read lessons for the teachers at the school where I teach. Almost all of them have told me that it isn't that much different from what they are already doing, but those key differences are the ones that are always brought up. I myself have found it hard to dig deeper into the text, but with Close Read questions, it becomes much easier!

Eventually we want students to be able to answer Close Read questions on their own, but until my students are ready, I am using the gradual release model. At the beginning of the year it was a lot of me modeling for them the thinking that I have while I read, the types of answers I am looking for, and then we transitioned to them working in small groups with the questions, and now we are at working with a partner. My goal is that by March my students will be answering Close Read questions independently and successfully! It certainly hasn't been an easy path...most students aren't used to being asked these types of questions or having to dig deep, but like all things, with practice and guidance, it becomes more natural and easier for them, and for you!

How Do I Know What Questions to Ask?

Purpose, purpose, purpose! Are you noticing a trend here? First you must know what your purpose is. What is the focus of your lesson? Then select the text that will most readily lend itself to teaching those skills. Finally you can write questions that will guide students toward the discussion that you would like to have with them. Usually I look at the specific standard and the text, and then I write the question using the language of the standards. There are 3 domains in the reading CCSS: Key Ideas and Details, Craft and Structure, and Integration of Knowledge and Ideas. You may want to choose a question that will address each domain, or you may want to stick with one domain at a time. Again, it depends on your purpose and your students. 

We Can Help!

We have a product called Comprehension Question Stems for Literature, Informational Texts CCSS. This product contains over 60 question stems that you can easily use to help you write those Close Read questions. The question stems are color coded by domain, labeled with the anchor standard (since all K-12 reading standards originate from the anchor standards) AND they include the Bloom's Taxonomy Level of thinking. There is a literature set and an informational set. Some of the question stems are the same depending on the specific standard, but the frames for each type are different for organizational purposes. There are also recording sheets for tracking your students progress during Close Reads. There are recording sheets specific for EACH grade level. There are recording sheets that have all the standards on one page, and there is a set that is domain specific. Many ways to choose how to record your students' performance! This is a paid product. Please click the link for additional information.

Need More Information?

Here are some of the sites we used to learn more about Close Reads. Check out this YouTube video to gain more information on Close Reads and the CCSS, and then watch this video that gives an example. Once you are ready to begin planning, www.achievethecore.org provides some great information and tools (for not just reading but also math!) You can check out Close Reading Exemplars if you need ideas of types of texts you can choose, or the Common Core's Appendix B for additional text excerpts that you can use. You can read guidelines for writing questions if you want to create your own. 

We know that once you begin using Close Reads, you will fall in love just like us!

Don't forget about our All Things Upper Elementary Blog's First Paid Linky Party tomorrow! Make sure you stop back here tomorrow to either link up or find some awesome resources by some amazing teacher-authors! There will be activities for V-Day and other February themes, activities teachers just LOVE, and more! We hope to see you here!

Until next time,

2 Brainy Apples

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Checking 'Under the Hood' for Students' Reading Strategies

Processing information while reading is such a complex task!  I compare it to my car.  I know there are a lot of things going on underneath the hood when I start my car up and send it into reverse.  There has to be a highly elaborate system for what seems like a simple thing for me to do.  For me, starting my car is easy; I have even been having my 13 year-old start it in the morning because it’s been so cold out and I don’t want to do it!

But, as simple as it is for me, I know that there was a lot of engineering, trial and errors, research, and testing conducted by others so that my 13 year-old could easily turn the key and be able to automatically assume the car will start.

Just like starting a car, I think we can ask our kids to read and then we assume they are reading and understanding.  But, there are a lot of things going on ‘underneath the hood,’ that we need to make sure are working properly.  We can think of ourselves as the engineers, conducting trials and errors while listening to students read and asking them about their thinking.  We can test their skills on specific reading strategies so that we can be sure that what we don’t see ‘under the hood’ is happening every time they open a book!

Here is a list of questions we can ask our students to check for understanding as we conference or meet with students in guided reading:

1. Tell me what you are thinking about as you are reading (or after you finished reading).

2. What questions do you have as you are reading (or after you finished reading)?

3. What are you wondering about?

4. Is there a part that doesn't make sense?

5. What surprised you as you were reading?

6. What did you notice?

Asking these types of open-ended questions will give you a good snapshot as to what the student is thinking.  If the student answers with limited information, you can continue to press for information by saying things like:

1. Tell me more...

2. What else...

3. What makes you think that?

4. What do you mean by...?

As you are listening to students respond, take some notes on what each student is thinking.  Their responses to these questions will guide you in your future instruction.  You will easily be able to see if there is a lot of thinking going on 'under the hood' or not!

The best way to teach students that reading is more than just following words across the page with your eyes is to model the process by thinking aloud as you read.  Reading to students every...single...day, and sharing your thinking as you process information is the very best way to encourage thinking while reading.

Please visit my store to see more resources for asking comprehension questions.  I have several resources, including the following comprehension question cards. 

 

 I hope everyone has a wonderful week!!!

 

You can find me at:

 

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Math in Focus: Bar Models with Manipulatives

We are in our second year using the Math in Focus (Singapore Math) program, and my fourth graders recently finished Chapter 3 on multiplication, long division, and using bar models for problem solving.  This is by far the most challenging chapter, or at least it has been for us these first 2 years.  For those of you who aren't familiar with MIF, one of the earlier fourth grade problems in this chapter might be:

My sister had $8,359, and I had 3,596 less than her.  How much did we have altogether?

Well, last year I think I was even more scared than they were (at first, since they didn't know better).  This year I felt more confident, although it's still a struggle for a lot of my students to master the sample problems as they become more complex than this one, and to complete them independently.

Although I'm still learning, I wanted to share a couple new tricks I used this year that seemed to go over very well with my group.  Like most programs, Singapore talks about a gradual release of responsibility.  And like most programs, we start with manipulatives before requiring abstract thinking.  Yet there were no manipulatives for bar models; just visuals.  Until now.

All I did was cut strips of paper cut into 2 different sizes.  The yellow paper is a Post It note with the sticky side holding the strips in place.  For my students, "Noun 1" and "Noun 2" were replaced with "Me" and "My sister."  

I told my class to remember these things as we progressed through the chapter:

1.  Bar models are just a tool to make solving math word problems easier; they are not there to make us crazy.  

2.  Bar models are at their most useful in fourth grade problems for helping us keep track of who has the bigger amount, who has the smaller amount, the difference, and the combined total.  

In the above problem, I told my students, "I have some money.  My sister has some more.  Decide where to put the little bar, and where to put the big bar."  Everyone was able to do that, so I told them that in this case, they'd know when it came time to draw the bars and put the bigger number with the right person, they could do it.

Below, I asked them to show me how much we had altogether.  Easy.  Indicate both.  That funny bracket in the book could be indicated with just their fingers.  Again, it totally took away the pressure of "I can't draw that weird mustache thing," (although they love when I draw it because hey, mustaches are cool, haha).

Below, I asked them to cover up all the extra money my sister had so that it looked like we had the same amount.  That covering up was "taking away" the extra. I told them that what I was doing for this sort of question was to subtract.

In the problem below, I told them, "I have some money.  My sister has some more.  Show me how much more."  Those funny brackets they show in the book were indicated with their fingers.  I told them if they were looking for the difference between the two bars, it's a smaller amount than the bigger bar, so they'd know they'd subtract.

The activity was a huge hit.  Notice that no numbers were mentioned today!  It was all about conceptualizing the process using manipulatives.  Kids whose computation is shaky could follow along at the same level as everyone else.  Even those kids who don't like to write were successful.  And an unexpected side effect to using these bars was that when it was time to start drawing them, all but two students had them lined up correctly on the left!  I wanted to go back to do this lesson all over again with my former students from last year who kept drawing the bars right after the words instead of lining them up correctly.

Readers, are any of you using Math in Focus/Singapore Math?  Do you have any tips you can share on how to survive chapter 3?

Amber Thomas's Classroom Favorites on Teachers Pay Teachers


P.S., If you're interested in a follow up lesson I did with Bar Models using a free website, check it out over on my other blog at Shut the Door and Teach!

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Teaching Deeper Thinking With Poetry: Common Core

• I can't believe it's here--my first "real" post on All Things Upper Elementary!  Please watch for my posts every other Tuesday from this point forward!

Today I wanted to share with all of you something I have done in my classroom the last few years, and it is something that I think has made some of my fourth graders take that "leap" into a more sophisticated, mature level of understanding of what they read.  This isn't really a POETRY lesson as much as a "deeper thinking" lesson--with poetry being one way to go about doing it.

As a part of our poetry studies, I try to expose my students to a wide range of reading and writing experiences . . . but I have always felt like our poetry work was a little more superficial than I would like.  The work of Regie Routman is inspiring (check our her ideas if you have time) and Georgia Heard has a number of ideas that can help you raise the level of depth with your poetry studies.  I also can't wait to continue to read the poetry posts by Mr. Hughes!  

The Common Core is clear about the need to raise the level of rigor in the materials we read with our students and with what we ask them to do with these materials.  I have included 3 of the elements in the CCSS for fourth grade below:

• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.1 Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.2 Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text; summarize the text.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.5 Explain major differences between poems, drama, and prose, and refer to the structural elements of poems (e.g., verse, rhythm, meter) and drama (e.g., casts of characters, settings, descriptions, dialogue, stage directions) when writing or speaking about a text.

So, what I have noticed is that sometimes these higher level skills are best tackled with short text. . . articles, short stories, picture books--and poems!  Students coming into my class tend to have a fair amount of exposure to poetry, but mostly poetry for "fun".  I have decided to see if I could get students really engaged in some deeper, more thought-provoking poems to try to tackle some of the higher level elements of the Common Core.

Here's how I start. . .  I present a poem to the students that I blow up and glue onto chart paper--but I don't read it to them or tell them anything about it.  I also give the students a small copy to glue into their reading response notebooks.  I ask them to work alone to "work with" the poem . . . they can highlight interesting things, write questions, jot down things they notice, list what they are wondering about, and so on.  Last week I shared the poem "74th Street" by Myra Cohn Livingston.  I ask them to work silently for about 7 minutes.  When I first did this I got lots of

"I don't get it!"

"This doesn't make any sense!"

"I don't know what to write!"

but my students now know that doesn't fly--our class motto is "PERSEVERE!" and so they dug in . . . 

After they had worked on their own, I invited them to share with their tables and see what kind of thinking was triggered--I really try to stress with them that LISTENING to the ideas of others can help clarify your own ideas and can trigger NEW ideas as well!

I then brought them back to the large group and invited them to share some of their discoveries, questions, and wonderings.  I recorded their thinking as we went . . . 

As the students shared, I reminded them to listen and to "piggyback" ideas off each other.  As students added to other students' ideas, I changed colors of marker (the light green ideas were piggybacked ideas).  As you can see, a number of students were able to start to dig in to this poem at a deeper level--and really started making inferences and "proving" their ideas by referring back to the text. 

After we had shared for a while, I was noticing that the students were very focused on the message of the poem and commenting on the content of it but were not really tuned in to the fact that this is a poem and that the format might have some interesting things to notice as well.  I capitalized on one student who noticed that we never learn the child's name, but that the word "she" is used repeatedly--especially to start lines, and I highlighted the word she throughout the poem.  I could hear the whispers among the students start, so I sent them back to work at their tables to see what MORE they could notice about the poetic elements.  I gave them another 5-6 minutes to work, and the discussions got louder and louder.  Pencils and highlighters were moving a mile a minute!

We came back together one last time and shared more on our chart.  The piggybacking continued, and I added on in a third color to show the changing thoughts.

As our discussion wrapped up, one student said, "This is TOTALLY a poem about perseverance!" and the other students readily chimed in their agreement.  Another student said, "Wait--I think this is a poem about her own life.  This is a memory poem."  The other students nodded their agreement.  A third student asked, "Well--which IS it?" and the class sat hushed, waiting for me to answer.  I reminded them that readers and writers are responsible for making their own meaning . . .  that the poet didn't write a "handbook" to help us. She trusts that we will be able to take her carefully chosen words and create meaning out of them.

So, having said that, I sent them back to their desks to explore their own thoughts and to try adding poems to their own collections.  We are hoping to publish mini-anthologies next week, and I encouraged them to consider really trying to write poems that will force their readers to make meaning.  I reminded them how important every single word in "74th Street" was--and how the formatting of the poem made us stop and think.  They grabbed their notebooks and settled in--and I could feel that we had turned a corner in terms of their maturity as readers and writers.

Interested in giving it a try?  There are a zillion amazing poems out there--but I have done this with paragraphs from a text, with articles from magazines such as Weekly Reader, and even pages from picture books.  Getting students to interact with text and with each other builds understanding and pushes their thinking--and we NEED this kind of thinker as we move forward with the Common Core!  In case you are interested in trying it but don't really have time to get it started, I have created a little freebie you might be like--it has the text of this blog post as directions plus a poem to use with your class.  The resource has the poem typed in a few sizes--one that could be put on chart paper and another small enough to glue into a notebook.  I have also included a sheet that has a space for them to record their thinking right on the sheet if you want to collect it and use it as evidence of their thinking.  Let me know how it goes--and I'll see you back here in a few weeks!

Deeper Thinking With Poetry FREEBIE!

Thanks so much for continuing to follow and share with all of us here at "All Things Upper Elementary"!  Make sure to stop by each of our individual blogs as well to see what we've got cookin'...

Meg from the Fourth Grade Studio

You can find me at . . .

www.fourthgradestudio.blogspot.com

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or find me on Twitter at @FourthGrStudio

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Visual Thesaurus

This week my students are reading Chris Van Allsburg's book The Garden of Abdul Gasazi.

 In the text, Gasazi is a a retired magician who detests dogs. He states, " I detest dogs. They did up my flowers, they chew on my trees. Do you know what I do to dogs I find in my garden?" "I TURN THEM INTO DUCKS!"

This is the lead in for my lesson on using a thesaurus and finding the meaning and synonyms for the word detest.

Visuwords is an online dictionary/thesaurus that shows word associations and is great for vocabulary building strategies.

Here's a screen snapshot after I entered the word detest.

It shows the focus word in the middle and words branched off that are similar. The colored circles of the words represent parts of speech.  The lines stand for derivatives of the word. In addition, the pink line pointing to love indicates the opposite of the word detest.

If you hover over a word a definition and example sentence is given.

I created this reference sheet that can be used along with this online resource.

~Enjoy

Denise

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We're Going On a NOUN HUNT!

Before I start into my most amazing post on a fun activity I recently did with my 60 writing students, I wanted to remind you that there is going to be an AMAZING SALE tomorrow on Teachers Pay Teachers. With Savings of up to 28%, you CAN NOT GO WRONG! So, after you read my post, pop on over to TpT and 'toss' some great resources in your shopping cart. Don't worry, there will be plenty of time before, during, and after the Super Bowl to 'tackle' the decision of what to buy! Don't 'fumble' the deal- REMEMBER TO USE PROMO CODE: SUPER!

And now... ON WITH THE POST! WAHOO!

I just wanted to start by saying that I hope that you are feeling like family here on our new blog, because we sure do enjoy having you, our good friends, visit with us often! Don't hesitate to pin ideas you see here either. I mean, SHARE THE WEALTH with those you know.

If you have been following my blog (An Educator's Life) you know that I have been doing a series of posts called Journey into Poetry Land. It has been quite the experience.

As I have taught this unit, I have also focused on grammar, more specifically NOUNS! I had assumed (and let me tell you what they say about that is very true!) that my kiddos knew what a noun was, and could easily pick out a common noun from a proper noun. I made the assumption because for the past several years they were being taught out of the school grammar basal program. (We started rotating 4th, 5th, and 6th grade classes this year, so I didn't know their level of understanding). Not only that, we had spent a month learning about the SUBJECT and PREDICATE of sentences. I mean, hellooooooooooo.... the subject is a noun. Did that help? Nope... nada...blank stare... ZILCH! Sigh....

I thought they had it! BOY WAS I WRONG! Holey Moley!

Each night, during this poetry unit, I have been assigning a poem that fits the concept we are studying and then assign them different "hunts" for each poem!

Like:
Underline common nouns.
Circle proper nouns
Box onomatopoeia
(and more).

Well, we had been doing this for several days and they were underlining PRONOUNS, ADJECTIVES, anything that had letters was fair game to them. Pretty much everything BUT the nouns. S-C-A-R-Y!

So, I told myself we needed to take a break from poetry and study NOUNS! Thus, my NOUN HUNT was created. I knew that it was going to be a challenge for them, even though it shouldn't have been.

I started by handing out the poetry books:

Then I handed out this page that I whipped up for this activity:

The students had to use the poetry books to find and fill in each section of the paper. 5 of each common noun and 10 proper nouns. It literally took the entire class period to get them all on the same page with common and proper nouns. (I am offering our readers this page for free. Click HERE to your copy! This is going to be included in my soon to be released NOUN unit. Enjoy! If you download, please leave a comment so we know you were here! I would also love to hear how you used the resource as well. Thanks )

Do all my students have a perfect knowledge of nouns? Heavens no, but this activity, combined with the nightly noun hunts on each poem, have really helped the vast majority really start to grasp nouns. In fact, many are even able to pick out the "idea" nouns much more readily that I ever would have thought possible.

Now... I am going to start tackling the concept of plural nouns, so stay tuned for news on how that goes!

What about you? What strategies or lessons do YOU use to teach nouns to your students?

Cheers!

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P.S. Don't miss my Share the Wealth Freebie Linky going on RIGHT NOW over at an Educator's Life. I would love to have you stop by and 'score' big on FREE resources!

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All to Pieces

How do you get your students motivated to write? Throughout the year, I have little tricks that I pull out to get my students excited again and again. One is a LEGO writing activity. Who doesn't love those little pieces all over the floor?

First, the students get into groups of three. If you have more than three group members, it can get to be too many hands or one person winds up simply sitting and watching the others. I assign tasks: recorder, designer, and contractor. The students decide in their groups who will complete each task.

After the jobs have been chosen, I tell the students they have a very important job to do today; they have to design and construct a functional item with their LEGOS, but they also have to write very detailed instructions for other groups in the classroom to be able to rebuild it using only the instructions. You can immediately see their eyes light up! It is great! Those wheels are already turning, and they cannot wait for me to quit talking so they can get busy.

I have a classroom helper hand each group their buckets of LEGOS. The students can only work with the pieces they are given. The groups dump their pieces out in their assigned work areas. (Now, this is the part where my "everything has to be clean and tidy" characteristic has to take a backseat and let those little pieces scatter everywhere.)

Each student assumes his/her role. The recorder has the hardest job in my opinion because this person has to document every piece and sometimes those pieces change and the instructions have to be changed as well. The designer has to come up with the idea and tell the recorder step-by-step what pieces are being used and how they are being used.

The contractor gets to put the pieces together to see if it is all going to fit together. The designer works closely with the contractor and makes changes if needed. The recorder is still frantically trying to write down all they are doing.

The students work to make sure their item works properly and will serve a function. 

This is a finished product. This group built a garage with a ramp to park their utility vehicle. I believe they used all but seven pieces out of the the ones they were given.

One thing that I love about this writing activity is the students are all fully engaged and participating. I have never had a student not want to participate in this activity. After each group is finished, the new items are taken apart. The recorder writes or types a final instruction manual. On the next day, the groups exchange buckets of LEGOS and instuction manuals. They construct another group's item to see if the instructions match the item.

It is a wonderful writing activity, and it is definitely an activity the students continue to talk about all year. What methods do you use to motivate your students to write?

I hope everyone has a HAPPY FRIDAY!

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