Teaching Text Structure

Text structure is the way information that is written in a text is organized. It is important for students to understand and identify various text structures so, while reading, they are able to organize ideas within the text and monitor their comprehension. Text structures should be taught one at a time over the course of several years. The use of graphic organizers, key words, and examples of expository texts should be used to help students understand each individual structure as they are taught. “Direct instruction around the structures commonly found in different genres also benefits students, especially those students who may struggle with reading” (Duke 2011). When students have an understanding of the text structure while reading, they have a better understanding of what to expect from the text, as well as how the ideas will be presented. This interaction with the text helps students to better comprehend their reading.

Below are some graphic organizers that can be used while teaching each text structure.

Description:

Sequence:

Problem and Solution:

Cause and Effect:

Compare and Contrast:

Duke, N., Pearson, D., Strachan, S., & Billman, A. (2011). Essential elements of fostering and teaching reading comprehension. What research has to say about reading instruction

Leveling Classroom Libraries

To Level or Not To Level?

Classroom libraries are a source of independent reading materials for an elementary classroom of students. Depending on the teacher, students typically choose books on their own and read it for “Reader’s Workshop” or “Silent Sustained Reading” time. But what happens when a struggling reader chooses a book that is too difficult for their reading level? And what about when an excelling reader chooses a book that is meant for a struggling reader? This can be not only boring for the strong reader, but extremely difficult for the struggling reader. Teachers that have observed this frustration have turned to leveling their classroom library.

The concept of leveling books was stemmed from the idea that students do not always know which books are just right for their individual reading level. Although easier books can give students practice with reading words they already know, these books are often less dense, with fewer opportunities to implement advanced skills. More difficult books can become frustrating and discouraging for students, resulting in negative mind-sets regarding reading. In a leveled library, students can easily find books that correlate to their independent reading level and concentrate more on comprehension, rather than spending time decoding vocabulary. This is where leveling books have been shown to be of great value for students, especially struggling readers.

The concern that some educators bring up with a leveled library involves a more narrow selection of books available for students in their particular reading level. Teachers can’t always afford to expand their library enough to provide an assortment of books for all levels and interests. In addition, leveling the library and giving students their particular level that they should use to choose books can be degrading to some children. Students may find it obvious which of their classmates are excelling, and which are reading at a lower level based on their given color or number. So how can teachers level their classroom library without noticeably labeling students and limiting the selection of books?

               There is no doubt that leveled books allow students to build fluency and comprehension skills, and ultimately promotes reading success. This being said, it does not mean that the entire library has to be leveled. Students would still benefit from some type of leveling system integrated into their selection of books. This type of classroom library could have about one-third to one-half of books in a leveled section divided into four or five different sections. This section can be used as a tool for students who may be having difficulty selecting books. For different levels, the teacher can name the sections using names of animals, or nature. Students would be more compelled to read a certain level of books if it was named the sun, moon, or rainbow section, rather than a number or a color.

The remaining selection of books could act as a place for students to not only practice picking out books from a large variety, but also for them to try reading more difficult material. Challenging books can actually be beneficial for students. "In some cases, these challenging texts may have other equally, if not more, important attributes, such as promoting high engagement, providing material for students’ content area investigations or writing, or providing inducement to apply fix-up and other coping strategies" (Duke 2011). A classroom library with a section of books that are not labeled leaves room for instructional opportunities for the teacher to take advantage of throughout the school year. Students are not always going to have a prepared level library for them to choose from; it is necessary for teachers to demonstrate how to choose books that are just right for them.

            So depending on the classroom, some teachers may choose to level their library, while others may not. Some may have half and half, while others may begin with a leveled library and decide to move away from that over time. Either way, it is important to keep the students in mind at all times. Are the students developing the skills they need with the current library organization? Is it obvious to a student who is excelling and who is struggling? And, most of all, are students enjoying their time spent reading in the classroom?

Works Cited:

Duke, N., Pearson, D., Strachan, S., & Billman, A. (2011). Essential elements of fostering and teaching reading comprehension. What research has to say about reading instruction, 51-93. 

Stages of Orthographic Development

Orthographic Development involves the visual look and spelling of words. Looking at the orthographic features within students writing is how teachers determine which stage the student has reached. Writing samples can also help define which skills need to be focused on in future instruction.  

 

Stage 1: Emergent Stage

·      Random letters/ scribbles

·      Distinction between writing and drawing

Stage 2: Letter-Name Alphabetic Stage

·      Represent phonemes in words with letters

·      Alphabetic principle

·      Consonant and short vowel sounds

Stage 3: Within Word Pattern Stage

·      Chunking

·      Vowel teams

·      Complex consonant sounds

·      R-controlled vowels

Stage 4: Syllables and Affixes Stage

·      Multisyllabic words

·      Inflectional endings

·      Homophones

Stage 5: Derivational Relations Stage

·      Word families- words with similar spellings have related meaning

·      Affixes and root words

As a new teacher, what do I need to know about vocabulary instruction?

 1) Vocabulary is vital for comprehension. Due to this close association between the two, vocabulary instruction must take place during and throughout the reading process to ensure students comprehend the text. This also helps to build a stronger vocabulary.

2) Using the active-learning approach while teaching vocabulary helps students to stay engaged and to better understand the vocabulary at hand. One way to use student-centered instruction is to have students compare and contrast words by sorting into categories.

3) Teaching vocabulary in word families, rather than teaching single words is an effective instructional approach. Using word study allows students to reveal consistencies and patterns within groups of words.

4) It is important to help students to understand that some words (homophones) have multiple meanings. Using context clues is an effective way to determine the meaning of the homophone in a text.

5) The generative approach is an important concept that promotes teaching students that although complex texts will have words they do not know, their generative word knowledge can help them understand the meaning of new words.

Teaching Phonemic Awareness to Older Students

It is often assumed by middle and high school teachers that their students will enter their classroom with the fundamental skills of phonemic awareness. In reality, some students struggle with reading due to the lacking of these fundamental skills. It is vital that teachers take charge and provide explicit and systematic instruction that will fill the gaps that students have in phonemic awareness entering their classroom. 

Phonemic awareness is the ability to identify and manipulate individual sounds in spoken words. This is a very important skill for all readers. In addition to the simple sources of instruction that is used in early elementary school, teachers can find other sources to make the support more meaningful for older students. The use of Hip-Hop music can be engaging for students and also help the teacher to better teach these concepts. Using rhyme and alliteration within Hip-Hop music can teach students to discriminate and manipulate phonemes. A follow-up activity may include students actually writing their own song or verse using rhyme or alliteration. It is necessary for teachers to preview specific Hip-Hop songs to assure it can be helpful for the specific skill being taught and is school-appropriate/not offensive. 

The additional support provided in an intervention for students lacking in phonemic awareness skills is very important for any student, regardless of age. It is very likely that if a student is lacking these fundamental skills, that the student is a struggling reader. In other cases, a student that is lacking the skills but is not a struggling reader would still benefit from this additional support in the long run. 

Phonemic Awareness Checklist

 

Phonemic Awareness Checklist
Sounds and Word Discrimination
Identifies that words and sounds are different
Identifies which word is different
Identifies different speech sounds
Rhyming
Identifies whether two words rhyme
Produces a word that rhymes
Sound Isolation
Identifies initial sound in 1-syllable words
Identifies final sound in 1-syllable words
Identifies middle sound in 1-syllable words
Blending
Orally blends syllables or onset-rimes
Oral blends separate phonemes
Blends 3-4 phonemes into a whole word
Segmentation
Claps words in sentences
Claps syllables in words
Says syllables
Segments individual sounds in words
Segments 3- and 4- phoneme, 1 syllable words

Teaching Phonemic Awareness

This video is a short explanation about the use of a blending board to teach phonemic awareness. The blending board is a fun way for students to “mix up” animal parts to make their own animal board to work with. In addition, the teacher uses little animal pieces or solid circles to segment and blend sounds of words. I liked the technique of segmenting the word visually using manipulatives. My only concern is that the students may get distracted with both the animal blending board and the animal manipulatives. I can see how this can be engaging for some, but I also imagine that other students may not be able to focus on the purpose of the activity, which is phonemic awareness. 

 

This video shows a very simple, yet effective way to teach onset-rime blending. The teacher brings in a puppet and explains that the puppet can only speak in a certain way (with a separation of onset-rime). The students were quickly able to identify that the puppet says words with the first sound of the word first, and then the rest of the word after. I really like the idea of bringing an outside manipulative in to teach students how to separate the onset and rime. I found it engaging for the students and also helpful to remember how to segment onset and rime.

 

This video displays a creative and engaging lesson teaching phoneme substitution. The teacher uses a book called “Diary of a Worm”, where the main character, a worm, ate the first sound of every word on his homework. It was the students’ job to figure out what sound was “eaten” off the words. When doing this, the teacher introduced other sounds that could also fit as the beginning sound of the words. The teacher used the “thumbs up or thumbs sideways” to allow students to confirm or question each student’s decision if the sounds make sense. Overall, I thought this was a really interesting and effective approach to teaching the very beginning of phoneme substitution to students.