Chapter 4: English Language Arts Made Simple

The best piece of advice Schmoker gives us throughout this entire chapter is that all teachers must incorporate reading, discussing, and writing into their discipline.

This chapter focuses on the importance of literacy and how our current English Language Arts standards are preventing our students from becoming literate adults.

“Adolescents entering the adult world of the 21st century will read and write more than at any other time in human history. They will need advanced levels of literacy to perform their jobs, run their households, act as citizens, and conduct their personal lives” (Schmoker, 93).

The first part of this chapter deals with the life changing power of broad, abundant reading. Schmoker defends reading and says “wide, abundant reading is the surest route out of poverty and the limitations that impose themselves on the less literate” (Schmoker, 95). When I read this quote, I made an instant connection to our school because we do have a high poverty rate of students who come into our building, and we have all seen them succeed in not just reading, but math and science also. This just proves his statement. People cannot use poverty as an excuse why students cannot perform. What can we do to ensure our current and future students have as much growth as our past students?

Schmoker then goes on to discuss the different forms of reading and why they are all equally important.
1. Literature: Schmoker introduces the concept of using literature to seek out understanding of ourselves and the world around us, not to recognize tone or structure.
2. Nonfiction and Literary Nonfiction: “Nonfiction books are among the richest sources of knowledge” (Schmoker, 98).
3. Newspapers and Magazines: He goes on to reiterate his passion for reading, discussing, and writing about current articles and opinion pieces.

How can we, as a leadership team, encourage the rest of our staff to incorporate literature, nonfiction, and newspapers into their curriculum whether it’s on the pacing guide or not?

The next part of this chapter talks a lot about reading in elementary and how it is hindering our students’ ability to read for learning, and is instead focused on learning to read. We must provide opportunities for our students to learn to read well by reading a lot for meaning.

Schmoker believes that the killing of reading will continue unless we take a hard look at the standards we have in place now, and minimize them. He suggests we adopt four key standards that could be used in all disciplines and at all levels: argument, drawing inferences and conclusions, resolving conflicting views and documents, and problem solving. “We need clear, simple standards that sensibly specify how much reading, writing, and speaking they will do” (Schmoker, 115).

He ends the chapter by again stressing the importance of reading, discussing, and writing. He describes three schools and explains how they have been successful with student achievement by using minimal standards that everyone can digest and adopt.

Looking at the four standards, is this the direction that we want to go? We have worked so hard at narrowing our focus on summarizing and even though these standards seem easy enough, I am reluctant to throw something new at our staff and not give what we are doing a chance to grow even more. However, I do know that our English Language Arts standards are too much. Looking at the new Common Core for grades 6-12, there are close to 30 pages of standards for English Language Arts. How do we begin to narrow the standards to fit our schools needs?

Sorry...I'm in Georgia and borrowing a computer!

Less is more--I have this written down several times in the margins of Accountability in Action, and I like that it is the basis for Schmoker. When the students honestly understand and are proficient in the basic skills, then we can take it further. I am glad to see Schmoker and Reeves so much in line.

Schmoker mentions several things that we have done that were positive and produced results. He talks about the importance of congratulating and recognizing the teachers and students for being on target (p. 20). I feel like that helped our building with teacher buy-in and also motivated students to do their best which resulted in improvements in their literacy.

Coming in to JB this year, I didn’t feel like this was a school with a lot of fluff going on. I understand the desire to want to keep it even more concise, especially until we are ready to take the next step. However, I wonder about cutting some of the extras that do help motivate students and do help the students obtain opportunities to gain experiences and build on background knowledge.

We’ve also talked about unwrapping the standards; it makes complete sense to condense these and focus on less (less done more efficiently and effectively). I agree with Rachel that this could be something for the DRT team to work on.

I think that more teachers will be accepting of this approach if we center it on the fact that it isn’t more work for them. It doesn’t involve more of their time to create those “movie reviews, video skits, wikis, silent movies, or clay animation figures.” They need to put the time consuming activities aside and focus on the reading and writing (and speaking) in their curriculum. It is the glue that holds all subjects together inside our walls. It is the best way for students to learn.

It will also help when all teachers are in complete understanding that we are not asking MORE from them. This is all part of good teaching and we will see results.

Katie

Chapter 3 - How We Teach

Chapter 3 begins with the elements of effective instruction. These elements include:

• Clear Learning Objectives: the topic, skill or concepts should be clearly described. I think our "Today you will learn..." statements meets this piece. However - are most teachers still doing this?


• Teaching, Modeling and Demonstrating: This is the explaining, demonstrating and instructing.


• Guided Practice: Allowing students to process and practice direct instruction. Schmoker emphasies the use of partner work and group work.


• Checks for Understanding (Formative Assessment): You must gage where students are and adjust your teaching for understanding. Schmoker reminds us that formative assessment does not need to be complicated. It can include a quick ticket out the door, hand signals or randomly calling on students. His main message here is that it needs to be FREQUENT! After reading this section on formative assessment I thought about our staff. I think a lot of teachers blame students (specifically behaviors) on their lack of understanding. If students don't "get it" it is because of THEM and not US. I don't know if you all would agree - but if you do - how can we get our staff to look at their practice instead of placing the blame?
  

Schmoker cites a lot of research, includes Fisher and Frey's gradual release model, showing that this is the most effective form of teaching. (I would also add closures are important.) He also cites the benefits of this form of instruction - and they are quite impressive! "...the payoff isn't in knowing these components; the payoff comes from actually doing them" (Schmoker, 60). He also mentions that a building wide lesson plan template can be helpful for the staff. Again, I think of Fisher and Frey. I'm interested to hear your thoughts on this - but I think for the most part - we at least have had this goal for quite some time!

In the second half of Chapter 3 Schmoker gives suggestions for effective interactive lecture and literacy-based lessons.

Interactive Lecture:"Lecture, done wrong, is among the most boring, least effective forms of teaching. Done right, however, it is highly engaging and among the most effective ways to cover generous amounts of content" (Schmoker, 68). Schmoker suggests starting each lesson with an essential question. This is a question that takes discovery and can even be debated. This engages a student and gives them purpose for listening. Direct "lecture" should be given in small chunks. After five minutes, there should be an opportunity for guided practice and formative assessment. Again, the guided practice can be SIMPLE. I have to admit - I was pretty skeptical about this. I think it was the word - lecture. The last thing I think we want to do is encourage our teachers to talk AT our students more! But after reading- interactive lecture seems like a rapid form of the gradual release model. It is not talking at kids- but a series of minilessons.

Authentic Literacy: Schmoker suggests that there is simply not enough authentic literacy in the classroom. Although we can do "flashy" assignments - they do not have the benefits of reading, discussion and writing. As a template for teaching authentic literacy, Schmoker suggests the following:

• Teach vocabulary before starting the text.


• Establish a purpose for reading through background information, making connections and posing an essential question. Here Schmoker suggests teams coming together to form good essential questions. Is this something we can or should incorporate with the staff?


• Tell students how they will be assessed on their learning. Again- Schmoker reminds us that this does not have to be complicated!


• Model higher-order reading. Schmoker reminds us that WE are the best readers in the room and need to show the students how we do it. Modeled reading should be done twice a week in every class.I thought of using SMART board for modeled reading.


• Next, move to guided practice and formative assessment. Circulate and see what students are doing. Have students pair up and share their ideas. Call on partners to share their ideas. Also - ask students to quick-write during this time. Make sure to set time limits to give students direction.


• Independent practice and assessment is the final step I wonder if this process may be useful to the staff. I think at the middle school level - many teachers do not know how to approach reading in their content areas. And therefore- neither do our students! Ideas? And how would this work in math? (I know there is a chapter about math - but I'm still wondering!)
  

Debate: Schmoker encourages the use of debate to discuss text. He reminds us that it should be directly linked to the learning goal and have focus. Students also need to follow the guidelines of : Always cite textual evidence, politely disagree, be concise, stay on point and avoid using verb tics (like, ummmm).

Writing:Before students write - have them review their notes and make a quick outline. Again - this must be modeled. Exemplars are also very strong tools. Schmoker reminds us that writing can be formative and does not always have to be graded. The important thing is that they are doing it!I think this is what we tried to do with summarizing. But I think we can focus a little more now. Perhaps using the standards on page 38 like Marianne suggested."Remember that any form of writing, short or long, generates and refines thought" (Schmoker, 82).

Overall - I think this chapter is a good reminder of best practice. As a building, how do you think we're doing in this area? How can we improve?

I like the book, or at least the first two chapters. I particularly liked the idea of standards reflecting what is actually taught. Moreover, the idea of how we teach being the same basic formula that we have known for decades. Schmoker's idea of authentic literacy being the spine that holds everything together across content areas is a crucial aspect of this book and any real school improvement model. For example the three elements if reasonably well-executed would have more impact than all other initiatives combined.

In chapter two Schmoker's section on candor was dead on. He speaks of common academic core and critical thinking skills and sufficient opportunities to learn etc. I think this section reflects the progress we have made in the last year and provides us all a target for future steps.

Gardner in the section of plain old reading and writing related well to the narrow focus we are looking to continue. I also thought the writing on essential standards was well thought out and strongly demonstrated. Particularly the need for reducing content standards.

Great ideas so far... Some things that were not mentioned yet...

I LOVE that Schmoker says a focus on about half or less of the standards is ideal. Amanda, Becky, and I just worked on refining the Lit Studies curriculum for K. Learn. We used the Common Core to guide our work. We found that many times it is easy to create an assessment that matches several standards and many of the standards are similar. This is something I hope is looked at more closely at the district level.

I also appreciated the point made on page 11 and throughout about the ongoing focus. I think we could work on this by monitoring implementation a bit more. I think we started off last year doing this, but it eventually went away... :) Easy to do. I know several teachers who unfortunately were creating another assignment just for the purpose of data teams. They also were not implementing strategies with all classes. This needs to be monitored!

Clarity is another point he makes. I know we were all new at this last year, but I think the confusion that happened in the middle of the year was because we were not exactly clear on what we were doing. I am so excited to be in the second year of this knowing we are all much more experienced and ready. If I could make a suggestion, it would be that we need to create a plan of action (for at least the first quarter/semester) and STICK TO IT no matter what we come across thereafter.

Page 28 - "We need to reclaim the hundreds of hours each year that are now spent on nonacademic tasks. We need to redirect those hours toward the most simple, obvious tasks that prepare students for college, careers, and citizenship..." :) Yes, indeed! Amanda, Becky and I found this to be so true. Understanding By Design provides an awesome method of doing this. You really see the crap...and find that getting rid of it allows for much better teaching and learning. (Essential questions, Bloom's Tax.etc.)

Ya'll know I love the fact literacy is so huge. I think teachers are learning to face the fact that they must teaching reading, writing, and speaking. Page 34 under the first heading reassures that summaries are essential! They really allow for many other skills to be demonstrated.

Last thing, page 47 - I think this would be a good thing for the DRT to do in order to find the few writing/literacy standards we want to focus on as a staff.

Sorry if this is long... it is hard to tell. BTW - it would not let me comment on Eric's - only would let me create a new post. Sorry.

Anderson out.