Close Reading and Volume Reading: What are the Differences?

As we wind down here at East in anticipation of a nice, long winter break, some of us are beginning to think about all the reading we hope to do over the break. Perhaps it's a mix of reading student work and pleasure reading, but we will be reading nonetheless. While doing your own reading, you might be engaging in volume reading, which has tons of rewards and benefits! Within that volume reading there might also be some close reading, where you really zero in on certain passages, phrases, etc. You may even reread some of them simply to revisit the language or to gain a deeper meaning. With that in mind, we can think about how these two types of reading apply to our students and what they look like in practice. See the handy chart below!

Close Reading	Volume Reading
-Solely instructional in purpose	-Rapidly builds knowledge and vocabulary
-Heavy support from teacher and/or cooperative learning	-Little teacher support
-Few pages	-Varying degrees of complexity
-Grade level complex/appropriate	-Builds more of a love of reading
-Builds reading skill and fluency	-More pages
-Targeted vocabulary support/instruction	-Reserved for guiding or independent reading

As you see, there are differences in terms of the use of both of these. Both can be appropriate and useful for students, but close reading can be extremely valuable when considering building students reading comprehension skills and their ability to paraphrase, summarize, and reflect on their own understanding of what they read. Close reading is a skill that can be very beneficial for students in terms of gauging their own understanding.

On a surface level, close reading involves these steps:
1. Briefly introducing the text (historical context, author, background info, etc.)
2. Read the text (a paragraph, a page, some short text) aloud to the students with them following along. Target specific vocab as needed/wanted.
3. Students reread the text on their own or with a partner and summarize.
4. Teacher has students respond to a series of text-dependent questions for discussion or to use in responding to a writing prompt.

There are many ways to do close reading and ways to support students as they wrestle with a text, and in the new year be sure to look for some tips on these, as well as a possible professional development opportunity!

Best wishes for a restful break and a happy new year!!

Learning Focused Lessons: What are the Components?

All of you know about the district's commitment to implementing the Max Thompson Learning Focused Lesson approach, and while many of us are engaged in the actual training process, perhaps you are wondering about what all of this looks like in practice. I wanted to spend some time and share with you some insight into what the lesson plan template for the Learning Focused Lessons (known as LFLs) actually looks like. Below is a picture of what the LFL template looks like. Check it out and take note of what its components are, the structure of it, and what it contains:

As you see, there are lots of elements that we already incorporate as teachers when we think about planning our lessons. However, it's always helpful to revisit and reflect upon our purposeful instructional practice. One thing that stands out to me is the purposeful use of the graphic organizer. Also, notice the summarizing strategy that is noted on the bottom of the page as well. Give students short, quick opportunities to summarize what they have learned during the lesson. It's not the same as the teacher summarizing the learning for students; it's students explaining to themselves and each other what they have learned.

Don't feel the rush to start using this right now. Everyone in the building is in different places with regards to this and UBD. Just think about the aspects of the template. What is it considering? What factors does it take into account when talking about student learning? Just good food for thought! 

Collaborative Essay Writing? Why Not!

During yesterday's professional development opportunity (which produced some GREAT discussion from those in attendance, so big thank you for that!) we discussed the idea of collaborative writing with students.  While we do group work as a frequent instructional strategy, the idea of students writing and collaborating on developing a written assignment can be a little daunting. However, it can also be full of potential. Consider this video, which shows the practice in action in an English classroom:


As you see, the process can work well, but, like any classroom venture, parameters have to be established. For example, it's important to determine first if the writing task you wish to have students do is appropriate for collaborative pairs/consensus writing. I would also stress to students that they should remember these important pieces: 1. They should work together to establish the thesis/answer the question for the writing prompt in question. 2. They should work together to build consensus on what key details they will use to support their answer/thesis 3. They should work together to decide and agree upon the best approach for addressing all aspects of the writing task. As you see, I'm probably overstating it, but the collaborative aspect is key, as is keeping this task to no more than pairs or trios of students working together. Ideally, this sort of activity works best when students can choose their partners, BUT if you want to have some tiered levels of students working together, that can be a good strategy as well. That raises another set of questions as well: how do I build in accountability for student work and success so that one person doesn't shoulder the burden. This can be addressed in a variety of ways, but one way is to have the students assess each other on their work during the process, especially if you have selected student pairs/trios for the assignment. A rubric is best for this, and you can even make it a factor in the grade for the project as a whole. This can set a tone from the beginning that cooperation and investment in the process is expected from all involved. Interested in setting up an assignment like this? Contact me! I would be happy to support you in trying this out! A bonus to collaborative writing is also fewer papers to grade but the quality of the work is still considered. Think about it!