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Hi! My name is Maggie Denning. I graduated from FSU in May 2018 then went on to pursue my Psy.D. in Clinical Psychology. After a semester, I realized I didn’t want to be a Psychologist. I moved back to Tallahassee and became a teacher. I am a first year, 5th grade teacher and I adore my scholars! I am now pursuing my Masters in Reading Education to further my career as a teacher. In my free time, I am either reading or spending time with my friends.

Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.

— Oscar Wilde.

Teachers as Readers 4

            Last week I finished reading The Last Mrs. Parrishby Liv Constatine. The book is about a lady named Amber that becomes obsessed with another woman, Daphne, so much so that she basically becomes a younger version of her. Ambers acts like her best friend but her goal is to be married to her husband, Jackson. The biggest plot twist in the novel is that although Daphne and Jackson’s marriage appears perfect on the outside looking in, their marriage is actually full of emotional and physical abuse. Jackson has abused Daphne since the day after their marriage. He is manipulative and Daphne is certain that he is a psychopath. Once Jackson cheats on Daphne, Amber stops taking the pill to get pregnant. Upon her pregnancy, Jackson leaves Daphne and marries Amber. The second plot twist is that Daphne was fully aware of Amber trying to seduce Jackson and actually helped Amber with dropping hints there and here. Once Jackson and Amber marry, Amber sees how abusive Jackson truly is and Daphne sees it as she deserves it. The book was full of twists and turns that left me unable to put the book down.

            As I have discussed in my previous Teachers as Readers blog, I have found myself amazed at how often I ask questions to myself throughout. Sometimes the implicit questions are just “No way, what if…”. I think of the cognition aspect of reading and how unaware I am when reading something for pleasure compared to how much I have to force myself to focus when I’m reading something I don’t enjoy. My next idea of research will be to see if brains “work harder” when reading something you don’t want to than when you read something for your own enjoyment and pleasure. For myself I see myself pausing, rereading, skimming, and scanning more easily when I read a novel for pleasure than when I read, let’s say, a science informational text (Keene & Zimmermann 2007). 

Keene, E. O., & Zimmermann, S. (2007). Mosaic of thought: The power of comprehension strategy instruction: second edition. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann

Learning Log #4

Cognition, content, and comprehension are all interrelated. Each aspect has an individual role to place in reading but to fully comprehend what is being read, cognition and content come into play. 

Let’s start with discussing the cognition side of comprehension. When I say the cognition side, I refer to how the brain operates while reading. Reading is not a bystander event but instead is an active process that requires the working of a brain. Right now, while you’re reading this, your brain is working without you even realizing it. To be a reader, you must also be a comprehender of the text. Comprehenders set goals while reading, make inferences and predictions and ask questions while reading (Brown & Deweitz 2014). In Mosaic of Thought, the authors refer to these attributes as metacognitive strategies and includes asking questions, inferring, synthesizing, and more (Keene & Zimmermann 2007). Without being actively engaged, comprehension will lack.

In addition, the content also comes into play. Content impacts how an individual reads the text. Personally, when I read a fictional novel about something of interest to me, I am much more unconsciously engaged. On the other hand, if the content I’m reading is a fictional text of let’s say space, I would have to consciously engaged. In other words, I would have to actively try to be engaged with the text. Background knowledge and personal experiences are huge while reading a text. Each individual brings a different perspective when reading, impacting comprehension. For students who don’t have much background or experience, modeling becomes a very important role.  Some students are not able to process how things work if they don’t have a step by step example. Showing students to relate what they’re currently reading with information before and after and developing a type of scheme also helps students comprehend what they’re reading (Keene & Zimmermann 2007).

            In tying it all together, it becomes impossible to have adequate comprehension without acknowledging that the brain plays a critical role in addition to the type of content including one’s individual experiences. Although an individual cannot tangibly grasp the process of reading and comprehension, it is important for educators, and quite frankly any individual working with students learning to read, to understand that all aspects are intertwined to help promote and foster comprehension in addition to helping struggling readers. In understanding the different processes, we can also understand that where a student may be lacking in comprehension it could be due to different, individual processes such as relating it to their own life. If an educator can determine what aspect the student is struggling with, the teacher can promote comprehension. For example, if a student is struggling with relating the text to his or her life, the teacher can model a think aloud to show how to relate the text to better understand. 

            One thing I really enjoyed from Mosaic of Thoughtin this module’s readings was the chapter of imagery. The authors discussed the benefits of being able to depict the images in details of the story (Keene & Zimmermann 2007). I agree with the authors that depicting the story helps the reader better understand the characters in the text which leads to better comprehension (Keene & Zimmermann 2007). I also was able to relate to the story of the student who struggled to know what words were important in Mosaic of Thought.My students struggle as well with determining what words to focus on. I plan on teaching them the suggestion that was given in the book of explaining to them the definitions of contentives and functors (Keene & Zimmermann 2007).  I believe that teaching them these things will help students differentiate between what’s important in sentences and in that help with determining what’s important overall.

References: 

Brown, R., & Dewitz, P. (2014). Building comprehension in every classroom: Instruction with literature, informational texts, and basal programs New York, NY: Guilford. 

Keene, E. O., & Zimmermann, S. (2007). Mosaic of thought: The power of comprehension strategy instruction: second edition. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann

Teachers as Readers 3

I recently finished reading An Anonymous Girlby Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen. I was really excited to read this book after I read their last book, The Wife Between Us, and I was not disappointed. I flew through this book reading it in 5 hours straight. I could not put it down and highly recommend! The book revolves around a young woman who lives in New York City and works as a freelance make-up artist. While at a client’s house, she overhears the client talking about a psychological study at the local college where the recipient receives $500. The client couldn’t go so the make-up artist, Jessica, goes to the study instead. She receives compensation for her study but gets herself far deeper than anticipated. The doctor who is doing the study starts involving her in real life experiences that in the past, has caused a previous participant to fall to her death. I do not want to give any spoilers away, but it leaves you asking questions and not wanting to put the book down!

            While reading, I didn’t think about the essential question of how we ensure children comprehend word and world but now that I have finished the book, I am reflecting back on the novel and the question for this module. I can see that now, while reading I asked myself so many questions such as – what was the purpose of the study? Was Jessica going to quit the study? While I was asking questions, I was able to comprehend the novel better. This goes back to what Keene & Zimmermann were explaining when they stated that “those who take time to ask thoughtful, provocative questions are those who help us learn about ourselves” (2007). Although the novel is not an informational text, I still found myself asking questions. I related this back to how if students master asking thoughtful questions while reding informational texts, they will take this skill to other subjects such as Math and Science and start asking questions. They can also take this even further to ask questions in all parts of their lives. I started thinking about myself as a reader. I always find myself predicting what’s going to happen, but I’ve started to realize the reason I can’t put a book down is because of all the questions I ask. If a book didn’t cause me to ask questions, then I wouldn’t have a reason to continue reading. Questions not only help with comprehension, but it also helps spark an interest in reading the text. When one is reading an enjoyable book, does the amount of questions the reader ask show how interested the reader is? That’s one question I’ve been thinking about and would like to research more. 

Keene, E. O., & Zimmermann, S. (2007). Mosaic of thought: The power of comprehension strategy instruction: second edition. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann

Learning Log 3

I personally do not think comprehension can be achieved without bringing in one’s personal experiences. In Mosaic of Thought, the quote “but really, I have no idea what their questions are – about their lives, their writing, or their reading” (Keene & Zimmermann 2007). I understand that the authors are using this as an example to emphasize how important it is for students to ask questions to comprehend but to me, I believe that the questions students ask are a direct reflection of their personal experience – whether it be an advantage or disadvantage. In other words, asking questions are essential yes. But how do we as teachers navigate the different questions, we receive from students based on their background?  On page 125 of Mosaic of Thought, the authors discuss how teachers are quick to jump to ask questions instead of answer questions but if we as teachers can adapt to allowing a bit of silence and students to ask their own questions, it leads to independence which would affect the students in every aspect not just reading. 

Brown & Dewitz make the claim that “planning comprehension instruction begins with selecting texts” (2014). While I do agree with this to an extent, I believe that Brown & Dewitz emphasize a lot on the methodologies of teaching comprehension when they should also be incorporating natural things like discussed in Mosaic of Thoughtlike the simplicity of asking questions. In addition, Brown & Dewitz also directly state that students should read at an instructional level where the students “read with 90% accuracy or better (2014). To argue against this, in the article Scaffolded Reading instruction of Content Area Texts, the authors explain that students learn more when taught with reading texts that are above their level (2014). When I read this, I immediately took a step back and thought about my own experiences in my classroom. The majority of my students are below grade level but if I give them texts on their current level for example, grade 3, then they will never show growth. They will stay at level. In Building Background Knowledge Through Reading: Rethinking Text Sets, the authors also state that “the amount of challenging texts that middle and high school students read has the potential to improve literacy outcomes” (Lupo, Strong, Lewis, Walpole, & McKenna 2018). 

            One thing I really enjoyed from Brown & Dewitz and will probably implement into my classroom when we return to campus, is the R5 procedure (2014). This is where students “read, relax, reflect, respond, and rap”. The students choose a spot to relax and read. After readings students reflect in a journal of some sort and then they respond by sharing with a partner or a group (rap) (Brown & Dewitz 2014). This procedure gives independence to the students but also holds them accountable to show their thinking about what their reading as well. The article Reading Comprehension Requires Knowledge— of Words and the Worldmakes the claim that there are 3 principles that have been proven to increase reading comprehension: “fluency allows the mind to concentrate on comprehension, breadth of vocabulary increases comprehension and facilities further learning, and domain knowledge increases fluency, broadens vocabulary, and enables deeper comprehension” (Hirsh 2003). I see this a lot in my classroom. My students that have an advantage with domain knowledge shows an increase in fluency and vocabulary where as my students who are a disadvantage lacks this. I think this comes full circle in showing that students who are bring their background knowledge into reading show improvement when asking questions and then improving comprehension. The question I am still not sure of an answer or if it can or will ever be answered is the following: Is there a way to make an equal playing field for students who come from a low SES background with students who come from a high SES background with advantages? 

Brown, R., & Dewitz, P. (2014). Building comprehension in every classroom: Instruction with literature, informational texts, and basal programs New York, NY: Guilford. 

Keene, E. O., & Zimmermann, S. (2007). Mosaic of thought: The power of comprehension strategy instruction: second edition. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann

Fisher, Douglas, & Frey, Nancy. (2014). Scaffolded Reading Instruction of Content-Area Texts. 

Lupo, S.M. Strong, J.Z.  Lewis, W.  Walpole, S. &  Mckenna, M.C. ( 2018).  Building Background Knowledge Through Reading: Rethinking Text Sets. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy,  61( 4),  433– 444.

Jr, Hirsch,. (2003). Reading Comprehension Requires Knowledge— of Words and the World Scientific Insights into the Fourth-Grade Slump and the Nation’s Stagnant Comprehension Scores. American Educator. 27. 10-29.

Learning Log 2

A big problem I face frequently as a teacher is the process of my students comprehending what they’re reading whether that be an informational text or a narrative – comprehension is always at the front of my mind. Brown & Dewitz argue that for different genres comes different approaches to best teach comprehension. Although I agree to a certain extent, I believe that a wide range of vocabulary knowledge and the skills to decode should be prioritized above all else regardless of what genre one is reading. I also agreed fully with the statement “monitoring is quite simply vital to comprehension (Keene & Zimmermann 2007).Combining the monitoring with vocabulary to ensure that a student can monitor their understanding of the vocabulary as individual words and then as phrases and continually to whole sentences and paragraphs is vital for students to excel at comprehending any genre of text.

For teaching comprehension in literature, there are two methods. First, the Anthology approach is where the teacher is assigning selections for the whole class to read where skills, vocabulary, and knowledge is introduced and after the reading is completed, the students discuss (Brown & Dewitz, 2014). The other method is the Reading Workshop Approach where the student is selecting the text that is being read and the student engages in conferences with the teacher (Brown & Dewitz, 2014). Regardless of which method is used, both must come back to the good comprehender model. To comprehend means one must understand what is being read. In other words, comprehension is understanding and knowledge. I believe that to ensure that all students can be as close to an equal playing field as possible, the Anthology approach works best. Like Keene and Zimmerman were stating with how our lived experiences have a huge role with our understanding  (Keene & Zimmermann 2007), it is harder for students to understand a text about a topic that they have no relation to. Studies have also shown it is easier for students to comprehend a topic if they already have some type of background/initial knowledge of it.

With the anthology approach, the teacher is able to bring any background knowledge to the students where as if all students were reading different texts, the teacher would find it harder to ensure all students have some bit of knowledge of what is being read. In addition, I think it is harder to ensure all common core standards are being hit with the Reading Workshop Approach. I do agree with the authors that interest and motivation to read and comprehend plays a big role in comprehension but I think the Anthology approach should be combined with the Reading Workshop Approach. In my school’s curriculum, we have several anthology stories that focus on the same theme, skill, and strategy. The teacher could group these stories and allow the students to choose which would increase interest, also increasing motivation, and ultimately increasing comprehension. 

Modeling for students what it looks like to stop, pause, wonder, and resume reading is also critical. Some students are not able to process how things work if they don’t have a step by step example. In my classroom, I have had several students “ohh” and “ahh” after I have modeled how to summarize or modeled how to ask questions and find the answers. Showing students to relate what they’re currently reading with information before and after and developing a type of scheme also helps students comprehend what they’re reading (Keene & Zimmermann 2007).

Like Brown & Dewtiz were describing with comprehending informational texts, teachers can combine informational texts with narratives to increase motivation as well. The example used in Building Comprehension in Every Classroom with Mr. Rodiguez evaluating a text’s potential in three areas (content, writing, design) I found to be very interesting. I had never looked at information texts with the concept of writing in the back of my head. I think it will be interesting to implement this into my Science curriculum to see if  students can take an informational text and implement that into our writing during our ELA block. 

I also agree with the authors that graphic organizers chosen with intent and purpose “that will help students capture the structure of ideas in the text” (Brown & Dewitz, 2014). From personal experience, I believe that graphic organizers are great tools but should not be the main priority. In other words, if I am teaching about cause and effect, I think a graphic organizer is great to relate ideas to one another but I also think it’s equally as important that students are able to explain why something is the cause and why something is the effect. I believe this will also improve comprehension among children. 

References: 

Brown, R., & Dewitz, P. (2014). Building comprehension in every classroom: Instruction with literature, informational texts, and basal programs New York, NY: Guilford. 

Keene, E. O., & Zimmermann, S. (2007). Mosaic of thought: The power of comprehension strategy instruction: second edition. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann

Teachers as Readers 2

I am currently reading The Testaments by Margaret Atwood. This is a completely different read, specifically in terms of comprehension, than the last novel I read. On my last blog post, I talked about my read of All the Missing Girls and how easy it was to fly through it with total comprehension. This novel, I would say, is quite harder to comprehend when reading quickly without pausing for comprehension checks. The Testamentsis told by three different points of view – Aunt Lydia, “Baby Nicole”, and a daughter of a Commander. These different points of views are never directly addressed and instead, the reader must understand that the story is being told by someone else when it switches over. In the novel, I am currently about ¼ of the way done and overall, I really enjoy it. I do find myself slowing down to read it compared to my normal novels I read for fun. I think the point of views are a big part of the reason I’ve had to slow down to check for comprehension but also the fact that the novel is taken place in a different time with a totally different setting than what is currently occurring in America., 

            I was able to relate my reading of The Testamentsto our class readings. Specifically, Keene & Zimmerman discuss how they discuss that proficient readers “pause, reread, skim, scan, consider the meaning of the text, and reflect on their understanding with other readers” and I was able to personally relate to that with my current reading of The Testaments (2007). In order to understand the setting and the motives of the three different characters, I have to pause and reflect on how their particular point of view is different than the others due to their situation and living circumstances. In addition, I think this novel also has me pausing and reflecting because my personal lived experiences aren’t as similar to those in the novel in comparison to a love or mystery novel. It’s been a process to read since my brain usually doesn’t have to work as hard as it currently does for my reading for pleasure novels. I do think as the novel continues, my pausing, reflecting, and thinking will slim down because I will develop a better, overall, understanding of the novel as a whole. 

Keene, E. O., & Zimmermann, S. (2007). Mosaic of thought: The power of comprehension strategy instruction: second edition. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann

What is the role of the brain in reading comprehension?

Reading is a cognitive process. When reading, we’re usually not aware of the actions our brains engage in until we start to read something more challenging. In Building Comprehension in Every Classroom, the authors examine the “inner workings of the mind during comprehension” (2014). There are attributes of effective readers and effective comprehenders.   The ability to set goals while reading, preview the text, make inferences and predictions, and ask yourself questions while reading are qualities that make, not only a reader, but a comprehender (Brown & Dewitz 2014). In Mosaic of Thought, the authors refer to these attributes as metacognitive strategies and includes asking questions, inferring, synthesizing, and more (Keene & Zimmermann 2007). When we read for enjoyment, such as a mystery drama, our brain is not working as hard as it does when we read something for information. There is a huge difference when I read a novel versus when I read for my education. When I read a novel, I make predictions and sometimes ask myself questions about why certain people reacted a certain way but when I am reading textbooks, my brain summarizes and monitors for meaning and understanding. When I read my textbook, my brain is working harder since it is new information where reading a novel, is more of a story and easier to relate to. 

            In the article, The Usefulness of Brief Instruction in Reading Comprehension Strategies, the author discuss three different ways our brain works for comprehending: monitoring comprehension, relating sentences to each other, and inferring (Willingham 2007). When we are reading, our brain is actively working whether we realize it or not. Reading is an active process, not a bystander event. To improve comprehension, one must improve being actively engaged in the reading process including asking more “questions, summarizing and synthesizing text, and identifying important ideas” (Keene & Zimmermann 2007). In other words, the higher the engagement, the higher the comprehension.

            Comprehension includes readers being “knowledgeable, metacognitive, strategic, and motivated” (Brown & Dewitz 2014). When reading, a high sense of vocabulary accounts for a high deal of comprehension. I think this has to do with the brain working, unconsciously. When reading, we are actively processing the definitions of words to compile all the words in sentences, phrases, and paragraphs together to develop the overall meaning of a text. The genre of a text also comes into play when reading. The knowledge of different genres helps readers know what to expect and how the layout is presented. Knowing what to expect when reading, helps comprehension in understanding the overall text as a whole. 

            According to Brown and Dewitz, there are elements that affect comprehension including cognitive and neurological abilities, precursor skills, vocabulary knowledge, conceptual knowledge, personal experiences strategic knowledge, interest and motivation and metacognition (2014). These factors impact if a reader truly understands what they are reading. This comes from a reader’s background history as well. The text is the second factor that affects comprehension. The level of a text is also important for the reader. If a reader is reading completely above their level, comprehension will probably be lacking. Of course, a reader should challenge themselves a little bit and reading a little higher than their level to grow and learn. 

            Reading has different aspects to it that makes it an active process. Without being actively engaged, comprehension will lack.  

References: 

Brown, R., & Dewitz, P. (2014). Building comprehension in every classroom: Instruction with literature, informational texts, and basal programs New York, NY: Guilford.

Keene, E. O., & Zimmermann, S. (2007). Mosaic of thought: The power of comprehension strategy instruction: second edition. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann

           

Willingham (2007)

Book 1 Mystery

            I recently finished the book All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda and thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s compared to the well-known novel The Girl on The Train.This book is actually a book chosen by the book club I’m a part of, but I’m really glad someone recommended it. The novel is a mystery about the extent a family will go to protect one another. A pair of siblings grew up relatively close in age and shared the same friends in high school. In high school, a tragic accident happened that resulted in the sister’s best friend being missing. Years later, the siblings are grown with their own families but come back together as their Dad is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in the hospital. At the same time, another girl went missing. It is told backwards. It starts with present time, then goes back and starts at “15 days before”. When the big event takes place, it then goes to “15 days after” with each chapter getting closer and closer to the day of the big event. There is, of course, love involved and rekindling of relationships but overall, a very good read. 

            While navigating the text, I noticed that I am the type of reader that loses oneself in the text. I find myself completely consumed by it and forgetting the outside world. I also noticed I am the type of reader that likes to foreshadow future events. After I finished reading, I couldn’t help but talk about the book with my two roommates. At first, I wasn’t a fan of reading the events backwards (since the novel is wrote in this sequence) but by the end of the novel, I decided I would love to read more books in this format. Since I do like to know what happens at the end and foreshadow a lot of events, it was really interesting to have the ending first and work my way backwards to find out what initially happened. Recently, I’ve been reading educational books that help with classroom management so a book that was strictly for pleasure was a nice refresher. 

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