Your Reading Group Tapestry

You’ve completed your F&P Benchmark Assessments, and you sit down with all of that rich data and the
exciting puzzle of making groups that work.  It’s a puzzle because you don’t want too many groups,
you want the students to have like needs and be instructionally reading at a level similar to others in the
group.  When you add in the really tricky pieces (like a student who receives a tier three service in
reading and is out of the room part of the small group/independent time), it can feel a bit like one of
those complex jigsaw puzzles that only people who are retired have time to complete!  

Here are a few ideas on how to tackle this:

1. Set up a time with your Teaching and Learning Coach!  We geek out over this stuff! We would love to sit down with you and set goals using the Literacy Continuum and then make groups.  
2. There has to be a way to make it work and meet all of the needs of your students.  Believe that you can make it happen, and the pieces will fit together.
3. After goal setting, group readers who showed up as same level instructionally together.  If there are students who are demonstrating skills in between groups, check their fluency rate and see which group they would fit better with.  Remember, groups are flexible! I usually error on the side of pushing the student ahead and you can always shift groups later.

Recently I read an article that talked about how unconscious biases can impact how you place students in groups.  Really the premise of this article questions the effectiveness of grouping students by levels, partially for this reason.  It talks about how in several recent studies, teachers tended to put students back levels who come from families who are living in poverty and push ahead students who come from families who are not living in poverty.  With the best of intentions, teachers often make comments like, “This student is a hard worker, so they can handle the challenge.” In reality, this type of grouping kids tends to put some students in a holding pattern.  

Even though I may have just added one more piece to the puzzle, it is critical that we think about what will help each student to grow in their reading development.  It isn’t enough to say that we believe ALL kids can learn at high levels, we must dig deep into our subconscious and confirm that our actions are demonstrating this belief for ALL kids.    

As you dig into creating your first set of guided reading groups for the year, get in the mindset of fitting the pieces together, and remember, you have a team and a coach who would love to support you!  

High Expectations for All During Independent Reading

It's that time of year: the sun is shining and minds are wandering as we grow tired of winter and look forward to spring time!  Despite the weather changing, we still have several months of learning yet this school year.  I have recently been reminded of how critical it is to have high expectations always, even during independent reading.  In fact, I'd go as far as to say that it isn't just critical, if we want to provide an equitable learning environment for our students, we must have high expectations. Jennifer Serravallo has some helpful ideas for us as to how we can support our students with the skills associated with staying engaged in text.

After hearing from several teachers that students are just not engaged in text during their independent reading lately, I was concerned about the amount of time that those students might be disengaged during the day.  Math problems started running through my head, like if a student has 40 minutes per day of independent time, and there are about 50 days left of school, that's 2,000 minutes of independent reading left in the school year.  That coupled with my recent reading of chapter 12 from Glenn Singleton's book Courageous Conversations About Race, where he discusses his vision for equity, and states, "Above all else, they are expected to reach high and supported to succeed often." (page 235)  We must continue to have high expectations for our students.  During independent reading, that means we must expect that they are engaged in text.

However, high expectations without support are difficult to sustain.  I immediately turned to Jennifer Serravallo's The Reading Strategies Book.  (I often refer to it as the "target book" because of the picture on the cover.)  There is an entire section devoted to the goal of "Teaching Reading Engagement."  We teach children how to decode, summarize, read fluently, analyze text...but we must also explicitly teach them to engage with text.  Serravallo starts off the section by suggesting we begin with an engagement survey (kidwatching tool).  Then based on what is observed, she has several strategies she suggests in the chapter.  I'm going to highlight a few of my favorites (although I highly recommend you go straight to the source):

• Use reading logs (page 46) to provide you and your students with all kinds of information that can later be analyzed and helps provide accountability and something concrete to discuss in a conference.  (I'd leave off the "level" though.)  Reading Log Rate Reflection (p. 65) helps kids to analyze their stamina and what and how much they are reading.
• Break Reads (page 49) can be used when students love a certain type of book (like Guinness Book of World Records) and you are encouraging them to read another genre.  
• Retell and Jump Back In (page 52) is helpful for students who find their minds tend to wander when reading.
• Set a Timed Goal (page 55) and Party Ladder (page 57) encourage students to set goals and work towards them.

There are a host of other ideas in the section to explore as well.  Alright, so now there are ideas to support these high expectations, but you might be wondering just when you will get this done when we have been working diligently at providing consistent guided group instruction for our students this year.  Your literacy coach would be more than happy to connect with you to brainstorm how and when this might look in your classroom to teach these engagement strategies to those students who need support to reach our high expectations.  Imagine all that our students can learn and gain with 2,000 minutes of engaged time in text over the next few months!  

STEM Literacy

It's hard to attend a staff meeting, a PD session, review goals or instructional practices without the word "literacy" coming up.  And rightly so! While the word literacy has traditionally been associated with the ability to read and write, the definition we embrace more fully is that literacy is about a person's ability to use language in its many forms (reading, writing, speaking, & listening), manipulate numbers, analyze images, engage technical skills, communicate effectively, pose questions, gain and apply knowledge in any range of disciplines.  STEM literacy takes those ideas and considers them with a lens akin to what we see in science, technology, engineering, and math.

Recently a cohort of 17 middle school teachers began their journey toward earning a STEM teaching & learning certificate through Winona State.  In the first session, teachers explored the meaning of STEM literacy, and while definitions range, it comes down to the ideas outlined here: STEM literate individuals are able to use concepts from science, technology, engineering and mathematics to understand complex problems and to innovate with others to solve them. A STEM literate person considers how STEM can improve the social, cultural, economic, and environmental conditions of their local and global communities. Building STEM literacy ensures we have both the scientists and global citizens we need to thoughtfully build equitable and sustainable futures. https://www.oercommons.org/hubs/stem-literacy 

As educators, we have quite a task in front of us, to help shape those "...global citizens we need to thoughtfully build equitable and sustainable futures"!  While the group of middle school teachers are digging into this journey, it's important to recognize that a cohort of McKinley teachers completed a STEM certificate program just under a year ago, and as a district we continue to move forward in our understanding of STEM teaching & learning and what it will mean to bring this lens to ALL students.
STEM thinking means systems thinking, helping students to critically think about the relationship between parts and the whole.  It helps eliminate the practice of teaching content in isolation and, instead, encourages interdisciplinary connections.  Whether you call it STEM, STEAM, or ESTEM - the connectedness and integration of concepts from a variety of perspectives is key.  The OMS cohort is attended by teachers of many disciplines - special education, English language learning, math, social studies, science, language arts, and music.  That in itself is evidence of the interdisciplinary nature and applicability of STEM literacy.  We look forward to what this deep dive into our own learning will do for our students.

Motivating the Middle School Reader

Motivating Readers Through Choice

We know that the more students read, the better readers they become.  So what happens when students lose interest in reading? How do we continue to grow a love of reading in our students… especially in middle school, when many activities – particularly social media and other digital distractions – compete for their time?  One of the number one motivating factors in independent reading is choice. 

With our beautiful new library commons now open at OMS, many will notice – and maybe wonder about – the shift to organization by genre.  As our media specialist, Jane Carlson shared, “Research has shown that student satisfaction and circulation are both higher in libraries organized by genre, especially at this age.”  Looking for mysteries? Find them all in one spot!  Love historical fiction?  Discover many time periods all in one place.  Have students who just can’t get enough fantasy or graphic novels?  Now they can easily connect to the genre they love!

What About Reading Level?
There’s also the question of lexile levels.  While many of our books do have the lexile level penciled in on the front cover, some do not.  A lexile gives us a quantitative measure of text complexity, it doesn’t take into account the student’s interest, curiosity, or background knowledge for any one particular book.  While knowing a student’s lexile level is one helpful element to consider when choosing texts for instructional purposes, it may limit a student’s independent reading choices.  Who are we to take a book out of a student’s hands?  Leveling systems were never intended to be used in this way (Parrott, 2017).  Let’s build a love of reading, not by the number in the front cover, but by the excitement with which a student approaches a book they’ve discovered!

But How Do I Help Them Pick Appropriate Books?
Conducting a brief reading conference (conferring) with students is a great way to get to know readers, their book choices, and level of understanding.  While conferring can inform later teaching points (more on this later), a quick conversation about book choice is a great place to begin.  Next time your students are choosing books or reading independently, sit by a student and ask him/her to read aloud a page or two and talk about it with them to ensure understanding.  As conferring becomes part of your routine, you’ll be able to build upon the strengths and needs of each individual reader!

Knowing our readers is important; and knowing our readers beyond a letter or number is even more important.  The quantitative measures of text are one measure of complexity for us, as teachers, to know and use in our instructional decisions – not for students to limit themselves in independent reading choices.  Happy Reading!

Read more from Kiera Parrott’s conversation with literacy gurus Fountas & Pinnell: “…Guide Readers by Interest, Not Level” and Doug Fisher & Nancy Frey: “Accelerate Learning Through Independent Reading”

If you’re interested in learning more about conferring, contact Katie Coudron about a coaching cycle.  Stay tuned for further posts, professional learning sessions, and resources to support individual and small group needs of readers!

I have my Fountas & Pinnell BAS data, now what?

As teachers have completed assessments, it has been exciting to collaboratively dig into their data and begin setting instructional goals for students.  Although the Literacy Continuum can feel overwhelming at first glance, when you utilize it in tandem with individual student assessments, it helps us to set targeted instructional goals for the students and is well worth our time. 

You don’t have to take my word for it, here are some of the comments that teachers have made:

“I started my small groups this week. I am loving it. I am so glad I did the assessments. I love how detailed your groups can be.” – Lindsey Born (2^nd grade, Wilson)

“This information will help to make my small groups more purposeful which will be better for kids.  We are really getting to know our readers exactly where they are at.” – Lauren Bogda (4^th grade, McKinley)

A three-step process to try and look at the continuum and assessments efficiently to set instructional goals:

1.       Look over one students’ assessments (or this could be done with a group of students), and identify areas where they need additional instruction and support. (For example, if a student scored 1 out of 3 on the “within the text” section, they likely need additional support with retelling or summarizing.)

2.       Look at the Literacy Continuum guided reading section that aligns with the students’ instructional level.  Find the sections of goals that were most difficult for them on the assessment.  (Referencing the example in number 1, go to the “within the text” section, and focus in on the “summarizing” portion.)

3.       Choose the instructional goal(s) in that section that align with the support the student would benefit from.  (If reading at an instructional level of H, the example student could have instructional goals: “Talk about the important information after reading” and “Summarize information in the text, selecting the information that is important.” Page 455 of Literacy Continuum) Pay close attention to the red dots (newer to that level), but also consider the other goals as well if it matches with a student’s needs.

The Fountas & Pinnell Benchmark Assessment System coupled with the Literacy Continuum will help us to know our readers and provide them with the targeted instruction that they need to accelerate their growth.  Your literacy coach would love to collaborate with you during this process; send an email with some dates and times that work well for you.   

Why Work With a Coach?

We are back and ready for the 2017-18 school year to be our best yet!  We have many exciting transitions happening around the district and we are ready to harness the positive energy that comes with the fresh start of a new school year.  We know when we all come together around a common goal we are energized, supported, and more likely to achieve that goal.  Our common goal?  Student learning! 

The latest research from John Hattie identifies collective efficacy as having a 1.67 effect size on student learning (Donohoo, 2016), nearly 4 times that of a standard year of growth.  Working with a coach gives you the power of collaboration around goals you set for student learning.  Coaching is for everyone!

What does student-centered coaching look like?

Interested in learning more?

Contact your coaches today - we’re ready to partner with you around student learning!

• Lincoln & Washington: Joanne Harmsen – jharmsen@owatonna.k12.mn.us
  
• McKinley & Wilson: Libby Zeman – lzeman@owatonna.k12.mn.us
• OMS: Katie Coudron  - kcoudron@owatonna.k12.mn.us

References:

Donohoo, J. (2016). Collective Teacher Efficacy. In J. Donohoo, Collective Efficacy (pp. 1-12). Thousand Oaks: Corwin.

Sweeney, D. (2011). Student-Centered Coaching: A Guide for K-8 Coaches and Principals. Thousand Oaks: Corwin.

Sweeney, D. (2013). Student-Centered Coaching at the Secondary Level. Thousand Oaks: Corwin.

Sweeney, D., & Harris, L. S. (2017). Student-Centered Coaching: The Moves. Thousand Oaks: Corwin.

Student First Leveling

A few months ago, I heard two students talking about the books they were reading.  One said, “I want to read that book too, but I can’t, because I am a K.”  The other student kindly looked at the first and said, “Well, I’m an M, so you’ll get here in no time.”   Our kids hear and interpret the language that we use.

The more I read about teaching reading, the more convinced I am that the best way to move our students forward, is to really know them as readers and how they are developing along the Literacy Continuum (Fountas & Pinnell).  In order to know the specific skills that I should be focusing on in my instruction with a student (conferring or small group), I find it most helpful to utilize an assessment that will provide information around the level that would match their current characteristics of reading. 

Often the next logical step seems to be, I know what this students’ level is, so now I need to get them reading those texts.  However, it seems we might need to pause for a moment and reconcile the valuable information we have obtained about our reader with all of the other things we know about reading:

*Readers can access higher level texts on topics that they have background knowledge in or that peak their interest. 

*Kids can read more complex text if they have someone to talk with about the text.

*We know how to teach our students to pick books that fit well for them, and we want to continue to foster that. 

*One of our most vital goals is to get kids to love reading.  We want them to pick up all kinds of books to ignite that spark!

*We want to build up, not box up, their identity as a reader.

So let me ask you this, if everywhere our students go, the level of the text is already identified, and they are restricted to a certain level, how does that reconcile with the things we already know about teaching reading? 

Those of you who know me, and how excited I am about the Benchmark Assessment Kits (Fountas and Pinnell) and all of the information that you can obtain to target instruction, are probably perplexed as to the contradiction that appears to be brewing here.  Allow me to clarify my opinion (which has evolved over the last year greatly as I have dug deeper both in research and also with students).  There is a time and place that we need students to be in a specific level as we provide instruction around specific skills that are characteristics of that level (hence we have the guided library leveled A to Z).  It’s helpful when we send books home for students to read independently, that we are confident that it will be a positive experience (hence we have leveled take home libraries).  However, it is also important that students learn the skill of choosing an appropriate book and have opportunities to access books at a variety of levels for a variety of purposes (hence your classroom library, their book shelves, the public library, etc.).

The bottom line is that when necessary, we level books; we don’t “level kids.”  We can apply the shift of student-first language to reading levels as well when we say, “Jenny is showing characteristics that match level G.”  Let’s build up their identity as a reader and be purposeful in how we choose books and how we teach students to choose books.  Our students hear what we say, and they interpret what they hear. 

Perhaps that prior conversation could have gone: “Wow, that book looks interesting and I’d like to read it.  It looks like there are a few words I don’t know on each page though.” The other student smiled at the first and said, “Would you like to read this book together?  We can talk about any words we don’t know.” 

Let’s set our kids up to be critical thinkers, free from the confined box of a level identity.