Best Practices for Sixth Grade
Jennifer Wagoner
4/21/2011
Introduction
I am a teacher. I am a compass for not only the students which pass through my classroom, but for all of the students I encounter in my school. With my words and actions, it is my job to guide and influence. I’ve always tried to look at the big picture and not get lost in the minutia of the daily humdrum. And I realize that within the big picture of life, the ninety minutes a day for 180 days that I spend with seventy twelve-year olds is not that much time. But I cannot help escape the fact that although that time is relatively short, I have 16,200 minutes to be a compass and light their path.
The teachings in the Reading Education program seem to have been geared more for the lower elementary grades, and often times I’ve felt like an island in a sea of information. I don’t have as many standardized assessments to keep up with as the elementary folks; I have two reading and three writing benchmarks before the end of grade test in May. I am pushed to “teach the test” and if I cannot directly tie my teaching to what is on the EOG and have data to back it up, then, according to school administration, I might as well not do it. But I know I can look good on paper for the higher-ups, yet shut my door and teach as I please for the well being of my students. Life is not about answering a multiple choice test in the springtime; life is about thinking critically and seeing the big picture. We must learn to think for ourselves. I must teach my students how to think.
There are many things that I have learned throughout this program that will help me become a better Language Arts and reading teacher. I never knew how reading worked as a mental process, and to be honest, I never really thought about it until I began this program. I now understand how several intricate systems work together to form a very complex reading process. I find it all fascinating and very useful for understanding how my students learn.
I teach sixth grade children who mostly have comprehension and reading rate issues. When I encounter students that have other reading problems I do not know what is wrong or how to fix the problem, nor do I have the time to address their issues individually. I am trying to teach them how to move from “learning to read” to “reading to learn”. And those that have serious reading issues are beginning to learn how to compensate. After reading numerous research articles, I have found ways to determine areas of weakness and can begin to help my struggling readers.
One article which influenced my thinking and inspired many connections was Marilyn Jager Adams’s Reading System Model. This model compares the reading process to the mechanics of a car. There are four processors in her model: orthographic, phonological, meaning, and context. These components work simultaneously to help a student read the words in the text; similarly, a car cannot run without all parts working together. The orthographic processor examines printed letters on the page and recognizes each symbol as a letter, then processes the letter order, and breaks the word into syllables. The phonological processor takes the printed word and turns it into a sound through oral speech. The function of the meaning processor is so the reader can obtain new word meanings through context, use derivational meanings and affixes to expand vocabulary, and use direct vocabulary instruction to acquire meanings of new words. The context processor uses the context of the whole sentence to understand words that are unfamiliar to readers. Adams’s theory maintains if one part breaks then the whole process becomes slow and hampered, much like the functions of an automobile. If the brain is spendingtoo much active attention with one processor, then reading fluency slows and comprehension is compromised. When the four processors work together reading becomes fluent and comprehension is established. The processors are simultaneously transferring information to and from all subcomponents. Vocabulary and fluency improvement comes when children read on their instructional reading level, which is crucial when teaching children who are below grade level. As educators, we must adjust our instruction to ensure reading success for each student. If we are teaching them above their reading level, they are only frustrated and not progressing.
Understanding how Adams’ model works helps me be a better reading teacher. I now understand how my students’ minds work while they are reading. I understand that if they are having trouble decoding, then they are not comprehending. I cannot expect my students to summarize sixth grade text when they cannot easily read the words on the page. I cannot expect them to summarize grade level passages if they do not understand the majority of the vocabulary. I have learned to understand where my children are and help them progress from there.
Assessment
I use various types of assessments in my classes. I assess to see where the children are with their learning, for administrative purposes, to give students feedback, and planning. From the assessment, whether summative or formative, I decide how and when to progress to the next concept or topic, or if I need to reteach. Assessments must align to my instruction and touch on the different taxonomies (Airasian, 2002). My assessments can contain multiple responses- verbal, online, multiple choice, fill in the blank, essay, song, or other artistic element (Gardner). They also contain multiple thought processes – organizing, analyzing, applying, generating, integrating, evaluating (Marzano, 1998). The grade on the paper doesn’t matter that much to me, but unfortunately it matters to the students and their parents. I want to know if they learned anything from the lesson. Oftentimes with class and homework, I give students “Mustang Money” as a positive incentive or reward instead of a written grade. When they earn mustang money, they are motivated to strive to earn more by giving thoughtful responses. They are then able to cash in their money for various privileges at school.
I always have the students correct their assessments and fill out a paper that asks two basic questions: “Why did I miss this?” and “Why is this new answer the correct one?” This makes them think about what they missed, why they missed it, and think through the process of finding the correct answer. To me, multiple choice and fill in the blank are merely guessing games; I learn the most from my students from their verbal and written responses. And I find it interesting that they can verbally convey their ideas much better than they can write them. They do a much better job of telling me about a concept, text, or vocabulary than they do writing. Perhaps that is because I can steer them on the right path or ask questions that cause them to think a little bit.
Conversations are my favorite type of assessment. According to Alvermann, et. al. (1996) students “valued listening to each other as they expressed their opinions and argued about the meaning of what they read.” The students learn so much from each other, and I learn a great deal about what and how they think by what they say. Conversations are non-threatening and relaxed. At the beginning of the school year, and occasionally throughout the rest of it, I remind the students that there are no wrong and right answers as long as they can back up their thoughts with text. I teach them to respect each other’s opinions, thoughts, and ideas. And by creating this safe environment, I am lighting their path and guiding them to think outside of their small world.
Students are required to give sixteen book talks to their class during the course of the year. They give an infomercial about their book to their classmates and then rate it for those who might want to read it. The students in the class are allowed to ask questions about the book after the person presenting is finished. These quick, informal book talks give me information on the student’s comprehension level and their knowledge of literary elements. The students pass the books around to each other and are basically reading the same core of books. If I have not read the book being presented I have heard enough about it in the past to respond appropriately. Each fiction book talk contains information on characters, setting, genre, and point of view. Nonfiction book talks contain interesting facts, information on the pictures, organization of the book, and accessibility of information. Students sometimes read portions of the book that appeal to them or write a summary to hang on our bulletin board.
I also like to have the students work in groups to illustrate a concept on a big piece of paper as an assessment. By having them draw, I am tapping into their visual learning style. Sometimes I have them illustrate a story using only eight segments. I’ve had them illustrate figurative language, literary, or vocabulary terms. And I’ve had them write and illustrate different types of poetry. Their drawing shows me that they understand and express their views using another medium. Groups present their final products to the class. I like to assess using different multiple intelligences (Gardner) because not all students learn in the same fashion.
Exit cards are a quick check of a daily lesson and have three statements for the students – three things I learned, two questions I have, and one thing that applies to me in my world. By using these cards I can see what the students understood, where they are still having difficulty, and if they can transfer the information presented into their own world.
As I sit here today writing, my students are taking a reading EOG practice test. There are sixty-two questions and they have had the entire school day to finish it, but there will be about 25% that won’t get finished today. Those are the ones that have sat at their desk all day, played with their pencil, picked at their fingers, drawn on the test paper, and colored in the pictures in the test booklet. What are they learning today? And what am I assessing with this practice test? In my opinion, nothing. For those just sitting, the passages are too hard, uninteresting, and the students simply do not care about this assessment. Tomorrow they take a writing test, and math EOG practice the rest of the week. Next week they will take another reading practice test, but it will be only 35 questions and online. I only give these assessments because that is what I’m told to do. My curriculum specialist and principal examine the data. I don’t. ClassScape is an online EOG preparatory assessment that I am told to use on a regular basis. Students read a passage and answer multiple choice questions based on the passage. Similar to the paper and pencil version, this assessment has passages that are too hard and uninteresting. It takes an exorbitant amount of time to log on to the assessment, and there are always glitches that kick the student off the website. It is very frustrating and I’m not surprised that they do not perform well on these assessments. I am instructed to teach my class around the data I receive from these assessments. I don’t take them. It wastes my time and theirs. The data is not reliable. I refuse to “teach the test.”
Materials, Technology, Media
My school has 1:1 laptops for seventh and eighth grade, so I need to prepare my sixth graders for their upcoming technology lessons. I use SMART lessons, incorporate websites, videos, music, and other media into instruction whenever possible in order to provide an interesting classroom environment that meets the needs of all learners. I think we have to incorporate more types of media into our lessons in order to hold our students’ attention. Their worlds move so quickly and the students multitask on everything. Simply lecturing and reading a textbook does not keep their interest. Students need and want to be active in the classroom while learning.
During class my students love to use Flip video cameras to enhance their work. Either they like to film themselves or they ask me to take a camera out to film them. Then we upload our work to Animoto or Picasa to watch for fun or to review what we’ve learned. We also pull videos out from earlier in the year to see how much students have grown and changed. The students love to act out their vocabulary words on video and then use the videos for a review game. Students are also required to complete a research paper and Photostory on photosynthesis as an interdisciplinary unit in the sixth grade.
After my students were disrespectful to their substitute, I created a podcast with their assignments for the sub to play next time. It is a good idea to leave as much of you as possible so the students don’t get too much out of their routine. The students knew what they were to accomplish during class, they had my voice and instructions which were familiar, and the sub knew what they were supposed to be doing as well. I’m also available via Skype when I’m out in case there are any questions.
When my students present book talks, some of them only get up in front of the room and mumble what they’ve read and a little about the book. I have modeled for them, the media specialist has modeled for them, but the students are incredibly dull with their presentations. I have begun using Flip video to film their book talks. I think could I upload these to my class wiki so they can look back at the books classmates have read and see if there is anything they might be interested in.
I have a rich classroom library with multiple genres and levels of books. Students are welcome to check out my books for their own reading. When they return the book, they rate it using a star scale for other students to see. This is a simple way for them to see what each other is reading and try something new based on a positive recommendation.
The other Language Arts teacher and I work well together to plan instruction that is interesting and varied for all students. We oftentimes teach a rotation workshop where the entire sixth grade moves through both of our classes. During the month of May we will be doing a rotation for EOG review. Students will play games, interact with various types of text, write poetry, and complete vocabulary activities. This workshop will be fast-paced and highly engaging for all types of learners.
Reading Instruction and Reading Response
I try to achieve a family room atmosphere in my classroom. I like to be laid back and have my kids relaxed so we can just talk. We talk about life, we talk about literature, we talk about music, and we talk about vocabulary. I try hard to create this atmosphere because I think it is very important for my students to feel safe and secure so they feel free to express their opinions. Since I teach Language Arts, most of what we do is responding to literature and media, and those responses take many forms. We talk as a whole class; we talk in small groups or pairs. I ask students to respond to a writing prompt in their journal. Students share the books they arereading with their classmates through book talks. We ask questions, make connections, and delve deep to develop understanding.
According to Walmsley, students fail to understand the big ideas while reading. They can point out main ideas of a paragraph or can easily work on a specific skill, but when it comes to understanding the big idea or underlying theme it is a struggle. “Understanding the big ideas is critical to full participation in work, life, and democracy.” (Walmsley, 2006) I think we are failing our students by teaching skills without connections. Students must know how to connect to text and life in order to succeed. They must be able to see the whole picture, not just parts of it like random jigsaw pieces. Therefore, text discussion takes many forms in my classroom. I use literature circles, Socratic seminar, questioning, small groups, and whole class.
The first half of the school year we used the basal text and Junior Great Books to read short stories in class together. My higher level class would read a selection from Junior Great Books and the other two classes would read out of the basal text. One class would read the text silently or with a partner for the first reading and my lower level class read the text in small groups supported by an adult – myself, the EC teacher or assistant, volunteer, or ESL teacher. The text was sometimes too hard, but with the extra support and read aloud style, we made it through. When each class had read their selection we would talk about it, think about it, analyze motives and actions of characters, and connect it to other texts we had previously read. My goal was to get the students thinking beyond the words on the page and the smallness of their world to larger ideas (Walmsley, 2006).