Friday Favorites - Comprehension (4/25)

Reading comprehension is huge in the middle grades. This is a time in which students go from learning to read in elementary school, to reading to learn. At this point, students are expected to read, understand what they read, and remember what they read. This is a primary mode for gaining information. Therefore, if a student does not have comprehension skills in the middle grades, they fall behind in all of their classes.

This is why I chose comprehension for this week's Friday Favorites.

Here are a couple of ways to practice comprehension or to enhance comprehension and retention of knowledge in any subject area:

Double Entry Journals

This is a simple way to help students make connections to what they are reading. It also helps to build background knowledge or to bring forth background knowledge that may be in the back of a student's mind. To do this, students first draw a line down the middle of their paper. On the left side of their paper they put important quotes from the assigned reading. You may assign quotes depending upon the amount of scaffolding your students need. On the right side students write their thoughts, questions, add missing information, facts, etc. It is important for students to share their double entry journals as well. I like to have my students share their journals in small groups before calling on individual students to share with the whole class. While discussing, students may want to add in anything that they did not think of before.

Note Taking, Note Making - From the book Science and Writing Connections by Robin Lee Harris Freedman

This is a note taking strategy that allows for students to make connections and ask questions. The picture shows you how to set up Note Taking, Note Making notes. On the left side, students take notes from reading, a presentation, or a discussion. On the right side, students write their reactions, ask questions, ideas for further exploration, or any other comments that they wish. Lastly, they complete a summary statement at the bottom of their notes.

It is important to teach students how to set up their notes, and have a few practice runs before they are responsible for creating their own notes. Therefore, the first couple of times you use this method, set up your own notes on the board or projector. Then you may want to provide an example and walk through the note taking process with your students a time or two. After that, (as good scaffolding goes) take up the notes and make comments. Then you can start taking up notes less and less until you do not take them up at all. At this point it is all up to the students.

This could also be used as a formative assessment. The right side of the notes provides information about student understanding. You could use this to create heterogeneous or homogeneous groupings based on readiness or interest. You could also definitely tell if students have misconceptions by using this method.

Checking Comprehension -

This is a great activity to check comprehension. It also goes well with the above two activities. Another wonderful pinspiration! For this activity, students toss a ball around with different questions written on it related to comprehension. The teacher designates the protocol for which question the students must answer. I would go with the right thumb, personally.

Example questions for a science classroom:

• What observations did you make while reading?
• What science concepts did you read about?
• What scientific vocabulary did you see?
• What kind of data was collected?
• What conclusion did you draw from the reading?
• How does this relate to your life?
• Can you think of other examples?

Authentic Assessments

"Why do we need to learn this?"

"Will we ever use this?"

Two insanely common questions among middle schoolers

If the students think that they wont use the concepts learned in class at a later date, then they will just brain dump them after the test. In a way, I kind of see their point. Why buy a cute dress when you have no intentions of ever putting it on? Why make a bowl of pasta if you have no intentions of eating it or giving it to someone you care about to eat? Why buy a book if you have no intentions on ever reading it? (You can tell what I do with my spare time. haha!) Our students, believe it or not, are using simple economics. 

When students finally see the benefit of learning the material in question, then they will care. 

But.. how do we get them to see the benefit?

By creating authentic projects and assessments, the teacher implicitly gives the material a purpose. 

Authentic assessments:

An authentic assessment is just that.. it's authentic, real-world, and allows students to problem solve. It's also one way to integrate teaching and learning with assessment, and it transforms the classroom environment into that of a student centered environment. (Grant Wiggins is a huge name that goes along with authentic assessments, just in case you want to do some further research.) 
When students see that they may use their learned content knowledge at a later date, then suddenly they are interested. They are less likely to dump the knowledge after the test, and they are more likely to be engaged in the learning taking place during an authentic assessment. This learning is usually hands-on minds-on anyways.

What are we teaching students during authentic assessments other than content knowledge?

When completing authentic projects or assessments, students get to use interdisciplinary skills and knowledge. When students are completing an authentic science assessment for example (my favorite of the two subjects I'm certified in), they still have to use math to take measurements and represent data, look backwards into history to see what others have tried, and they must present their findings by communicating with others. Students get to use their critical thinking skills to solve a real-world problem, and they get to explore future careers. In particular, this is a great way to integrate science process skills as well. 

How do I create an authentic assessment?

1. First, think about a natural connection between the content being learned and a career or real-world problem. (I tend to think about careers first.) It may even help to unpack your standard by creating a "Know, Understand, Do" chart as shown: 
   
2. Then design a problem that students have to solve that uses the content knowledge that you have in mind. 
3. Next, decide how students can show, explain, or present their findings or solutions to you, the class, parents, or even the community. Keep in mind, you can always invite the community or parents into your classroom to show off what your students have been doing and learning. You may also leave the decision on the mode of presentation up to the students.
4. Create the paperwork: rubrics, direction sheets, recording sheets, journal questions, parent letters, fliers, etc

Simple examples (off the top of my head) of authentic assessments and the learning involved:

• Soil conservationist 
• Uses knowledge of soil characteristics, weathering, erosion, deposition, etc
• Uses science process skills such as observations, hypothesis, and data collection
• Acoustical Engineer 
• Uses knowledge of mechanical waves: properties, energy transformation, etc
• Uses science process skills such as observations, inferences, etc

Feel free to add your own thoughts, examples, and resources in the comments section. 

I would love to hear from you!