Comprehending in Action:

1. Comprehendingin Action: Connecting Reading and Writing for Higher-Order Thinking The Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat Professional Learning Series Module 3

2. Contents Welcome LNS Professional Learning Series Session Promoting Higher-Order Thinking Session Using Accountable Talk in the Writing Process Session Constructing Understanding of Effective Writing Session Differentiating Instruction Slides 1 to 6 Slides 7 to 32 Slides 33 to 56 Slides 57 to 76 Slides 77 to 102 1 2 3 4

3. The Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat Professional Learning Series Welcome Module 3

4. Job-embedded professional learning addresses teacher isolation by providing opportunities for shared teacher inquiry, study and classroom-based research Why a Professional Learning Series?

5. Aims of the Literacy Professional Learning Series introduce engaging texts for junior students integrate reading and writing instruction make connections to Literacy for Learning: TheReport of the Expert Panel on Literacy in Grades 4 to 6 in Ontario, A Guide to Effective Literacy Instruction in Grades 4 to 6, Volumes One and Two,and the revised language curriculum

6. Overview of Module four sessions 75 minutes each divided into before/during/after viewing experiences plus classroom inquiry two levels of activities: Starting the Conversation and Extending the Conversation integration of speaking, listening, reading, writing, viewing and representing time to explore current ministry support documents

7. Session 1 Promoting Higher-Order Thinking

8. Learning Goals This session is intended to: broaden understanding of the integrated nature of comprehension strategies in higher-order thinking establish the connections among effective questioning, higher-order thinking, and critical literacy skills demonstrate the importance of classroom climate to the promotion of respectful and diverse thinking introduce high-yield strategies for accountable talk make connections to professional readings.

9. What Is Literacy? the mind’s eye Used with permission from Bogarte Quinn

10. Point of View vs. Opinion Point of View: the vantage point from which events are seen (artist, teacher, adult, child) Opinion: what one thinks about a particular topic or question High-Yield Strategy: Summarizing Key Information

11. Interacting with Text Author’s Words Vocabulary Punctuation Style Syntax Strategies Using cueing systems Activating prior knowledge Predicting Visualizing Questioning Drawing inferences Finding important information Summarizing Synthesizing and evaluating Monitoring/ revising comprehension Language Knowledge Phonology Morphology Syntax Vocabulary Text Features Use of organizational tools Use of informational tools (glossary, captions) Format/Layout Use of space and graphics Use of illustrations Author’s Purpose Topic Ideas Message Text Knowledge Organizational & informational structure Artistic elements of text Print concepts Text type Self-Concept as a Reader Purpose for reading Interests & Experiences Factual Knowledge High-Yield Strategy: Visual Representation

12. Integrated Processing

13. To Encourage Higher-Order Thinking … What conditions were in place in this first activity to encourage your higher-order thinking? use engaging text ask higher-order questions provide time to think and write before sharing plan teaching strategies to ensure that everyone’s voice will be heard High-Yield Strategy: Anchor Charts

14. Higher-OrderQuestions … What role was played by the question, “What is literacy?” • guide the thinking • help to focus attention • push the thinking beyond the surface details • encourage a range of responses

15. A Traditional Way of Thinking about Thinking Bloom and Kathwold, (1956) What are some of the potential difficulties associated with this traditional framework for thinking? High-Yield Strategy: Visual Representation

16. Revising Bloom’s Taxonomy Anderson and Krathwohl (2001) Summarize Rank How might this information inform classroom practice? Explain Interpret Show Compose Define Enact

17. Six Facets of Understanding When you understand something, you can do the following: • explain it via generalizations or principles • interpret it from a personal perspective • apply it in real contexts • have a critical perspective about it • display empathy based on your direct prior experiences with it • have self-knowledge and meta-cognitive awareness about it (Wiggins and McTighe, 1998, 2005)

18. What Is Higher-Order Thinking? “ Higher-order thinking refers to the transformation of information and ideas that occurs when students combine facts and ideas and use them to synthesize, generalize, explain, hypothesize, or arrive at some conclusion or interpretation.” (Ministry of Education, 2006, p. 6)

19. Creating an Environment for Higher-Order Thinking Use the Jigsaw strategy to read the following: Group #1: pp. 94–96 Group #2: pp. 96–98 Group #3: pp. 98–99 Group #4: pp. 100–101 High-Yield Strategies: Jigsaw/Question the Author

20. Creating an Environment for Higher-Order Thinking Runtime 12:15

21. “Should in-game advertising be used in video games?” Thin questions are easily answered by referring to what is written in text. They require no deep understanding. Thick questions require the reader to think beyond what is obvious in text. Thick questions are more open-ended and can have more than one answer.

22. In a classroom, the mode time between asking questions and requiring an answer is … Research on Wait Time Less than 1.5 seconds.

23. Think Time Research: Students According to Stahl (1994), when students are given three or more seconds of undisturbed think time: the length and correctness of responses increases; the frequency of non-answers or “I don’t know” decreases; more students volunteer appropriate answers; and the scores of students on academic achievement tests tend to increase.

24. Think Research: Teachers Questioning strategies tend to become more varied and flexible. The quantity of questions decreases but the quality and variety of questions increases. More questions are asked that require more complex processing and higher-order thinking.

25. “Boy Friendly” Environments “Boy Writers is a piece of persuasive writing. I aim to convince you that although every boy writer is unique, as a group boys possess particular strengths and weaknesses … I don’t expect readers to agree with every suggestion offered in this book, but I hope it might serve as a catalyst for teachers to think deeply about what concrete steps we can take to do a better job of teaching boys to write.” (Fletcher, 2006, p. 8) What perspective is represented in this quote? What might be missing from this perspective? High-Yield Strategies: Turn and Talk

26. “Boy Friendly” Environments provide immediate and specific feedback provide real and varied audiences encourage movement and completion of work in various places around the room honour privacy and create a sense of safety for all students ensure that defeat or failure is a private matter encourage negotiation of topics and genres accept what is completed and help to make the work better acknowledge that humour is “a milieu in which boys thrive” encourage the use of technology (i.e., keyboarding instead of handwriting) keep messy handwriting in perspective

27. Critical Literacy Four Resources Model

28. Dr. Allan Luke • From the LNS webcast entitled, “Dr. Allan Luke The New Literacies” Archived at www.curriculum.org Runtime 5:11

29. Important Definitions Text form: a category or type of text that has certain defining characteristics. Examples of literary text forms or genres include poetry, historical fiction, and satire. Examples of informational text forms include reports, procedures, and persuasive expositions. Text format: the physical structure or graphic organization of a particular text form. Examples of expository formats include editorials, letters to the editor, and blogs.

30. Curriculum Links Take a look at the curriculum expectations for your grade level. Where do you find point of view mentioned? What are the implications for your teaching and student learning?

31. Purpose? Point of view? Audience? and Form? Use the labels provided to sort, classify, and label the various samples of text you brought to the session. Take a walk around the room to see how other groups sorted and classified their samples of text. Analyse one sample using the “four roles of the literate learner” found on Teacher Resource 14. High-Yield Strategies: Gallery Walk

32. Classroom Inquiry What concept, observation, or discussion point from today’s session has intrigued you? Create a question to take back to your class for the purposes of inquiry. Bring an artefact/sample of student work to the next session to illustrate what you learned.

33. Session 2 Using Accountable Talk in the Writing Process

34. Chatting About Classroom Inquiry Move to one of the four corners of the room that best matches the topic of your classroom inquiry from Session 1. Share evidence of your inquiry with others in your corner. High-Yield Strategy: Four Corners

35. Let’s Review Higher-order thinking encourages sophisticated interaction between the reader/writer and text. A range of comprehension strategies are utilized in higher-order thinking. Different kinds of thinking exist as opposed to some types of thinking being more cognitively advanced than others. Teachers can create environments that are inclusive and conducive to higher-order thinking.

36. Something to Think About “We must strive to create classrooms that celebrate passionate curiosity. Curiosity spawns questions. Questions are the master key to understanding. Questions clarify confusion. Questions stimulate research efforts. Questions propel us forward and take us deeper into reading.” (Harvey & Goudvis, 2000, p. 50)

37. Learning Goals This session is intended to: highlight the importance of student engagement for the development of higher-order thinking connect reading and accountable talk to higher-order thinking demonstrate the role of accountable talk in the writing process link assessment and literacy instruction stimulate thinking about cross-curricular applications

38. Thinking About Thinking How far can a dog run into the woods? High-Yield Strategy: Think-Pair-Share

39. What is Engagement? “Students are more engaged in activities when they can build on prior knowledge and draw clear connections between what they are learning and the world they live in.” (Brewster & Fager, 2000)

40. What is Engagement? Use the T-chart provided in Teacher Resource 17 to record your understanding of what engagement looks like, feels like, and sounds like in a junior classroom. Partner with someone from another table. “Give one” new idea and “get one” new idea from your partner. Record your new idea on a sticky note and place the sticky note onto your original T-chart. High-Yield Strategy: Give One, Get One

41. What is an engaging question? “High-level questions that help students make connections from text to text and from text to experience are more effective in promoting achievement in reading than low-level questions that focus on details and restatement.” (Taylor, Pearson, Peterson, & Rodriguez, 2003 )

42. Creating Engaging Questions List the characteristics of a pencil. Explain in your own words how a pencil works. How is a pencil similar to and different from a keyboard? Show all the different ways that you could use a pencil to produce art. How might a pencil be an instrument of world peace? Who has made the best use of a pencil in his/her life?

43. Self-Reflection How might you adapt this process to your own classroom? High-Yield Strategy: Self-Reflection

44. What is Accountable Talk? Testers: • But what about … ? • Your last point really made me think. I wonder about … I see the connection you are making with the book … and I wonder if … I agree with what you have said. Your ideas about the character are interesting. Have you thought about… That’s a really interesting idea! High-Yield Strategy: Concept Attainment

45. Accountable talk is … talk that is meaningful, respectful, and mutually beneficial to speaker and listener A Guide to Effective Literacy Instruction, Grades 4 to 6, Volume One, p. 32 High-Yield Strategy: Summarizing Information

46. Accountable Talk and Higher-Order Thinking “Accountable talk stimulates higher-order thinking – helping students to learn, reflect on their learning, and communicate their knowledge and understanding.” A Guide to Effective Literacy Instruction, Volume One (2006, p. 32) “Time for purposeful talk and interaction is necessary for real learning to occur. Instructional practice values time for accountable talk and interaction in order for students to clarify their thinking, learn to respect and build upon the ideas of others and articulate their views effectively.” The School Effectiveness Framework (2007, p. 39)

47. Fishbone When watching the video clip, answer the question: How does accountable talk engage students in higher-order thinking? Use the fishbone graphic organizer in Teacher Resource 20 to record your observations High-Yield Strategy: Using Graphic Organizers

48. Engaging in Accountable Talk Developing Questions Runtime 10:13

49. Encouraging Deep Responses Utilize think time. Use probes and follow-ups like “Why?”; “Can you explain your thinking further?”; “What other way might there be to think about this?” Encourage student questioning. Ask students to “unpack their thinking” and describe how they arrived at a particular answer.

50. Engaging in Accountable Talk Researching Questions Runtime 10:07