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= > What knowledge, skills, and technologies do upper elementary and middle school students need to know in order to be successful readers? OR > As a veteran teacher, what knowledge, skills, and technologies do I need to know in order to effectively teach upper elementary and middle school students to be successful readers? > > ECI 546 New Literacies & Media XXX > Using Trailfire to teach online reading skills > > ECI 524 XXXTheory and Research in Global Learning > How do XXXcertain countriesXXX design reading and literacy instruction for upper elementary and middle school students? *What special services are offered for struggling readers?* > > ECI 522 Trends and Issues in English Language Arts Finding the Right Reading Balance > Action research to 1) learn more about difficulties middle school readers face, 2) determine whether the professional literature supports reading aloud of whole-class novels, and 3) answer my own questions about reading workshop in preparation for 3-week pilot program > --don't teach students the strategies they need to make meaning out of more advanced text, automatic to us > --time spent on assessment much greater than time spent teaching strategies > --split between those who preferred to read independently and those who preferred to follow along as teacher read: identifying student needs and strengths > --comprehension demonstrations; think alouds > --have students generate questions, make predictions > --interruption strategies: talking, sketching, writing about what has just happened > > Reading Workshop itself > ***haven't reflected back on my own use of Reading Workshop: enjoyed having the time to read, did see some students who previously did not like to read but found a book or two they really enjoyed; did not measure or assess if any reading skills grew stronger; what I know about reading now makes me wonder how much students miss by just reading silently > > What would have worked better: > --Donna's strategy to respond in writing to 1 question (from a list) each day > --reading conferences (as I've seen Wackerly's writing conferences) > --improved mini-lessons w/ more of a demonstration feel > --having students apply mini-lessons & new vocabulary more > --reading more about it: 2 suggestions from Donna > > ***Creative synthesis might be an action plan for myself: what I still need to do, timeframe for it, resources needed**** > > OR > ECI 540 Reading in the Elementary School > Effects of ADHD on Reading Comprehension >  difficulty identifying connections within a story and developing a comprehensive understanding of it > inattention,difficulties identifying and understanding story structure, goal-outcome patterns, and causal relationships > “secondary task paradigm” faced with more than one task they have to divide their cognitive resources between the primary and secondary tasks. For example, in reading the primary task is to engage with the information while the secondary task is to filter out unimportant information. Research shows that tracking the causal structure of the story guides readers who do not have ADHD and helps them divide cognitive resources and focus most of their attention on important details in the story. For many students with ADHD, though, this tracking does not happen. > Need strategic reading instruction > teachers can model and teach strategies that readers with ADHD can use to help them through each stage of the reading process. > Prereading strategies: KWL charts (preferably the extended variety with the “What We Think We Know” column and room for confirmation and source information) & prereading questions that will be asked later help the readers to focus their attention on important sections as they read > During reading: > story maps--identify characters, problems, major events, and the resolution > follow the goal-action-outcome sequence > be able to answer “why” events occur in the story as they happen > practice using from information from the text as well as prior knowledge to make informed predictions > training in self-questioning techniques so that they can become more aware of and then monitor their comprehension as they read > After reading: > metacognitive journals enables students to reflect on what they have learned and how they learned it > represent story events with art, rather than having to write out long explanations > Use of incentives: > extra time and positive reinforcement are important keys to success > low frustration tolerance level and struggle to stay motivated > reward system based not only on improvements in performance but also on students’ use of the strategies they have been taught =
 * Compelling Question for the Project-Based Inquiry Process:

=ECI 508 Teachers as Leaders= =What do I need to know about the roles of reading specialists and literacy coaches as I enter a new area of certification? What plan of action might I set for myself in terms of career goals? What do I need to know and do now in order to position myself for an opportunity later?=

=Creative Synthesis--action plan for myself--need to be more reflective--checklist for veteran teachers--voicethreat--animoto: teaching old dog new tricks=