Tuesday, June 26, 2018

How to Disarm Hostile Parents?

How do you Disarm Angry Combative Parents?

  • IT STARTS WITH ASKING CALIBRATED QUESTIONS THAT EXPOSE THE PERCEIVED PROBLEMS, THEY START WITH HOW OR WHAT QUESTIONS.
  • START WITH AN "AUDIT OF PROBLEMS AND ACCUSATIONS", STAY DETACHED FROM THE ACCUSATIONS.
  • NEVER TRY USING LOGIC WHEN EMOTIONS ARE HOT!
  • ACKNOWLEDGE THE PARENTS EMOTIONS AND USE "EMPATHY" TO BUILD A RAPPORT WITH HOW & WHAT QUESTIONS. HOW CAN I HELP YOU & YOUR CHILD?E BE SUCCESSFUL IN SCHOOL? WHAT ARE WE GOING TO CHANGE MOVING FORWARD TO INSURE SUCCESS?      
Some schools are becoming more and more toxic as principals and school administrations opt-out of managing, communicating, and dealing with "problematic students and parents." Teachers are leaving the profession after years of little or no support, working in unhealthy hostile work environments. What is the solution when parents are angry, toxic, and or abusive? Some parents have every right to be upset in our over-tested, confusing, and ever-changing educational goals. 

“He who has learned to disagree without being disagreeable has discovered the most valuable secret of negotiation.”... “Negotiate in their world. Persuasion is not about how bright or smooth or forceful you are. It’s about the other party convincing themselves that the solution you want is their own idea. So don’t beat them with logic or brute force. Ask them questions that open paths to your goals. It’s not about you.” - Chris Voss Retired FBI hostage Negotiator 
First, don't panic and keep calm. Stay focused on the positive and set up a working relationship at the very beginning of the year. What are the issues being discussed throughout the year and what is the agreed agenda when parents have questions or a grievance? Everyone knows good communication and feedback is needed, listening is key for both parties. Parents may have zero interest in listening to anything you say if they are angry. Asking open-ended questions can get the conversation started and help cool things down. The FBI has a 95 percent success rate in terms of resolving a hostage crisis without fatalities using open-ended questions. But what happens when parents go negative and start attacking your ideas, teaching methods, curriculum, classroom management, and or grading, your first instinct is to go on the defensive. If you cannot get the conversation back on track quickly with redirecting questions and the Golden rule, you need to stop the conversation politely and set up a new time. If your principal is "BUSY" find a colleague to attend the new meeting and have a prepared agenda.  Teachers should never continue a conversation when there is verbal abuse or personal attacks. Do not take verbal abuse, remove yourself from the raw emotions and seek a colleague to talk with and decompress. Teachers don't always act like their time is valuable but it is very valuable. 

  • Start with open-ended questions, keep questions slanted to the positive and directed to solutions
  • Listen to understand their perspectives, even more so when you disagree with their point of view
  • Plan out an agenda whenever possible with clear guidelines
  • Document and record critical ideas, focus on decisions being made not on the decision makers! 

Improve Your Meetings With Parents Using an Effective Agenda!
Questions to ask your parents before a meeting: 
This only works with reasonable parents! 
  1. What are your questions, concerns, ...? Create goals and objectives for your agenda based on those concerns.
  2. What are your priorities...? Break down the key priorities into key points and who is making decisions based on those priorities. 
  3. What has worked in the past...? Use the agenda to explore solutions and strategies.
Disarm your parents with The Quick 4!
  1. Interesting, please tell me more..., how can I help...
  2. Interesting, please explain why you said that...
  3. Interesting, please help me to understand..., explain your concerns further...
  4. Interesting, I agree we need to fix this, what are your ideas...
Respond to your parents and administrators the "Mr. Spock Way!" Socratic inquiry, the art of disarming and redirecting negative and unproductive conversations. Using open-ended questions to create a positive dialogue. 

Fascinating, what is your desired outcome for this conversation.... 
1. That is fascinating/interesting, please explain your thinking further...
2. That is fascinating/interesting, please explain why you would say that to me...
3. That is fascinating/interesting, please explain why you do it that way...
4. That is fascinating/interesting, please explain you "ideas, strategies, goals, experience, praxis" further...
5. Fascinating/interesting, why would you say that...
6. That is fascinating/interesting, why do you believe that please explain you reasoning...
7. That is fascinating/interesting, please help me see your point of view...
8. Fascinating, what do you want me to change...and why do you believe it is...
9. Interesting, what do you think is getting in the way of our success...
10. Interesting, please suggest a strategy that you think will work... and why....
11. Fascinating, how do we move forward and create success out of...
12. Interesting, I want to know more about your solutions, strategies, theories, plans....
13. Interesting, please give me some insights, goals, objectives, recommendations, that will work for...all of us/both of us.

Monday, June 25, 2018

Praxis Process in Education?

One of the oldest Pedagogical Theories in use today is the Praxis Process! The Praxis Process is a Socratic or revisionist-reflective process by which a theory, idea, hypothesis, lesson, are turned into an actionable skill by developing heuristics strategies (logical rules of thumb). Going from theoria (thinking), poiesis (making), and praxis (doing) or eupraxia ("doing good works," "creating good fortune"). Adopting a new pedagogical theory is easy and "common", yet analyzing it, reflecting on it, revising it, and discarding it when needed, that is the part most schools and teachers fail at. 
"There is no such thing as a neutral education process. Education either functions as an instrument which is used to facilitate the integration of generations into the logic of the present system and bring about conformity to it, or it becomes the 'practice of freedom', the means by which men and women deal critically with reality and discover how to participate in the transformation of their world."
— Richard Shaull, drawing on Paulo Freire
Superlative Eupraxia starts with a transformational theory, (being oppressed, enslaved, and ignorant, to becoming free and enlightened requires and erudite education). Eupraxia is enacted, embodied, and or realized in positive transformational action that must be reflected on and revised. "Eupraxia" often refers to the actions, practices, exercises, and applications a teacher and student collaborate on that are transformational. John Dewey believed that students learn best through a 'hands-on' approach. We as educators sometimes skip or underestimate the time needed in the poiesis or the making of knowledge. We also are not skeptical enough when new pedagogical theories are thrust upon us by people like Bill Gates. The Common Core Mess that never went through the Praxis Proces. Today we are plagued with dyspraxia ("bad praxis, pedagogical misfortune")

Praxis (from Ancient Greek: πρᾶξις, translit. praxis) is the process by which a theory, lesson, or skill is enacted, embodied, or realized. "Praxis" may also refer to the act of engaging, applying, exercising, realizing, or practicing ideas. This has been a recurrent topic in the field of philosophy, discussed in the writings of Plato Aristotle.
Praxis may be described as a form of critical thinking and comprises the combination of reflection and action. Praxis can be viewed as a progression of cognitive and physical actions:
  • Taking the action
  • Considering the impacts of the action
  • Analysing the results of the action by reflecting upon it
  • Altering and revising conceptions and planning following reflection
  • Implementing these plans in further actions
This creates a cycle which can be viewed in terms of educational settings, learners and educational facilitators.

Thursday, June 21, 2018

Setting Daily Micro Goals with Your Students

Setting daily Micro Goals with your students jump starts their intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and self-confidence! Setting daily Micro Goals with students builds Self-Esteem, Perseverance, Grit, Resilience, and a renewed love of learning in students that may have lost interest in school. Setting daily Micro Goals shows students their accomplishments and achievements, students will take real ownership of their learning. Students see that they are truly capable and start setting bigger and more demanding Macro Goals. Building on real accomplishments and measurable results give students a stratagem and path to further academic success. 
The best way to create sustained academic success, is to experience real academic success. Students that develop the habit of setting and meeting daily Micro Goals thrive in the positive feedback loop that is created.  That feedback loop positively impacts a students desire, commitment, perseverance, resilience, and mindsets about school and academics. 
Micro Goals are about doing things in the NOW! 
Academic decisions, goals, and actions or inaction's are based on academic attitudes and positive or negative academic habits. Micro goal setting circumvents unproductive intuitive responses, bias assessments of one's own ability, poor self-concept, flawed heuristics, and stinky thinking. Setting Micro Goals with your students is a Praxis (process)! 


Why set Micro Goals with students?
  • Macro goals can only be met with micro goals
  • Micro goals when met show a measure of achievement 
  • Meeting micro goals "small success" leads to big wins and bigger goals 
  • Micro goals build a bridge between commitment and follow through 
  • Micro goals help keep you focused 
  • Micro goals that are met give you a sense of accomplishments
Micro-goals usually take 1-20 minutes to complete. Everyone can focus on a task for one-twenty minutes.

One-Five Minute Micro Goals Samples:  

  • I will praise my peers using a character trait I admire for one-five minutes
  • I will exercise, dance, or do calisthenics for one-five minutes
  • I will practice a difficult spelling word for one-five minutes
  • I will study a close reading passage for one-five minutes
  • I will deeply study a new math concept for one-five minutes
  • I will organize my backpack, desk, cubby, or desk 
  • I will share 5 things I am passionate about with my family, peers, teachers, or friends 

ü Goals, Tasks, Actions, and Missions  
Yes, I Can! Yes, I Will:
Yes, I Did!
Yes, I Will Do it Again
ü  Show Gratitude, Empathy, & Esteem to ALL People


ü  Seek & Do [… ] Benevolent & Virtuous Activities


ü  Ask Questions & Seek Clarity on NEW Concepts I’ve Learned: My Daily Queries Goal is [… ] Requests


ü  Teach ONE New ELA/Math Concept to a Friend or Family Member TODAY!


ü  Study, Review, & Reflect on [… ] new Math Concepts and [… ] new ELA Concepts


ü  Study [… ] Phrases in Spanish, Latin, French or 漢字


ü  Read [… ] Chapters of a GREAT BOOK


ü  Write, Blog, or Journal about my Daily Learning (200-1000 words daily)


ü  Make a New Friend or Renew an Old Friendship: Be Virtuous, Be Benevolent, Be Kind, Be Supportive   


ü  Find [… ] Things to Laugh & Smile About



[PDF]Workbook for Goal-setting and Evidence-based Strategies for Success 
Best Possible Future Self Sets the Stage for Goal-setting ......................................... ..... Not only has she proven that fleeting micromoments of happiness ..... that new meditators who persisted with a short meditation practice every day experienced ...... The following examples are from photos I've taken from cars on the highway.

[PDF]A powerful yet simple daily planner to help you ... - Schreiben wirktWe'll share additional content including videos and PDF guides on how ... between goal setting and goalachieving by giving you a system of execution that will ...

[PDF]Setting Goals for Yourself, and Motivating Yourself to Succeed (PDF)Setting Goals for Yourself, and Motivating Yourself to Succeed. Page 2 ..... cards and placed where you can see them daily and be reminded of positive aspects.

[PDF]Your 100 Personal Goals Worksheet - HubSpotTypically, the process for setting goals is part of the ... micromanaging. You are a professional .... and enthusiasm if you create an “every day” environment which.

[PDF]A powerful yet simple daily planner to help you ... - Schreiben wirktWe'll share additional content including videos and PDF guides on how ... between goal setting and goalachieving by giving you a system of execution that will ...

[PDF]Setting Goals for Yourself, and Motivating Yourself to Succeed (PDF)Setting Goals for Yourself, and Motivating Yourself to Succeed. Page 2 ..... cards and placed where you can see them daily and be reminded of positive aspects.


There was a study done at Harvard between 1979 and 1989. Graduates of the MBA program were asked “Have you set clear written goals for your future and made plans to accomplish them?”
The results of that question were:
• Only 3% had written goals and plans
• 13% had goals but not in writing
• 84% had no specific goals at all Ten years later
Harvard interviewed the members of that class again and found:
1. The 13% who had goals but not in writing were earning on average twice as much as the 84% of those who had no goals at all
2. The 3% who had clear, written goals were earning on average 10 times as much as the other 97% of graduates all together. The only difference between the groups is the clarity of the goals they had for themselves.  http://www.peer.ca/Singles/MM255.pdf

Monday, June 11, 2018

13 Heuristic Math Strategies: Singapore Math Method

Heuristic mathematics models, process, and methods, heuristic math techniques and strategies, or simply heuristics, are cognitive problem-solving strategies that become intuitive with repeated exposure. The problem-solving strategies "intuitive shortcuts" are formed in the students' mind after repeated rehearsal, practice and exposure to multi-step or complex math problems. Heuristics develop into the rules of thumb, today they incorporate 13 problem-solving models designed to help students make sense of difficult math problems. The 13 heuristics are grouped into 4 categories: “representation heuristics”, “simplification heuristics”, “pathway heuristics”, and “generic heuristics”. Together they form a model of problem-solving strategies in mathematics.

21st Century Competencies & Singapore Mathematics Curriculum





The 13 heuristic math problem solving strategies:

1. Act it out 2. Use a diagram/model 3. Use guess-and-check 4. Make a systematic list 5. Look for patterns 6. Work backwards 7. Use before-after concept 8. Make suppositions 9. Restate the problem in another way 10. Simplify the problem 11. Solve part of the problem 12. Think of a related problem 13. Use equations

External links for lessons and further research:

[PDF]21st Century Competencies & Singapore Mathematics Curriculum
Curriculum Framework established by the Singapore Ministry of .... cognitive work and routine manual labor – the types of tasks that are ... Inventing new problem-solving heuristics when standard protocols have failed.


[PDF]Singapore Math Research and Efficacy - Michigan's Integrated ...
Singapore math emphasizes problem solving and positive attitudes toward ... Ministry of Education uses a pentagon with problem solving in the ...


[PDF]Top-Down Approach to Teaching Problem Solving Heuristics in ...
Singapore mathematics syllabuses identified eleven heuristics which are applicable to problem solving at ... (Heuristics 12 and 13 are not in the primary syllabus.) Though ... methods and strategies that can be helpful in problem solving. In sum ..... 2005, from

[PDF]A Metacognitive Approach to Support Heuristic Solution of ...
can be used in mathematical problem solving, they can be classified into four categories: ... Ministry of Education Singapore (MOE), have identified 13 heuristics that are ... problems, For Bruner (1960) they are methods and strategies that can be helpful in ..... from

[PDF]Heuristic Strategies and Deductive Reasoning in Problem Solving
Use of Heuristics in Mathematical Problem Solving. 4. 2.1 Introduction to ... 4.2.1 Deduction as a Formal Syntactic Process based on Rules 13.

[PDF]problem solving in school mathematics based on heuristic strategies
forms the basis for successful mathematics education; solving of carefully selected problems ... It deals with solving of problems using the following heuristic strategies: Analogy, .... 28 pupils aged 13) and two upper secondary grammar schools

[PDF]Problem-Solving Through Problems - ASU
important problem-solving techniques typically encountered in undergradu- ... The book is both an anthology of problems and a manual of instruction. .... will be concerned with the heuristics of solving mathematical problems. ... Page 13 ...

[PDF]LEARNING PROBLEM SOLVING HEURISTICS ... - Semantic Scholar
Much human learning of mathematics takes place from worked examples, yet this is a ... the heuristicswere learned through attempts at problem solving, and not through ..... There has been a reluctance to concentrate purely on goal-based techniques that ... Proceedings of the 13th International Joint Conference on Artificial ...

[PDF]Learning Problem-Solving Strategies by Using Math Games 1.2312016
Learning some general strategies for problem solving is a unifying theme in this book ..... 13. Computer Programming as a Game. Chapter 9 of this book briefly ...  A heuristic is a step-by-step set of instructions designed to solve a specific type of problem.

[PDF]Problem Solving In Singapore Math - Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
 - strategies for problem solving, what Polya called heuristics. Many of ....

[PDF]Sixth graders and non-routine problems: Which strategies are decisive ...
 of non-routine problems and strategies in mathematics textbooks and syllabi ... are 12-13years old as it is in most countries. Sixth grade level ....

[PDF]Mathematical problem solving in primary school - Utrecht University ...
Key words: mathematical problem solving / early algebra / textbooks / ICT / online game / .... including domain-specific knowledge, heuristic strategies, metacognitive skills and .... 13. More specifically, the non-routine problems in this study contain interrelated .... from http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/25/12/34009000.pdf.

[PDF]Heuristic Method for Decision-Making in Common Scheduling ... - MDPI
 elements: preliminary analysis of the problem, techniques for the choice of ... scheduling [11], stochastic scheduling problems [12,13], ... There are many different approaches used to solve scheduling problems, mathematical.

[PDF]Proceedings - Le-Math
13 have all undergone a rigorous reviewing process by members of the ...
Summarizes problem solving strategies, with the use of algorithms ... for solving problems outside the domains of mathematics and science.

[PDF]an investigation into the use of problem-solving heuristics to improve ...
Heuristics, problem-solving processes and mathematical modelling. 12. 2.1.1Heuristics ..... These four phases have 13 grades in total and in theory, the ages of .... algebra. It focuses on non-lecture instructional strategies where the researcher- ...... http://www.math.kent.edu/~edd/HeidPaper.pdf. Arnon, I.

[PDF]Problem Solving in Mathematics Education - DiVA portal
from the 13th ProMath conference, September 2011 (pp. ... conduct of an action strategy, the design of meaningful mathematical tasks and the situatedness.
Missing: heuristic

[PDF]The Effects of Problem Posing on Student Mathematical Learning - Eric
- Keywords: mathematical problem posing, teaching strategies, meta-analysis. 1. ... 13; 2014. 228 teachers incorporated a problem-posing intervention, classrooms .... Also, a manual search was .... heuristic (pose a related.

[PDF]Pentagon Curriculum Framework - Mathematics and Mathematics ...
Maths & Maths Education ... 1986, 4+ years, Institute of Education (Singapore) ... factors to help students become better problem solvers. • This session on a new ...

[PDF]Philosophy and Pedagogical Approach of Singapore Math
a problem-solving approach for the teaching and learning of mathematics. Thoughtful application of ... The fact that problem solving is the central idea in Singapore math can be seen in the pentagon from Singapore's. Mathematics Framework ...

[PDF]The Singaporean Mathematics Curriculum: Connections ... - CiteSeerX
Singaporean mathematics curriculum document is probably no different from .... of the model isproblem solving and the five sides forming the pentagon are: ...

[PDF]Math in Focus: Singapore Math by Marshall Cavendish, for Grades K-8 ...
to U.S. classrooms. Math in Focus is based on the curriculum and pedagogy in Singapore. Singapore math emphasizes problem solving and positive attitudes toward mathematics, while ... the pentagon; which is their curriculum framework.

Sunday, June 10, 2018

RECIPROCAL TEACHING Reading Comprehension

Reciprocal teaching breaks reading compression down into 4 main parts: Questioning, Clarifying, Summarizing, and Predicting.

Reciprocal teaching is a collaborative peer teaching peer leaning structure. The cooperative learning structure is similar to a Kagan jigsaw where students are assigned a clearly defined learning task.  Small groups are assigned a close reading task. Students first examine and analyze a text using targeted close reading strategies.  The strategies and the individual close reading task can include: illustrating ideas, summarizing details, questioning, making connections, clarifying terms and concepts, drawing conclusions, making an inference, and or predicting. The students learn to close read complex text with the strategic goal of teaching others their part of the jigsaw, they learn to guide group discussions to help all participants engage with the text at the deepest levels.  


What is a reciprocal teaching? What is reciprocal teaching by Vygotsky? What are the close reading strategies used in reciprocal teaching: summarizing, question generating, clarifying, and predicting?


[PDF]Reciprocal Teaching - NBSS
Reciprocal Teaching (Palinscar & Brown 1984) is a guided reading comprehension strategy that encourages students to develop the skills that effective readers ...

[PDF]Reciprocal teaching - Department of Education and Training Victoria
Reciprocal teaching is an interactive teaching strategy for supporting readers to develop comprehension strategies. It is particularly useful for ESL students who ...

[PDF]Reciprocal Teaching - UC Davis Extension
Reciprocal Teaching. Purpose. Reciprocal teaching is an instructional strategy used to build reading comprehension of both informational and narrative text ...

[PDF]Reciprocal Teaching - Reading Rockets
Reciprocal Teaching Worksheet. Prediction: Before you begin to read the selection, look at the title or cover, scan the pages to read ...

[PDF]Reciprocal Teaching Session - Curriculum Services Canada
This general session format provides you with a starting point to introduce Reciprocal Teaching (RT) to your class. Materials. Choose a well-structured text for ...

[PDF]Reciprocal Teaching: Critical Reflection on Practice - Eric
Reciprocal teaching as an evidence-based practice is also examined ... Reciprocal teaching is an instructional practice ......

[PDF]Reciprocal Teaching and Comprehension - Eric
The purpose of this study was to investigate how reciprocal teaching affected vocabulary acquisition and reading comprehension in four at-risk students in a ...

[PDF]Reciprocal teaching - Basic Knowledge 101
Reciprocal teaching is an instructional activity that takes the form ... the processes involved withreciprocal teaching (Stricklin,. 2011).

[PDF]Reciprocal Teaching: Powerful Hands-on Comprehension Strategy
Reciprocal teaching (Palinscar & Brown, 1986), a research-based ... reciprocal teaching as well as struggling readers. Here are ...

[PDF]Reciprocal Teaching: A Reading Comprehension Package
Reciprocal Teaching: A Reading. Comprehension Package. Description: The intervention package teaches students to use reading comprehension strategies ...

[PDF]Reciprocal Teaching Strategy - Intel
Reciprocal teaching (Palincsar, 1984) is a cooperative grouping strategy that calls on students to become “the teacher” and work as a group to bring meaning to ...

[PDF]Reciprocal Teaching of Comprehension-Fostering and - Ucsc
Reciprocal Teaching of Comprehension-. Fostering and Comprehension-. Monitoring Activities. Annemarie Sullivan Palincsar and Ann L. Brown. Center for the ...

[PDF]The effectiveness of the methods of reciprocal teaching
Abstract. Reciprocal teaching (RT) is a process involving four distinct activities (questioning, clarifying, summarising and predicting) employed in a student-led ...

Saturday, June 2, 2018

Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR)

Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR): Is a Cooperative and Collaborative Reading Comprehension Strategy and Instructional Model designed to develop deeper academic content knowledge and enhance reading comprehension in students. Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR) is a top strategy for teaching reading comprehension when paired with complex and demanding texts.




[PDF]Teaching Young Readers to use Reading Comprehension Strategies
Readers: Collaborative Strategic Reading. READing ... Collaborative Strategic Reading, a model for teaching reading .... CSR was primarily designed to be used with expository text. .... Put the definitionback in the sentence to be sure it.

[PDF]Collaborative Strategic Reading - National Center on Secondary ...
Collaborative Strategic Reading is an approach that works well in mixed-ability classrooms and helps students improve their reading comprehension. CSR can be implemented in a subject-area classroom, such as science or social studies, to improve student comprehension of expository text.

[PDF]The Impact of Collaborative Strategic Reading on the Reading ...
Strategic Reading on the Reading Comprehension of Grade 5 Students in ... Dr. Joseph Dimino is a coauthor of Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR), the ...

[PDF]CSR - Collaborative Strategic Reading - The Meadows Center for ...
CSR. Collaborative Strategic Reading. 4. Dr. Sharon Vaughn. Dr. Michael Solis. The Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk. The University of Texas ...

[PDF]Collaborative Strategic Reading - Amazon S3
Reading? Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR) is a peer-mediated reading comprehension ...Collaborative Strategic Reading was developed to improve reading comprehension skills for students with ..... ..

[PDF]Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR) - International Journal of ...
Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR) within Cognitive and Metacognitive. Strategies ..... Reading matrix.com/articles/asraf ahm ad/article/pdf.

[PDF]Using Collaborative Strategic Reading - CiteSeerX
CSR [Collaborative. Strategic Reading] is an excellent tech- nique for teaching students readingcomprehension and building vocabulary and also working ...

Top 10 Reading Comprehension Strategies

Reading comprehension is the essence and purpose of reading.


The Reading Sage philosophy is to make reading the top priority and goal. Replace basic/BASIL readers, workbooks, and worksheets with high-quality, engaging texts. Have students read real stories, books, fairytales, fables, poems, songs, choose-your-own-adventures, and one-page passages covering diverse topics from art to zoology. Make vocabulary building interactive, vigorous, and multimodal. Gamify academic word practice to motivate. 

Struggling readers often have a vocabulary gap of 5,000-20,000 words. Expose them to a wide breadth of vocabulary by reading varied, rich texts. Don't give up on teaching complex texts - provide scaffolding and support. Nurture a passion for reading and thirst for knowledge. 

Reading should be enlightening and pleasurable. Equip students with comprehension strategies like visualizing, questioning, and summarizing. Assess understanding through discussion and authentic tasks, not just testing. Foster intrinsic motivation by providing choice and time for independent reading.

The goal is to stretch abilities, build knowledge, and develop lifelong, skilled, engaged readers. Comprehension opens doors to new worlds and possibilities.

Here are a few key points on improving reading comprehension:

- Focus on exposing students to a wide variety of high-quality, engaging texts across different genres, topics, and difficulty levels. This builds background knowledge, vocabulary, and interest.

- Teach and model active reading strategies like visualizing, making inferences, asking questions, summarizing, etc. Make sure students are actively thinking about the text as they read.

- Build vocabulary and conceptual knowledge. Students need robust academic language and background knowledge to understand complex texts. Study word roots, prefixes, suffixes, idioms, etc. 

- Let students choose books aligned to their interests to promote intrinsic motivation and engagement. Provide time for independent reading practice.

- Assess comprehension in authentic, meaningful ways. Gauge understanding through discussion, projects, writing tasks, etc. beyond just testing.

- For struggling readers, provide scaffolding, targeted interventions, and accommodations as needed. Don't just give up on teaching them complex texts. Stretch their abilities.

- Make it enjoyable! Reading should be a pleasurable, enlightening experience. Foster a love of reading and thirst for knowledge.

The key is exposing students to high-quality, diverse texts and equipping them with the strategies and skills to derive meaning, build knowledge, and develop a lifelong appreciation for reading. Comprehension opens doors to new worlds and possibilities.
When students are learning something new? Follow the 10/2/24/7+ Rule. Teach a concept, review it after ten minutes, again 2 hours later, then yet again 24 hours later, yep again 7 days later, and periodically review, summarize, and retest to cement the memories. I use this for all critical academic concepts and tier 2 and tier 3 academic vocabulary!
1. Develop Oracy/Dialectic Skills: Read alouds, sing-alongs, role-playing games, plays, field trips, think alouds (metacognition), developing academic listening, questioning, and "conversation skills" and reflective listening skills. 

2. Improve Reading Fluency: Phonics, Alphabetics, Phonemic awareness, Decoding, Word attack, Sight words, Expression, Automaticity of words,...

3. Scale Up Academic Reading Vocabulary Knowledge: Building and developing erudite auditory and textual word and language knowledge is the first bridge to reading comprehension. 

4. Develop Multi-modal Close and Critical Reading Strategies: Interacting with the text at a deeper level that expands and grows academic background knowledge: Annotating text, ranking text, summering, cause and effect, compare and contrast, predicting, questioning, visualizing, illustrating, synthesizing. ...

5. Power Up Word Analysis Skills: Phonics and decoding, understanding the relationships between spelling, the pronunciation of letters, syllables to figure out unfamiliar words. Word Analysis Strategies help students to expand vocabulary knowledge by using the meanings and spellings of prefixes, root words, and suffixes. 

6. Enhance and Upgrade Academic Word Knowledge: Developing cogent tier 2 and tier 3 academic word and language knowledge with daily word work. 

7. Get Cracking on Taking Effective Notes and Using Strategic Reading Journals: Developing note-taking skills. Using Two and three column Cornell notes, Reading Journals, Focused note tacking, Strategic note taking,  Graphic Organizers, 10, 24, 7, and REVIEW rule...

8. Build Cooperative and Collaborative Reading Skills: Kagan. Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR), Guided Reading, Reciprocal Teaching: Collaborative strategies to bring a deeper meaning to the text and build background knowledge
Comprehension Strategies Multiple Intelligence

9. Become Philosophers using Socratic Seminars (INQUIRY): The Socratic method uses a dialectical approach to understand information in a text at the deepest level.

10. What is your favorite reading compression strategy, instructional practice?

ORACY RESOURCES:

[PDF]Promoting the Development of Oracy and Literacy through Interactive ...
Learn in a fun and pressure-free environment. Children need to be interested in what they are learning (CDC, 2006). Learn through interaction. Children learn ...

[PDF]4 ORACY SKILL SETS – A GUIDE
4 ORACY SKILL SETS – A GUIDE. Four key verbal communication skill sets lie at the centre of our oracyprovision and underpin the development and delivery ...

[PDF]Language Learning Skills & Materials (Oracy and Literacy)
(Oracy and Literacy). Teaching Reading and Writing. Note. The HOU is responsible for the editing of the publication and for the development of the texts in ...

[PDF]Assessing Oracy throughout Year 7 Oracy Skill - Faculty of Education
A teacher will probably wish to use tasks throughout the year to assess capability in specific skills, or to consider students' overall oracy capability in specific ...

Reading Fluency RESOURCES:

[PDF]PDF Version - Florida Center for Reading Research
Phonemic Awareness. Phonics. Fluency. Identifying words accurately and fluently .... “Sight wordsinclude any word that readers have practised reading ...

[PDF]Pedagogy Overview: Phonological Awareness - Lexia Learning
children's ability to learn phonic word attack strategies that are important for ... Phonological awarenessskills are targeted in Lexia Reading Core5 through a ... This automaticity is essential for developingreading fluency and contributes to efficient and ... At first, students learn to decode words by applyingphonic word attack ...


[PDF]SpellRead: Every Student Reading Efficiently - School Health
spellRead combines rigorous phonemic and phonetic activities with active ... Phonological automaticityand reading fluency are necessary but not ... reading comprehension because decoding printed wordsat the word level ..... phonemes or to become aware of the alphabetic structure through which oral language can be.

[PDF]National Reading Panel - NICHD - NIH
central to learning to read—Alphabetics, Fluency, and ... The importance of phonemic awareness,phonics, ...... phonemes to blend words—which is decoding. ..... group, with the difference expressed in standard ...... of sight word reading and its relationship to recoding. In ... analysis and synthesis as word-attack skills.

[PDF]Summary of the Research Basis for Beginning Reading - IFERI
 Phonemic awareness is taught systematically and explicitly. Understanding the alphabetic code comes naturally ... based activities; direct instruction in phonics is ... Multiple word attack strategies should be taught ... Beginning readers are taught todecode words as.

[PDF]The Reading Process - PDST
Accurate word recognition: In order to improve reading fluency pupils should be ... Automaticity: This is the ability to read words without conscious decoding. ... They echo the teachers' expression and intonation etc. .... in alphabetical order pertaining .... meaning that 'Phonological awareness' is very different to 'Phonics'.

[PDF]The Importance of Automaticity and Fluency For Efficient Reading ...
proving automaticity and fluency is critical. Although the ... at the phrase, sentence, and text levels. Wood ... application of phonic word attack strategies ... alphabetic strategies to analyze words ... mic Awareness, Phonics and Sight Word ... phonemic awareness and the development ... to move from decoding to automatic.

[PDF]READING INTERVENTION IDEAS Phonological Awareness ...
Grade 1: blending phonemes into words, segmenting words into phonemes, deleting ... Eventually, have the student to say/sing the last word of the rhyming phrase without you. 2. ..... Reading Milestones: asight word approach to decoding .... develop phonemic awareness and discover how our alphabeticsystem works by.

Vocabulary Building: 

PDF]Expanding Vocabulary Knowledge: A Critical Bridge to Comprehension
What role does vocabulary knowledge play in comprehension? ... The more complextexts a child can read, the more words they ... The gap in levels of word knowledge .... bv_b1506_build_vocab_bookmark.pdf. 32 .... After story vocabulary development .... To build students' own meanings by connecting.

CLOSE and CRITICAL READING STRATEGIES: 

[PDF]A Close Look at Close Reading (PDF)
Close reading is thoughtful, critical analysis of a text that focuses on significant details or patterns in order to develop a deep, precise understanding of the text's form, craft, meanings, etc. It is a key requirement of the Common Core State Standards and directs the reader's attention to the text itself.

[PDF]Five close reading strategies
Five close reading strategies. (Adapted from an original blog post by Court Allam). I walked in to my first college class, Political Science 101, eager to learn.

[PDF]Close Reading, Vocabulary, and Text Dependent Questions
Three Key Strategies to. Implement Common. Core Standards. Close Reading, Vocabulary, and. Text Dependent Questions ...

[PDF]CLOSE AND CRITICAL READING
Effective readers engage in close reading to extract the most meaning from complex text. ... Circling specific items is also an effective close reading strategy.

[PDF]Steps for Close Reading
Read with a pencil. 4. Summarize in the left margin. 5. ... ask questions in the right margin. Steps forClose Reading. 1, 2, 3 ... simple-close-reading-strategies.html.


[PDF]Close Reading.pdf
It shouldn't come as a surprise, then, that when you read in order to write a paper, you must adopt certain strategies if you expect your efforts to be fruitful and.

[PDF]SUppORTING STUDENTS IN CLOSE READING - Center on ...
The emphasis on close reading in the ELA & Literacy CCSS means that ..... key words, types of sentence structures, visual components, and text cohesion strategies.7 ...... fisherandfrey.com/_admin/_filemanager/File/Text_Dependent.pdf.

[PDF]A Close Reading Strategy
A Close Reading Strategy. 1. Introduction. Provide some context (background) for the text. The instructor reads the text aloud. The students read the text ...

[PDF]Close Reading Strategy - The Syracuse City School District
Close Reading Strategy Tool Kit. Basic statements or questions of a close read includes: ∙ Let's look closer at this section of the text. / Let's investigate this part ...

[PDF]CLOSE READING EXAMPLES FOR SOCIAL STUDIES
literacy strategies that complement the close reading method. Finally, we understand that these examples are not perfect, and as we grow in our practice, we will ...

[PDF]Word Analysis – Student Workbook
Word Analysis refers to strategies used to figure out the meaning of ... word analysis skills, the ability to approximate the meaning of unfamiliar words is a skill ...

[PDF]MODULE 1 WORD STRUCTURE ANALYSIS:
vocabulary: using the parts of a word to unlock its meaning. .... Word structure analysis is just what it sounds like: using the structure, or parts, of a word to figure ...

[PDF]DesCartes (Combined) Subject: Reading Goal: Word Analysis and ...
Goal Strand: Word Analysis and Vocabulary Skills. RIT Score Range: Below 151. Skills and Concepts to Develop. Below 151. Skills and Concepts to Introduce.

[PDF]LD Online_Word Analysis to Expand Vocabulary Development.pdf
When students engage in “word analysis” or “word study,” they break words down into their smallest units of meaning—morphemes. Each morpheme has a ...

[PDF]Sylvia Greene's Informal Word Analysis Inventory - LINCS
Sylvia Greene's Informal Word Analysis Inventory. Directions: Reading (Decoding):. 1. Give the learner the "Learner Copy" of the inventory and explain that he/ ...

[PDF]Structural Analysis: Common Word Parts Following is a list of some ...
Structural Analysis: Common Word Parts. Following is a list of some common prefixes, roots, and suffixes along with their meanings and examples of words ...

[PDF]Vocabulary - Florida Center for Reading Research
Vocabulary. 2-3 Student Center Activities: Vocabulary. 2006 The Florida Center for Reading Research (Revised July, 2007). Word Analysis. Word Wake-Up.

[PDF]Vocabulary Vocabulary - Florida Center for Reading Research
Depending on the number of words, students may need more than one student ... Students sort wordsbased on understanding of meaning. 1. ..... Word Analysis.

[PDF]Knowledge Discovery Through Co-Word Analysis - IDEALS @ Illinois
co-occurrence frequency of pairs of words or phrases, co-word analysis is used to ... development of co-word analysis, summarizes the advantages and disad-.

ACADEMIC VOCABULARY RESOURCES: 

[PDF]TIER 2 and TIER 3 VOCABULARY TERMS – COMMON CORE STATE ...
TIER 2 and TIER 3 VOCABULARY TERMS – COMMON CORE STATE ... If you deepen your knowledge of something, you learn more about it or strengthen.

Common Core Vocabulary, Tier I, II and III Words
Common Core State Standards: Focus on Tier 2 & Tier 3 Academic Vocabulary. Tier 1 Basic words that commonly appear in spoken language. ... Tier 3 words are central to building knowledge and conceptual understanding within the various ...

[PDF]Three Vocabulary Strategies
Some Important. Definitions. You have been given stips of paper containing ... The vocabulary skills of students in my facility ... Both reading comprehension and academic ... The cumulative words of language ... Tier 2 words are more complex ..... http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/reading/practices/redbk5.pdf.

[PDF]Vocabulary- Selecting Words to Teach - NSW Centre for Effective ...
(Tier 2). More complex, frequently occurring words in academic settings. compare ... sophisticatedlanguage users. Content-specific words. (Tier 3). Highly specialised words that are ... words that are not in students' background knowledge.

[PDF]Expediting Reading2 - Danville Public Schools
peers using tier 3 vocabulary in their discussions. ... English language learners (ELLs) are learning. English at the same ... continuously; associate new readings with prior knowledge; add new ...ACADEMIC VOCABULARY MASTERY. Oracy. Reading ... Tier 2 words can also include polysemouswords across academic ...

[PDF]Vocabulary Instruction for English Language Learners - The School ...
associated with literacy and academic ... May apply knowledge of cognates ... Tier Two: • part of a mature language-user's repertoire. • words that appear in written ... Children interact with examples. Thumbs up, Thumbs down game. 1. 2. 3. 4 ...
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[PDF]Building English Language Learners' Academic Vocabulary - Eric
Tier 3 which is content specific vo- ... report that low academic language skills are ... Tier 2: GeneralAcademic and Multiple Meaning Words u important to ..

EFFECTIVE and STRATEGIC NOTE TAKING 

[PDF]10-24-7 Cornell Note-Taking Strategies - Alvin ISD
CORNELL NOTE REPETITION STRATEGIES. MINUTES -‐ HOURS -‐ DAYS. ◊ Number Chunks. ◊ Circle Key vocabulary words. ◊ Highlight main ideas.

[PDF]Cornell Note-Taking Rubric with 10-24-7 - Alvin ISD
Cornell Notes Rubric (using the Cornell Way). PART 1: NOTE-TAKING. Create. Format. O Notes are set up in the Cornell Way (name, class/period, date, topic).


[PDF]Model Cornell Notes Steps 1-2
strategies for taking Cornell notes ... How do ELCR students use Cornell notes to record, revise, question, review, and summarize ... 10-24-7 model.

[PDF]10 Steps of the CORNELL WAY
Step 1: CREATE Cornell notes format and complete heading ... Within 24 hours of having taken thenotes, revise these notes, generate questions and use ...

[PDF]Effective Listening and Notetaking - North Shore Community College
Be prepared to listen by keeping up to date with your textbook reading. ... Many students take notes in a very haphazard style claiming that they will copy them ...

[PDF]taking notes - Stanford University
Do I streamline using abbreviations and shortcuts? ... Taking notes helps you to concentrate in class. 5. .... This format can be most effective when your.

[PDF]note taking - University of Manitoba
Taking Useful Class. Notes. Academic Learning Centre. 201 Tier. 480-1481 ... How to Take Notes? ....note-taking: A strategy for effective use of Webnotes.

[PDF]Effective Note-taking: the basics
This workshop will provide some guidelines for taking effective notes in lectures and ... Active listening and reading means that you are doing something with the.

[PDF]Lecture listening and note-taking: developing an efficient approach
developing an efficient approach .... Try a note-taking method you don't normally use. ... 6 general 'macrostrategies' for successful listening:.

[PDF]10 Quick Tips for Effective Note Taking
Getting the most out of college means studying hard and using your time in class wisely. Make the most of your time in class and out with an effective note- taking ...

[PDF]Effective Reading and Note taking Strategies, Final2
Use a dictionary of the book glossary to ... Reading and note-taking strategies are essential for each college course. Review ... organize course materials, target your needs as a learner, and more effectively utilize study time.

[PDF]FIVE NOTETAKING METHODS
 Here are 5 methods that are proven to be successful. Read over each ... These styles are described in the format you would use to take notes in class. ... This allows you to take notes on the right-hand side of the page leaving.

[PDF]Note Taking Will Make You a Better Student - Rust College
This information provides students with the information needed to organize their study time moreeffectively. Taking Good Notes. Most students fail to take notes ...

[PDF]Take Effective Class Notes: Strategic Note-Taking - Intervention Central
Students who lack an efficient strategy for note-taking can miss important lecture information, fail to make meaningful connections between facts and ideas being ...

[PDF]Note Taking Strategies
headings. 0 Read the first and last paragraphs of each section. 0 Also read the first and last sentence of each paragraph. 0 Write down anything you need to ...

[PDF]strategic note taking for middle-school students ... - Semantic Scholar
strategic note-taking, students in the experimental group were taught to record notes independently while viewing a videotaped science lecture. Students who ...

[PDF]Note-Taking Strategy
Note-Taking Strategy. TN. 23. Notes are a brief record of important information, facts, or thoughts written to help you remember what you have read or heard.

[PDF]Effective Listening and Notetaking - North Shore Community College
Efficient notetaking is necessary for students to have a record of lectures for future study and review. This packet gives a variety of techniques to improve notetaking skills ..... Sherman, Thomas M., and Wildman, Terry M. Proven Strategies.

[PDF]Effective Note-taking: the basics
This workshop will provide some guidelines for taking effective notes in ... reading, give you an opportunity to explore some strategies for taking traditional notes,.

[PDF]Effective Note Taking Strategies
Taking notes aids your comprehension and retention. Researchers found that if important information was contained in notes, it had a 34% chance of being ...

[PDF]note taking 101 - Eastern Florida State College
Taking , Reading College Textbooks, TABE English, TABE Math, Test Taking Strategies,. Time/Stress Management. VPI students seeking additional information ...

[PDF]Take Effective Class Notes: Strategic Note-Taking - Intervention Central
Strategic note-taking (Boyle, 2013) primes students to more fully understand lecture content through activating prior knowledge of the topic, monitoring teacher cues that mark key points to be included innotes, recording novel vocabulary items, and pondering interconnections between lecture points. Materials.

Cooperative and Collaborative Reading Skills
Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR): Is a Cooperative and Collaborative Reading Comprehension Strategy and Instructional Model designed to develop deeper academic content knowledge and enhance reading comprehension in students. Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR) is a top strategy for teaching reading comprehension when paired with complex and demanding texts.




[PDF]Teaching Young Readers to use Reading Comprehension Strategies
Readers: Collaborative Strategic Reading. READing ... Collaborative Strategic Reading, a model for teaching reading .... CSR was primarily designed to be used with expository text. .... Put the definitionback in the sentence to be sure it.

[PDF]Collaborative Strategic Reading - National Center on Secondary ...
Collaborative Strategic Reading is an approach that works well in mixed-ability classrooms and helps students improve their reading comprehension. CSR can be implemented in a subject-area classroom, such as science or social studies, to improve student comprehension of expository text.

[PDF]The Impact of Collaborative Strategic Reading on the Reading ...
Strategic Reading on the Reading Comprehension of Grade 5 Students in ... Dr. Joseph Dimino is a coauthor of Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR), the ...

[PDF]CSR - Collaborative Strategic Reading - The Meadows Center for ...
CSR. Collaborative Strategic Reading. 4. Dr. Sharon Vaughn. Dr. Michael Solis. The Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk. The University of Texas ...

[PDF]Collaborative Strategic Reading - Amazon S3
Reading? Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR) is a peer-mediated reading comprehension ...Collaborative Strategic Reading was developed to improve reading comprehension skills for students with ..... ..

[PDF]Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR) - International Journal of ...
Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR) within Cognitive and Metacognitive. Strategies ..... Reading matrix.com/articles/asraf ahm ad/article/pdf.

[PDF]Using Collaborative Strategic Reading - CiteSeerX
CSR [Collaborative. Strategic Reading] is an excellent tech- nique for teaching students readingcomprehension and building vocabulary and also working ...

Reciprocal Teaching: Reading Comprehension Strategy

Reciprocal teaching is a classroom instructional strategy where students are trained to teach small reading groups.
Reciprocal Teaching: A Collaborative Jigsaw that Builds Reading Comprehension Skills and Strategies. Students teaching students highly effective reading comprehension strategies, Questioning, Clarifying, Summarizing, Illustrating, and Predicting. Reciprocal Teaching Purpose. Reciprocal teaching is an instructional strategy (peer to peer or teacher to students) used to build close reading skills and reading comprehension strategies of both informational and narrative text.



[PDF]Reciprocal Teaching - NBSS
Reciprocal Teaching (Palinscar & Brown 1984) is a guided reading comprehension strategy that encourages students to develop the skills that effective readers ...

[PDF]Reciprocal teaching - Department of Education and Training Victoria
Reciprocal teaching is an interactive teaching strategy for supporting readers to develop comprehension strategies. It is particularly useful for ESL students who ...

[PDF]Reciprocal Teaching - Reading Rockets
Reciprocal Teaching Worksheet. Prediction: Before you begin to read the selection, look at the title or cover, scan the pages to read ...

[PDF]Reciprocal Teaching - UC Davis Extension
Reciprocal Teaching. Purpose. Reciprocal teaching is an instructional strategy used to build reading comprehension of both informational and narrative text ...

[PDF]Reciprocal Teaching Session - Curriculum Services Canada
This general session format provides you with a starting point to introduce Reciprocal Teaching (RT) to your class. Materials. Choose a well-structured text for ...

[PDF]Reciprocal Teaching: Critical Reflection on Practice - Eric
reciprocal teaching as an evidence-based practice is also examined ... Reciprocal teaching is an instructional practice ......

[PDF]Reciprocal Teaching and Comprehension - Eric
The purpose of this study was to investigate how reciprocal teaching affected vocabulary acquisition and reading comprehension in four at-risk students in a ...

[PDF]Reciprocal Teaching - College of Education - Illinois State
Reciprocal Teaching (Palinscar & Brown 1984) is a guided reading comprehension strategy that encourages students to develop the skills that effective readers ...

[PDF]Reciprocal teaching - Basic Knowledge 101
Reciprocal teaching is an instructional activity that takes the form ... the processes involved withreciprocal teaching (Stricklin,. 2011). ..... TAReflectionsMaas.pdf.

[PDF]Reciprocal Teaching: Powerful Hands-on Comprehension Strategy
reciprocal teaching (Palinscar & Brown, 1986), a research-based ... reciprocal teaching as well as struggling readers. Here are .... %20 Standards.pdf. Oczkus ...

[PDF]Reciprocal Teaching: A Reading Comprehension Package
Reciprocal Teaching: A Reading. Comprehension Package. Description: The intervention package teaches students to use reading comprehension strategies ...

[PDF]The effectiveness of the methods of reciprocal teaching
Abstract. Reciprocal teaching (RT) is a process involving four distinct activities (questioning, clarifying, summarising and predicting) employed in a student-led ...

[PDF]Reciprocal Teaching Strategy - Intel
Reciprocal teaching (Palincsar, 1984) is a cooperative grouping strategy that calls on students to become “the teacher” and work as a group to bring meaning to ...

[PDF]Reciprocal Teaching of Comprehension-Fostering and ... - Ucsc
Reciprocal Teaching of Comprehension-. Fostering and Comprehension-. Monitoring Activities. Annemarie Sullivan Palincsar and Ann L. Brown. Center for the ...