Kylene Beers will be speaking at KSRA on Saturday, October 19 2013. You can read some great reflections from a classroom teacher on using the work of Kylene Beers at these blog posts:
Notice and Note and Close Reading
Close Reading with 5th Graders
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Keynote Speaker Donald Leu
This summer, many of our students will be trading in their schoolbooks for online reading--reading on wikis, on tablets, and on websites. Just how much do our students understand of what they read online? For that matter, how much do we understand of what we read online?
Click here to see an interesting graphic revealing what online readers have to do, and how online reading is different from book reading.
These are important questions to think about as students and teachers spend more time reading and interacting with electronic texts. Keynote speaker Donald Leu, who will be speaking at KSRA on Sunday, October 20, 2013, has studied online reading and comprehension. You can take a look at some of his research on this video. A shorter clip can be found here.
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| Summer reading--online! |
Click here to see an interesting graphic revealing what online readers have to do, and how online reading is different from book reading.
These are important questions to think about as students and teachers spend more time reading and interacting with electronic texts. Keynote speaker Donald Leu, who will be speaking at KSRA on Sunday, October 20, 2013, has studied online reading and comprehension. You can take a look at some of his research on this video. A shorter clip can be found here.
Saturday, April 20, 2013
Keynote Speaker: Douglas Fisher
Dr. Douglas Fisher is scheduled as a keynote speaker at KSRA 2013 on Saturday, October 19.
This spring, it seems as if everyone is looking at issues of text complexity and rigor. Are our texts complex enough? Do we have a strong continuum of texts across the grade levels? Dr. Fisher has many different resources to help teachers unpack the idea of text complexity.
First, take a look at this NCTE Q and A with Doug Fisher and Nancy Frey. It is a great introduction to what text complexity looks like and how differentiation can still fit in with more rigorous texts.
You can also take a look at this video, in which Dr. Fisher discusses close reading.
More resources from Doug Fisher and Nancy Frey are available here.
This spring, it seems as if everyone is looking at issues of text complexity and rigor. Are our texts complex enough? Do we have a strong continuum of texts across the grade levels? Dr. Fisher has many different resources to help teachers unpack the idea of text complexity.
First, take a look at this NCTE Q and A with Doug Fisher and Nancy Frey. It is a great introduction to what text complexity looks like and how differentiation can still fit in with more rigorous texts.
You can also take a look at this video, in which Dr. Fisher discusses close reading.
More resources from Doug Fisher and Nancy Frey are available here.
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Keynote Speaker: Janet Allen
Whether you are a first-year teacher or a 30-year veteran, chances are you have learned about some of Dr. Allen's techniques for teaching vocabulary and content area concepts. Her books combine strong research with practical ideas for teaching.
You can scroll through some of Dr. Allen's ideas and suggestions for building content vocabulary and background knowledge here:
One of Dr. Allen's ideas that really resonates with me in my classroom is the idea of "insider terminology". In the introduction to Inside Words, she writes, "I hope that you find your robust instruction leads learners to insider terminology--terminology that will help them think, talk, and write about their content knowledge so they can live and learn inside words."
I love this idea of vocabulary instruction as helping students to learn insider terminology. What does this look like in the classroom? For the past few weeks, some of my students have been reading a series of connected texts about peregrine falcons. Their interest in the falcons, coupled with the texts that we've been reading, has led students to using both specialized and academic vocabulary.
One thing that interests me is the way that some words, even words that I just use casually, quickly become part of our classroom talk. I've been showing the PA Falcon Cam during transitions in my classroom--homeroom, bus time, and when we come in from recess. One day we could hear the male falcon calling to the female. "Do you hear them vocalizing?" I said, and chatted a bit with the small homeroom group about what vocalizing means and how it's a handy term to use when describing a bird's call.
Well, I left the window open on my computer as we went onto other things, and an hour later we heard the falcon's call blasted through the speakers on my Promethean board. "Mrs. Kissner! It's vocalizing!" one of my homeroom students called out. "Can we look at it?" Since then, students have asked me each morning to leave the window open--"so we can hear if the falcon vocalizes."
Other words from our falcon reading selections--scrape, helpless, characteristics, vary--have also been pulled in to talk about our experiences in viewing. Combining reading, vocabulary instruction, and video has helped some of my readers become "insiders" and ready to tackle tougher text.
Dr. Janet Allen will be a keynote speaker at the 46th Keystone State Reading Association Conference.
You can scroll through some of Dr. Allen's ideas and suggestions for building content vocabulary and background knowledge here:
One of Dr. Allen's ideas that really resonates with me in my classroom is the idea of "insider terminology". In the introduction to Inside Words, she writes, "I hope that you find your robust instruction leads learners to insider terminology--terminology that will help them think, talk, and write about their content knowledge so they can live and learn inside words."
I love this idea of vocabulary instruction as helping students to learn insider terminology. What does this look like in the classroom? For the past few weeks, some of my students have been reading a series of connected texts about peregrine falcons. Their interest in the falcons, coupled with the texts that we've been reading, has led students to using both specialized and academic vocabulary.
One thing that interests me is the way that some words, even words that I just use casually, quickly become part of our classroom talk. I've been showing the PA Falcon Cam during transitions in my classroom--homeroom, bus time, and when we come in from recess. One day we could hear the male falcon calling to the female. "Do you hear them vocalizing?" I said, and chatted a bit with the small homeroom group about what vocalizing means and how it's a handy term to use when describing a bird's call.
Well, I left the window open on my computer as we went onto other things, and an hour later we heard the falcon's call blasted through the speakers on my Promethean board. "Mrs. Kissner! It's vocalizing!" one of my homeroom students called out. "Can we look at it?" Since then, students have asked me each morning to leave the window open--"so we can hear if the falcon vocalizes."
Other words from our falcon reading selections--scrape, helpless, characteristics, vary--have also been pulled in to talk about our experiences in viewing. Combining reading, vocabulary instruction, and video has helped some of my readers become "insiders" and ready to tackle tougher text.
Dr. Janet Allen will be a keynote speaker at the 46th Keystone State Reading Association Conference.
Saturday, April 6, 2013
Featured Keynote Speaker: Rachel Karchmer-Klein
Think quickly: How are your eyes moving as you are reading this page? Are you tracking left to right, as you would with a typical book? Or are your eye movements a little different?
Now here is a more difficult question. How should your eyes move when reading a multimodal text, like this blog post? What kinds of movements are most efficient? What do our eye movements reveal about what we value as readers?
In her research on multimodal literacy, Rachel Karchmer-Klein has worked to answer these and other questions. If you have ever wondered how reading electronic texts is different from reading traditional texts, you'll find Dr. Karchmer-Klein's views compelling. Hear her talk about reading electronic texts:
Within the next ten years, teachers will see a huge shift toward electronic texts in the classroom. And it just makes sense! Instead of paying thousands of dollars for updated textbooks every few years, school districts will just have to press a "Sync Content" button to receive the most up-to-date information. This will be a huge advantage for our small school districts in Pennsylvania.
How will we create this multimodal text? What tools will we use to track student progress? These are important questions to consider.
In your classroom
Experiment with some electronic texts and multimodal reading! Here are some good ones to try.
Murky Reef: This iPad app combines play and reading. Try it out to see how engaging multimodal texts can be.
Book Apps: This blog post from the Book Chook includes links to many different book apps.
When and where
Rachel Karchmer-Klein presents a keynote address at the KSRA Conference on Friday, October 18, 2013.
Welcome to the KSRA Conference Blog!
At this blog, you will find links and information related to the Keystone State Reading Association's annual conference.
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