O Liburd Activities to illustrate the reading-writing connection

Teaching activities to illustrate the reading-writing connection 1. PROJECT JOURNAL RATIONALE A project journal is a device used by students to plan, organise, develop and implement their ideas for group work. It is the place where they can keep a record of their ongoing work on a project. For pairs and small groups, it also provides a check for completing assignments. “Students have a written account that they can reflect on and use to make judgements and evaluations. The project journal is, therefore, useful in providing a structure in which students may work. It also facilitates an understanding of the mutuality of responsibility for group projects” (Brown, Phillips, and Stephens, 1993, p. 70). PROCEDURE 1. The teacher and students generate a format for the journal. 2. In small groups or pairs, roles and responsibilities are identified and selected. 3. Roles and randomly assigned initially and subsequently alternated. 4. One group member (or all members on a rotating basis) serves as the group scribe to record progress and participation, raise questions, and plan future directions. 5. All group members do a reflection entry at the end of the project, including assessment sheets on the contributions. VARIATION  The primary variation for the project journal is when students are working independently. In this case, students record their own actions and progress. 2. KWL RATIONALE K-W-L is a widely used strategy designed to foster active reading. The basic three steps consist of K-W-L. K----What do I want to know? W----What do I already know? , and L----What did I learn? K-W-L provides a structure for activating and building prior knowledge, for eliciting student input when establishing purpose for reading, and for personalizing the summarization of what was learned. K-W-L also serves as a useful assessment tool for teachers. PROCEDURES 1. The teacher introduces KWL and models how to use it with a new topic or new reading selection. 2. Individually, in pairs, or in small groups, students brainstorm what they already know about the topic. 3. This information is recorded and displayed for the whole class. During class discussion, the teacher models how to organize categorize information. 4. The teacher leads the class into the class into the next phase, during which students generate a list of what else they want to learn or questions they want answered. Again the teacher models how to organize and categorize their responses and how to use this information to set purpose for their reading 5. Students then read with the purpose of discovering information to answer the questions they generated. 6. This information is recorded and displayed. Again the teacher models how to reflect upon the entire learning experience. VARIATION Some teachers slightly rephrase the first step to emphasize the tentative nature of what we remember: K---What do I think I already know? Or What do I think I remember? Others leave the original wording intact, but surround the K with large question marks. 3. FACTSTORMING RATIONALE Factstorming is similar to Brainstorming, but only focuses on factual information. It involves students drawing on their prior knowledge to generate facts they associate with a given topic. Our adaptation of Factstorming can be useful assessment tool, helping teachers to identify gaps in student knowledge and misconceptions. Procedures: 7. The teacher presents a prompt to the class for Factstorming. 8. Individually, in pairs, or small groups, students generate and record facts. 9. The teacher engages the class in discussion about the response and uses them as a springboard to the new lesson content. 10. Students read to find evidence to support the facts they generated or to correct any misinformation they originally recorded. They also record new facts and evidence to support them. VARIATION The class develops a master list of verified facts on the lesson content. 4. KEY QUESTIONS RATIONALE Key Questions is a simple strategy designed to help students process the basic elements, who, what, when, where and how of what they read. This strategy is particular useful with younger readers or with students who have difficulty comprehending at a literal level. Key questions also can be used for book talks when students are reading different books related to common theme or topic. PROCEDURES: 1. The teacher models how to identify the five key questions in a selection: Who? What? When? Where? and How? 2. Students then read a designated section of the text or related books and record information to answer the five key questions. 3. Next they each make a simple flip chart and portray they information on it. 4. Finally they present the information to small groups or the whole class. VARIATION Some teachers are more successful working in pairs as they read and identify the five key questions. 5. WHAT’S THE SOUNDS BITE? RATIONALE As students read informational texts, they need practice in understanding the essence of the selection. This strategy is designed to help students focus on a major and memorable issue, idea or concept from the selection. PROCEDURES: 1. The teacher plays a video clip of a five-minute selection from a televised speech. 2. The teacher then asks students, individually or with a learning partner, to identify and state in no more than three sentences the most significance idea from the clip. 3. Students’ responses are posted on the board as the teacher replays the selection. 4. The students discuss and vote for the response they believe best captures the essence of the speech. 5. The teacher then plays a clip of the subsequent news coverage of the speech, including the sound bite from the speech 6. The sound bite is compared with the responses of the students. 7. After a class discussion of the nature of sound bites, the teacher chooses an informational selection for the students to read. 8. After reading the selection, students write their own sound bites. VARIATION Some teachers tape students’ speeches and then have a panel of students select the sound bite.