Road Map

Road Map: Boys and Literacy

Action Research Question
What are some promising strategies that could help third grade boys who are reluctant readers to be motivated in reading, and increase their stamina in reading?

Rationale of my research
One of the most memorable experiences that I have encountered in my teaching last year was the consistent challenge in encouraging and teaching two of my fourth grade students to read. Both of the students were male: one was a reluctant reader without individual education plan, and the other was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Both of them found that reading was boring, especially when reading fictional texts. Even though I separated them in my seating plan, having them to sit quietly and independent was almost impossible. Since they were both very close friends, at recess, they fed off each other by agreeing and confirming that they would never become a good reader. During reading time, they pretended they were reading by just picking up anything that was similar to a book, for instance, a dictionary, hoping they would get away.

It was the beginning of the school year when I noticed the two boys. Immediately, I had them pulled out individually and had a talk with them. I showed them their reading questionnaire sheet that they filled out, and asked them to tell me more about their reading experience and if they ever read at home with their parents or siblings. I investigated more by asking what genres of books they liked to read so that I could locate the books they liked from the school’s library or bookroom in order for them to access them. After that, I contacted their parents to get a deeper understanding of the boys’ behavior and family support at home.

The two boys had given me challenging time on a daily basis. I tried reading aloud stories that were more “boys’ interest”, and I encouraged them to read books about animals because that was what they liked to read. Some of the questions I have always had are: What are some effective approaches or specific genres that could arouse boys’ interest in reading? How do I encourage reluctant readers or students with ADHD/ ADD to read, and build stamina in reading? Having these questions in the back of my head, I have determined to find out the answers myself through an action research that consists of three cycles.

Blogging
My action research is broken down into three cycles. Each cycle includes a series of anecdotal observations and actions, such as minilesson, strategy lesson, read aloud, and one-on-one conference. My interpretations, implications, and reflection of these actions and students’ artifacts are documented in my blog site, http://www.jennykwokmarp.blogspot.com/. The printouts of the blog entries are in chronological order, and the exhibits are located in the back of the binder. At the end of each cycle, there is a PowerPoint slideshow that sums up the findings of the actions and observations conducted. As you are reading the blog or the printouts in the binder, you will find that some entries have been revised; they are marked as “Revised Entry”.

Revised Entries

Please note that the following dates have revised entries that can be found in the comment section. Please click "comment" on the link and view the revised entries:

Cycle 1:

- 2.12.2008: Field Notes and Reflection for February 12, 2008
- 2.15.2008: Finalizing my Focal Students, and Reflecting on their Reading Interviews
- 2.25.2008: Putting Strategy Lessons and Good Readers Checklist in ACTION!
- 2.27.2008: Field Notes and Reflection for February 27, 2008
- 3.01.2008: End of Cycle # 1

Cycle 2:

- The First Read Aloud for Cycle # 2
- 3.03.2008: Reading Conference with Jesse - Ruby Sings the Blues
- Reading Conference with Nathan - Curious George
- 3.06.2008: Independent Reading Observation
- 3.13.2008: Reflection for minilesson # 2

Cycle 3:

- 3.27.2008: Poetry Reading - Jesse
- 3.31.2008: Reflection - Shared Reading and Reading Aloud
- 4.08.2008: Creating Mental Images Through Envisioning
- 4.09.2008: Reflection

Final Thoughts and Reflection

The topic of boys and literacy has always been my interest when I first began teaching. Looking back at my critical incident paper that I wrote in November 2007, I strongly feel that my action research has come a long and inspirational way. The class readings and collegial discussions have been extremely helpful as part of my action research. Through different readings, sharing and critical thinking and reflecting, I have gained a lot of new and creative insights in examining this topic that I have always been interested in. Nonetheless, there were as well some rough times in this journey; as there were decisions that were made but did not work out the way I wanted. However, by looking at this more positively and for the benefits of my students and myself, I treat this part of the learning process. I value mistakes as much as I value helpful comments. This action research journey is indisputably a fruitful experience for my personal growth in teaching.
I remember in the beginning of the research, I have had a challenging time focusing on my research question. The original question was by far, too ambitious. Resistant reading and boys has always been my interest, and as I was eager to find out how I could implement strategies and activities that could elevate their critical thinking skills in reading. Having that thought in my mind, as I began observing and researching the students in my fieldwork school, the more I know about the group of students, the more difficult the task became. I then realized that the question I had was a succinct, and reasonable one, however, it was simply too ambitious for the group of students I had.

With the help of my colleagues and Grace, I refined my question. I focused on a focused topic – building reading motivation and reading stamina for resistant boy readers. Initially, I thought that this topic sounded or seemed somewhat “immature” to be a research question. However, by reading and learning more about “teachers as researchers”, I understand that the purpose of an action research is not to come up with “sophisticated” research questions and teaching models that are completely inventive, on the other hand, its true value is for teachers/researchers to examine at a day-to-day issue and approach it with professionalism; as mentioned by Caro-Bruce (2004), the research process should aim to elevate individual progress, student progress, knowledge production, and promote positive social change.
The process of the research and action seemed like a long journey (it lasted almost 7 months), yet, personally, it flew by like a rocket. Having to do the research in another teacher’s classroom was part of the challenge; this includes arranging schedules and working around fieldtrips and test dates. However, my host teacher and fieldwork supervisor have been very supportive in making the schedule and transition smooth. My host teacher is flexible in allowing me to teach lessons and work with students in small groups in order for me to implement my strategies and activities that were suitable for my research.

Throughout the research, I have been having a number of obstacles, such as deciding the next steps for actions, finding relevant resources, and mostly, getting my two focal students to be “cooperative” in the action process. Many nights I have asked myself, whether what I was doing is suitable and relevant to my research question. I was hoping that the series of implementations could work like magic, and Jesse and Nathan could accelerate their reading stamina and get motivated in due course. Realistically, I know that a successful research is an ongoing process, and results are not always satisfactory to the way we want them to be.

Having said that, timing and scheduling is critical to research, as it reflects the progress and results. In this Master Action Research Project, I have learned that a good research is all about management and commitment to long-term goals. It is also about maintaining your professionalism and flexibility to collaborate with other colleagues, as they could be a valuable asset to the research, and answers to your questions.

Next Steps

Reflecting back on previous cycles, I think that the boys are grasping a deeper understanding in reading through a series of individual conferences, coaching, strategy lessons, as well as some inspirational read alouds, exposure to a variety of reading materials, and the use of visual arts to stimulate their thinking as readers.

From the observation notes and data collected, Jesse has shown some obvious improvement in cycle #3. He was reading and working more independently without frequent prompting and reminders from teachers. This shows how much he was into reading poetry that are highly connected to his own life. From this, I could imply that Jesse enjoys reading materials that are generally shorter, and that do not have successive episodes like a chapter book, or a picture book. Reading poetry has allowed him to read many 'stories' in one seating that he unconsciously has not realized how much he has been reading on his own.

Nathan has been showing some improvement as well from cycle 1 to cycle 2, however the progress seems to be slowing down in cycle # 3. He did enjoy using artwork to help his reading, however, he did not seem to be as independent as he appeared in the second cycle. He required support and prompting more frequently than Jesse in cycle # 3.

In light of this, my next steps are to share this information and implication with Ms. Jane, as we continue to persevere our goals to help students grow through learning to read and write. Both boys will benefit greatly from ongoing individual conferences, coaching, and small group strategy lessons. Both of the need to have lessons that are tailored to them that gear towards a simple, but yet, explicit teaching point that they can focus on.

End of Cycle # 3

The following are Nathan's and Jesse's reading logs for the month of March to April. What the students have been doing is that they do not log the poetry reading; they log their independent fiction or nonfiction reading. Even though the reading logs do not display their poetry reading for the unit of study, they appear to me that both boys have increased their motivation and stamina in reading, whether at school or at home. I believe that in this poetry unit, the work that they have been doing really sets them up to become accountable and independent readers. Their purpose for reading was very clear to them; choosing poems they like, envisioning the images and illustrating them using visual arts. Both boys have increased their stamina and motivation in reading mainly because of the poetry work that they have been committed to, and this has led them to further prolong and endure their reading persistence when reading other types of texts.


Exhibit 32 Jesse's Log Page 1

Jesse's Log Page 2


Exhibit 33 Nathan's Log Page 1


Nathan's Log Page 2

More Artwork by Jesse and Nathan

The following pieces are artwork created by Jesse and Nathan during their independent reading. I encouraged them to envision and make mental movies in their minds and draw what they 'see' on a piece of paper. When they were doing this activity, they were eager to pick poems that they loved. For instance, Nathan picked the poem, My Baby Brother because he could really relate the poet's message to his own life. The following is part of our conference transcript.

Me: What do you have here Nathan?
Nathan: Well I am writing this poem out because I love it so much.
Me: Really? What do you like about it?
Nathan: You know I have 2 younger brothers and 1 little sister right? Well, this poem reminds me of them. Except the author here is writing about his baby brother, and I only have a baby sister, and she is really not a baby any more.
Me: How old is she now?
Nathan: She is 2 years old now. But you know this part about chewing toes? She used to do that.
Me: (Smiled at him) That's cute! What else does this poem remind you of?
Nathan: A lot! Like the soft skin, and curly hair. My little sis have [has] that too!

Evidently, Nathan was indisputably into the reading process, where he re-read the poem over again, and then copied it down on a piece of paper, and drew out what the envisioned. Similarly, Jesse did the same thing with the poem, First Book, although his artwork does not really reflect the image of the poem, he had a strong engagement with this poem that made him copied it down for his own collection. He said to me, 'I want to write it out so that I can have my own collection of poems to read.' When I heard this comment, I immediately felt happy that Jesse was taking the initiative and showing passion for something that he enjoyed reading.

Exhibit 28
Exhibit 29
Exhibit 30
Exhibit 31

Visual Arts in Poetry

Exhibit 24
Exhibit 25
Exhibit 26

Exhibits 24, 25, and 26 display the visual arts work done by Jesse and Nathan. The activity we did here is based on the shared reading lesson on the poem City Child. We re-visited the poem again today, and we continued to work on the envisioning concept. In whole-class discussion, I led the students to think about how this poem could remind them of their lives by making connections. I then explained to them that they could also capture what they envision by drawing it on a piece of paper. As I modeled the strategy to them, I noticed that Jesse appeared to be very interested in the activity that he was about to do. I remember both Jesse and Nathan has told me before that art is one of their favorite subjects.

By looking at their art work, one can see that both of them have used their own imagination to create the setting of the poem. In the process of drawing these visual images, both boys were really focused. Nathan kept going back to the poem and re-read certain parts that he liked. On the other hand, although Jesse required more assistance in this task, he still held accountable for his work. Here is part of our conference transcription:

Me: I like what you are drawing here.
Jesse: Yeah, like this is the big sun peeping out. You know in my apartment, my room faces the sun so each morning it's sooo bright!
Me: Really? So which part of the poem reminds you of your room?
Jesse: Hmm... (pause, re-reading poem), right here. Look! Sometimes the great big sun
comes peeping round to see.
Me: I see. That's great. What else are you envisioning? What other images do you see when you read the poem?
Jesse: Well a lot! Look, I have a tree here. The guy (poet) here said the lamppost is his tree, but not me! I look out the window and there is a tree outside my apartment.
Me: I see. So you found something different. Would you like to have a tree or lamppost outside your house?
Jesse: A tree, sometimes people sit under the tree and talk.

In this part of the conference, Jesse is unquestionably into what he was reading and drawing because he could make connections and disconnections based on a poem that is 'authentic' and descriptive. He sat right through the reader's workshop, re-reading, writing, and drawing.

Nathan, was too, very concentrated in the process. He drew a picture for the poem City Child, he then asked me if he could do another one. I agreed. He picked another poem that he really liked; he re-read and envisioned. The following exhibit (27) is another piece of art work that he did, based on the poem, The Blue In Between.
Exhibit 27

Reflection

I thought this lesson worked very well for both Nathan and Jesse. When I asked them to envision the images of the poems that they were reading, they evidently displayed their engagement and enthusiasm in reading poetry and finding lines that evoke their schema. This activity definitely motivates them because they were taken the ownership of writing their favorite lines; there was simply no right or wrong in sharing their own thoughts.

The next step is to allow them to use visual arts to illustrate the poems that they are reading. Miller (2002) suggested that this is a type of 'artistic response', it allows readers to create visual images to form their own personal interpretations. This strategy can further promote reading motivation and stamina, as Ediger (2003)said, it is important for teachers to give their students an explicit task in which they understand the purpose for reading. In this case, I am going to encourage Nathan and Jesse to use visual arts to illustrate their interpretation of the poems they read.

Creating Mental Images Through Envisioning

As Miller (2002) mentioned, one way to deepen students' understanding of texts or to get them more involved in reading is using the strategy of making mental images. This strategy is significantly important especially when children are studying poetry. Poetry is generally a more abstract piece of literature that requires readers to be imaginative and creative in making their own interpretation in which the poem is illustrating.
In one of Miller's lessons, she read aloud several poems to her students, and asking them to "listen carefully and think about which poem creates the most vivid mental images" (pp. 80). In this activity, Miller was offering an opportunity for her students to envision the images that were created by poets, and based on their personal interpretations, they took a copy of the poem that they chose and drew a picture that went along with the poem. The whole group debriefed afterwards, as they sat closely together on the rug and shared their images and talked about their interpretations. Notice that this activity was highly subjective; there was not right or wrong in what the students have chosen or said. This activity is valuable because it fostered students to envision and construct meaning while they listen or read.

Exhibit 21
In light of this, I conducted a similar activity for the whole class. We did a shared reading on the poem called Dog, by Valerie Worth. As I finished reading aloud to the students, they read aloud back. We then stopped and discussed our favorite parts of the poem (see exhibit 23). As most students raised their hands wanting to share their thoughts, I observed that Jesse was being quiet and perhaps actively thinking about his favorite part, while Nathan was again, being more passive in the situation. Jesse then raised his hands and said, 'yeah, I think the poet is right about dogs. That's what dogs are like, cuz I have a dog too, and he drools and sleeps and does all the tricks and all.' It is evident that Jesse is relating his personal experiences and knowledge as he listened to the poem and read it on chart paper.

To continue with this lesson, I modeled a new task that they had to complete. I shared with my students about this one line that I really liked a particular line in the poem, Rope Rhyme. I said, 'This line right here, Listen to that clappety-slappedy sound, I love it. When I read this line, and then I close my eyes, it's like I am seeing and hearing kids jumping rope in front of me. And the way she describes the sound of the rope, is just so real to me. I am hearing the clappety and slappedy sound as the rope touches the ground. This kind of work is called envisioning. I am making a mental movie in my mind by thinking about the words that the poet used. I am going to write this line that I really love on this strip of paper.' As I jot down the line on the strip paper, some students got excited about this task as they raised their hands, hoping to share what they liked about the poem. I continued, 'So when you are reading today, you can do the same thing. You can envision by making a mental movie in your mind. You can do that by closing your eyes and picture what you read in your mind.'

Ediger (2003) mentioned that teachers should raise salient questions that help arouse students' interest in reading, that these questions or discussions should lead to students in developing "their feeling and aesthetic dimension of learning", as well as "providing intrinsic motivation for students to do more reading of diverse kinds of poems" (pp. 165). In the aforementioned lesson that I taught, students were given an opportunity to talk about the poem that we have learned from shared reading, then they applied the strategy of making a mental movie in their minds by envisioning to their own practice during independent reading.

Since Jesse has been more competent in the poetry unit that he has been showing more initiative in participating in shared reading, I decided to work with Nathan in a one-on-one conference. In exhibit 24, it shows that as soon as Nathan sat down at his desk, he started flipping through pages trying to skim through each poem to look for 'beautiful lines' to write. I then stopped him and explained it to him that this was not a ‘smart’ way to read poetry, because often poets use special words, or structure to convey their messages; so skimming through was not the best way to assimilate the essence of poetic writing. As we read together, Nathan gradually accepted the pace that I wanted him to read. We paused between verses and I asked him open-ended questions like ‘why do you think the poet is describing Grandpa this way?’, ‘how does this sentence make you feel? Do you like it?’ In this process, he began to think more critically and at one point was debating whether the particular line was worth jotting or not. As we continued the reading, he grew more interest in reading the poems with a more critical lens. He wrote a few quotes on post-its:

"Don't roar like a lion, act lamb-ly."
"Tunneling up his ears."

At the end of the lesson, we did a whole class share; students raised their hands to share their favorite lines. Nathan and Jesse raised their hands and shared their favorite lines that they envisioned and created a mental movie.

Shared Reading Poems

These three poems are the ones that are most frequently read in shared reading. What I have been doing with these shared reading is that I read aloud them to the students twice, and then I allow them to read aloud as a class. We then looked at the features of the text more carefully. For example, in Rope Rhyme, we looked at how the poet used rhyming words to make the poem more fun to read. We also worked on envisioning it by making a mental movie in our minds - thinking about what it is like to jump rope. In Good Night Juma, we examined the poet's use of line breaks, and punctuations, which creates a dialogue between the father and the son. In City Child, we discussed what life is like living in a city and made comparison and connections between their lives and the poet's interpretation.

Exhibit 20

By analyzing the observation notes (exhibit 20), one will notice that Jesse was consistently repeating the lines on his own, and tapping the desk to follow the rhythmic pattern of the poem. Throughout the shared reading, Jesse continued to mouth words quietly on his own without disturbing others. On the other hand, Nathan seemed somewhat unmotivated. He was looking at the chart paper with concentration, however, he did not seem to be in the 'flow' of it like Jesse. I am implicating that shared reading may be more of an abstract task for Nathan because the structure of shared reading seems to be more of a 'free flow' and that it is not like a read aloud where he is being read to. In this learning process, Nathan appears to be a more passive learner; as he was not sure when and how to get involved in this type of reading/learning process. My next step with Nathan is to provide him with more frequent one-on-one coaching during readers' workshop, thus allow both of us to read to each other in order to get him more comfortable in reading aloud and understanding the structure of shared reading.

Rope Rhyme – Eloise Greenfield

Get set, ready now, jump right in
Bounce and kick and giggle and spin
Listen to the rope when it hits the ground
Listen to that clappety-slappedy sound
Jump right up when it tells you to
Come back down, whatever you do
Count to a hundred, count by ten
Start to count all over again
That’s what jumping is all about
Get set, ready now jump right out!

Good Night, Juma – Eloise Greenfield

Go to bed Juma
Just one more game?
Go to bed Juma
Just one more show?
Go to bed Juma
Just one more minute?
Juma, go to bed
I said.
Just –
No.
– a hug?
Oh. You bet
Good night, Daddy?
Good night, Juma.

City Child – Louis Lensko

The sidewalk is my yard
The lamppost is my tree,
Up three long flights of stairs,
My home is 4C.

The fire escape is my porch
Where my clothes hang out to dry
All day the noise and rush,
All night the trains go by.

Tall buildings all around
Reach up and shadow me,
Sometimes the great big sun,
Comes peeping round to see.

All day the people pass
They hurry as they go
But when they are my friends,
They stop and say hello.

A Series of Shared Reading

The poetry unit that Ms. Jane and I are teacher has been moving smoothly. We have been taking turns to do shared reading with the whole class, and we also work with students in one-on-one conferring, and coaching on a daily basis. As I continue to work alongside with Jesse and Nathan, I noticed that both of them have been growing immense interest in reading poetry. From time to time, I have been re-visiting the poem, Things, by Eloise Greenfield, as a morning 'warm up'. Since this is a familiar poem that all of them know, whenever we read it together on the rug, it serves as an invitation for every single student to become readers. Here is a list of other poems that I have been reading in shared reading:

1. Things by Eloise Greenfield
2. City Child by Louis Lensko
3. Good night Juma By Eloise Greenfield
4. Rope Rhyme by Eloise Greenfield
5. Rhino by Anonymous

Reflection - Shared Reading and Reading Aloud

Thinking and reflecting on Jesse's read aloud to the whole class makes me realize that even students who are normally resistant to reading do find joy in reading fun, and witty poetry that has a strong sense of rhythm. In this particular case, both Jesse and Nathan were into the process of listening to the read aloud, and were eager to be involved in reading the poem aloud. Poetry is definitely a type of reading material that is less intimidating to readers. The reason why I advocate in this can be supported by Westby (2005). When reading a narrative story, for instance, The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch, it requires readers to be active thinkers by doing the envisioning, inferring, predicting, and retelling work because the story itself consists of goals and intentions of the main characters, Elizabeth, Ronald and the Dragon. As students read this story, we push them to think and be aware of the characters' desires, emotions, and actions in an ongoing process as the story unfolds itself. As they read longer stories, students are required to be even more committed to using their narrative content schemata and text grammar schemata to develop understanding. Therefore, thinking back to the last two cycles, this may be one of the possible reasons why the two boys were not completely engaged in reading picture books even though they were their choice, since they were constantly being pushed to read critically.

Miller (2002) asked herself a question, 'in addition to picture books, what type of text is best when children begin to become more adept at making mental images on their own? What type of text bridges whole-group work and independence? The answer is poetry" (pp. 80). After assimilating what Miller said, I began to strongly believe that poetry does have the quality to engage readers to read in a less intense manner. Miller also said that poetry is appealing because they are short and 'thought-provoking'; they allow readers to envision images. The most important point she advocated is that through her personal experiences and observations, she has learned that 'best decoders aren't necessarily the most thoughtful readers, nor are the most thoughtful readers necessarily the best decoders' (pp. 80). Miller has definitely advocated me that poetry has a powerful magic that allow readers to create images to provoke personal interpretations that is an enjoyable process. As this part of the cycle continues, I am going to implement and encourage the use of shared reading and visual arts to enhance motivation and reading stamina.

Poetry Reading - Jesse

The poem that Ms. Jane introduced today is called Things, written by Eloise Greenfield. The class did a shared reading today on the rug. Ms. Jane read the poem aloud to her students with expression while she tapped a beat on her thigh. The students began bobbing their heads and went along with the poem. During the read aloud, I noticed that Jesse and Nathan were really into the poem. Jesse even tapped along with Ms. Jane and mouthed the words to himself. After the whole class had read aloud the poem a few times, Ms. Jane invited couple students to go up to the front and read the poem to the whole class. Jesse raised his hand high up in the air, waving, hoping to be picked, and he did. Jesse and another student, Joanne, read the poem together. Please click on the media player on the top left corner of this page titled 'Exhibit 19 Reading Poem' to listen to Jesse and Johnise read aloud to the class.

The Rationale of Cycle #3

After cycle #2, I have had a much deeper understanding of the two boys, in respect to their learning habits, behavior, preferences, and abilities. In cycle #2, I had an opportunity to introduce a variety of texts, which included a number of picture books that contained characters and plots that they were able to relate and connect to. Aside from reading aloud to them, I also provided them opportunities for them to identity themselves as readers by knowing their personal preference and choosing just-right books. This has definitely improved their motivation and increased their stamina in reading, especially for Nathan.

Having this large piece of observation and data in front of me, I began to think about what other types of texts that could motivate them. After discussing with Ms. Jane (host teacher), I found out that the next unit of study is poetry, then I began to think: 'Alright, so poetry! What kind of interesting work could I introduce to these kids?' Almost immediately, I thought of ENVISIONING.

From various articles that I have been reading for my research, there are some assumptions that have been made by educators. For example, Moloney (2002) advocates that the types of books that boys like to read are: action fiction, books in series, science fiction, or fantasy, and non-fiction materials. So I began to ask myself, how can I break away from these assumptions that boys only enjoy reading materials that are aforementioned. Could boys also enjoy poetry, and be creative poets and write about things that matter to them and that they can relate to? Knowing that Ms. Jane is going to introduce poetry, I decided to go along with her plan and think of some interesting ways to capture these boys into reading. In this cycle, I am going to let the students to assimilate the art of poetry by doing shared reading, and a lot of work on envisioning using art form to display and express their thinking about texts.

As Calkins (2001) describes, shared reading consists of multiple re-readings that involves both parties: teachers/adults and children. This kind of accountability allows both adults and children to experience more social interaction during reading time, hence helps develop children's identity as a reader.

Moving on from Cycle # 2 to Cycle # 3

Exhibit 18
Jesse's Log, page 1
Jesse's Log, page 2
Jesse's Log, page 3
Nathan's Log, page 1
Nathan's Log, page 2
Nathan's Log, page 3
Nathan's Log, page 4
Nathan's Log, page 5
Nathan's Log, page 6
Nathan's Log, page 7
Nathan's Log, page 8
Looking at the two boys' reading log (exhibit 18), I can tell that both of them has begun to develop a more independent reading habit. Although Jesse has shown very limited and inconsistent progress in engagement in reading in this cycle, at times, he was still able to grasp the concept taught, namely making self-to-text connections to the main characters in a whole-class setting. Right now, I am leaning toward to be concern about Jesse's behavior problem more than his disengagement in reading and learning. He seems to be very reluctant in reading and learning most of the time, however, when he has set his mind to do it, especially when he is not told to do it, he naturally does it. I am not sure as how to tackle this concern. On the other hand, Nathan has definitely shown an increase in motivation in reading. Showing him steps to pick 'just-right' books, introducing him to texts that he could relate to, and teaching him how to make connections are indisputably elevating his engagement and accountability in reading.

Reflection for minilesson # 2

The minilesson I taught today is in fact inspired by one of Debbie Miller's concept (2002). She clearly explains and transcribes one of her reading minilesson in her book, Reading with Meaning, in this minilesson, she incorporates the use of charts in her whole-class think aloud lesson. She transfers her students' thinking to the chart which evidently displays their text-to-self connections with the character and story. I took this idea and fitted it in my minilesson, anticipating that students would be engaged to make connections to the two stories, Ruby Sings the Blues and Alexander, the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day that they showed great interest in last week.

When I first introduced the teaching point, children tend to be a little bored, and uninterested in the topic, especially Jesse. But as soon as I modeled it with the book that I read aloud before, Ruby Sings the Blues, they just loved it! Nathan showed great interest to talk about who Ruby is, and what she does, and how she reacts to the problem. Many of the other students were raising their hands and wanting to take part of the discussion and the completion of the T-chart. They were able to identify what I put on the t-chart, for example, ‘Ruby shut down herself after school, she didn’t talk to anyone. She was quiet.’ Nathan then raised his hand and said, ‘yeah, that’s her action, how she acts when she is being treated unfairly.’ I was very glad that he picked that up right away. Another girl, Jewel also shared her similar experiences. I brought up Jewel’s example and complimented her that she was making great connection by actively thinking about her and Ruby. Generally, students responded well to this lesson. On the other hand, Jesse was having some time-out during the workshop. Like most of the time, he rarely fully participates in workshops. I am not sure how much he is getting though. I am very worried. I am wondering if I should provide him a checklist of teaching point/good readers strategies, so that he is aware of all the things that he can do during reading. I am not sure if this will help.

As a result, the students were generally responsive in the active engagement part because both stories involve characters whose actions and experiences are 'authentic' and familiar to them.

Minilesson # 2

Teaching Point: Good readers get connected with their main character by thinking about their similarities and differences, such as likes/dislikes, what they experience, how they think and act.

Materials Needed: Chart paper Picture books – Ruby Sings the Blues and Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Connection: Readers, today we are going to talk about how good readers make connections to the character in the book they are reading by thinking about their similarities and differences. Have you ever thought of knowing your character more, and understand them better so that you can get into the story more, and become more interested in it, and wonder why he/she did that, or say, ‘oh, I would do the same thing!’ Let me show you what I mean. Because characters are like humans, like us. And when we know them better, and put ourselves in their shoes, we can get ourselves into reading the story.

Teaching:Remember Ruby Sings the Blues? First of all, Let me try to remember who Ruby is. Ok those are all true. Now, what I can do is make a t-chart like this: So some people were saying how she acts, or behaves, or how she feels about people disliking her.
(The following should be in a T-Chart, but I am not able to create it on this blog)
Ruby
1. She is a nice girl
2. She is loud
3. She gets upset that nobody likes her
4. She solved the problem by switching herself off

Me
1. I think I am a nice girl too
2. I am soft
3. I would get upset too
4. I would probably cry

So now, what I can do is, I can look at this T-chart, and think about, hmm… wow, I am kind of like her, than I am a nice girl, but I am soft, so maybe that’s why I have never been teased this way. So now, it makes me wonder how does one feel when she is being teased. And I keep going down the list, nobody likes her, and she becomes quiet. And now I look at how I would do, I am pretty similar to her when we face this problem. So I am really getting myself into her shoes, and this story has become more interesting to me, because, I can keep adding on this list, and see what I would do differently or similarly.

Active Engagement: Ok, let’s see you do it. Remember the book Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day? Let’s brainstorm something about Alexander and put it on the t-chart. Ok, now I want you to turn and talk to your partner and share how you two are the same and different. Great boys and girls. Who wants to share? Good work.

Link: Good job readers. So today you learn that good readers make connections to the character in the book by thinking about their similarities and differences, so that they can understand the character better and get more into the story they are reading.

Reflection - Minilesson on Library Visit

The rationale behind this minilesson, as mentioned is to provide students a chance to be exposed and to be able to select from a wide range of reading materials. Patricia Cunningham and Richard Allington (2002) support teachers to implement a multilevel self-selected reading program, which is part of a balanced literacy program that allows children to choose what their reading materials, and which parts of their reading they want to respond to. This type of approach benefit children because it gives them the opportunity to be exposed to a wide range of literature through read alouds by teachers, it encourages children's reading engagement, it provides instructional-level reading, and finally, it build intrinsic motivation for reading (2002).

In this minilesson, I thought that I gave out too much information and I was a bit skeptical that they wouldn’t be able to grasp all the concepts, i.e., choosing by genres, authors, and series and writing them down on post-its, and remembering the three-finger rule. However, the children seemed to get the idea that most of them showed interest and enthusiasm during turn and talk, and whole class share. Nathan, one of my focal students for MARP, has shown an increase in accountability by doing what he was told, and using post-its to write down his preferences. On the other hand, Jesse was having an unpleasant day. He was upset that I did not call on him when he wanted to share because he was talking out of turn. However, after finding out that his intention was to share with the whole class about Amber Brown books, I felt somewhat glad that he was actually interested and engaged in my lesson. During library time, the kids took their post-its and searched for books. Some kids were still eager to take out books that are beyond their reading levels. One girl was upset because she said that all the books she wanted to read are too hard for her, and she had no motivation to read books at her level, because she found them too ‘babyish’. Nathan and Jesse managed to get books they wanted, although slightly higher than their level, however, the whole point of my MARP is to get them motivated. Jesse said he will be bringing the Junie B. Jones book home and read with his mother, and Nathan said he would be reading his book with his big brother.

Action - Minilesson 03/11/2008

Teaching Point: Good readers prepare themselves for library visits by thinking about what books they are interested in, and remembering the ‘just right books’ or the ‘three-finger’ rule.

Needed: Chart paper Books Library access

Connection: Readers, last week, you have learned that good readers think about the main character in their books by making note of his/her feelings, actions, and if they would be a good friend or not. Today, we are going to visit the library at 11:10and before we go, I want you to know that good readers prepare themselves for library visits, and one way to do it is by thinking about what books they are interested in reading, and remembering the just right books rules. So in other words, they think about the genres that they like (mystery, humor, nonfiction etc.), or series like Junie B Jones, Magic Tree house, etc., or they favorite picture books, and they also remember what are just right books, because you don’t want to get a book that is too hard or too easy for you. It is important that you get the book that you can finish from cover to cover, and something that you enjoy reading.

Teaching: So, let me show you what I mean. There are lots of books in this basket, and so, imagine in the library, there are 10 times more!! So it is very hard to pick something if you don’t know what you want, because I know that you have a time limit there, and unfortunately, you can’t stay there all morning. So here, I am going to write down some of my choices on a post-it note so I can bring this down, and remember what I want when I go down to the library later. So let me think… [I know last week, I read a picture book called Ruby Sings the Blues, I also read some Henry and Mudge books, so what do I want to read now? I know l like picture books a lot. So let me write that down on my post-it, [picture book], and I like the Henry and Mudge series, but I also heard good things from Jacari about Junie B. Jones, so I am going to give it a shot [writing on post-it], and I am going to choose one more, just in case, I can’t find a good picture books, or if Junie B. Jones is not my reading level. Hmm… let me see. I know I haven’t been reading any non-fiction, and what do I like the most? I really like dolphins. So maybe I can look for books about dolphins or sea mammals. Great, so now that I have the list with me, I am sort of ready to go. But, when I go down there, I need to see if those books are ‘just right’ for me. How do I know? Well, there is the three-finger rule. [show chart], you can do this by reading the first page of the book and if you miss how many [question], right 3 words or more, then that book is too difficult for you. And what if you only missed 2, or 3 words? Right, then it is a just right book [demonstrate]. Good, so when a book is too easy for you, you will probably not miss any words at all, and that’s when you can pick something a bit more challenging.

Active Engagement: So let’s see if you can do it. I want you to close your eyes now, and think of 2 kinds of books that you really want to read, and one for backup, just in case the two books you want to get is not available. Remember, you can choose books by genres, series, authors, books you have read before, or books you’ve heard about before. Thumbs up when you have three kinds of books, now turn and talk to your partners, share the books you are going to pick, and remind each other what the three-finger rule is. Go.

Link: Great job readers. So today, you have learned that good readers prepare for library visits, and one way they do it is by thinking about what books they are interested in reading, and remembering the three-finger rule. So when you go back to your seat in a second, I am going to hand out post-its so you can write your book choice down, and then we are going to read for 30 minutes independently. Then, at 11:10, we are going down to the library, and you may bring your post-it with you so you know what books to pick. Are you ready to do some ready? Great!

The Second Read Aloud for Cylce # 2

The read aloud I did today is called Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. I did a short book introduction with the whole class by asking them if they have experienced a very bad day where everything seemed wrong and unfair. Then, I stated that one thing good readers do when they listen to read aloud is to pay attention to the character’s internal thinking, by asking, ‘how would I feel if I were him/her?’

This picture book, like Ruby Sings the Blues invovles a story that is also 'authentic' in children's perspective. Throughout the story, Alexander encounters a series of unfair situations where his voice and comments have been neglected. The plot of this story is definitely something that the students could really relate to. During the read aloud, I asked some open ended questions that allowed them to turn and talk to their partners. Questions such as, 'is Alexander's day getting better? What's going on now?', 'if you were Alexander, when you you get blamed for pushing someone, how would you feel?', and 'what would you do if your parents or teachers don't care about your concerns?'.

During turn and talk, and whole class share, I found that the students were significantly more responsive to picture books with characters and actions that they could relate to. The students were extremely excited to find out what Alexander was going to face on the next page. They found some very humorous parts as well, which engaged them a lot. When they shared in turn-and-talk, I heard Nathan and his partner, Janeally, having a conversation about Alexander’s voice is not being heard by adults, which made him very mad and upset. And after the read aloud, we discussed how Alexander felt, and what caused his frustrations. Many of them, including Nathan were able to relate their personal experiences, where they expressed their concerns, but their parents/teachers didn’t listen. They found this type of situation very unfair and irritating.

On the other hand, Jesse showed less interest in this particular book compared to Ruby Sings the Blues. He did not want to participate in turn and talk, and whole class share. However, his concentration was still evident to me, and my fieldwork supervisor, Megan, who was observing me that day. An interesting note from Megan, saying that during the read aloud, Jesse was sitting at his desk (because he tends to focus better and not distract others in his spot) and was complaining to Megan that he could not see the pictures due to where he was sitting. With this particular point in mind, I had to carefully consider Jesse's reading spot for next time. I have a strong feeling that Jesse could have been more engaged if he sat with others on the rug. However, this leads me to another concern is that, how could I be sure that Jesse would be focused and not distract others if he had joined everyone on the rug.

As we have been discussing a lot in our LITI classes last term, when doing a read aloud it is important to consider the technique in holding the book and sharing the illustrations. Every child, even third graders in this case can be aided by pictures in meaning making. Modeling this interaction between the text and illustrations can guide students to attend to the details in the illustration to enhance their understanding and interest. This is something that I should carefully considered in the future.

Independent Reading Observation

Exhibit 17

During independent reading, I observed Jesse closely (see exhibit 17). As I walked over to him and asked if he had set a goal for today’s reading, he was very reluctant. As I observe him more, I notice that he is very resistant to instructions. By the time I left him alone, he started reading on his own. However, it was still an on and off process. I believe that some days, I just couldn’t get him to work and read. It seems like the more attention I give to him, the more reluctant he becomes. Any suggestions?

Reading Conference with Nathan - Curious George

Exhibit 16
Like Jesse, Nathan was also eager to read Ruby Sings the Blues again. Today, he asked me if he could read the book during independent reading, and I was more than happy to let him do so. I was excited that both boys have shown immense interest in this book because of various reasons - characterization, plot, and illustrations. In exhibit 16, it clearly shows that Nathan was able to read for a longer period of time now, as compared to two weeks ago. Even though he changed books every ten minutes or so, he still managed to be consistently reading independently without leaving his seat for thirty straight minutes. After he read Ruby Sings the Blues independently, he read Curious George with me. We talked a lot about Curious George's character, and he told me that he enjoys reading Curious George's books because of the fun characterization. Here is part of our conference transcription:

Me: Tell me what Curious George is doing here.
Nathan: He is trying to get him (his owner) a Christmas present!
Me: Right, but then he can't find him.
Nathan: Yeah, but I know Curious George will. He is such a good monkey. He always cares about others. And he is always happy.
Me: Is that why you like reading Curious George's books so much?
Nathan: Yeah. I love the books because they are so fun to read. Curious George has a kind heart, and that's sort of like me because I always care about my friends.

From this short transcription, I can be sure that choice and preference can surely elevate Nathan's motivation in reading. This is supported by Taylor and Lorimer (2003) in their article called Helping Boys Succeed. They refer to one of Muir's literature (2001), and agree that offering a diverse choice of reading materials to students that are related to their interests can immensely lead to motivation and result in achieving literacy skills. In this particular situation, the reading materials that Nathan was exposed to was a major factor that encouraged and motivated him in reading for a longer period of time.

Reading Conference with Jesse - Ruby Sings the Blues

Exhibit 15

After read aloud, Jesse was extremely eager to read Ruby Sings the Blues. I told him that he needed to wait until independent reading time to do so. So during
reader’s workshop, Jesse could not wait to read Ruby Sings the Blues ; he even invited me to join him. He was very engaged in the pictures and Ruby’s character. When i sat beside him, he was eager to read aloud the story to me all over again. During his read aloud, he imitated her voice with expression (see exhibit 15).

From the observation/ conference notes, it is blatant that Jesse could not stop asking questions while he was reading. He asked questions that he showed great interest in; he really wanted to know more about Ruby, and at the same time, he also wanted to make text-to-self connection. For instance, he was really into the story because he noticed that Ruby lives in an apartment like him. He also told me that Ruby’s neighborhood also looks like his neighborhood. For every page he read, he paused to look at the illustrations carefully and tried to decode Ruby's life and her neighbors' lives in the community.

Linking this particular conference back to Kathy Sandford's article (2006), she mentions that today, literacy and gender have a great intersecting complexity in schools. This is mainly due to the diverse types of text and their presentation in our society. For example, with the vast exposure of social and technological situations, children are looking at literacy in a perhaps, 'different' perspective. 'Literacy now relates to a much broader set of texts including visual, multimodal, and digital tet that appear in many forms all around us' (p. 304). The diverse types of texts such as billboards, magazines, the Internet, and many others are overpowering traditional school texts such as information texbooks, and novels. Having this piece of important information in mind, I have to be absolutely sure that the books I choose and offer to my students are pertinent to their preference so that they could be engaged in reading, thus increase their motivation.

The First Read Aloud for Cycle # 2

Read Aloud and Book Choice:

Today I did a read aloud with my third grade students. The book I read is called, Ruby Sings the Blues, written and illustrated by Niki Daly. This story is about a young girl named Ruby, whose voice is extremely loud. Her voice drives her parents, schoolmates, teachers, and neighbors crazy everyday. Both Ruby, her parents and teacher try hard to make Ruby turn down the volume, but it does not work. Kids dislike Ruby, and often say mean words to her that make her really depressed. However, Barnard and Zelda – the two magnificent jazz performers discover that Ruby’s loud voice is good for jazz singing, and they teach her how to use her voice to sing. At the end, Ruby performs on stage with Barnard and Zelda, and receives appreciation and praise from her audience. Ruby finds self-confidence and is never ashamed of her loud voice again because she has learned something new about herself.

I began the read aloud by asking them if they have ever done something that they didn’t purposely do, and it bothered people around them. Many of them had their hands up. Then, I moved on to my teaching point, ‘Good readers pay attention to the main character’s actions, dialogue and appearance’. During the read aloud, I stopped for students to turn-and-talk to their partners. I also stopped to point out the special text feature/font for Ruby’s dialogue. At the part where Ruby was singing on stage, I stopped again to ask if any of them was a musician. At the end, we discussed briefly about what Ruby learned in this story, and why it was important.

There are three reasons why I chose this book. First, the illustrations are really attractive. The interesting use of font size and style is part of the art, and it goes well with the illustration. The illustration also matches with the text, and quite often, gives out clues to the plot or unfamiliar words. Secondly, when Ruby is talking loud to her friends, the font size and style become bigger and bolder; it really caught the students' attention and interests during the read aloud. Nathan mentioned to the whole class that he noticed the change of font throughout the story as Ruby understands that her voice has been too loud, then the size of the font gets smaller. In this example, Nathan definitely showed interest and engagement during the read aloud. Thirdly, the whole class seemed to be really enjoying it because they could relate to Ruby’s character and her experience. The plot of the story is considered to be 'authentic' in their perspective because it is taken place in an urban community, where Ruby is not being accepted by her schoolmates and people in her community due to her ‘misbehavior’. During this part, Jesse opened his eyes wide, and began nodding to himself, which possibly indicates his aggreement and empathy to Ruby's situation and feelings. Nathan also shared his similar experiences with the whole class that he said one time, he did something not on purposse and he got the blame for it. He said he was really frustrated and sad at that moment, just like Ruby.

In this read aloud session, it is evident that clearly, both Nathan and Jesse showed great interest in the story because of its illustrations, Ruby's character, and authentic situation that they could relate to. I also encourage them to read Ruby Sings the Blues during their independent reading time, as a continuation to understand the character better and deeper.

A Journey to Cycle # 2 - Motivation

I am intrigued by an article that I just finished reading tonight, written by Linda Darling-Hammond (1998). I would like to share this quote.

"Motivating students requires an understanding of what individual students believe about themselves, what they care about, and what tasks are likely to give them enough success to encourage them to work hard to learn" (Darling-Hammond, p. 7).

Now that both Jesse and Nathan have a more solid understanding of what 'good readers' do during independent and book club reading, it is now time to think about motivation in the follow cycle. Thinking about this quote by Darling-Hammond, I am now more assured that in order to get students really involved in reading, teachers must provide texts that interest them, possibly characters and story plots that they can closely relate to and reflect upon. In my cylce # 2, I am going to do a series of read alouds, and minilessons that focus on stories that are 'authentic' to the students; with characters whose personalities and experiences are similar to what they have possibly encountered in their lives. I am hoping that Nathan and Jesse will continue to be engaged and motivated in reading with the instructions and approach that I am going to implement for the next four weeks.

According to the NRP (National Reading Panel), there are five pillars to effective reading instruction. Allington (2005) explains one of the pillars to be 'matching pupils with texts'. He says that having suitable and 'just-right' texts for students is a critical part to effective literacy teaching simply because every child has his/her unique abilities, and therefore no single text or one specific task can be appropriate for all children in a classroom. In light of this important statement, I will be introducing reading materials to Nathan and Jesse that are at their reading levels, and of their personal preferences. Read alouds and minilessons will be focusing on character study, making connections, and choosing books in the library. At the end of the cycle, I will be taking them to the school library so that they will have an opportunity to be independent readers that they have the knowledge of picking 'just-right' books, and finding books that they have interests in.

End of Cycle # 1

This has been an adventurous journey! Jesse and Nathan are two very unique boys who reacts to texts differently. I am very surprised of how well they did after the implementation of strategy lessons and readers checklist. Both of them have shown some improvement in their motivation and stamina level in reading. Generically speaking, biologically, boys are slower in developing speech and fine motor skills; psychologically, boys believe that girls are better in language; and socially, boys are born into existing ideologies of cultures that greatly affect their way of thinking toward literacy (Pollack, 1998). The urgency for educators to remedy the generalized fact that boys are not as enthused and/or competent in reading as girls has become a critical education agenda. After reflecting daily on my work and their work, I realize that teacher-researchers have great power in making differences. Jo-Anne Kerr (2007), a teacher-researcher has describes her journey of bringing her resistant learners up the steps by collecting data from their portfolios and reading logs. Her research has enlightened and motivated me to continue my inquisitiveness to explore more strategies to increase the boys' motivation and stamina.

I have re-written Nathan's reading log on cue cards (see exhibit 16) due to his illegible handwriting. From this piece of information, I am seeing that he is still not reading consistently at home. However, his buddy reading skill has proven to me that he does have the strength and determination to sit and read to his younger sister.
Exhibit 14


Unfortunately, Jesse appears to be slightly behind in this process. He is reluctant in using his reading log. He says to me, "but I really do read! I just don't like writing in it [reading log]. It's a pain!". At this point, I think the goal should be set toward building stamina and getting him interested in reading. However, I should still continue to explore ways to get him to track his reading daily. This is going to be remedied, hopefully, in cycle # 2.

Please take a look at my cycle # 1 presentation (slide show) posted on the top of this blog. The data that I have collected, synthesized and analyzed data in cycle # 1 definitely pushes me to take the next step in this endeavor.

Cycle # 1 - Jesse and Nathan's Reading Progress

Exhibit 11

Finally, I am seeing some improvement in independent reading and book club conversation in the past two days. The implementation of the readers checklist and strategy lessons is indeed a helpful tool to get them both on track and somewhat accountable. This is especially evident in Nathan's case. Each day, Nathan gets excited in reading because he wants to find out how he does in reading that day. He readily has his book out and the goal of the day. Although in exhibit 11 (look at top right corner) Nathan is having a hard time sustaining his independent reading in the first attempt (he reads for 4 minutes and needs a drink), he tries harder to focus in his second attempt. The next day, February 28th, he even succeeds in sustaining 15 minutes of uninterrupted reading in one seating (see exhibit 12 below).

Exhibit 12


On the other hand, Jesse shows some improvement in book club reading; his progress is not as blatant as Nathan. A positive note is that with positive reinforcement and encouragement, he is able to set a goal with my support and scaffolding. In one strategy lesson, I show him the importance of setting a goal before reading. On February 27th, Jesse reads in 3 separate intervals (see exhibit 13 below).
Exhibit 13


The next day, February 28th, Jesse shows more blatant improvement in increasing his reading stamina. He was able to read for 10 minutes; 4 more minutes than the day before.

Field Notes and Reflection for February 29, 2008

Click on the image to view field notes.
Exhibit 10


Exhibit 10 is an observation field note that is taken during book buddy session. Even though this session does not illustrate Jesse and Nathan as independent readers, I am still very intrigued by their behavior when reading with younger peers. It is not surprising that Jesse shows limited motivation in reading. He has mentioned in his reading interview (refer to exhibit 5) that he does not enjoy books that are too easy for his level. In today's session, Jesse takes a few restroom breaks and drinking breaks. Getting him to be accountable in being a role model seems to be an uneasy task. However, this is still an interesting experiment to see how he performs during buddy reading.

Contrastingly, Nathan shows immense enthusiasm because his buddy happens to be his little sister. Obviously there is an urgency for Nathan to be responsible by being a role model in front of his sister. They share books together and take turns reading. In his reading interview (refer to exhibit 6), I remember that he mentions that his older brother is the one who reads to him daily. Now that I am aware of Nathan's ability and interest in reading to his younger sibling, I know that I should continue to encourage him to do that at home.

Field Notes and Reflection for February 28, 2008

Click on the image to view field notes.
Exhibit 9
Today, Jesse expresses his detest in book club verbally to the class. This particular comment is no doubt indicative to his reading preference. At one point, Nathan behaves in the similar manner as Jesse. During reading workshop, they both fidget with things around them, or wander their eyes somewhere in the room. My question is, how is it possible to change the structure of reading workshop into an interactive one, as suggested by Taylor and Lorimer (2003) just to suit the learning habits of these two resistant readers? If learning in a whole-class context is a challenge for them both and the majority is adapting the structure proficiently, should I just allow the two boys to get disengaged and pull them back on track during small group strategy lessons? However, this entails ongoing disengagement in whole class discussion, partnership talk, and disconnection to their own reading. What should I do to solve this enigma?

Field Notes and Reflection for February 27, 2008 - Finding out their interests

From this observation in a read aloud session, I can analyze Jesse's behavior as a listener and reader in a more thorough and critical manner. I can advocate that Jesse, seems to be frequently inattentive and unmotivated in various reading activities is in fact, listening and engaging in the character and the plot of the story, Holes by Louis Sachar. When Ms. Jane calls the read aloud session to an end, Jesse shows great disappointment by calling out, "NO!!!!". Ms. Jane then continues to read aloud another book called, The Greedy Triangle , a picture book that connects to their current content study of shapes in math.
Exhibit 8
Jesse shows continuous excitement with the character, Greedy Triangle. Nathan is more or less engaged in the same way as Jesse. His eye contact to Ms. Jane and the pictures of the book is consistent. From this, I can make some assumptions that both of them are attracted by characters that have a 'fun' personality. Stanley, the main character in Holes, is a young boy who always happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time endures multiple mishaps. Perhaps, the two boys do find some similarities between Stanley and themselves. While Greedy Triangle is also a playful character who requests Shape Shaver to help him to get his body shaved and transform him into different shapes. I have a strong feeling that both boys are engaged with these characters because of their typical "boyish" personalities that they find connections to.

Observation and Strategy Lesson # 1

Guided Reading/ Book Club: 3rd grade, two boys - Jesse and Nathan, 02/26/2008 9:25AM

Context: Teacher finished teaching point and students went back to their seats for book club. I picked out a book called The Day I saw Dad Cry and approached to the two boys at the round table in the back of the classroom.

The two boys I worked with today, Jesse and Nathan are the students whom I worked with two weeks ago in the J/K Henry and Mudge book club. Ms. Jane and I have decided that it would be more beneficial for the boys to split up and work with partners during guided reading/ book club. I am sitting between Nathan and Jesse at the round table, and as I was about to begin the book introduction, both of them started to resist reading this particular book, The Day I Saw Dad Cry by Bill Cosby. Jesse expressed to me that he was not a big fan of the Little Bill series, while Nathan was upset because he did not get to work with his friend in the original group. After settling the matters, both of them did not seem happy, but they picked up the book and started reading to themselves. Sadly, I had to stop them because I had planned to give them a strategy lesson. They did not like interruptions. Jesse said in a frustration voice, "but I know how to read this!" And Nathan ignored the comment and continued reading on his own. As a result, I had to take their books away from them and explained to them what a strategy lesson was. They started listening again to my teaching point, which was, "Good readers prepare themselves in guided reading or book club reading by having a good sitting posture and sitting comfortably in their own space." After I have given my "talk", both of them began to read again. Please note the timeline below to see how they did.

9:30
- Jesse reads for a minute and gets distracted by the people around him. He turns around often and does not focus on his reading
9:31
- Jesse is aroused by the pictures in the book and decides to share with Nathan who is sitting across from him
- Nathan responds, “hahaha… he looks funny!”
- Jesse giggles back
9:32
- Jesse and Nathan are reading
- both of them displays engagement and concentration at this time
9:32
- Jesse begins reading aloud to himself
9:34
- Nathan complains Jesse’s read aloud that he is distracting him
- Jesse does not respond, he continues reading aloud
9:35
- both boys are still reading
Nathan is finished with chapter 1 and puts the book down
9:36
- Jesse shows pictures to Nathan and is once again distracted
- Jesses finishes chapter 1 and puts his book down

Putting Strategy Lessons and Good Readers Checklist in ACTION!

Click on the image to view checklist.


In this part of the cycle, I am going to implement the use of strategy lessons and a readers' checklist. I am hoping that these two actions could enhance the boys' motivation and accountability in reading. I am going to put 3 strategy lessons in action, as well as introducing them a 'good readers' checklist'. The checklist is a clearer and more structured tool for the two boys. Based on their daily behavior and reading interview, I realize that both of them more or less dislike too much verbal instruction. Each day, I will be giving them the checklist, and they have to write down their new goal for the day. With the 'good reader's checklist', they will be able to refer to qualities of good reading on their desk. The checklist, which also happens to be a list of teaching points for my strategy lessons can hopefully enhance the boys' accountability in reading by allowing them to see their daily progress and set new goals, thus, increase their motivation level.