ELA Lab; High School Reading Intervention Presentation from Michigan Reading Association Conference 2015

1. ELA Lab: High School
Reading Intervention
JESSICA CRAWFORD
@JCRAWFORD728

2. Why ELA Lab?
Tier 3
Tier 2
Tier 1
31 %
22 %
47 %
Spring
2009-2010

3. RTI – 9th & 10th Grade
Tier 3 – Corrective Reading
Tier 2 – WestEd Academic Literacy
Tier 1 – Grade Level ELA Class

4. Tier 3
Tier 2
Tier 1
23 %
16 %
61 %
Spring
2010-2011

5. Bringing in Lab
 Gap between Tier 3 & Tier 2
 Corrective Reading: Up to 6th Grade Level
 AC Literacy: Upper 8th Grade Level

6. Current RTI – 9th & 10th Grade
 Tier 3 – Corrective Reading
 Tier 2 (6th-8th Grade) – ELA Lab
 Tier 2 (8th-9th Grade) – AC Literacy
 Tier 1 – Grade Level ELA Class

7. Current RTI

8. What is ELA Lab?
This course is designed to build reading skills through a
variety of research-based reading strategies. Silent
sustained reading (SSR), group reading activities, and
electronic reading assignments will be a part of the daily
routine in this class. Recent research has found that the
most effective way to build strong readers is through
reading stations; therefore, this class will be set up in such
stations. Students will rotate in teacher-selected groups to
each station daily. Groups are subject to change.

9. The Four Pillars
 Stations Learning
 Strategy Instruction
 QAR
 Reciprocal Teaching

10. Stations Learning
 Benefits of Small Group Instruction
 Assure that all students learn
 Increase student engagement
 Teach students to work with others
 Facilitate social interaction among students
 Motivate students
 Improve students’ self-concepts and attitudes toward self & school

11. Daily Schedule
1. Warm-Up: Book Talks or
Notebooking (7 minutes)
2. Stations Rotation (20 minutes per
station)
1. SSR Station
2. Teacher Station
3. Computer Station
3. Warp-Up (5 minutes)
SSR Station
Teacher
Station
Computer
Station

12. SSR Station
 Students read self-selected books
every day
 Reading Surveys
 Book Talks
 Genre Introduction
 Biblionasium.com
 Log of summary and reflection of
thoughts while reading

13. Teacher Station
 Teacher led-instruction
 Modeling and guided practice
 Small group work

14. Teacher Station Work

15. Computer Station
 Assignments sent through
Google Drive
 Independent practice of
skills

16. Computer Station Work

17. Students’ Thoughts
“[Stations] helped me because I felt
more comfortable reading without
everyone listening.” – Leigha, 9th
Grade
“Working in the small groups is nice
because we can work with each
other. We talk more and interact
with each other.” – Khalil, 10th grade
“Working in the small groups helped
me a lot. I liked it because we weren’t
doing one thing the whole hour.”
– Michael, 10th Grade
“The small groups were really good. A
positive is that you had one-on-one
with the teacher. The small groups
helped me so I could learn better and
have that one-on-one connection with
the teacher.” – Talia, 10th Grade

18. Strategy Instruction
 Strategies thoughtful readers use when
constructing meaning:
 Search for connections
 Ask questions
 Draw inferences
 Distinguish important information
 Synthesize information within and across
texts
 Monitor understanding
 Visualize and create images using the
different senses

19. Purpose of Strategy Instruction
 Harvey & Goudvis say we teach readers to:
 Become aware of their thinking while reading
 Monitor understanding & keep track of meaning
 Listen to the voice in their head to make sense of text
 Notice when they stray from thinking about the text
 Notice when meaning breaks down
 Detect obstacles & confusions
 Understand how a variety of strategies can help repair meaning
 Know when, why, and how to apply specific strategies

20. Explicit Instruction
 Showing Kids How vs. Telling Them
What to Do
 Teacher Modeling
 Guided Practice
 Collaborative Practice
 Independent Practice
 Application in Authentic Reading

21. Supporting Strategic Reading
 Set a purpose for reading
 Think Aloud
 Double-Entry Diary/Two-Column Notes
 Comprehension Constructors
 Listening to the inner voice
 Tracking & Fixing Confusion
 Connection
 Questioning

22. Strategy Instruction Plan
Week Strategy Focus
1 Introduction of class/genres/SSR/purpose in reading
2 Introduction of strategies/Connections through background knowledge
3 Questioning while reading
4 QAR
5 QAR & Creating QAR Questions
6 Summarizing & Predicting
7 Clarifying/Introduce Reciprocal Teaching
8 Reciprocal Teaching/Visualizing
9 Reciprocal Teaching/Explanatory Writing
10 Reciprocal Teaching/Inference
11 Reciprocal Teaching/Comprehension Constructors
12 Reciprocal Teaching/Strategy Applications

23. What strategy have you found most
helpful?
“Connections & asking questions. Connections
help me better understand the story I am
reading and help me connect to the characters.
Asking questions helps me keep track of what I
am reading and help me when I’m stuck at
certain parts.” – Rachel, 10th Grade
“The connection strategy because I can
understand where [authors] come from and I
can somewhat picture what’s going to happen
in the future.” – Calvin, 10th Grade
“Clarifying because it helps me understand
more.” – Taevon, 10th Grade
“I use a lot of the strategies that you taught us
about when I’m reading my SSR book. When
I’m at the SSR station, predicting and
summarizing come into play.” –Brittany, 10th
Grade

24. QAR Instruction
 Students also need a focus on strategies
required to answer and generate
challenging questions
 Raphael & Au (2005) show QAR can
lead to high levels of literacy
 Making the invisible visible
 Organizing comprehension instruction
 Whole-school reform
 Accountability and test prep

25. Shared Language of QAR

26. Developing QAR’s Shared Language
Source Information
In the Book
In My Head

27. Developing QAR’s Shared Language
In the Book Questions
 Right There
 Think & Search

28. Developing QAR’s Shared Language
In My Head Questions
 Author & Me
 On My Own

29. Organizing Comprehension Instruction
QAR Sample Comprehension Strategies
On My Own 1. Activating prior knowledge
2. Connecting to the topic
Right There 1. Scanning to locate information
2. Using context clues
Think & Search 1. Identifying important information
2. Summarizing
3. Visualizing
4. Clarifying
5. Making text-to-text connections
6. Making simple inferences
Author & Me 1. Predicting
2. Visualizing
3. Making simple and complex inferences
4. Making text-to-self connections
Adapted from: Raphael, T.E., & Au, K.H. (2005). QAR: Enhancing comprehension and test taking across grades and content areas. The Reading Teacher, 59 (3), 206-221.

30. Whole-School Reform
 QAR leads to higher literacy
 QAR has the potential for school wide professional
development
 QAR is applicable to all contents and grade levels
 QAR provides foundation for improved reading &
listening comprehension

31. Accountability & Test Preparation
 QAR helps students come strategic when faced texts & tasks on tests
 Integrate ideas across texts
 Draw inferences
 Critique
 Evaluate
 Help with written responses as well
 Integrate both personal experiences and the text

32. Students’ Thoughts
“QAR has been most helpful for me because it
helps me understand what type of question is
being asked. Before I was placed in
Mrs.Crawford’s ELA class I had no idea what
QAR was so she helped me along the way.”
– Brittany, 10th Grade
“I think identifying whether a question is in the
book or in my head really helped me know
where my information was coming from.”
– Taslima, 9th Grade
“QAR has been the most helpful strategy
because it keeps me focused and it helps
me understand my reading.” – Sadia, 10th
Grade
“Knowing these types of questions helps me
because it helps clarify what I’m reading.
QAR helps me in classes to keep me from
losing focus on what we are talking about.”
– Shyla, 10th Grade

33. Reciprocal Teaching
Choose a
Reader
Questioning Summarizing
Predicting Clarifying
Choose a
New Leader

34. Strategies of Reciprocal Teaching
 Asking Questions & Summarizing
 Gives purpose to reading
 Activate prior knowledge
 Concentrate on main ideas
 Check understanding

35. Strategies of Reciprocal Teaching
 Predicting
 Gives purpose to reading
 Activate prior knowledge
 Draw & test inferences
 Clarifying
 Gives purpose to reading
 Activate background knowledge
 Engage in critical evaluation

36. Reciprocal Teaching as Instruction
 Students are active participants
 Students are provided with feedback
 Students learn why, when, and where to apply skills & strategies
 Teachers scaffold instruction

37. Success of Reciprocal Teaching
Advantage of the Method
 Modeling of comprehension
strategies
 Students must respond
 Teachers can provide immediate
feedback and make adjustments
Advantages for Students
 Improvement in student dialogue &
discussion
 Students learn from the teacher and
peers
 Students take control of the teaching
and learning

38. Students’ Thoughts
“I have found the reciprocal teaching most
helpful because it helped me to get better at
reading and looking out for important
information.” – Fahmida, 10th Grade
“Reciprocal teaching helped me be more of a
teacher. I liked that it involved QAR and
prediction. Summarizing helped me the most
because it’s helping me get better at
summarizing.” – Taevon, 10th Grade
“I really liked reciprocal teaching because I felt
like a teacher and it was very fun. I don’t think
anything should be changed because it works
and you don’t want to change something that
works great.” – Vincent, 10th Grade
“Reciprocal teaching helps people build their
confidence and it helps you understand the
reading.” – Mouhammed, 10th Grade

39. ELA Lab Targets
 Focus on comprehension
 Students discover their metacognitive dialogue
 Direct instruction of the strategies & skills from ELA
classes
 Strategies that apply across the content areas
 Preparing for the increase of informational text in high
school

40. Contact
Jessica Crawford
Fitzgerald High School
Warren, MI
E-mail: jescra@fps.fitz.k12.mi.us
Twitter: @JCrawford728
Blog: jessicacrawford28.wordpress.com

41. References
• Harvey, S., & Goudvis, A. (2007). Strategies that work: Teaching comprehension for
understanding and engagement (2nd ed.). Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers.
• Palincsar, A.S., & Brown, A.L. (1984). Reciprocal teaching of comprehension-fostering and
comprehension-monitoring activities. Cognition and Instruction, 1 (2), 117-175.
• Raphael, R.E., & Au, K.H. (2005). QAR: Enhancing comprehension and test taking across grades
and content areas. The Reading Teacher, 59 (3), 206-221.
• Tovani, C. (2000). I read it but I don’t get it: Comprehension strategies for adolescent readers.
Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers.
• Ward, B.A. (1987). Instructional grouping in the classroom. The School Improvement Research
Series. Retrived from http://educationnorthwest.org/sites/default/files/InstructionalGrouping.pdf
• Wilson T., Nabors, D., Berg, H., Simpson, C., & Timme, K. (2012). Small-group reading instruction:
lessons from the field. Dimensions of Early Childhood, 40 (3), 30-39.