Author:
Erin Lullmann
Subject:
Elementary Education, Reading Foundation Skills, Reading Informational Text, Reading Literature
Material Type:
Lesson
Level:
Adult Education
Tags:
  • BranchED Literacy
  • BranchEd
  • Iowa K-12 E-Curriculum
  • Making Thinking Visible
  • Professional Deveopment
  • Science of Reading
  • branched-literacy
  • License:
    Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial
    Language:
    English
    Media Formats:
    Text/HTML

    Teaching Reading Is Rocket Science ("Sentence - Phrase - Word" Activity)

    Teaching Reading Is Rocket Science ("Sentence - Phrase - Word" Activity)

    Overview

    This lesson is meant for teachers to use during a professional learning session around the science of reading.  Teachers will read an article and reflect on it using the "Sentence - Phrase - Word" routine from Making Thinking Visible.

    Introduction

    Introducing the activity to students - set the purpose

     

    This task is best used at the beginning of a professional learning cycle in which teachers will be learning about and applying the science of reading to their instruction.

     

    The task can be done asynchronously with the students completing the lesson in OER commons (or you can link it to your LMS).  The lesson plan could also be followed in a face-to-face setting with in person discussion.

    Let's Learn More About the Science of Reading! 

    Today we are going to read an article titled "Teaching Reading IS Rocket Science" written by literacy expert, Louisa C. Moats. Our purpose for reading this article is to gain a better understanding of what the "science of reading" refers to.  By developing this knowledge and understanding, it will help us as educators to better match our instruction to the best practices included in the science of reading.

     

    Reading the Article

    In this section the teachers will be reading and processing the information in the article.  The article itself comes from a excerpt of a larger piece of text written by Louisa C. Moats. The article is lengthy and includes a lot of powerful information.  This article may take up to 15 minutes for teachers to read and process. 

    Teachers are encouraged to annotate or take notes while reading.  (If digital annotating is important for future work, it may be valuable to provide a tutorial for a tool like diigo.)

    If you are using this lesson plan for a face-to-face professional learning session, perhaps have printed copies of the article on which teachers can annotate directly.

    Teaching Reading IS Rocket Science: What Expert Teachers of Reading Should Know and Be Able to Do

    Click the title above to read the article online.  (There is an option to print the article if you'd rather have a paper copy.)

    As you read, take notes or use an online annotation tool (such as diigo) to record your thinking as you process the information in the article.

    When you've finished reading and annotating, move to the next section.

    Reflecting on the Article

    This section of the lesson involves the teachers processing the article they read by using the "Sentence - Phrase - Word" routine from Making Thinking Visible.  Students will be sharing their thinking via this Google Doc (each student will make their own copy and share it through the class's LMS). The sharing part of this routine is in the next section of this lesson.

    Here is an overview of the "Sentence - Phrase - Word" strategy:

    Sentence-Phrase-Word helps learners engage with and make meaning from text with a focus on capturing the essence of the text. Its purpose is to foster enhanced discussion while drawing attention to the power of language. Students will determine why a particular word, phrase and sentence stood out for them in reference to the text thus creating a richer discussion when they justify their reasoning.

    Process:

    1. Set Up: Allow students time to read the selection. Make sure to encourage active reading and possible highlighting of the text (either on paper or digitally). Do not have students read for the sentence, phrase, word that will come next.
    2. Select a Sentence-Phrase word: Ask students to identify a sentence that is meaningful to them and helped them gain a deeper understanding of the text, a phrase that may have been meaningful to them and a word that has either captured their attention or struck them as powerful. Remember there are no correct answers.
    3. Share Selections: In small groups have students share their choices (sentence first throughout the group, then phrase next throughout the group then the word last throughout the group) and explain why they selected them. This should be done in rounds individual by individual. Each individual should also share the page and paragraph number for their selection to allow others to find and read the item. Have a group recorder record these items.
    4. Invite Reflection on the Conversation: Have each group look at the recorded work to identify common themes and then implications and/or predictions they suggested. Ask them to also identify components that were not represented.
    5. Share the Thinking: Share the documentation from all groups while providing them time to look over and reflect on all the components. Have them reflect on their current understanding of the text and how this routine helped them with their understanding.

    It is important that the teacher listen to the students and/or view the explanations for why students chose what they did. This helps the teacher know if students have captured the essence of the reading as well as the key concepts. Students should be able to use their peer's selections as springboards for additional discussion to help enrich the lesson and lead to deep understanding.

     

    If doing this lesson in a face-to-face setting, teachers could still fill out the Google Doc or could simply write down thinking on a blank sheet of paper.  Then, the teachers can share their thinking from the activity with a small group and then share out common thinking with the whole group.

    We will now be using the Making Thinking Visible routine - "Sentence - Phrase - Word" to help us reflect on the information in the article.  

    Make a copy of this Google Doc, and then fill in your thinking following the instructions on the document.

    When you've finished processing the article using the "Sentence - Phrase - Word" routine, move on to the next task in this lesson.

    Sharing Thinking with Others

    Teachers will use the Class Jamboard to share their sentences, phrases, and words.  In order to facilitate timely "discussion" and reflection, consider giving the teachers a specific time frame in which to complete this task.  

    Share your chosen sentence, phrase, and word in the Class Jamboard. 

    Reflecting on Today's Activity

    Once the teachers have completed the Jamboard, they will return to their Google Doc to reflect.  Then, they will submit their finished activity and reflection to the class's LMS.

     

    If this lesson is being done in a face-to-face setting, teachers can meet in small groups first to share their sentence, phrase, and word as well as why they chose each.  The small group can then discuss common things as well as components of the article that were left out.  After each small group has 15 minutes or so to share, discuss, and reflect, bring everyone back together as a whole group to reflect on the article as well as the Sentence - Phrase - Word routine.

    After you've shared and all your classmates have had time to share, reflect on common themes throughout all of the sentences, phrases, and words as well as the components from the article that were missing.  You will use the Google Doc that you started in task 3 again for the reflection.

    Also take time to reflect on the Sentence - Phrase - Word strategy and how it impacted your understanding of the article we read.

    The final step is to turn in your completed Google Doc to the class's LMS under the "Teaching Reading IS Rocket Science" assignment block.