Read All About It!

Hi everyone and welcome back to my literacy blog! 

Today I am going to discuss some things that fall into the reading strand of literacy. I will be discussing reading assessments, graphic novels as a valuable form of literature and the importance of self-guided questions as a vital reading strategy for students to comprehend various forms of literature. 

Reading Assessments

As an educator, the role of reading assessments are obviously very crucial in the ways we go about monitoring the progress of our students; while not everyone agrees with how they are approached, they do offer an unbiased form of understanding each student's base level and therefore, improvement.

In class we were given the opportunity to  learn and practice a reading assessment – this hands on experience was beneficial, especially because we were assessing two very different readers who were both at the intermediate grade level. Prior to this, I had been briefly introduced to reading assessments in my placement because my associate teacher allowed me to observe her as she assessed some students. This can be a difficult task for the teacher as trying to assess each student, as well as ensuring the rest of the class is staying on task, are happening simultaneously. Assessing two students was a very eye opening activity –  I was so intently marking and listening to the reader, that when the time came to ask comprehension questions about the passage I had no idea what the passage was even about myself. Thus, it is important that the teacher familiarizes him/herself with the passages and questions before asking the students, so they can be fairly assessed.

Reading assessment of a student

I've posted a photo of my first reading assessment –  it was difficult to follow along with the reader and check each individual word off, so I need to find a strategy that works better, ensuring I am closely keeping up with each word that the student reads. Learning how to score the reader was also very helpful – through this, I was able to understand what the student's level of reading was at, what areas they excel in, as well as other areas that could be improved over the course of the school year. With this information, I will be able to adapt my teaching methods in order to individualize lessons.  

Additionally, I had the opportunity to sit in and watch a resource teacher assess a couple students in my placement. Niagara District School Board uses Benchmark Assessment System (BAS); she familiarized myself with how it works, how you know the students' starting level, and how you go about a student assessment from start to finish. For more information on this assessment system, check out the following link. Through this I was able to read some of the passages used and compare level A books with level Z to help familiarize myself with BAS. 

These were some sites I found really useful when looking for a basic understanding of what assessment is, what it looks like and how we as educators should conduct it:

Early Reading Assessment 
Reading Assessment Techniques 
Tips For Streamlining Your Informal Reading Assessments 

Graphic Novels in the Classroom

There are many benefits to using graphic novels within the classroom; I don't think they should be seen as a "lesser" form of literature. Not all students enjoy, or have equal abilities when it comes to reading; however, graphic novels are a great way to visually engage students when reading, teach them about inferencing, understanding plot lines and enhance reading comprehension (Miller, 2012). 

The Ontario Curriculum states that an overall expectation for grade 8 students should include being able to "read and demonstrate an understanding of a variety of literacy, graphic (emphasis added) and informational texts, using a range of strategies to construct meaning" (142). Thus, graphic novels clearly hold value within the education system, and should be used in order to engage all types of learners.

For students who have difficulty staying focused and reading for long periods of time, graphic novels help to keep them engaged and gain self-fulfillment; this is because they are able to finish a book in a much shorter period of time. I come from an art background, so I also really appreciate the combination of visual arts within literacy education – it reminds students of the importance and endless possibilities art has inside and outside of the classroom. For lower level readers, graphic novels may be a great way to enhance confidence when it comes to reading and reading comprehension; this ultimately will help their self-efficacy and self-confidence in these areas, and will hopefully push them to continue to read and find a sense of confidence as they grow as readers.


I read "A Very Babymouse Christmas" by Jennifer Holm and Matthew Holm which was an awesome read in a short period of time. Babymouse is witty, sarcastic and funny, so the writing style kept me engaged. The images are captivating and clearly explain whatever was not stated in words; this allows for opportunity to critically analyze various text structures. There are many graphic novels out there that simplify other topics that may usually be considered too difficult or demanding for a student in grade 8 to read and comprehend. This form of literature works in a universal way because while it applies and intrigues lower level readers, it is also just as fulfilling and educational for higher readers. I would highly suggest having various graphic novel forms in the classroom as well as giving students the option for graphic novels to be used in literary conversations, assignments and literacy projects.

The Importance of Self-Guided Questions 

The article Text Structure Strategies for Improving Reading Comprehension highlights the importance of teaching students how to properly read and comprehend difficult texts, such as expository writing. It suggests 5 text structures that students must first become comfortable with before attempting to read and comprehend an expository piece – these text structures include: 

• Simple description
• Compare and contrast
• Sequence
• Cause and effect
• Problem and solution (Text structure strategies).

A strategy that really grabbed my attention was teaching students to be active readers and ask self-guided questions throughout their reading to help make sense of the process. These questions should "help students focus on the structure‐related elements of the text" (Text structure strategies) and can therefore help simplify and summarize a text as it is being read. This should be taught in classrooms because it helps students become more confident and independent not only with expository writing texts, but a variety of other forms as well. If students can actively prompt themselves to ask questions while they read, they will improve comprehension skills. Personally, I don't remember much emphasis being placed on this area of learning – had this been the focus, I would have found understanding difficult texts much easier to comprehend. 

As stated in the Ontario Curriculum, by the end of grade 8, students have the overall expectation to be able to "reflect on and identify their strengths as readers, areas for improvement, and the strategies they found most helpful before, during and after reading" (142). Students must be taught to become self aware; taking initiative to ask these guided questions as they read is a vital strategy that will improve reading comprehension. This is something I really want to focus on in my classroom, ensuring that each student is able to understand how to ask these questions as well as how the questions will help them understand what they are reading.




Thanks for reading everyone! Next post I'll be talking about writing, so come back and check it out in the following week.

Cheers,

Madeleine 

References:

Roehling, Julia V., Hebert Michael, Nelson, J Ron, Bohanty, Janet J. (2017). Text structure strategies for improving expository reading comprehension. Retrieved from https://ila.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/trtr.1590

Ontario Ministry of Education (2006). The Ontario Curriculum grades 1-8 language (Revised). Toronto: Queen’s Printer.

Miller, Andrew (2012). Using graphic novels and comics in the classroom. Edutopia. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/graphic-novels-comics-andrew-miller

https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/blog-posts/genia-connell/17-18/Tips-for-Streamlining-our-Informal-Reading-Assessments/

http://www.readingrockets.org/article/early-reading-assessment-guiding-tool-instruction

https://www.sedl.org/reading/framework/assessment.html

Images:

Hollowell, Karen. (2018). What do teachers do with students' DIBELS reading assessment results? Retrieved from https://education.seattlepi.com/teachers-students-dibels-reading-assessment-results-2932.html

Campbell, Madeleine. (2018). Reading Assessment. 

Hamid, Amel. (2017). Teaching graphic novels using the four resources model. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/amalh_2/status/842859541817692160

Holmes, Jennifer and Holmes, Matthew. (2011). A very Babymouse Christmas. Retrieved from https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10397159-a-very-babymouse-christmas

Harris, S. (2015). Comprehension cartoon 2 of 19. Retrieved from https://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/c/comprehension.asp