I would like to thank Lynn Summer for doing the read aloud, Paper Airplanes, for us in our Monday, April 9th class. Thank you for sharing that book with me and now the rest of the class. It really helped me to think outside of the box.
If you have been able to use the probable passage engagement with your students, tell us how it went.
Tell me what you thought about revisiting the research on reading
13 comments:
I first encountered the probable passage activity in the janet allen universe. I've gotten in the habit of using it when I start a new novel--most recently when I did The Crossing with my freshmen. I like how it ties in with prediction--a strategy or aspect of reading that never really spent a lot of time on until this year---I, sadly, focused on the 'what you remember' bit---that recall level of reading.
A related activity is the concept map: Topic at the top and then graduated boxes underneath for
who what when why how .
For example: Abuse
who is abused?
what kinds of abuse are there?
Why does it happen?
then the last two boxes I keep for "other questions" and now, I save one for "predictions"....
I enjoyed the probably passage activity. I found it to be engaging without being overwhelming or offensive if you weren't right about your prediction. In today's society, students are more and more looking for instant gratification. Activities like the probable passage allow students to engage in thinking for thinking's sake. The more we can encourage our students to do that the better. One activity I used to do a lot is the 3 level questioning technique that required the student to come up with fact-based question, a text-analysis question, and an evaluation/synthesis question going beyond the text. I think adding an activity like that to pre-thought of the probable passage activity would push students to think outside the box.
Lynn, I enjoyed your box and could vision you and your students making great memories with that lesson.
I tried the probable passage activity with my sophomores this week. It was a very big success! I used the same “Forgive My Guilt” poem. My students had many of the same predictions as we did (and some of them came to the right conclusions quicker than we did). They also had many of the same questions (What is a plover?). However, I really enjoyed their out-of-the-box guesses…one student went so far as to say it was going to be about a pirate (the seashore, the bird [maybe a plover is a type of parrot?]) We also did the favorite lines, read aloud exercise at the end! I made sure to stress (as Paula advised) that there are no right or wrong predictions. Only, that they should become aware of their reading processes (how do they predict, how do they use context clues…don’t automatically assume you don’t know a word and give up!) I was very pleased with the outcome. I am now going to see if I can manipulate the activity for a passage in Julius Caesar!
I think the probable passage is a great way to teach poetry! Maybe if I had had this in school, I would have done better in my poetry units. By introducing words and making a prediction with the words the read is already thinking and analyzing the material. I tried the same poem with my daughter who is on Spring Break. She kept saying, I don't know what I am doing while doing the exercise. When we went over the actual poem, she said, "Oh I knew a little more than I thought I did." I told her not to be afraid to predict when reading. She said this "stuff" is needed when you start to read those novels or stories that are not written like normal novels, like Shakespeare.
Lynn, I loved your airplane story. We must learn to work with those students who think a little differently than the rest of us.
I would like to use the Probable Passage exercise this week in reading “The Lottery,” by Shirley Jackson. The reading tends to be less-than-exciting at first and may be problematic for struggling readers. And I have some students with vivid imaginations; who knows what kind of “lottery” story they would envision! Then, they want to see what REALLY happens!
About revisiting research…when I look back on my first lessons as a college practicum and student teacher—and even a first year teacher—I was absolutely focused on activities. My goal was to keep the activities flowing, and I hoped my students were learning something along the way. I remember Jay Byars as my ADEPT team member urging me to question why I was doing a particular activity—to question the learning goal. This advice has helped me immensely. Similarly, a fresh look at research reminds me what is important in my daily work with students. It’s not about simply doing Literature Circles or KWL charts or Jigsaw. It’s about how those teaching tools help me effectively teach reading in my classroom and to help my students become independent learners.
I think the Probable Passage activity is very flexible and usable with lots of genres. I plan to use it this week with Hamlet of all things ( few of his lines). I really like the "gist statement." These sections all make the students engage. The read aloud was great, also. Thanks, Lynn. :)
I agree with what Elizabeth said about the activities. So many things we have done in this class have reinforced my beliefs and my original reason for teaching, to take the kids where they are and try to better and empower their lives. I'll probably forever be haunted by Corridor of Shame. That was so powerful and such a statement on our local situation.
I was able to use the probable passage to introduce and teach Jonathan Swift's satire "A Modest Proposal," and I have to say that I have taught that piece about 3 times now, and it has never gone that smoothly. The vocabulary of that text is difficult and from an older version of modern English. Most of the time students have such trouble with the language that they miss the point of the satire. However, being able to introduce them to the plot without giving it away was the ultimate perk of probable passage. We didn't even have to read a lot of the text because the pre-reading work we had done really allowed the message to hit home. I was thrilled and intend on incorporating probable passage into my curriculum a lot more because I agree with what Jonelle said about it being a great tool for prediction and just frontloading of ideas.
The probable passage was a great activity, with a little adapting, I will be able to use in my classes. I hope to find case studies with various situations, have the students make predictions, and then examine the actual outcome. Perhaps I could even use when showing The Apprentice...make predictions, etc. As I mentioned in another blog, I am getting new textbooks for several classes. I have already started looking them over in great detail and am excited that most chapters start with a graphic organizer. What a great way to get the students thinking about concepts before they actually learn them.
Probable Passage
April 16, 2007
I have not had an opportunity to use the probable passage activity because I was out last week with my new grandbaby. From what others have written, it sounds like a very usable activity. I agree with Lendy that it probably would have helped me analyze poetry better. I am glad that Nancy wrote that it is very flexible and could be used with different genre. I need to have Paula explain the activity to me so that I will feel more confident in using it in class.
I am sorry that I missed that airplane story, Lynn
Something Elizabeth wrote made me have to respond again--the idea of keeping activities flowing...I am very much dependent on activities. I don't always remember to make sure there is a solid link to a learning goal. I worry now about all the missing links that I might have had---where _I_ saw the connection to a text or a skill, but maybe the students didn't--they still completed the activity--but might not have made the connection. I think this skill-connect-to-activity will be something I need to work more on...again and again.
The probable passage I did with a story called " The Secret Life of Zoey", It was a success. Even if they did not get it right they were so interested in finding out the secret it really did not seem to bother them. The AHHH moment was the best to peak their interest was the fun for me!!!!!
The questions they ask were of great insight.
Prediction and conclusion are still up in the air because that is the kind of story it is.
Blogging
Barry Howell
I have never blogged before taking this class, so it was a new experience for me in this area. After each class we were assigned to blog about either a chapter in the book, Subjects Matter, or to use a strategy in the book to try in our classroom. The book itself was very informative and helpful, giving professional opinions on a variety of subjects concerning reading in the classroom setting.
While I agreed with a lot the book had to say, there were some of the activities that did not pan out. I did not like certain ones, but was able to change those somewhat to where they worked OK. Some I will use again, some I will not. We used brainstorming and clustering quite a bit to introduce chapters in the textbook, and I found it to be very beneficial to the students. I tried to use different techniques for before reading, during reading, and after reading. Another pre-reading activity that was good was the anticipation guide. Each day after our silent reading, we would do journal writing about what was read that day. One of my favorites was the It says, I say, And so activity. This was a good way to get students to draw inferences from the text as opposed to just finding information in the chapter.
Another neat thing that I got from blogging was to be able to read my classmate’s responses. This allowed me to get some great ideas for my classroom. We can all take from others if we are open-minded about it and are brave enough to try new things. Reading other blogs helped me decide which ones I should try in my own classroom.
The "Probable Passage" activity was really great! I plan to use it with my students who are reading The Little Prince in French class. The text contains many key quotes which represent the novel's theme. I think that students would benefit from this activity since it connects themes and text.
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