Slides from my Louisiana Council of Teachers of English presentation

1. Valerie R. Burton, M.Ed.
Using Literacy
Strategies to solve
the puzzle of how
to get students to
connect with text.
Literacy Strategies + Text =
Engagement

2. Strand: Incorporating Literacy Strategies Across the Curriculum
Title: Literacy Strategies + Text = Engagement
Brief description: Practice using a variety of Literacy Strategies
aimed to help students become purposeful, active readers who
are in control of their own reading comprehension. CCSS
encourages students to connect to text and this presentation is
geared to demonstrate how to use strategies that will help
students to connect with text and improve text comprehension.
1. GISTing
2. Anticipation guides
3. Notetaking templates
4. Vocabulary strategies
5. Self generated questions
Literacy Strategies + Text =
Engagement

3. Literacy Standards
We have been given the
charge of covering the
literacy standards across the
curriculum.
Everyone is a literacy
teacher.
This presentation
demonstrates activities that
can be used to engage
students.

4. ELA » Anchor Standards » College and Career Readiness
Anchor Standards for Reading
Key Ideas and Details
R.1 Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific
textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the visual or written text.
R.2 Determine central ideas or themes of a visual or written text and analyze their development; summarize the
key supporting details and ideas.
R.3 Analyze how and why individuals, events, or ideas develop and interact over the course of a visual or written
text.
Craft and Structure
R.4 Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a visual or written text, including determining technical,
connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word or image choices shape meaning or tone.
R.5 Analyze the structure of visual or written texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger
portions of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the whole.
R.6 Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a visual or written text.
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
R.7 Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as
well as in words.
R.8 Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a visual or written text, including the validity of the
reasoning as well as the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence.
R.9 Analyze how two or more visual or written texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or
to compare the approaches the authors take.
Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity
R.10 Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently.

5. ELA » Anchor Standards » College and Career Readiness
Anchor Standards for Writing
Text Types and Purposes
W.1 Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics using valid reasoning and relevant and
sufficient evidence.
W.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas and information clearly and
accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
W.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen
details and well-structured event sequences.
Production and Distribution of Writing
W.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task,
purpose, and audience.
W.5 Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.
W.6 Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and to interact and collaborate with
others.
Research to Build and Present Knowledge
W.7 Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects based on focused questions, demonstrating
understanding of the subject under investigation.
W.8 Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of
each source, and integrate the information while avoiding plagiarism.
W.9 Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
Range of Writing
W.10 Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time
frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences

6. ELA » Anchor Standards » College and Career Readiness
Anchor Standards for Speaking and Listening
Comprehension and Collaboration
SL.1 Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with
diverse partners, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
SL.2 Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually,
quantitatively, and orally.
SL.3 Evaluate a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric.
Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas
SL.4 Present information, findings, and supporting evidence such that listeners can follow the line of
reasoning and the organization, development, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and
audience.
SL.5 Make strategic use of digital media and visual displays of data to express information and
enhance understanding of presentations.
SL.6 Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and communicative tasks, demonstrating command of
formal English when indicated or appropriate.

7. The goal is to increase
engagement and
Test scores for all students

8. In order for students to become
college and career ready, they must
learn to read and comprehend
complex texts independently and
proficiently.
To develop these skills, students must
be presented with many opportunities
to read and re-read complex,
layered texts and be provided
strategies on how to deal with
these complexities.

10. Brief description: GISTing - GISTing is an excellent
strategy for helping students paraphrase and
summarize essential information. Students are
required to limit the gist of a sentence/paragraph to
a set number of words. Students read text and create
individual summary sentences from a paragraph.
These sentences are condensed until the students
create a gist that must contain only the
predetermined number of words.
GISTing

11. CCSS requires that our students
connect to the text.
Have them to read and annotate article, create a 25 word GISTing summary
and then compose a one page reflection essay

12. Directions:
1. Read the text.
2. Fill out the 5Ws and H.
•Who:
•What:
•Where:
•When:
•Why:
•How:
3. Write a 25-word GIST.

14. Anchor standards covered by this activity
R.2 Determine central ideas or themes of a visual or
written text and analyze their development; summarize
the key supporting details and ideas.
R.8 Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific
claims in a visual or written text, including the validity of
the reasoning as well as the relevance and sufficiency of
the evidence.
W.7 Conduct short as well as more sustained research
projects based on focused questions, demonstrating
understanding of the subject under investigation.
L.2 Demonstrate command of the conventions
of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and
spelling when writing.

16. Anticipation guides (or Opinionnaires) involve
giving students a list of statements about the
topic to be studied and asking them to respond to
it before reading and learning, and then again
after reading and learning. While the opinionnaire
works well with ideas that are open to debate
and discussion, the anticipation guide strategy is
better suited to information that is verifiable.
Anticipation guides

17. When teaching fiction
generate a list of compelling or controversial
thematic or topic-based statements that relate to
key ideas of the short story, novel, or play students
are about to read. List those statements in the left
hand column and ask students to rate their level of
agreement for each. Then have students explain
why they chose their level of agreement by writing
a short rationale. Explain to students that
they should be thinking about these
compelling thematic or topic-based
statements as they read.

18. For a nonfiction piece
choose interesting or compelling facts or
ideas about which students will
read. Include some just as they are
presented in the text; for others, reverse
the truth of the statement to make it more
controversial or more appealing to
common sense.

19. I created an anticipation guide to get students
thinking about their own opinion in regards to the
themes addressed in Macbeth. As a pre-reading
strategy, it enhances their interest and increases
motivation to read the play. It provides
controversial topics that students will have thought
about, so they will have something to share in class
discussion. As a post-reading strategy, it illustrates
the role of reading in forming and clarifying our
values.

20. Anticipation guide
Before reading Macbeth, my
students fill out the
anticipation guide. I explained
that there are no right or
wrong answers, but that they
should be prepared to explain
their answers later In a group
or class discussion.

21. Generate
interest in
the theme
or plot

22. Standards covered in this activity
R.1 Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical
inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to
support conclusions drawn from the visual or written text.
R.2 Determine central ideas or themes of a visual or written text and analyze
their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.
R.3 Analyze how and why individuals, events, or ideas develop and interact
over the course of a visual or written text.
R.4 Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a visual or written text,
including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and
analyze how specific word or image choices shape meaning or tone.
R.8 Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in
a text, including the validity of the reasoning as well as the
relevance and sufficiency of the evidence.
R.10 Read and comprehend complex literary and
informational texts independently and proficiently.

23. Brief description: Templates
(dialectical journals) allow students to
self-monitor as they read and learn,
which leads to an increase in attention,
comprehension, and achievement.
Notebook Template

24. Have students look for…
• Details: that have a definite effect. Think about why the author includes these details.
Note the importance of the details in the margin.
• Word Choice: Do the words bring to mind positive or negative feelings? What
emotions do the words suggest? Is there a pattern to the kinds of words the author
uses? What does the author want to convey through those word choices? Make sure
to comment on the effect in the margins.
• Imagery: Words or phrases appealing to the senses—and write comments about the
effect of the imagery in the margin. What does this image bring to mind? What
emotions are stirred by the images?
• Comparisons: Similes, metaphors, personification—and briefly note the effect of the
comparison. What is the similarity between the two objects being compared? What
understanding is created through the comparison?
• Point of view: Does the perspective from which the story or information is presented
have an effect on how the emotions or understanding?
Write comments in the margin.
• Repetition: What is the author trying to emphasize through repeated
ideas, images, or words and phrases?
• Shifts: Note changes in tone, point of view, verb tense—anything
that changes the overall pattern. Write comments in the margin.

25. Notebook Template Sample

26. Standards used in this activity
R.1 Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to
make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when
writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the visual
or written text.
R.2 Determine central ideas or themes of a visual or written text
and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting
details and ideas.
R.3 Analyze how and why individuals, events, or ideas develop and
interact over the course of a visual or written text.
W.9 Draw evidence from literary or informational texts
to support analysis, reflection, and research.
W.10 Write routinely over extended time frames
(time for research, reflection, and revision) and
shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day
or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences

27. Teaching vocabulary within the Common
Core State Standards (CCSS) is an essential
component of standards-based curriculum
alignment. Making the critical words second
nature to our students will enhance
achievement on assessments and will be
useful in college and their career.
Vocabulary Strategies

28. There are many ways to
support vocabulary acquisition
•Scavenger Hunt
•Cloze Reading
•Password Game
•Context clues
•Charade
•Frayer Model

29. Vocabulary teaching boils down to
three critical concepts.
1. Meaningful use—multiple opportunities to
use new words in reading, writing and soon
discussion.
2. Integration—connecting new vocabulary to
prior knowledge
3. Repetition—encountering/using
the word/concept many times

30. Students complete a story summary by filling in the
blanks of this cloze reading passage with the
appropriate vocabulary word.

31. Macbeth Vocabulary Words
Minion-a submissive follower or
dependent; slave
Duncan’s minion relayed the news
that that the Scottish forces were
victorious.
First I show my students the sentence
and ask them to define it using context
clues. Next, I have them check their
guess against the definition.

32. The Frayer Model
• is graphical organizer used for word analysis
and vocabulary building. This four-square
model prompts students to think about and
describe the meaning of a word or concept by
1. Defining the term,
2. Describing its essential characteristics,
3. Providing examples of the idea, and
4. Offering non-examples of the idea.

34. In addition to asking who, what, when, and
where identification questions, students
should begin asking higher-level questions
that address issues of interpretation and
analysis as they read. When students, rather
than the teacher, ask questions of the text,
they begin the process of critical thinking
and connect with the text more fully.
Level Questions

35. Level Questions
LEVEL ONE: READING ON THE LINE FOR RECALL QUESTIONS
• As students read, they are mentally asking questions that can be
answered by explicit information they can physically point out in
the passage.
LEVEL TWO: READING BETWEEN THE LINES FOR INTERPRETIVE
QUESTIONS
• Students make interpretations based upon details in the text.
LEVEL THREE: READING BEYOND THE LINES FOR UNIVERSAL
MEANING QUESTIONS
• Students move beyond the text to connect to
universal meaning.

36. Level Questions
LEVEL ONE: READING ON THE LINE FOR RECALL QUESTIONS
1) Question: What does Dee think about orchids?
2) Question: How does Maggie walk?
LEVEL TWO: READING BETWEEN THE LINES FOR INTERPRETIVE
QUESTIONS
1) Question: How is the orchid the narrator wishes her
daughter would give her symbolic of their relationship?
2) Question: How is the narrator different from the person
Dee wishes her to be?
LEVEL THREE: READING BEYOND THE LINES FOR UNIVERSAL
MEANING QUESTIONS
1) Question: How does television impact the way
we view family relationships?
2) Question: What is a “good” mother?

37. Contact me if you need me
I am an English Language Arts teacher from
New Orleans, Louisiana who looks for all
opportunities to integrate technology into my
classroom.
I blog. http://2blog2share2learn.edublogs.org/
I tweet. http://twitter.com/MsBisOnline
I share. http://msbisonline.weebly.com/
Need to contact me?
MsVRBurton@gmail.com or
MsBpresents@gmail.com
(504) 298-9764
about.me/VRBurton – myself
about.me/BurtonsScholars – my class