Transcript Inspiring Children to Love Reading

Cooperative Learning &
Reading Aloud By Teachers
10 May 2008
10am-1pm
Read Aloud Asia,
published by Times
available at
National Library
[email protected]
Internet: www.georgejacobs.net
Agenda
Why Reading Is Important
Why Read Aloud
How to Read Aloud
Why Combine CL and Reading Aloud
How to Combine CL and Reading Aloud
Q & A - Anytime
Questions
Disagreements
Experiences
Ideas
Why Reading Is
Important
Language acquisition – grammar,
spelling, vocabulary the fun way
Knowledge acquisition
Life-long learning
Why Read Aloud
Introduces children
to books, poems, etc.
Provides a model for
pronunciation
Develops vocabulary
Teaches knowledge
of the world and of
books
Builds bonds between
the reader and
listeners
Offers a model of the
joy of reading
Encourages a love for
reading silently/aloud
Reading Rights of
Children
International Reading Association
http://www.reading.org/positions/MA
DMMID.html
2. Children have a right to reading
instruction that builds both skill and the
desire to read increasingly complex
materials
4. Children have the right of access to a
wide variety of books and other reading
material in their classrooms, and in
school and community libraries
How to Read Aloud
A Quick Review
Read Aloud Checklist
Choose good
stories
Practice first
Set the scene
Give title and
author
Read with feeling &
variety
Perhaps,
summarize slow
parts and
paraphrase new
words
Invite participation
before, during
and after reading
Stop at interesting
places
Ask questions,
make
connections,
make comments
Make gestures,
body movements,
sounds
Demonstration
Please see if I do what is in the
checklist
I’m also going to include group activities
Remember: your turn is coming after
this
Question??
For your children or students:
What is the average number of hours
spent daily watching TV, playing
computer games, playing with handheld electronic devices?
Pls explain
Circle of Speakers
Each group member takes a turn to
speak
1 gives an idea
2 gives an idea
1 gives another idea, etc.
T calls on Ss to share partner’s ideas
Advice on Television
by Roald Dahl
The most important thing we've learned,
So far as children are concerned,
Is never, Never, Never, let
Them near your television set - Or
better still, don't install
The idiotic thing at all.
In almost every house we've been,
We've watched them gaping at the
screen.
They loll and slop and lounge about,
And stare until their eyes pop out.
(Last week in someone's place we saw
A dozen eyeballs on the floor.)
They sit and stare and stare and sit
Until they're hypnotized by it,
Until they're absolutely drunk
With all that shocking ghastly junk.
Oh yes, we know it keeps them still,
They don't climb out the window sill,
They never fight, kick or punch,
They leave you free to cook the lunch
And wash the dishes in the sink
But did you ever stop to think,
To wonder just exactly what
This does to your beloved tot?
Task
List advantages and disadvantages of
children watching TV and playing with
electronic devices
Write-Pair-Switch
Each S works alone to write answers (2
mins)
In pairs, Ss share answers (2 mins)
Ss switch partners & share former
partner’s ideas with new partner (2
mins)
IT ROTS THE HEAD!
IT KILLS IMAGINATION DEAD!
IT CLOGS AND CLUTTERS UP THE
MIND!
IT MAKES A CHILD SO DULL AND
BLIND
HE CAN NO LONGER UNDERSTAND
A FANTASY, A FAIRYLAND!
HIS BRAIN BECOMES AS SOFT AS
CHEESE!
HIS POWERS OF THINKING RUST
AND FREEZE!
HE CANNOT THINK - HE ONLY SEES
'All right!' you'll cry, 'All right!' you'll say,
But if we take the set away,
What should we do to entertain
Our darling children! Please explain!
'We'll answer this by asking you,
'What used the darling ones to do?
How used they to keep themselves
contented
Before this monster was invented?'‘
Have you forgotten? Don't you know?
We'll say it very loud and slow:
THEY ...USED...TO ...READ!
They'd READ and READ and READ,
AND READ and READ, AND THEN
PROCEED to READ some more.
Great Scott! Gadzooks!
One half their lives was reading books!
The nursery shelves held books galore!
Books cluttered up the nursery floor!
And in the bedroom, by the bed,
More books were waiting to be read!
Such wondrous, fine fantastic tales
Of dragons, gypsies, queens and
whales
And treasure isles and distant shores
Where smugglers rowed with muffled
oars,
And pirates wearing purple pants,
And sailing ships and elephants,
And cannibals crouching round a pot,
Stirring away at something hot...
Oh books, What books they used to
know,
Those children living long ago!
So please, oh please, we beg, we pray,
Go throw your T.V. set away,
And in its place you can install
A lovely bookshelf on the wall.
Then fill the shelves with lots of books,
Ignoring all the dirty looks,
The screams and yells, the bites and
kicks,
And the children hitting you with sticks -
Fear not, because we promise you
That in about a week or two of having
nothing else to do,
They now begin to feel the need
Of having something good to read.
And once they start - oh boy, oh boy!
You watch the slowly growing joy that
fills their hearts.
They'll grow so keen
They'll wonder what they've ever seen
In that ridiculous machine,
That nauseating, foul, unclean,
Repulsive television screen!
And later, each and every kid will love
you more for what you did.
‘Advice on television’ Extract taken from
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by
Roald Dahl.
Task
Summarize Dahl’s strategy for rescuing
children from the grasp of electronic
monsters
Why is he confident his strategy will
succeed?
Everyone Can Explain
Each member has a #: 1,2,3,4
T asks a question/gives a task
Ss work together to respond
Grp checks that everyone can give &
explain the grp’s response
T calls a #; S with that # gives &
explains their grp’s answer
Read Aloud Checklist
Choose good stories
Practice first
Give title and author
Read with feeling &
variety
Perhaps, summarize
slow parts and
paraphrase new
words
Stop at interesting
places
Invite participation
Ask questions, make
connections, make
comments
Make gestures, body
movements, sounds
Your Turn
Look through the books available.
Choose one - prepare to read it aloud to
a partner - use checklist to prepare.
Take turns reading aloud - your partner
plays the role of a child - you say what
age.
Partner checks you with checklist.
Key Point
Reading aloud is a journey, not a
race
Thus, the longer it takes to finish the
story, the better
The book can be a tool to launch a
conversation, mostly about life, and, to
a lesser extent about language
Why & How to Combine
CL & Reading Aloud
What Is CL?
Ss working together to promote
learning and enjoyment
The principles and techniques that
Ts use to facilitate this
More than just putting Ss in groups
and asking them to cooperate
Principles later in the presentation
More than 100 CL techniques
And, all can be modified
These are generic, for any subject and
age
Why Combine CL &
Reading Aloud by Teachers
Peers can increase each other’s
interest level
Peers can help each other build
understanding
Peers provide an outlet for sharing of
ideas and reactions
Many Ss, not just a few, can speak
Peers can collaborate on tasks related
to the reading
How to Combine CL &
Reading Aloud by Ts
Just a Few of the
Many Ways
Circle of Speakers
Each group member takes a turn to
speak
1 gives an idea
2 gives an idea
1 gives another idea, etc.
T calls on Ss to share partner’s ideas
CL Principles:
Maximum Peer Interaction
In typical class, 80% of time is T talk
When T not talking, usually one S at a time
talking, the S who T called
50 Ss in a class, only 2% of Ss are talking
at one time
Groups increase % of Ss talking. 2 Ss per
group = 50%; 4 Ss per group = 25%
Small groups: usually 2-4
Example: Circle of Speakers
Groups may talk to other groups instead
of or before reporting to T and whole
class
Maximum quality of discussion
CL Principle:
Equal Opportunity to
Participate
1 T can’t give much attention to each S
Partners can listen to each other’s
ideas, answers, problems
To receive attention, Ss need
opportunities to participate
Everyone has an opportunity to
take part
No one is excluded
Example: Circle of Speakers
CL Principle:
Individual Accountability
Everyone needs to do their fair share
No sleeping partners
Pressure from groupmates to learn and share
their learning
Everyone needs to show and tell what they
know and don’t know, what they can and
can’t do
CL Principle:
Positive Interdependenc
Typical class, only T encouraging Ss to try
Sometimes, Ss compete against each other
What hurts one S helps others, such as class
rank
This doesn’t encourage sharing
Sink or swim together
One for all and all for one
Ss support each other
CL Principle:
Heterogenous Grouping
If Ss choose groupmates, they will
usually choose people similar to
themselves
Ss need to be able to work with anyone
We live in a heterogeneous world
Valuing diversity
Task
Create Kinaesthetic Symbols for the 5
principles discussed so far
Kinaesthetic Symbols use mime to
symbolise ideas
One gesture or movement for each key
word
Maximum Peer Interaction
Equal Opportunity to Participate
Individual Accountability
Positive Interdependence
Heterogeneous Grouping
Write-Pair-Switch
Each S works alone to write answers (2
mins)
In pairs, Ss share answers (2 mins)
Ss switch partners & share former
partner’s ideas with new partner (2
mins)
Everyone Can Explain
Each member has a #: 1,2,3,4
T asks a question/gives a task
Ss work together to respond
Grp checks that everyone can give &
explain the grp’s response
T calls a #; S with that # gives &
explains their grp’s answer
Exchange-A-Question
Ss work alone to write one or more
questions.
They write answers to their questions
on another paper.
Ss exchange questions but not
answers.
After Ss have answered their partner’s
questions, they compare answers.
Flowchart
T stops reading at selected points
Ss work alone to write down in words or
drawings (or a combination of the two)
key events they remember
Ss compare what they have written
When the reading is finished, groups
create a flow chart by placing the events
in the correct order
T calls a number; S in each group with
that number uses their flow chart to
retell the story to another groups
Please Thank
Your Partner
Appendix 1
Ideas for Motivating
Children to Read More
1. Share/discuss books you have read.
2. Keep records of children’s reading and
display them in an interesting manner.
3. Display books in a prominent part of the
your house and in children’s rooms.
4. Don’t force reading if kids aren’t in the
mood.
5. Let children listen to CDs, etc. of books
being read aloud.
More Motivational Ideas
6. Children swap books with friends.
7. Children read aloud their favorite
stories to you or read along with you.
8. Recreate a scene of the book through
role play or puppet play or drawing.
9. Design a comic strip/book mark
Appendix 2
Books with Lists of
Read Aloud Books
Honey for a Child’s Heart (includes
annotated list of books for ages 0-14)
Books Children Love
The World through Children’s Books
Great Books about Things Kids Love
Best Books for Children
Books to Grow With
Reading Rainbow Guide to Children’s
Books: The 100 Best Titles
100 Best Books for Children
Best Books for Kids Who Think They
Hate to Read
The Read Aloud Handbook
70 Tried and Tested Great Books to
Read Aloud by Jacqueline Wilson, who
is/was the UK Children's Laureate
published by Corgi, an imprint of
Random House, 2006
Appendix 3
Prediction - Procedure
1. Read aloud the title and the portion of
the text up to the point of prediction. Ask
a question about what will happen next.
2. Children make predictions and provide
reasons for their predictions.
Prediction Clues
Title
Author
Illustrations
Knowledge of the world
Similar stories
Knowledge of the genre
Previous parts of the book
Procedure, continued
3. Read the text until the next prediction
point.
4. Discuss whether children’s prediction
were confirmed or disconfirmed.
Key Point
However, the quality of a prediction is
measured by the reasoning behind the
prediction, not by what actually does
happen next in the story. After all,
stories are just inventions of writers.
Benefits of Prediction
1. Arouses the interest of children
2. Allows children to follow the story
better
3. Encourages careful listening
4. Allows children to interact with the story
5. Promotes logical thinking
6. Promotes creativity