MS6+Solution

Solution:

Using the various resources provided, teachers can select strategies based on the specific needs of their students. What is essential is that the teacher model the strategy(s) with explicit demonstrations for students, provide guided practice actively engaging students, and having students apply the strategies through independent practice.

Resources to Link Determining Importance thinking Reading Strategies BDA RT (reciprocal teaching) Student Pages Sample of a strategy using a graphic organizer:

MIDAC (Literacy First) Main idea--determine the topic Important information (words in italics, boldface print, underlined words, diagrams, captions and pictures) Disregard trivial information Analyze redundant information Collapse, categorize, and label important information

Procedures: 1. Begin with the basic signal words: who, what, where, when, why, and how. 2. Read section, identify key words for each of the signal words. 3. Circle the most important words / cross out the other words. 4. Take out redundant information. 5. Collapse, categorize and label the important information. Write into a summary.

Student active engagement strategies might include:

Peer Reading / Retelling: Students work as partners. Partner 1 reads a specific section of the passage while Parter 2 listens. After reading section, Partner 2 retells the most important information to Partner 1. Partner 1 verifies if the information is correct. If the information is incorrect, Parter 1 will re-read the section to assist Partner 2 with the retelling. Then the two partners switch roles.

Blogging: After reading sections, students could blog so that they could share their summaries of important information.

Productive Talk Moves: [|Productive Talk Move.doc], [|Productive Talk Moves.doc]

After independent practice, students can monitor their own "fix-up strategies" using the following student survey: [|Fix Up Reading Strategies.doc]

In what ways does the solution support rigorous instruction? Rigor pertains to higher level thinking. We want students to think about their thinking. We want them to become independent thinkers in developing their own questions based on their purpose for reading. A variety of strategies can be used to determine importance of information but students need to be able to identify their purpose and then select the most appropriate strategy based on their need. In real life, students will to be equip to discern what strategies will best meet their purpose.

In what ways does the 21st Century Literacies engage students in deeper understanding? Students need to be able to analyze the parts of the whole and synthesize new learnings. Students need to know that there are a various types of reasoning to approach a situation. Students need to develop inquiry methods and evaluation skills in terms of understanding ideas and determining importance.

In what ways does the solution demonstrate understanding of ACT/KCK standards? Our solutions provide instructors as to how to become very strategic in teaching what students need to know—not just how to pass a test but how to use the skills needed for determining importance as a life skill. We should model / demonstrate, provide guided practice, and independent practice with our students so that they become self-motivated, self-regulated thinkers and doers. As teachers we have to become flexible and adaptable with challenge. We need to monitor and adjust based on our students’ learning needs.