Marcantonio

Mandi Marcantonio
Christine Jasmann
Educ 340.001
1 May 2014
Case Study
Part I:
All teachers are teachers of reading. . .
If someone had told me prior to this semester that, All teachers are teachers of reading. . . I
never would have deemed that statement true. Only I, an English teacher, an educator of
literature could have any influence over a students reading. Math certainly is not about reading;
neither is science, social studies, nor the artsthough subsequent to this semester my views have
been enlightened, due to my experiences and education. I have now learned that every teacher
has a hand in a childs literacy.
My experiences from this semester both as a teacher in the classroom, as well as a student
have taught me that literacy strategies can be effectively applied across the education spectrum.
For instance, all content teachers can use the same comprehension and self-questioning strategies
to guide and extend thinking; the only thing that changes is the subject matter. Self-questioning,
is applicable in all content areas, and is a common reading strategy that consists of creating
questions that guide students thinking while reading. An example of this is, if we are reading a
science experiment, we may wonder what the next step will be, what the outcome of the previous
step might be, what effects a particular action might cause, or what the result of the experiment
might be, (McLaughlin, 112). While this is also a reading comprehension strategy, it can also
be effective in content areas such as science where students may be required to ask questions,
make inferences, and apply more abstract thinking.

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A strategy that is a personal favorite of mine, as well as one I learned, as a high school
student was KWL and KWLS charts. Their simplicity has not only made them easy for students
to construct and understand, but are very accessible across all content areas. It is affirmed that
its purpose include activating students prior knowledge about a topic, setting purposes for
reading and confirming, revising, or expanding original understandings of a topic (McLaughlin,
118). KWL (S) is a three to four-column chart where students ask, What do I know? What do
I want to know? and What have I learned? or What do I still want to know? This strategy
can be applied in any content area, but is commonly used in science and mathematics.
A very visual strategy that helps students learn how to summarize is the Bio-Pyramid.
The Bio Pyramid is a summary format for a persons life requires particular information and a
specific number of words per line and helps them monitor and make connections to the text
that they are reading, (Macon/McLaughlin, 128). I like the Bio-Pyramid because not only does
it help students become better at summarizing, which can be really tricky, but it also creates a
physical flow of important information. It can be used in content areas from Trigonometry to
American Literature. It would be applicable in my English content area by transforming it into a
narrative pyramid. It is pointed out that, Much like the Bio-Pyramid, the graphic organizer
requires particular information and a specific number of words per line. In this case, each line
includes information linked to the narrative elements: characters, setting, problem, events, and
solution, (McLaughlin/Waldo, 128). This is a wonderful graphic organizer that would be fun to
use, and would greatly benefit students in any subject matter they are reading or studying about.
My required textbook readings were not the only experiences I had that transformed my
views on literacy in other content areas; it was an experience in the field that changed my
outlook. A little over a week ago in my seventh grade English class, students were working on

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their science capstones.their science capstones in an English class. I was a little confused
myself, but after walking around and helping students, it occurred to me that they were using the
same graphic organizers and formatting that would normally be used in a Language Arts setting.
In their science class they were gathering information about their research question, and
independently reading books that were linked to their topic. They were using the same
summarizing techniques and outlining concepts in the same way one would do for a novel just in
a different content area with different subject matter. It was then that I physically saw things that
I had learned in literacy classes being used for other content areas, and it all made sense. As
teachers we barrow from each other, and it doesnt matter if you are a Mathematics teacher, a
Science teacher, or an English teacher, the techniques are the same, but how you choose to
modify it to fit your content area is what makes it uniquely yours.
Part II:
How will you use what you learned with your subject area (history, math, art etc.)?
When thinking about the diversity of this class, and the specified content area paths each
one of us has chosen, the question arose, how would we use what we have learned in our
different subject areas? How can we all use the same collaborative techniques and strategies
across such unique content areas? I pondered this and came up with five examples of learned
strategies, techniques, and activities that would support students education in my English
classroom.
During recitation I learned about a series of graphic organizers, and how to monitor
students comprehension through them. Graphic organizers help a wide range of differentiated
learners organize their thoughts in a more visual way, and consist of things like Venn Diagrams,
Two-Dollar Summaries, Cornell Notes, and the Frayer Model, and the RAFT technique all used

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for various stages of a childs education. Graphic organizers help students construct meaning.
We use them to assess students understanding of what they are reading, observe their thinking
process on what they read as a class, as a group, or independently, (Scholastic). I would use
graphic organizers such as Venn Diagrams in my classroom for things like comparing and
contrasting the protagonist and antagonist of a book were reading. Students could also use a
graphic organizer to arrange their thoughts for a paper, and then use peer collaboration to see the
difference in other students maps. I could also have them do a map at the end of the book on the
overall theme, so they can physically see what events took place to get to that theme. Since I am
a left-brain thinker and graphic organizers dont work for me, I would also give students the
option of taking a more linear route if they do not care for the graphic organizers.
Often times, its difficult to extract the main/important points of something in order to
accurately summarize it, so I acquired some strategies that help students determine importance
within a text, such as two-dollar summaries. Two-dollar summaries are an activity where
students write a summary on a given topic and each word worth 10 cents. Teachers can alter this
activity by giving students specific words related to the learning that they must include in their
summaries such as vocabulary words, or they can increase the amount of money given and the
amount words are worth. I would use this strategy all the time in my classroom and maybe even
in my own work! I may have students read a short story and ask them to do a Two-Dollar
Summary and if they use three vocabulary words within their summaries, then they can earn
extra money resulting in extra words. Students would not only be practicing their summarizing
skills but applying their vocabulary words into real contexts.
A game changing strategy I learned was The Cornell Note Taking approach. James
Madison University explains The Cornell method provides a systematic format for condensing

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and organizing notes. The student divides the paper into two columns: the note-taking column
(usually on the right) is twice the size of the questions/key word column (on the left). The
student should leave five to seven lines, or about two inches, at the bottom of the page.
Notes from a lecture or teaching are written in the note-taking column; notes usually consist of
the main ideas of the text or lecture, and long ideas are paraphrased. Long sentences are avoided;
symbols or abbreviations are used instead. To assist with future reviews, relevant questions
(which should be recorded as soon as possible so that the lecture and questions will be fresh in
the student's mind) or key words are written in the key word column. These notes can be taken
from any source of information, such as fiction and nonfiction books, DVDs, lectures, textbooks,
etc. Within 24 hours of taking the notes, the student must revise and write questions and then
write a brief summary in the bottom five to seven lines of the page. This helps to increase
understanding of the topic. When studying for either a test or quiz, the student has a concise but
detailed and relevant record of previous classes. When reviewing the material, the student can
cover the note-taking (right) column while attempting to answer the questions/keywords in the
key word or cue (left) column. The student is encouraged to reflect on the material and review
the notes regularly. I would use them in my content area by having my students create one for
each section of a book we read as a class. I think it is great for asking questions about the text,
and to make inferences, and helps students find the answers to their questions. I also like the
summary aspect of it in that the students are able to recap and summarize what they just read in
relation to the questions they formulated as well. It would also be a really good study tool for
assessments later!
Another technique I learned from recitation was the Frayer Model, which is a graphic
organizer that is designed to help students learn new vocabulary terms or concepts. The West

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Virginia Department of Education notes that, This graphic organizer was designed by Dorothy
Frayer and her colleagues at the University of Wisconsin to provide for a thorough understanding
of new words. Students are asked to provide a Definition of the word, Facts or Characteristics of
the word, Examples, and Nonexamples. This graphic organizer will lead students to a deeper
understanding of a word and its relationship to their own lives. I would use the Frayer Model as
a way of introducing a new chapter or book. Perhaps have one word that describes something in
the book or a specific chapter and have the students do the Frayer model that word. I think this
would be a good introduction strategy because by having them fill out the examples from own
life and characteristics and non-examples from own life might help them relate to the
book/chapter better and they gain a new vocabulary word as well as a new way to describe the
book.
The RAFT technique is one of my favorites because it gives students a fresh way to think
about approaching their writing. It occupies a nice middle ground between standard, dry essays
and free-for-all creative writing. It also can be the way to bring together students' understanding
of main ideas, organization, elaboration, and coherence...in other words, the criteria by which
compositions are most commonly judged. According to Saskatoon Public Schools, RAFT stands
for

Role of the Writer - Who are you as the writer? Are you Sir John A. Macdonald? A
warrior? A homeless person? An auto mechanic? The endangered snail darter?

Audience - To whom are you writing? Is your audience the Canadian people? A friend?
Your teacher? Readers of a newspaper? A local bank?

Format - What form will the writing take? Is it a letter? A classified ad? A speech? A
poem?

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Topic + strong Verb - What's the subject or the point of this piece? Is it to persuade a
goddess to spare your life? To plead for a re-test? To call for stricter regulations on
logging?

Almost all RAFTs writing assignments are written from a viewpoint different from the student's,
to another audience rather than the teacher, and in a form different from the ordinary theme.
Therefore, students are encouraged to use creative thinking and response as they connect their
imagination to newly learned information. If I were to use this technique in my content area I
might have the students do a RAFT on the book The Outsiders. For example,
Role: Choose either Ponyboy, Johnny, Two-Bit, Dally, or Cherry
Audience: 8th Grade English Students
Format: A letter
Topic: Your character's point of view on the Rumble
As I advance farther down the unknown path of the education system, I can now fully
deem true that All teachers are teachers of reading. . . regardless of the specified path we as
individual teachers take. Were all educators of the same things; its just a matter of how you as
a teacher choose to make what youre teaching uniquely you!

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Works Cited
James Madison Unviersity. "The Learning Toolbox." The Learning Toolbox. James Madison
Unviersity Special Education Program, n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2014.
McLaughlin, Maureen. "Using Comprehension Strategies to Guide Thinking." Content Area
Reading: Teaching and Learning in an Age of Multiple Literacies. Boston: Pearson
Education, 2010. 112+. Print.
McLaughlin, Maureen. "Using Comprehension Strategies to Extend Thinking." Content Area
Reading: Teaching and Learning in an Age of Multiple Literacies. Boston: Pearson
Education, 2010. 127+. Print.
Saskatoon Public Schools. "Instructional Strategies Online - RAFT." Instructional Strategies
Online - RAFT. Saskatoon Public Schools, 2009. Web. 27 Apr. 2014.
Scholastic. "Graphic Organizers for Reading Comprehension | Scholastic.com." Scholastic
Teachers. Scholastic Inc., 2014. Web. 27 Apr. 2014.
West Virginia Department of Education. "Frayer Model." Frayer Model. West Virginia
Department of Education, 2014. Web. 26 Apr. 2014.