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fall 2000

Skilled Reading: Top-Down, coverBottom-UpPaul Abraham

Learning to Read, Reading to Learn 3Jessica Spohn

Reconsidering Learning Disabilities 5Rachel Martin

“Oh, Ernesto, I Have SomethingWonderful to Tell You”Janet Fischer and Richard Goldberg 9

A Reader Teaches Reading 12Tina Toran

Tools for the Classroom:A First Reading Lesson 14Marcia Chaffee

From Talk to Print: Preparing Studentsto Read with EaseSally Gabb

Getting Strong with the Fortalécete 19CurriculumMaria E.González

Modeling Class Activities for Low 21Level Literacy LearnersLee Haller

Fluency First: Developing 25Independent ReadingAnita Feld

Earlier this year, the reading world bid goodbye to one of itsstalwarts, Jeanne S. Chall, Professor Emerita of Reading from theHarvard Graduate School of Education. Professor Chall had beenactive in reading education for almost 50 years.While Chall’s contri-butions to reading theory and practice were many, from readabilityto stage theory, she was most often identified with the reading wars,the battle fought between those advocating phonics instruction andthose advocating whole language, which relies in part on instructionusing sight words.

Chall’s belief that decoding skills played a key role in the read-ing process forced her into a position of representing phonics. Herview of reading theory, however, always included rich language inputalong with skills in phonics. The reading field seemed to push herinto the role advocating phonics and lost sight of her strong beliefsabout the importance of world knowledge, well-written literature,and developmental stages.

Reading TheoriesReading TheoriesReading TheoriesReading TheoriesReading TheoriesAs guardian of phonics,Professor Chall was often viewed as a

bottom-up theorist, that is, one who emphasized the ability to de-code or put into sound what is seen in a text. Other bottom-up theo-rists included Gough (1972), LaBerge and Samuels (1974). The bot-tom-up model was firmly in place when I learned to read. Teachersemphasized decoding skills and spent almost no time helpingemerging readers recognize what they, as readers, brought to theinformation on the page.

The top-down model of reading does just that, focusing onwhat the readers bring to the process (Goodman, 1967; Smith,1971,1982). The readers sample the text for information and con-

Continued on page 6

Skilled Reading: Top-Down,Bottom-Upby Paul Abraham

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ReadingReadingReadingReadingReading

formerly Bright Ideas

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field notes

Field Notes is a quarterly news-letter that provides a place to shareinnovative practices,new resources,and information within the field ofadult basic education. It is publishedby SABES, the System for Adult Ba-sic Education Support, and fundedby Adult and Community LearningServices (ACLS), MassachusettsDepartment of Education.

The Central Resource Center ofSABES is located at World Educa-tion, 44 Farnsworth Street,Boston,MA 02210.

Opinions expressed in Field Notesare those of the authors and notnecessarily the opinions of SABES orits funders.

Permission is granted to reproduceportions of this newsletter; however,we request appropriate credit to theauthor and Field Notes.

Subscriptions are free to Massachu-setts ABE practitioners. All othersmay subscribe for an annual fee of$8.00. To subscribe, contact JustineSadoff,World Education,44Farnsworth Street, Boston, MA02210. Make checks payable toWorld Education.

Submissions are welcome. If youhave an idea for an article or wish tosubmit a letter to the editor, callLenore Balliro at (617) 482-9485.

We do reserve the right to declinepublication.

Editor: Lenore BalliroLayout: Lenore BalliroSubscriptions: Justine Sadoff

Advisory Board for 2000/2001:Bruce Dahlquist, Lee Haller, MarilynMonteiro, Bonniebelle O’Neal,Susan Peltier, Nancy Tariot

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F o r e w o r d

any of us in adult basic education have found our

way past the useless dichotomy between

phonics and whole language epitomized by the reading wars waged

over the last decade. We have come to accept a more balanced ap-

proach to teaching reading— embracing whole language principles

using literature-rich content while incorporating decoding and other

reading subskills into the instructional practice.

The more we understand about the reading process by examin-

ing how theory and research applies to our practice, the better read-

ing teachers we will become. Understanding how readers make

meaning from the printed page can ground us in our daily teaching

and inform the choices we make in the classroom. We need to clarify

what we believe about language and literacy acquisition so the choices

we make about reading assignments and activities are purposeful.

This issue of Field Notes offers articles by practitioners whose

students range from the newly literate to the college bound. Some

writers, like Lee Haller and Marcia Chafee, offer step-by-step lesson

plans for teaching basic reading, while others, like Paul Abraham and

Jessica Spohn, offer theoretical frameworks for understanding the

reading process. Janet Fischer and Richard Goldberg do a striking

job of illustrating how they apply reading theory principles to their

classroom.

I have also selected Web sites and resource listings with an eye

toward balancing theory and practice. As always, readers of Field

Notes are welcome to express their reactions in subsequent issues of

the newsletter by sending a letter to the editor or contributing an

article.

Though articles on reading assessment are conspicuously ab-

sent, the forthcoming issue of Field Notes will focus entirely on as-

sessment, including the assessment of reading abilities.

M

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fall 2000

s students complete the ar-duous task of passing the

GED or completing an alter-native high school diploma, theyhave acquired a wide range of read-ing comprehension skills and theyhave achieved an important mile-stone. Some students will want tocontinue in postsecondary educa-tion. But often, teachers have notintroduced the reading skills andstrategies these students will needto succeed in a college setting. Col-lege students have to cope with alarge amount of reading, withlengthy texts in scientific, historical,and technical areas.

In this article, I will discussstrategies and skills in reading in-struction for students moving froma small and often supportive adultbasic education classroom into alarge and often impersonal collegesetting.

How Do You Feel at theHow Do You Feel at theHow Do You Feel at theHow Do You Feel at theHow Do You Feel at theEnd of This Paragraph?End of This Paragraph?End of This Paragraph?End of This Paragraph?End of This Paragraph?

Read the italicized text belowfrom a computer manual:

The Print dialog box is whereyou also set the size attribute ratios.These settings are percentage mul-tipliers used to scale the currentfont whenever relative size at trib-utes are applied. For example, ifthe current font has a size of 10points, and the Large size attributesratio in the Print Preferences dia-logue box is set to 120%, then anywhere the Large attribute is appliedin the document, the character sizechanges to 12 points, which is 120%of 10 points (10 * 120% = 12).

Ready to read on with confi-dence and comprehension or areyou ready to cry, give up or asksomeone for help? Is this how yourstudent feels when an instructorassigns a reading from a collegetext? Using my computer, I checkedthe readability score of this docu-ment. It has about an 11th gradelevel equivalency, suggesting thatmost 11th graders could read andunderstand the passage. So with amasters degree in education, Ishould be able to read and compre-hend this passage with ease.

But I can’t. I can’t read andunderstand this passage withoutaccessing an array of comprehen-sion skills and strategies that I don’tuse every day. I have to be an activeand strategic reader. I have to askand answer certain questions anddraw on certain reading skills thatwill help me read independently.Below is a list of these strategies andskills, drawn from Bloom’s Tax-onomy, that I must use to under-stand the paragraph. The sameskills can be taught to students asthey encounter unfamiliar, chal-lenging texts.

1.Why Am I Reading1.Why Am I Reading1.Why Am I Reading1.Why Am I Reading1.Why Am I ReadingThis?This?This?This?This?

Why do I need or want to readthis text: what’s in it for me both asan immediate goal and as a part ofwho I am and what I want? Answer-ing this question creates a contextfor becoming an active reader. Itsets a purpose for reading and es-tablishes motivation. It moves meaway from passively accepting the

text, which limits comprehension.I am making the choice to read,comprehend, and use the informa-tion I learn from the text. Answer-ing thewhy helps me, and anyreader, accept the discomfort thatcomes from not immediately know-ing how to approach the text.

Why should I read the com-puter paragraph? As an immediategoal, I need to know how to use mycomputer and I can’t always rely onother people to help me trouble-shoot. In the longer term, using thecomputer is part of my job, and Iwant a sense of independence andaccomplishment. So I will endurethe discomfort I will experience inthe process of finding the skills tohelp me understand this passage.

Helping students to establish areason for enduring difficult texts,even when the immediate goal isn’treadily apparent, is a good first steptoward developing active readingskills.

2.What T2.What T2.What T2.What T2.What Type oype oype oype oype of Tf Tf Tf Tf Text Am Iext Am Iext Am Iext Am Iext Am IReading?Reading?Reading?Reading?Reading?

To help me comprehend thecomputer paragraph, I must identifythe type of text so I can use appro-priate reading strategies. I know thatI am reading a technical passage thatinvolves math, so I will read me-thodically to get specific informa-tion and analyze information fromtables, formulas, equations, under-stand specialized vocabulary.

Students, too, must identifythe type of text they are reading so

Learning to Read, Reading to Learnby Jessica Spohn

Continued on page 4

A

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field notes

they can select different skills nec-essary for reading in differentgenres. Reading a novel is differentfrom reading a technical manual,and teachers need to teach thesedifferences explicitly. In my case,identifying my paragraph as an ex-cerpt from a dreaded but necessarymanual-like book, Using Word Per-fect, sets me up for doing a certainkind of reading

3.What Do I Already3.What Do I Already3.What Do I Already3.What Do I Already3.What Do I AlreadyKnow About This?Know About This?Know About This?Know About This?Know About This?

I draw upon my prior knowl-edge of computers and my personalexperiences with computers to helpme understand the paragraph. Thisreflection, along with my knowledgeof the type of text—the dreadedtechnical manual— allows me to un-derstand the vocabulary in context.The words dialog, attribute, andcharacter have many meanings, butI understand that this is a manual oncomputers, not a poem by Shakes-peare, so I read accordingly.

Students, too, must accesstheir prior knowledge of a topic andof the type 0f text they are reading.They can ask: “What do I alreadyknow about this subject? When have

I read a similar kind of book, andhow did I do it?” Teachers can assiststudents in activating their priorknowledge through prereading ac-tivities. They can also help increasea student’s knowledge of a difficultsubject by reading lower-level ma-terials to build that missing knowl-edge base. Students can learn to dothis themselves by seeking out ma-terials on a similar subject written ata lower level in order to build back-ground knowledge.

4.How Can I Get the Big4.How Can I Get the Big4.How Can I Get the Big4.How Can I Get the Big4.How Can I Get the BigPicture of What I’ll BePicture of What I’ll BePicture of What I’ll BePicture of What I’ll BePicture of What I’ll BeReading?Reading?Reading?Reading?Reading?

In my case, I’m trying to un-derstand a short excerpt from alonger manual. Still, it helps me toskim the manual so I know how thatparagraph fits into the longer text.Then I can locate more informationif I need to.

If students can establish a bigpicture for what they are reading,they can increase their comprehen-sion of, say, a chapter of a text. Theycan skim the chapter for basic ideas,scan for specific information, usetitles and headlines to predict whatthey will be reading about. By estab-lishing a kind of scaffold beforereading, their chances of under-standing that chapter are much bet-

ter than if they open to page oneand start reading.

5.How W5.How W5.How W5.How W5.How Will I Evaluate theill I Evaluate theill I Evaluate theill I Evaluate theill I Evaluate theMaterial I am Reading ?Material I am Reading ?Material I am Reading ?Material I am Reading ?Material I am Reading ?

In the case of the computerparagraph, my ability to evaluate thecause-effect relationship and toverify the value of evidence in thispassage will allow me to apply it to aconcrete situation when I need to. IfI have read the paragraph correctly,I should be able to set the six at-tribute ratios for my fonts. If I can’tdo it, I have to read it over again.

When students read longerand more complex materials—socialsciences, history, applied sciences,for example, they will have to use avariety of reading skills: they willhave to evaluate fact vs. opinion andassess the value of theories. Theywill have to compare and discrimi-nate between ideas and theoriesbased on following and evaluatingreasoned arguments. All of theseskills need modeling and explicitteaching in the GED or ASE class-room because they do not come asnaturally as, say, reading a story ornarrative.

To read my computer para-graph successfully, I had to draw onskills I don’t use regularly. As anadvanced reader, I access thoseskills unconsciously. But our stu-dents must learn these skillsthrough explicit exposure and prac-tice, if they are to succeed in collegelevel reading.

Jessica Spohn has worked in educationfor 15 years. She currently coordinatesthe ABE-to-College Transition Projectat the NELRC/World Education andcan be reached at (617) 482-9485or <jspohn@worlded.org>.

Learning to Read...Learning to Read...Learning to Read...Learning to Read...Learning to Read...continued from page 3

Bloom’Bloom’Bloom’Bloom’Bloom’s Ts Ts Ts Ts TaxonomyaxonomyaxonomyaxonomyaxonomyBloom’s Taxonomy is a useful rubric for teaching reading to students whoplan to go on to post secondary education. For a clear and useful chartillustrating Bloom’s taxonomy with implications for teaching reading, go tothe following Web sites:

<www<www<www<www<www.coun.uvic.ca/lear.coun.uvic.ca/lear.coun.uvic.ca/lear.coun.uvic.ca/lear.coun.uvic.ca/learn/program/hndouts/bloom.html>n/program/hndouts/bloom.html>n/program/hndouts/bloom.html>n/program/hndouts/bloom.html>n/program/hndouts/bloom.html><www<www<www<www<www.ops.org/reading/blooms_taxonomy.ops.org/reading/blooms_taxonomy.ops.org/reading/blooms_taxonomy.ops.org/reading/blooms_taxonomy.ops.org/reading/blooms_taxonomy.html>.html>.html>.html>.html>

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fall 2000

uring a workshop at an adult literacy program

located within a two- yearcollege, each teacher presentvoiced the assumption that the ma-jority of her students were learningdisabled. This conclusion wasbased on such evidence as the factthat a student had been in the pro-gram a long time with littleprogress, was unable to rememberwhat she’s learned in an earlierclass, or had a “case history ofmental illness or participation inspecial education classes.” Once thepreliminary “diagnosis” was made,the student was sent to the “specialNeeds Center” at the local collegefor a “battery” of exams includingthe IQ test.

Included among other criteriacommonly used to identify learningdisabled students are: loose thoughtpatterns; disoriented in time; oftenlate; cannot retain new information

Reconsidering Learning Disabilities

without excessive rehearsal andpractice; seems restless, shifts po-sition often during reading tasks;halting and jerky reading style.

My own reading of the dis-course of “learning disabilities”owes much to the works of PeterJohnston (1985) and Gerald Coles(1987). It was Johnston’s Under-standing Reading Disability thatfirst allowed me to consider thatreading ability might have more todo with factors such as attitude, mo-tivation, strategies, and situationsthan neurological dysfunction. And Ihave seen teachers in programs inwhich I have worked apply the term“learning disabled” to nearly everystudent they teach, with no morerationale than that used by the pro-gram mentioned at the beginning ofthis section. That may be becausethis is easier than seeing our ownstrategies and classroom structuresas ineffective. I believe this situa-

tion results from a literacy field thatassumes anyone who can read and“cares” can teach reading, and itplaces underprepared tutors andteachers in untenable circum-stances, where learning disabilityseems the only explanation for “fail-ure to progress.”

by Rachel Martin

Classroom Tip: Responding to ReadingAfter literal comprehension questions, then what? The following suggestions can help stimulate com-

plex discussions of texts, particularly fiction. Some of these questions can help students present an opinionand support it with reasoning, a skill that can be extended to nonfiction reading as well. These questionswere adapted from the Web site <www.covington.k12.tn.us/resources/word/hots6.htm>

This excerpt is from Rachel Martin’sforthcoming book: Listening Up:Reinventing Ourselves as Teachersand Students, Heinemann, January,2001. Rachel Martin teaches writingto adults and facilitates staff devel-opment in radical pedagogy and cur-riculum design.

D

Notes:Coles, G. (1987). The learning mystique:A critical look at learning disabilities. NewYork: Pantheon Books.

Johnston, P (1985). Understanding read-ing disability: A case study approach.

Harvard Ed Review. 55 (2) (pp.153-177).

√ As a prereading activity, have students read the title of a story only and create their own storiesfrom it. Compare them to the original.

√ Ask students: Decide which character in the story would like to spend a day with and why.

√ Ask students to decide if the story really could have happened and why.

√ Ask students to explain why a character in a story acted as he or she did.

√ Ask students to compare the story with another one the student has read.

√ Ask students to wrtie a letter to one of the characters in the story offering adviceor information.

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field notes

trast it with their world knowledge,helping to make sense of what iswritten. The focus here is on thereaders as they interact with the text.For those reading theorists whorecognized the importance of boththe text and the reader in the read-ing process, an amalgamation of thetwo emerged—the interactive ap-proach. The interactivemodel (Rumelhart, 1977;Stanovich, 1980) stressedboth what is on the writtenpage and what a readerbrings to it using both top-down and bottom-up skills.

Chall, who actually tooka more interactive stance inthe great debate, served on ablue ribbon panel thathelped create Becoming a Nation ofReaders in 1985. These readingtheorists and practitioners de-scribed skilled reading as construc-tive—that is, the reader constructsmeaning from and makes sense ofthe printed page. The panel alsodescribed skilled readers as fluent,strategic, and motivated. Moreover,they suggested that skilled readerspractice, develop, and refine theirreading over their lifetime.

More than a decade and a halflater, these descriptors still illus-trate the reading process for skilledreaders. I’d like to apply these te-nets to a reading lesson, and I havedivided the lesson into before, dur-ing, and after reading.

Before ReadingBefore ReadingBefore ReadingBefore ReadingBefore ReadingSkilled reading is construc-Skilled reading is construc-Skilled reading is construc-Skilled reading is construc-Skilled reading is construc-

t i v et i v et i v et i v et i v eThe notion of constructing

knowledge refocuses the locus ofcontrol in the reading process on

the reader. It is not enough forreaders to decode the informationfrom the text, but rather they mustbring to mind their own worldknowledge and worldview. It de-mands that the teachers activatetheir students’ schema— that is,help students recognize the knowl-edge that they already have aboutthe topic of a text. This would be

akin to the building of a foundationin the process of construction.

Activating knowledge about atopic is particularly important forsecond language readers whoseworld knowledge often far exceedstheir linguistic skills. Teachers needto provide opportunities for allreaders to think, write, or discusswhat they know about the topic ofthe reading. In addition, teachersneed to focus the students’ attentionon features of the text that can aid inbuilding a scaffold for what they willread: titles, photographs or illus-trations, and if appropriate, theactual structure of the text. (Forexample, a newspaper is structureda certain way that facilitates skim-ming, scanning, and locating spe-cific information; a textbook useschapter titles and subheads to orga-nize topics and concepts.)

Skilled readers are strategicSkilled readers are strategicSkilled readers are strategicSkilled readers are strategicSkilled readers are strategicTeachers can help students

recognize the great variation inher-

ent in the reading process and tounderstand that we do not read eachpiece of writing in the sameway. For example, quite differentskills are needed to locate and readthe list of show times for a new filmin the newspaper than to read ajournal article on cell properties.Teachers can serve as guides to thevariety of skills and processes usedin reading. They can pose questions

to help students reflecton their readingprocesses: Why arewe reading this par-ticular text? Whatinformation do weneed to glean fromit? How closely dowe need to read? Itis important to helpESOL readers, whomay not have even

basic literacy in their first language,to understand differences amongtexts and to vary the reading skillsthey use.

Skilled readers are motivatedSkilled readers are motivatedSkilled readers are motivatedSkilled readers are motivatedSkilled readers are motivatedThis descriptor focuses the

teacher of reading on the selectionof material. Obviously, selectingrelevant and interesting material forreaders is key to their engagementin the process. But teachers canimprove student motivation by cre-ating classroom opportunities forsustained silent reading (SSR).In-class SSR, widely used in publicschools, can also be part of an adultreading program. This type ofreading had been shown to be ef-fective for ESOL readers (Pingreen& Krashen, 1993; Mason &Krashen, 1997).

Class time during which stu-dents are allowed to choose theirown reading material should be

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...skilled readers practice,develop, and refine their reading

over their lifetime.

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fall 2000

consistently scheduled. Over time,teachers can create a class librarywith popular material. Double cop-ies would be helpful so that studentswith similar interests can discussthe same book or article. The classlibrary can be filled with newspa-pers and magazines as well as novelsand adult literature.

During ReadingDuring ReadingDuring ReadingDuring ReadingDuring ReadingSkilled readers are fluentSkilled readers are fluentSkilled readers are fluentSkilled readers are fluentSkilled readers are fluent

Fluency in reading is a balancebetween the skillful decoding andongoing comprehension. This flu-ency assumes that the decoding ofmost words the reader encountersis automatic. Readers have only alimited amount of cognitive energyto use during the process. If theyspend most of their time on decod-ing, then they have no energy leftfor connecting the ideas of the textto make meaning. Therefore, beingfluent demands that readers haveinternalized decoding and can

and shape. I then explained thatthese headings could serve as aguide for his notetaking. He lookedat me in amazement and said, “Whata good idea!”

This type of direct explanationof what you, yourself, do as a profi-cient reader is often very helpfulfor your students: using graphiccues, note-taking, rereading, andsummarizing paragraphs or sec-tions. Having students read thesummary at the end of a textbookchapter first, for example, providesa good overview. It can help create aschema for students as they ap-proach the beginning of the chap-ter.

Think Aloud ProtocolThink Aloud ProtocolThink Aloud ProtocolThink Aloud ProtocolThink Aloud ProtocolModeling your own reading

process might also serve your stu-dents. You could choose a text thatthe whole class might be readingand go through a public think-aloud.In other words, tell the studentswhat you are thinking as you read atext for the first time. I would sug-gest that you practice on a text toprepare yourself. However, as youshare your own process with thestudents, you should use an unfa-miliar text to make the task moreauthentic.

After ReadingAfter ReadingAfter ReadingAfter ReadingAfter ReadingThe typical postreading exer-

cise tends to focus on comprehen-sion exercises. I would suggest thatrather than short answer or mul-tiple choice exercises, readersmight be asked to think about a vi-sual representation of the text: afolded paper with pros and cons; aVenn diagram with traits and simi-larities; a web map with several dif-ferent ideas connected by arrows.

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focus conscious energy on compre-hension. Decoding can be particu-larly problematic for second lan-guage learners because they oftenhave a very limited oral based lexi-con.

A number of exercises canhelp readers improve their auto-matic processing skills. Theseinclude identification exercises,matching words, identifying parts ofwords, and flash cards for sightwords. (Editor’s note: See LeeHaller’s article on page 21 for ex-amples of reading exercises.)

Making It Concrete:Making It Concrete:Making It Concrete:Making It Concrete:Making It Concrete:Using Post-itsUsing Post-itsUsing Post-itsUsing Post-itsUsing Post-its

To improve top-down skills,ESOL teacher Judy Powers has herstudents use post-it notes to mark atext as they are reading. The nota-tions on the post-its include: askinga question, answering a question,creating a mental picture, express-ing opinion, connecting to life, andconnections to reading. These“notes” could include key informa-tion, a new vocabulary item, inter-ersting descriptions, or whateverfocus seems appropriate. Althoughstudents read on their own, theyreview their reading process byusing post-its, also making theirreading a more active process.

I remember once helping astudent who was studying a chapterin an introductory text for a collegecourse. I asked him how he learnedthe materials. He responded that heread the chapter through. I askedwhat he did next, and he re-sponded that he read the chapter asecond time. I then asked if hetook notes and he said no. I sug-

gested that he examine the head-ings throughout the chapter andnotice the differences in font size

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field notes

Bloom’s TBloom’s TBloom’s TBloom’s TBloom’s TaxonomyaxonomyaxonomyaxonomyaxonomyPost reading activities and

questions should also take into ac-count the six-level hierarchy ofskills that Bloom suggests in his tax-onomy. The first level is knowl-edge, which includes recall or rec-ognition of information. The nextlevel, commonly used in post-read-ing tasks, is comprehension, wherethe reader might explain, describe,or rephrase a text. The next fourlevels focus on the following:� application application application application application, where the readerapplies the information learned inthe text;� analysis analysis analysis analysis analysis,,,,, where the readerwould make inferences or derivegeneralizations;� synthesis synthesis synthesis synthesis synthesis, where the readercombines several ideas; and

NotesNotesNotesNotesNotes

Anderson, R.C., Hiebert, E., Scott,J., & Wilkinson, I. (1985). Becominga nation of readers. Washington,DC: National Institute of Education.

Goodman, K.S. (1967). Reading: Apsycholinguistic guessing game.Journal of the Reading Specialist, 6,126-135.

Gough, P.B. (1972). One second ofreading. In J.F. Kavanagh &I.G.Mattingly (eds.),Language by earand by the eye (pp.331—358). Cam-bridge, MA: MIT Press.

LaBerge, D. & Samuels, S.J. (1974).Toward a theory of automatic infor-mation processing in reading. Cog-nitive Psychology, 6, 293—323.

Mason, B. & Krashen, S. (1997).Extensive reading in English as aforeign language. System, 25,91—102.

Pingreen, J. & Krashen, S. (1993)Sustained silent reading. SchoolLibrary Media Quarterly, 22, 21–23.

Rumelhart, D.E. (1977). Toward aninteractive model of reading. In S.Dornic (ed.), Attention and perfor-mance VI (pp.573—603). Hillsdale,NJ: Lawrence Erlaum.

Smith F, (1971).Understandingreading. New York; Holt, Rinehart &Winston.

Stanovich, K.E. (1980). Toward aninteractive-compensatory model ofindividual differences in the devel-opment of reading fluency. ReadingResearch Quarterly, 16, 32-71.

� evaluationevaluationevaluationevaluationevaluation, where the readerjudges the value or importance of atext.

These levels provide a simpleyet helpful guide to the types ofquestions that you might ask afterreading.

ConclusionConclusionConclusionConclusionConclusionSkilled readers practice, de-

velop, and refine their reading overtheir lifetime. This summative de-scriptor indicates the importance ofpractice to develop expertise inreading. With support, practice andinspirations, all readers can im-prove.

Paul Abraham is the Director of theMaster of Arts in Teaching ESL and theChair of the Education and HumanServices Department at SimmonsCollege. He can be reached at<paul.abraham@simmons.edu>

Skilled Reading...Skilled Reading...Skilled Reading...Skilled Reading...Skilled Reading...Continued from page 7

What is Sustained Silent Reading?What is Sustained Silent Reading?What is Sustained Silent Reading?What is Sustained Silent Reading?What is Sustained Silent Reading?

Sustained silent reading (SSR) is a time set aside in the class-room for students to read on their own. Even 15 minutes of SSRis worthwhile.

Students select something suitable and interesting toread,preferably a whole book.

Teachers may or may not have students keep dialogue journalson what they read. Teachers’ responses to the journals affordindividual attention.

Research has suggested that SSR is valuable in helping studentsprogress in reading and in helping second language studentsacquire language proficiency.

Having students read on their own allows brief periods forteachers to work on portfolio assessments or to have individualconferences with students.

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fall 2000

Oh, Ernesto, I Have Something Wonderful toTell You: Making Higher Level Readers Out ofLower Level Learnersby Janet Fischer and Richard Goldberg

Continued on page 10

s teachers in Boston’sAsian American Civic Asso-

ciation, we work with im-migrant adult learners at a readinglevel of 3—4, the grade levelequivalents used by the Massachu-setts Department of Education.Richard’s level I class is slightlylower than Janet’s level II class. Inthis article, we will provide somepractical, classroom-based ideasfor teaching higher-order readingskills to lower level readers who arenonnative speakers of English.

Richard shows how to get stu-dents to read and respond to awhole book on work and family is-sues. Janet shows how to take astudent-generated text and providereading and writing activities tobuild background knowledge in or-der to increase comprehension.

Joining the Literacy ClubJoining the Literacy ClubJoining the Literacy ClubJoining the Literacy ClubJoining the Literacy ClubOur common goals are to help

lower-level learners, in FrankSmith’s words, to “join the literacyclub,” that is, to make reading moreenjoyable, to engage with texts, to gobeyond the wall of print barrier of“too many new words,” and to ac-quire the kinds of reading strategiesnecessary for success at higher lev-els of education and employment.We don’t see these goals as mutuallyexclusive, and we believe teachersshouldn’t focus on one at the ex-pense of the other.

Linking Theory toLinking Theory toLinking Theory toLinking Theory toLinking Theory toPractice: RichardPractice: RichardPractice: RichardPractice: RichardPractice: Richard

In my level I ABE class, stu-dents read Woman’s Work, Man’sWork by Roseanne Keller (NewReaders Press), a small “chapterbook” focusing on the difficultiesfaced by an immigrant family. Thehusband, laid off and unable to findwork, is forced to stay home andtake care of the couple’s three chil-dren, while his wife works full-timeto support the family.

First Steps: Content andFirst Steps: Content andFirst Steps: Content andFirst Steps: Content andFirst Steps: Content andFormal SchemataFormal SchemataFormal SchemataFormal SchemataFormal Schemata

Since none of the students hadever read an entire book in English,we thought it useful to bring somereading theory into the classroom tosupport our view that meaning is notfound in individual words or textsbut as part of an interactive processbetween a reader’s backgroundknowledge and the text (Carrel &Eisterhold, 1983). First we exam-ined content schemata (whatreaders already know about thesubject they’re reading). Studentseasily wrote examples of “woman’swork” and “man’s work,” both intheir native countries and in theUnited States, and they were askedif they ever knew of a woman whodid “man’s work” or a man who did“woman’s work.” We also discussedhow different societies would view

men and women in these situations.These activities provided much use-ful information for a future lessonon changing gender roles.

Next, we used formal sche-mata (knowledge of the organiza-tional structures of different kindsof texts—for example, how a book isdifferent from a poem).

Students were asked to skimthe entire book by looking at thefront cover (a picture of an exasper-ated house husband), table of con-tents, names of chapters, pictures,and reading small sections, such asany chapter’s first and last para-graphs. Each student then sharedher/his findings with the class. Fi-nally, we tried to predict the contentof each of the seven chapters bywriting one sentence summariesbased on the titles (“The BrokenDream,” “Anger,” “Change ofHeart,”etc.) and to predict the end-ing from the last line of the book,“Oh, Ernesto, I have somethingwonderful to tell you.”

Students read the book in dif-ferent ways: through sustained si-lent reading in class, by reading afew paragraphs aloud “round-robinstyle,” by listening to the teacherread aloud, and by reading assignedchapters at home. All in-class read-ing followed a strict “no dictionar-ies” policy. If students encountereddifficult new words or idioms, they

ANote: Because this article was written by two teachers, we have indicated authorship of each section in the subheadings.

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field notes

Oh Ernesto. . .Oh Ernesto. . .Oh Ernesto. . .Oh Ernesto. . .Oh Ernesto. . .Continued from page 9

Continued on page 11

The challenge is to find themesthat all students can relate to.

would underline them and try toguess meanings from context withthe rest of the class, or they wouldtry a “list it and skip it” approach ofwriting the word in their readingjournal and looking up the meaninglater. (For an excellent list of strate-gies that can be used before, during,and after reading, seeAuerbach and Paxton(1997).

Reading andReading andReading andReading andReading andWWWWWriting asriting asriting asriting asriting asInteractive SkillsInteractive SkillsInteractive SkillsInteractive SkillsInteractive Skills

In all our classroomwork, we use reading and writingtogether, not as discrete skills.Among the writing assignments wasa letter to either Carmen orErnesto, the two main characters, inwhich students would give their re-actions to the husband’s or wife’splight and offer suggestions to im-prove their respective situations.After reading the book, studentswere asked to write their own end-ing to the story and predict whatmight happen to Carmen, Ernestoand their children in the next fewyears. Finally, they did a longerpiece of writing to explain how theywould deal with the problem of jobloss and shifting child care obliga-tions if those situations surfaced intheir own families.

Narrow ReadingNarrow ReadingNarrow ReadingNarrow ReadingNarrow ReadingThese activities were not done

in a vacuum but were part of longerunits on the changing family andworking in the United States.Through this kind of “narrow read-ing,” investigating a topic in depth

by reading multiple genres—a shortbook, a newspaper article, a poem—students are able to increase theirbackground knowledge and transferboth content and formal schematato more challenging readings. Al-though we do only one chapter ofthe book in class every day, eachtime we read this book I have alwaysnoticed that many students arereading it at a faster pace on their

own, proving that if the materialconnects with their realities, stu-dents often do more independentreading.

Using Student-GeneratedUsing Student-GeneratedUsing Student-GeneratedUsing Student-GeneratedUsing Student-GeneratedWWWWWriting as Class Triting as Class Triting as Class Triting as Class Triting as Class Texts:exts:exts:exts:exts:JanetJanetJanetJanetJanet

At the beginning of each newclass cycle, I try to establish a strongfoundation for reading. For ex-ample, we begin the first class daywith a reading assignment inte-grated with a writing assignment.Although most students are Chi-nese, we often have non-Asian stu-dents in our classes. The challengeis to find themes that all studentscan relate to. For my students, im-migrating to the United States is auniversal experience; therefore, Ichoose readings related to thistheme. What follows reflects a com-bination of in-class and at-homereading activities.

Students begin by writingabout the thoughts they had about

the United States before they immi-grated here. We next list all of thestudents’ responses on the board.The following class, students aregiven a photocopy of the list theygenerated from the previous class.This list enables students to readtheir classmates’ responses andvalidate their own ideas in print. Wethen discuss similarities and differ-ences among the group. Students

respond very positivelyto this activity becausethey receive immedi-ate feedback fromtheir peers. It alsoencourages them torelate their experi-ences to their peers’and prepares them torespond to subse-

quent class readings at more chal-lenging levels.

We continue the theme with apublished reading assignment usingtwo excerpts from I Was Dreamingto Come to America: Memoriesfrom the Ellis Island Oral HistoryProject .New York: Puffin Books,1995. Students read about the ex-pectations and thoughts of two im-migrants who arrived at Ellis Islandin 1920. They also read a short bi-ography of each of the immigrants.After referring to their earlier re-sponses in the opening activity, theywrite a short letter to one of theseimmigrants. In their letter, theyexplain how they can identify withthe writer’s feelings or experiencesand how they themselves reacted intheir own situations. Using letterwriting provides students with aclear audience for their writing,making it easier to determine tone,level of formality, and other choicesany writer has to make.

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fall 2000

Oh, Ernesto. . .Oh, Ernesto. . .Oh, Ernesto. . .Oh, Ernesto. . .Oh, Ernesto. . .Continued from page 10

N o t e sN o t e sN o t e sN o t e sN o t e s

Auerbach, E. & Paxton,D.(1997) Itsnot the English thing”: Bringingreading research into the ESL class-room. TESOL Quarterly, 31( 2), 7237–261.

Carrell, P. & Eisterhold, J.(1983)Schema theory and ESL readingpedagogy.TESOL Quarterly, 17 (4),553–573.

Janet Fischer is an ABE teacher andRichard Goldberg is ABE ProgramCoordinator and teacher at the AsianAmerican Civic Association in Boston.They can be reached by email at<jfischer@boston.quik.com> and<goldber@massed.net.>

The follow-up reading is alonger student-generated text froma former ABE student. We discussstudents’ reactions to this student’sexperiences, again drawing com-parisons and contrasts. As a finalactivity, we create a chart com-paring the three writers to the classmembers, examining country; agewhen immigrated; thoughts beforecoming to the U.S.; hopes for thefuture; and advice/suggestions foreach person. Through the use ofthis graphic, we look for common-alities. The use of a chart also pro-vides students with a differentreading skill: locating informationfrom a graphic, which is organizeddifferently from a narrative.

Recycling VRecycling VRecycling VRecycling VRecycling VocabularyocabularyocabularyocabularyocabularyBy following one relevant

theme for a period of time, we cre-ated a context that helped studentsincrease their comprehension ofthe reading matter. Vocabulary is

Pre-Reading StrategiesPre-Reading StrategiesPre-Reading StrategiesPre-Reading StrategiesPre-Reading Strategies♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ Accessing prior knowledge

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ Writing your way into reading (Writing about your experiences related to the topic)

♦♦♦♦♦ Asking questions based on the title

♦♦♦♦♦ Making predictions based on previewing

♦♦♦♦♦ Identifying text structure

♦♦♦♦♦ Skimming for the general idea

♦♦♦♦♦ Reading the introduction and conclusion first

During Reading StrategiesDuring Reading StrategiesDuring Reading StrategiesDuring Reading StrategiesDuring Reading Strategies♦♦♦♦♦ Skipping unknown words; guessing from context

♦♦♦♦♦ Predicting the main idea of each paragraph

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ Drawing pictures to show what you see in your

mind’s eye

After Reading StrategiesAfter Reading StrategiesAfter Reading StrategiesAfter Reading StrategiesAfter Reading Strategies♦♦♦♦♦ Revising prereading expectations

♦♦♦♦♦ Making an outline, chart, map, or diagram of the organization of the text

♦♦♦♦♦ Retelling what you think the author is saying

♦♦♦♦♦ Relating the text to your own experience

Sample Reading StrategiesSample Reading StrategiesSample Reading StrategiesSample Reading StrategiesSample Reading StrategiesThe following day, students do

a variation on a role-play using writ-ing instead of talking. Each studentexchanges her letter with a partnerand takes on the role of the immi-grant her partner wrote to. Studentswrite responses to their partner’sletter addressing specific issues,concerns, or challenges their part-ners have faced. These student-generated texts give students op-portunities to read more authentictexts with a controlled level of dic-tion. Depending on the class, wewill do up to two “letter exchanges”to reinforce their reading and writ-ing skills from multiple perspec-tives.

naturally recycled when you use atheme, so students have thechance to see new words re-peated in different readings.Using student-generated texts isa natural way to keep the level ofdiction low enough for studentsto read with ease. By introducingpublished material on the sametheme, they have the opportunityfor exposure to language some-what beyond their reach. Bycombining reading and writing asinteractive activities, students seethe connection between the two.All of these strategies with low-level students help set the stagefor higher order reading skills.

(based on Auerbach and Paxton,1997)

Using ChartsUsing ChartsUsing ChartsUsing ChartsUsing Charts

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12

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field notes

ne of my first memories

is sitting in my mother’s lap while she read to me.This one-on-one connection couldnot have lasted for long, because Ihave five younger sisters, but aseed of joy, contentment, andwonder was planted then, and Ihave been a reader ever since.

From childhood I rememberThe Five LittlePeppers, LittleWomen, LittleMen (I lovedLittle Men,probably be-cause there wereso many femalesin our house),and The BobbseyTwins. When Iwas old enoughto baby-sit I was addicted to NancyDrew books. I made $.75 an hour,so I would sit and count on thehour (75, 1.50, 2.25, 3.00...) tocalculate how much money I wasmaking so I could figure out howmany new Nancy Drew mysteries Icould buy. I HATED finishing onewithout a proper backup. As anadult, I still read just about any-thing I can get my hands on, but Ican always count on Pat Conroy,Anne Lamott, Tom Robbins, and Ican read J.D. Salinger over andover.

Reading in Pre-GEDReading in Pre-GEDReading in Pre-GEDReading in Pre-GEDReading in Pre-GEDOne of the reasons I love

teaching a pre-GED class is that Ican incorporate my love of litera-ture into my teaching. I teach pre-

GED at the Adult Collaborative ofCape Cod for Educational SupportServices (ACCCESS) program. Pre-GED covers the same basic materialthat the GED program covers, butwe move at a slower and more thor-ough pace. Each student has a dif-ferent educational background, hasdifferent strengths and challenges,and learns at a different rate. While

the core lesson of the day is thesame for all, the students work withthe material at a level that they areable to handle. We also have tutorsin the classroom to assist with thistype of divergence.

My time with students in classis limited to two times per week,three hours per session, and mostof my students have so many familyand work obligations that I cannotassign any substantial homework.Therefore, I have a very small win-dow of opportunity to share my pas-sion, expose my class to differentforms of literature, and prepare forthe GED examination. Further,some students find the Literatureand Arts section very difficult. Re-cently, though, I have found someinteresting ways to bring my ownreading into my pre-GED class and

still make it meaningful for my stu-dents.

Grammar and LiteratureGrammar and LiteratureGrammar and LiteratureGrammar and LiteratureGrammar and LiteratureAs I was reading Beach Music

by Pat Conroy, I noticed that I waslaughing at the dialogue. In class, wehad just covered the use of thecomma to separate dialogue fromthe tag line, and using the dialogue

in this bookseemed to be awonderful way toillustrate what wehad just studied. Ialso hoped, ofcourse, that exam-ining the dialoguewould spark theircuriosity about therest of the book.

I copied aparticularly funny section of dia-logue to illustrate the grammarrule, and brought at least two copiesof the book in case any of the stu-dents wanted to borrow it. Theyenjoyed the passage (a dialogue be-tween a father and his three daugh-ters), the grammar made a littlemore sense, and more important,two of the students left with a copyof the book.

The next comma rule we stud-ied was the interrupter and theappositive. I wasn’t sure how I wasgoing to illustrate this pointuntil I read A Heartbreaking Workof Staggering Genius by DaveEggers. It is almost impossible forDave Eggers to write a sentencewithout an interrupter, which illus-

A Reader Teaches Reading

When I was old enough to baby-sitI was addicted to Nancy Drew

books...

Continued on page 13

Oby Tina toran

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fall 2000

trates the point beautifully. I beganreading with an eye for content thatcoincided with what we were study-ing in class.

Reading Between theReading Between theReading Between theReading Between theReading Between theLinesLinesLinesLinesLines

The first page of Cold Moun-tain by Charles Frazier fit beauti-fully into our class for reading com-prehension. After reading the firstpage, I asked the students questionslike “When did the story takeplace?” “Did the man in the hospitalgrow up in the country or the city?”

The students were a bit skep-tical about finding all this informa-tion from just one page of the novel,but then they really got into readingbetween the lines. I told the classthat we can tell a lot about a novel byjust reading the first page, so wetried to extract as much informationas we could.

When we examine the firstpage of a novel, we look for tone,time, word choice, and foreshadow-ing techniques.

In a similar vein, I used thefirst couple of pages from Where theHeart Is by Billie Letts. This novel ofa young, pregnant woman who has nomoney, no family, and no way to takecare of herself, reflects themes ofcommunity, friendship, family, andpersonal growth. Letts’s novelworked well to teach foreshadowingtechniques.

After reading a description ofNovalee Nation and Willy JackPickens, characters from the novel, Iasked the class to predict what wouldhappen to the characters. Studentsalso had to support their ideas withexamples from the text. To my de-light, the class elected to read thisbook together, and all of them lovedit. They were exceptionally proudwhen they saw the movie that wasmade from this book and were ableto conduct a discussion of the merits

Carey Reid (SABES StaffDevelopment Specialist) andMary Jayne Fay (ABE Certifica-tion Specialist) are still collectingcomments on the draft ABETeacher’s Certification processas described in the SecondInterim Report to the Commis-sioner/DOE.

These comments arebrought to the statewide Certifi-cation Advisory Committee

Still Time to Give Feedback on ABE TeacherCertification

meetings where they directly bearon discussion.

Do you support the Teachers’Competency List in its presentform? Do you think the “stream-lining” options for experiencedteachers make sense?

If you have not provided yourcomments yet, please do take thetime to do so.

The report minus attach-ments is not very long, and for

those of you especially pressedfor time, there’s an executivesummary. These are posted onboth the DOE and SABES Websites: <www.doe.mass.edu/acls>and <www.sabes.org>. Pleaseemail your comments to<mjfay@doe.mass.edu> as soonas you can, or mail them to:Mary Jayne Fay, ACLS, 350 MainStreet, Malden, MA 02148-5023.

Pieces of LiteraturePieces of LiteraturePieces of LiteraturePieces of LiteraturePieces of Literaturecontinued from page 12

Whenever I bring a piece ofliterature, I also bring the book ortext that it came from. The studentsknow that I always carry books todiscuss and share, and as a result,we have started a book exchange inthe classroom. I collect books atyard sales for that purpose, butadult basic education programsmight benefit from adding bookacquisitions to their budget for thispurpose.

Tina Toran has worked on shrimpboats in Key West, supply boats inLouisiana, and boat deliveries to theCaribbean. She is working on hermaster’s degree in literature andwriting as she teaches pre-GED.She can be reached at ttoran@cs.com.

of reading or seeing a workof literature.

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field notes

ObjectiveObjectiveObjectiveObjectiveObjectiveAfter this lesson, students should be able to recognize their own name in print andbe able to read the sentence: “My name is _______.”

Reading Skills CoveredReading Skills CoveredReading Skills CoveredReading Skills CoveredReading Skills CoveredLetter recognition, word recognition, sentence recognition, visual discrimination,introduction of consonant sounds, reading from left to right

StudentsStudentsStudentsStudentsStudentsBeginner level (SPL 0-1) ESOL students at the basic literacy level. There should bea maximum of eight students in the class.

LengthLengthLengthLengthLengthThe whole lesson takes about one and a half hours. There is no need to rush thislesson because so many literacy skills are embedded here.

BackgroundBackgroundBackgroundBackgroundBackgroundThis lesson works well after students have been in class a few days. Before startingthis lesson, students should already be able to:

♦Answer the questions: “What is your name?” and “Where are you from?”

♦Identify the sound made by the first letter of each name of students in the class.

Step by StepStep by StepStep by StepStep by StepStep by Step1.1.1.1.1. Oral practice:Oral practice:Oral practice:Oral practice:Oral practice: Students ask each other “What is your name?”

2.Name recognition2.Name recognition2.Name recognition2.Name recognition2.Name recognition: Teacher scatters index cards with the names of all the

students in the class on a table. Names should be written entirely in uppercase. Each student selects his or her own name from the cards on the table.

Tools for the Classroom: A First Reading Lessonby Marcia Chaffee

TTTTTeachable Moments:eachable Moments:eachable Moments:eachable Moments:eachable Moments: Sometimes two students will have names that start with the same letter,like Mohammed and Moula. Students may discover their own name or may need the help ofthe teacher to examine the visual configuration of the name (length and shape), sounds, andany features that distinguish one name from another.

Author’s note: I have used this lesson successfully with my students at the International Institute of Boston; somestudents are nonliterate and some are semiliterate in a non-Roman alphabet. All have had zero to three years offormal education.

Teachers can begin to teach letters of the alphabet in context by using the first letters of students’ names in theclass. Teaching letter recognition and sound/symbol correspondence can be facilitated by using an ESOL lexicon.(IIB has created its own.)

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fall 2000

3.3.3.3.3. Spelling aloudSpelling aloudSpelling aloudSpelling aloudSpelling aloudStudents practice spelling their own names aloud. If one student cannot spell her name, theteacher can ask a more advanced student:“Can you spell Mohammed’s name?” This allows formultilevel flexibility.

4. W4. W4. W4. W4. Word recognition/sentence introductionord recognition/sentence introductionord recognition/sentence introductionord recognition/sentence introductionord recognition/sentence introductionThe teacher writes on board “My name is Ahmed.” and prompts students to guess what it saysby asking Ahmed, “What is your name?” The teacher asks other students and guides them to readthe sentence by repeating “My” “name” “is” as she points to each word, then substitutes eachstudent’s name.

5.5.5.5.5. Reading for meaningReading for meaningReading for meaningReading for meaningReading for meaningThe teacher gives each student a strip that says “My name is” and another strip that has aclassmate’s name. This is a deliberate trick to get students to read carefully. Students then dis-cover that they have someone else’s name. This usually elicits laughter and makes the process fun.

6. Discovery and correction/reading for meaning6. Discovery and correction/reading for meaning6. Discovery and correction/reading for meaning6. Discovery and correction/reading for meaning6. Discovery and correction/reading for meaningEach student discovers that she has a name that is not her own and exchanges name strips with theappropriate student to make corrections.Each student completes his/her sentence with her ownname. Students then read their sentence to the others.

77777..... Sight wordsSight wordsSight wordsSight wordsSight wordsThe teacher reinforces each word by holding up single word cards for “My,” ”name,” “is” and thewhole group identifies the words.

88888..... Sight words/sentence structureSight words/sentence structureSight words/sentence structureSight words/sentence structureSight words/sentence structureThe teacher assists each student in cutting up her own sentence into single words and scramblingthe words. Students rearrange the words back into the sentence. (“My name is Ahmed.”)

99999..... Sight word reinforcementSight word reinforcementSight word reinforcementSight word reinforcementSight word reinforcementThe teacher calls out individual words (“Pick up ‘my’; Pick up ‘name’; Pick up ‘is’.”and students pick up the corresponding word cards from their reassembled cut-up sentence. Students con-tinue this in pairs.

10 10 10 10 10..... Sentence writing Sentence writing Sentence writing Sentence writing Sentence writingEach student copies her own sentence.

1111111111..... Follow-upFollow-upFollow-upFollow-upFollow-upFor the next class, the steps above are repeated in a similar manner for “I am from ______.”

Marcia Chaffee is the Coordinator of Adult Education at the International Institute of Boston and has 21 years of experi-ence teaching and supervising teachers in ESOL and basic literacy for adult refugees and immigrants. She can be reachedat (617)695-9990,ext.152, or by e-mail at <mchaffee@iiboston.org>.

.

Adaptation for stafAdaptation for stafAdaptation for stafAdaptation for stafAdaptation for staff developmentf developmentf developmentf developmentf development: Teachers might enjoy going through this processthemselves with the help of a facilitator who can direct them with a language that usesa non-roman alphabet like Arabic or Khmer. This activity can easily be done during aprogram meeting.

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field notes

ou can do it!! You can talk and listen! Reading is just talking written down!

In 30 years of working withadult learners, I have often heardteachers state this myth as gospel—with good intentions. The intent isusually to encourage the learner bysuggesting that reading isn’t some-thing foreign, but an-other form of somethinghe or she can do already.But written language ismuch more than “speechwritten down,” unless itis the exact recording ofa speech or conversation.And even then, it is con-fined by its limits—nosound, no gesture, no interruptions.

For adults whose language ismore oral-based than text-based,becoming an “easy reader” can bean arduous task. First, learnersmust realize that written language isnot “just speech written down”;written language is a special way ofusing language.When new and inex-perienced readers realize this, andwhen they are given a road map ofstrategies to help them clarify theexpectations from different kindsof print, they can start the journeytoward becoming fluent readers.

Examining Oral andExamining Oral andExamining Oral andExamining Oral andExamining Oral andWWWWWritritritritritten Languageten Languageten Languageten Languageten Language

I have found that “developingreaders,” those who can decode, buthave never become “good readers,”can gain some fluency in reading by

looking at the ways written languageis different from speech, by beingprepared for those differences, andby learning some comprehensionskills that help the reader negotiatethe difference between story andexpository text.

A developing reader told me,“When I watch TV or a movie, I can

get a feeling for what’s happening, Ican get the whole picture. With abook, it’s too many words, too muchwork.” I have heard this sentimentoften in my years of teaching adultreading and GED preparation. Butmillions of human beings read withease. Why is it so difficult for someadults to achieve comfort with printin spite of having gained basic de-coding skills early in life?

I have found that the followingbarriers have prevented developingreaders from moving into fluencyand higher level comprehension.These barriers are often a result ofstudents having more experiencewith oral language than print. Thebarriers also relate to the develop-ing reader’s lack of understandingabout how the printed word makesvarious kinds of demands on areader—demands that are very dif-

ferent from those required inspeaking and listening.

1) 1) 1) 1) 1) VVVVVocabulary:ocabulary:ocabulary:ocabulary:ocabulary:When a person doesn’t read a

great deal, his or her vocabularytends to be limited to functionalterms and specific areas that relateto the person’s culture, home life,

religion, and occupa-tion. Expanded vo-cabulary is a key as-pect of reading flu-ency.

Shirley BriceHeath, especially inWays with Wordsnotes that in theso-called oral com-

munities, especially those in whichpeople seldom travel outside asmall social circle, people havemany more nonverbal than verbalor text-based communicationforms.

Further, students who are stilldeveloping proficiency in the En-glish language can benefit from ex-plicit vocabulary development; thismight help ease the pressure to usereading mainly as a way to collectnew words.

My learners have respondedwell to building vocabulary throughword play, role playing, round-robin writing, and Jeopardy typeword games. These games are espe-cially effective when linked toreading that is part of a thematicunit of vital interest to the students.

From Talk to Print: Preparing Students to ReadWith Easeby Sally Gabb

For new readers, all writtenlanguage is called ‘story.’

Continued on page 17

Y

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fall 2000

2) 2) 2) 2) 2) Lack of understanding be-Lack of understanding be-Lack of understanding be-Lack of understanding be-Lack of understanding be-tween narrative and exposi-tween narrative and exposi-tween narrative and exposi-tween narrative and exposi-tween narrative and exposi-tory text and between fictiontory text and between fictiontory text and between fictiontory text and between fictiontory text and between fictionand non-fiction:and non-fiction:and non-fiction:and non-fiction:and non-fiction:

For new readers, all writtenlanguage is called “story.” In fact,stories (narratives of something thathappened to somebody, either realor fictional), are most like spokenlanguage. They are personal, de-scriptive, time sequenced. They aremore like talk written down than anyother form of writing.

I have found it useful to talkwith developing readers about thedifferences between spoken andwritten language early on. We alsotalk about the definition of story andnarrative and the differences be-tween fiction and nonfictionas well. I ask learners to tell familyor community stories that have anoral history, to write them down,then to read them back, looking forthe differences between the spokenand written form.

I then begin introducing liter-ary elements through the use ofthese personal narratives. Charac-ters, setting, plot, mood, and pointof view can be analyzed through theuse of the students’ narratives, thusproviding a bridge from personalnarrative to fiction.

Because they have a limitedunderstanding of the different waysin which print can work, developingreaders often read fiction as reality.For example, some readers get an-gry at a character in a story, demandto know why a character would act acertain way, or put down a story indisgust because of what the charac-ter has done. To clarify the differ-ence between their narratives and

true fiction, it’s fun to assign somecreative fiction writing with stu-dents. Those who are hesitant canjust change the names and places ofa true story they have experienced.By creating their own stories, theycan understand the elements offiction “from the inside out.” Whenlearners create their own charac-ters, it dawns on them how fictionworks. (Of course, students needsome prompts for creating fictionon their own, and teachers may wantto consult some books and articleson using creative writing in the ABE/GED classroom.)

3) 3) 3) 3) 3) Inability to comprehendInability to comprehendInability to comprehendInability to comprehendInability to comprehendbased on lack of backgroundbased on lack of backgroundbased on lack of backgroundbased on lack of backgroundbased on lack of backgroundknowledge:knowledge:knowledge:knowledge:knowledge:

Even fictional narratives canbe hard for new readers to under-stand if they have no backgroundknowledge that relates to the story.It is often hard to relate to a charac-ter or story that is totally foreign tohis or her experience. JenniferCromley, a 1998 NIFL fellow, spenta year researching cognitive strate-gies for adult learning. In one sec-tion she suggests that a major need

I have often described a situation that happened one evening at a

learning center for homeless adults where I was working. I had

been tutoring a middle-aged man from North Carolina who had

grown up on a farm, and had left school after fourth grade.

A college-aged tutor arrived, and we began chatting. He was

carrying a novel I had read, one that I had loved. We started a

lively conversation about the book. The man I was tutoring ob-

served our conversation carefully. Finally he burst in: “ You guys

are talking about that book as if it was a movie!! Like you can see

it in your head! That’s how I want to be able to read!”

of adult learners is massive input ofgeneral information: she suggestscramming lessons with new infor-mation, “facts, facts, facts,” whichwill broaden the adult learners gen-eral knowledge.

Building background knowl-edge is especially beneficial tostudents from outside the UnitedStates who lack a cultural context formuch of the literature they read.New “facts” should be introducedwithin the context of a topic ortheme students are reading about,not in random isolated lists.

An example of an excellentopening for “fact building” within acontext can be illustrated by thestory Color by Judith Ortiz. In thisstory Ortiz deals with the sensitivetopic of skin color and racism. Thisstory might involve the explorationof U.S. immigration patterns (his-tory), numbers and percentages ofimmigrants across time (math); raceand skin color (biology); and pov-erty and wealth in the US (econom-ics).

Continued on page 18

FFFFFrom Trom Trom Trom Trom Talk to Print. . .alk to Print. . .alk to Print. . .alk to Print. . .alk to Print. . .Continued from page 16

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field notes

44444) Focusing on personal in- Focusing on personal in- Focusing on personal in- Focusing on personal in- Focusing on personal in-terest, rather than theterest, rather than theterest, rather than theterest, rather than theterest, rather than the“main idea” of the author:“main idea” of the author:“main idea” of the author:“main idea” of the author:“main idea” of the author:

Finding the main idea fromprint is very different from read-ing the sequential nature of a nar-rative and requires explicit in-struction. For example, in an ar-ticle about sea life containing onesection about fishing boats, thedeveloping reader with experienceor interest in fishing boats mayfocus only on this information, anddecide this is the “main idea.”Finding the main idea requiresexplicit teaching and practice sodeveloping readers can see howthe main idea is created.

Expository text is a specific“artificial” form of language.Thereader who knows the rules of ex-

pository text knows what to expect.This kind of text is organized differ-ently from narratives; it makesa claim or tries to persuade thereader using facts, argument, andother devices not found in narrativeor fiction. It’s important to help de-veloping readers understand thatreading expository text means figur-ing out what the writer wants to say bylocating the writer’s proposition, andto clarify that “main idea” relates tothe author’s intent and is not alwaysthe same as the reader’s maininterest.

5. Lack of experience in read-5. Lack of experience in read-5. Lack of experience in read-5. Lack of experience in read-5. Lack of experience in read-ing and talking about whating and talking about whating and talking about whating and talking about whating and talking about whatthey have readthey have readthey have readthey have readthey have read

For most of us who have theadvantage of having gained readingfluency, reading is like watching amovie “in your head,” or having aconversation. The activities outlined

above can provide some awarenessand can build some useful expecta-tions of text. But I believe that such“strategies” are only successfulwhen accompanied by one thing:practice. The message arrivesthrough using the medium: To be-come a reader we have to read.

As teachers, we need to findcreative ways to bring learners intoconversation about what they—andwe—read. We can develop book orbook-and-movie discussion groups.We can stage debates and encourageresearch projects. By talking to-gether with newer readers aboutreading, we encourage turning thepages, and create the push for prac-tice.

Sally Gabb is the Director of theGenesis Center in Providence, RI. Shehas been involved in adult literacy forover 20 years. She can be reached at<sgabb412@hotmail.com>.

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Putting It All Together

FFFFFrom Trom Trom Trom Trom Talk to Print. . .alk to Print. . .alk to Print. . .alk to Print. . .alk to Print. . .Continued from page 17

A Review of Whole Language for Adults by Judy Cheatham et al

by Lenore Balliro

Whole Language for Adults, a series of books pub-lished by New Readers Press, is a practical, concreteresource for teaching reading and writing to adults.Four volumes: A Guide to Instruction, A Guide to Port-folio Assessment, A Guide to Initial Assessment, and AGuide to Administration and Staff Development offerexcellent strategies for teaching reading and writing inmeaningful ways. If I were back in the classroom orrunning an ABE program, I would not be without thisseries.

The authors define whole language as “teachingreading and writing as purposeful communication.”(p. 7) Their interpretation results in a guide that com-bines meaning-making approaches to reading and writ-ing with direct instruction in reading subskills. The au-thors provide step-by-step lesson plans, including thelanguage experience approach, conducting a directedreading activity, and modeling reading (think aloud

protocol). They also provide a useful chapter on how toteach thematically, offering sample themes(homelessness, work, AIDS) as models. Minilessons onword recognition skills, phonics, sound discrimination,and other decoding skills are integrated throughout.

A Guide to Portfolio Assessment is streamlinedand practical with reproducible masters. The Guide toInitial Assessment includes an informal reading inven-tory, phonics recording form, and word analysis sheet.

Finally, A Guide to Administration and Staff De-velopment offers concrete suggestions for how to makesuch an approach work program-wide. The authorsspeak from experience in the classroom and know thejoys and constraints of the adult basic education system.Whole Language for Adults, published in 1994, is avail-able through New Readers Press, Syracuse, New York.<www.newreaderspress.com>

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fall 2000

ortalécete, from the Spanish verb fortalecer

(to strengthen) is the name of the curriculum guide

for a Spanish literacy class devel-oped last year by the Juntos (To-gether) Collaborative in Holyoke,Massachusetts.

Four teachers and administra-tors from two of the partners in thecollaborative, the CommunityEducation Project and the CareCenter in Holyoke, worked on thisguide as a curriculum frameworksproject and used the English Lan-guage Arts (ELA) CurriculumFramework as a guide and refer-ence point. The authors’ goal was toshare their experience and ap-proaches to teaching Spanish lit-eracy to adults in the western partof the state.

Except for the explanatorynote in the beginning, the entirecurriculum guide is in Spanish; thismakes sense since it is about teach-ing basic literacy to Spanish speak-ers at two levels, SLL1 and SLL2.Rather than defining the level by“grades,” the guide identifies a se-ries of skills in reading and writingthat learners would have to acquireto be placed in or move to eitherlevel of instruction. The checkofflist for level one reading, for ex-ample, starts with recognizing thealphabet and ends with reading outloud. The teachers found that theELA frameworks standards andstrands were useful to develop“level-specific objectives” but ulti-mately, Juntos teachers made their

decisions based on their experi-ence teaching native language lit-eracy.

ELA FrameworkELA FrameworkELA FrameworkELA FrameworkELA FrameworkIt is interesting that the Jun-

tos Collaborative chose the ELACurriculum Frameworks, ratherthan the ESOL Frameworks, as a

model for developing guidelinesfor teaching native language lit-eracy in Spanish. After all, theELA Framework does not mentionnative language literacy (NLL) as aconsideration, while the ESOLFrameworks does. There are spe-cific reasons for choosing the ELAover the ESOL Frameworks, how-ever. Members of the Juntos Col-laborative noted that although En-glish instruction is is an importantpart of their curriculum, theywanted to assert that Spanish lit-eracy is not an adjunct piece of anESOL- focused curriculum.

Rather, Spanish literacy is the focusof an entire adult basic education cur-riculum in the native language of thelearners in the same way that theLanguage Arts Curriculum Frame-works works in other ABE programs.

As one member puts it, the ELAframework is a guide for “native lan-guage literacy for native Englishspeakers. We chose the ELA frame-work (as a guide) because that’s theone that’s about teaching people toread and write.”

It is well known that adult learn-ers who are literate in their nativelanguage progress at a faster ratewhen they are learning English thanthose who cannot read or write in thelanguage they do speak (Rivera,1999). The Massachusetts Depart-ment of Education (DOE) recognizesthis fact and funds classes in nativelanguage literacy as part of the con-tinuum of ESOL classes in a DOE-funded ABE program.

There is a folksy, endearingtone to this curriculum that reflectsthe voices of the people who wrote it.It also reflects their philosophy. Forexample, the teachers talk aboutteaching with respeto y humildad asone of the ways to counteract the lowself-esteem and shame that manylearners have about their lack of basiceducation.

The guide offers practical advicethat makes a teacher trainer like mehappy. For example, a lesson-plan-ning form, sample learner-centeredlesson plans, and suggestions for the

Getting Strong With the Fortalécete SpanishLiteracy Curriculum

Continued on page 20

by Maria E. González

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field notes

first day of classes are included,as well as useful advice on par-ticipatory evaluation and assess-ment.

I found the Level I samplelesson more extensive and betterrealized than for Level II. Itwould be useful if the authorscould expand the curriculum inthe future to include samples ofhow the Juntos teachers intro-duce the GED and ESOL in LevelII. Many teachers have questions

on how to facilitate this transitionfrom basic literacy in thenative language to preparing for theGED or learning English.

Clearly, the authors of theFortalécete Curriculum have takento heart their own imperative tostrengthen themselves by reflectingon their practice and beliefs as theyexamined the ELA Curriculum.They truly used it as a frameworkwithin which to set their own cur-riculum as teachers of literacy inSpanish. This past year the collabo-rative used a similar process withwhich to examine their experiences

and struggles teaching math. I amlooking forward to readingFortalécetec on la Matematica andgetting some tips on how tostrengthen my own math teachingskills.

For a copy of the Fortalécetecurriculum, contact your regionalSABES center. The curriculum isincluded in the Native LanguageLiteracy “Box,” a collection of re-sources about NLL. It will also beavailable soon as an ERIC docu-ment.

Maria E. González is the SABES

Coordinator for the Boston region.

Anthologies fAnthologies fAnthologies fAnthologies fAnthologies for Students: “Real”or Students: “Real”or Students: “Real”or Students: “Real”or Students: “Real”Reading Reading Reading Reading Reading (Thanks to Sandra D(Thanks to Sandra D(Thanks to Sandra D(Thanks to Sandra D(Thanks to Sandra Darling, ALRI )arling, ALRI )arling, ALRI )arling, ALRI )arling, ALRI )

Finding authentic reading materials for adult developing readers is important for establishing motivation. The following are some suggestions for readings that can be adapted to ABE, ESOL, or GEDreading classes. All of these titles are available at the ALRI library, 989 Commonwealth Ave., Boston,MA, (617) 782-8956, and may be available at regional SABES libraries as well.

Fox, K., ed. (1992). Expressions: Stories and Poems, vols 1& 2. Stimulating collection of readings withteaching tips for each selection. Teachers Guide offers lesson plans.

Lipkin, C., & Solotaroff, V., eds, (1990). Words on the Page, the World in Your Hands, vols. 1, 2, & 3.New York: Harper Row. These three anthologies offer short stories, essays, and poems adapted or cre-ated by “real” authors, not textbook writers. Suitable for intermediate readers. Teachers’ guide available.

Literacy Volunteers of NY (1992). My Native Land: An Anthology by New Writers. NY: Literacy Volunteersof New York.

Neimet, C., & Fox, K, eds. (1991).Viewpoints: Nonfiction. vols 1 & 2. Anthologies containing accessiblereadings on a variety of relevant topics. Intermediate-advanced. Teachers’ guide offers lesson plans.

Reiff, T., (1989). Hopes and Dreams. Belmont, CA: Fearon/Janus/Quercus. This curriculum guide pro-vides an overview of the history of different immigrant groups to the US and is accompanied by severalshort easy readers. Hopes and Dreams 2, published in 1993, continues the stories of new Americans.Low-level.

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fall 2000

ll teachers of low-level literacy must be familiar withthis scenario: You spend hoursplanning an activity for class. Whenthe time comes, you explain theactivity, holding the paper up wherethe learners can see it. You passout the papers and are met with achorus of, “I don’t understand,teacher.” You explain it again,which doesn’t help, so you showindividual learners on their pa-pers how to do the activity. By thetime the learners understandwhat they’re supposed to do,they’re finished with the exer-cise. How can we avoid this prob-lem? In this article I will illus-trate techniques for modelingthree kinds of literacy activities—cloze, cut-up sentences, and match-ing, so learners will be able to dothem successfully and indepen-dently.

I have modeled these activitieswith my ESOL students in the lit-eracy level class at the InternationalInstitute of Boston.

Don’t AssuDon’t AssuDon’t AssuDon’t AssuDon’t Assume Tme Tme Tme Tme Too Muchoo Muchoo Muchoo Muchoo MuchMost of the activities we do in

ABE/ESOL classrooms are unfamil-iar to learners who have limitedformal education. Teachers assignmatching exercises, cloze exercises,cut-up sentences, and comprehen-sion questions because we believethese exercises will improve learn-ers’ comprehension of a particularstory and help their reading abilityin general. These are “school-

based” activities, unlike readingitself, which is an activity people doboth inside and outside the class-room. We can’t assume that stu-dents already know how to completethese tasks; People learn how to do

these activities after being in class-rooms and doing them repeatedly.Initially, however, they need explicitinstruction and modeling beforethey can do the activities indepen-dently. Of course, the end goal ofthese activities I have chosen tomodel: cloze, cut-up sentences, andmatching is to help beginning read-ers manipulate text in a variety ofways so they gain confidence andfluency in the reading process.

Can Everyone See?Can Everyone See?Can Everyone See?Can Everyone See?Can Everyone See?In general, modeling (where

the teacher shows the class how todo something using an example) is awhole-class activity, so the firstquestion is how to make the activitylarge enough that everyone will seeand work with it easily.

Essential PropsEssential PropsEssential PropsEssential PropsEssential PropsAn excellent tool for teachers

of low-level literacy classes is apocket chart, available through theHammett Co. A pocket chart is anylon fabric rectangle that hangs onthe wall; sewn onto the nylon areclear plastic strips to make horizon-tal pockets. You can put word cards,letter cards, pictures, or whateveryou want in the see-through pock-ets, then take them out and re-shuffle them.

Another prop useful for mod-eling literacy activities is large pa-per, such as a roll of newsprint. Theends of rolls of newsprint are oftenavailable free from newspaperprinters. A more expensive alterna-tive is a flip chart. A pocket chartand large paper are both invaluableprops—I honestly don’t know how Icould teach low-level literacy with-out either of them. Most activitiescan be modeled for the whole classusing one of these two props.

Post reading ActivitiesPost reading ActivitiesPost reading ActivitiesPost reading ActivitiesPost reading ActivitiesThe exercises I discuss below

are postreading activities. All ofthese exercises start with a reading,either learner-generated, teacher-written, or from a source outsidethe class. The learners are familiarwith the text before beginning anyof these follow-up activities. Theactivities help the reader becomemore fluent with the text they haveinitially encountered, helping them

Modeling Class Activities for Low-LevelLiteracy Learnersby Lee Haller

Continued on page 22

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field notes

reinforce vocabulary, sentencestructure, and comprehension.All three activities can be doneusing the same original text, al-lowing for reinforcement of lan-guage and reading in a variety ofways.

Cloze ActivityCloze ActivityCloze ActivityCloze ActivityCloze ActivityFor the cloze activity, the

teacher puts blanks in the story inplace of some of the words.Learners figure out what themissing words are and writethem in the blanks. There aremany different ways to do a cloze.Some teachers remove every 5th,6th, or 7th word arbitrarily from atext. The purpose of this is forreaders to skip over the blank,read the rest of the sentence, andselect a word that would makesense in the sentence, eitherfrom a word bank or from theirown vocabulary. Some teachersremove selected words with agrammatical, phonetic, vocabu-lary, or content focus. For ex-ample some remove all theprepositions, some remove “tobe” verbs, others remove ar-ticles. The teacher can supply alist of words for the blanks, ornot. Some beginning readersneed to use the original story forreference when completing acloze.

Modeling Cloze ActivitiesModeling Cloze ActivitiesModeling Cloze ActivitiesModeling Cloze ActivitiesModeling Cloze ActivitiesIf the original reading the cloze

is based on is a language experiencestory elicited from the class, theteacher may have already written thestory on big paper as the learnerswere telling it, then taken it down towrite the activities for the next class.

1. The teacher can put the originalstory on big paper back onto the wall,then cover some words with post-itnotes. A word list can go on the boardor another piece of big paper, if de-sired.

2. Have learners read the storyaloud and discuss what words go inthe spaces.

3. Have one learner come up to thestory with a marker and write theword on the post-it note, thencheck off the word from the wordlist.

4. Have another learner come upand write another word and so on,until the cloze is complete.

5. Then lift up the post-it notes tocheck it against the original.

Alternatively, the teacher canwrite the whole cloze on big paperwith blanks and a word list at the bot-tom, and individual learners cancome up to fill it in as discussedabove.

After ModellingAfter ModellingAfter ModellingAfter ModellingAfter ModellingAfter modeling the activity and

making sure students know how to

proceed, the teacher can then handout individual cloze worksheets andpoint out step-by-step that the activ-ity is the same as the one they havejust practiced as a whole class. At thispoint, I usually say “no pencils,” soeveryone stays with the explanation;otherwise, some students will want tocopy from the model. The class cancomplete the activity orally, usingtheir worksheets, then the teachercan fold up the model and learnerscan complete the activity on theirworksheets in writing.

Cut-up SentencesCut-up SentencesCut-up SentencesCut-up SentencesCut-up SentencesA cut-up sentence activity uses

sentences from the same story, whichhave been cut up into individualwords. The goal of the cut-up sen-tence activity is for learners to reas-semble sentences, then put the sen-tences into order to reassemble thestory. This is a challenging activity,best done after learners are very fa-miliar with a story. It leads learnersto focus on sentence structure and onreading each individual word of astory instead of calling (guessing) orskipping words. This is especiallyimportant for literacy-level students

Modeling Cut-up SentencesModeling Cut-up SentencesModeling Cut-up SentencesModeling Cut-up SentencesModeling Cut-up SentencesTo model this activity, use the

pocket chart.

1. The teacher can write the story,word by word, on index cards orcut-up manila folders. (These wordscan often be reused, since there aremany common words from story tostory).

2. The teacher gives out the wordcards, a few to each learner, and asksthem to read their words to the class.

Modeling Class Activi-Modeling Class Activi-Modeling Class Activi-Modeling Class Activi-Modeling Class Activi-ties...ties...ties...ties...ties...Continued from page 21

Continued on page 23

For Cloze Activities,For Cloze Activities,For Cloze Activities,For Cloze Activities,For Cloze Activities, check out the book: Whiteson, V.(1993). Cloze the gap: Exercises in integrating and devel-oping language skills. San Francisco: Alta Book Publishers.

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fall 2000

3. Then the teacher can motion tothe pocket chart and tell the learn-ers to create the story in the chart.One learner is sure to understandenough to get started and ask othersfor cards (“I need ‘she.’ Moham-med, do you have she?’”) and oth-ers will quickly catch on.

4. The teacher can monitor par-ticipation, askingparticular learners tosit down after they’vecompleted some ofthe story, and en-couraging others toget out of their seatswith their cards andgo to the chart.

5. After they’re fin-ished, the class can reread the com-pleted story from the pocket chart.(If it was difficult, the teacher canchoose to repeat the whole-classactivity the next day before havinglearners do the task individually.)

6. Each student then gets an enve-lope of cut-up words that he or shereassembles and tapes together ather seat. Students can then copytheir reassembled words for rein-forcement.

MatchingMatchingMatchingMatchingMatchingMatching activities, where a

learner draws a line from a list inone column to the correspondingitem in the other column, can giveadditional practice with vocabularywords and can teach sorting or cat-egorizing skills. They can also teachlearners to read for specific infor-mation. However, they are oftendifficult for low-literacy learners

and need careful modeling to avoidconfusion.

An example of a matching ac-tivity might be to match the name offruits and vegetables with the cor-rect colors. In another case, theworksheet would match names toactivities, for example: Victor—goshopping and Marie—go to the park.

Matching activities can bechallenging for a few reasons.Learners sometimes get lost and

forget the first item if they don’tfind the matching item right away.Drawing the lines can be challeng-ing because they may try to drawmore than one line for each item, orthey may draw lines straight acrossthe paper instead of looking formatches.

Matching SteMatching SteMatching SteMatching SteMatching Steppppp-----By-StepBy-StepBy-StepBy-StepBy-Step I have found that breaking the

modeling into two parts works best.The first part uses paper slipsrather than drawing lines acrosscolumns.

Part One: (Using Paper Strips)Part One: (Using Paper Strips)Part One: (Using Paper Strips)Part One: (Using Paper Strips)Part One: (Using Paper Strips)1. The teacher prints out names ofstudents (Victor, Marie, etc.) on onecolor paper and cuts it into wordslips. She then prints out activities(went to the park, went shopping)on another color paper and cuts itinto phrase slips.

2. Using the pocket chart, theteacher calls a learner up to thechart and guides the learner to putthe names and activities together onone line of the chart. For example,“Victor” with “went shopping,”“Marie” with “went to the park,” andso on.

3. Once students have shown thatthey understand the concept ofmatching, they can work in pairs orindividually using their own smaller

packets of word slips toput together.

4. For extra practicestudents can copy theirmatching word slips ontoanother sheet of paper.

PPPPPart Tart Tart Tart Tart Two: (Usingwo: (Usingwo: (Usingwo: (Usingwo: (UsingL i n e s )L i n e s )L i n e s )L i n e s )L i n e s )

Once students getthe idea of matching, the teachercan move toward modeling the ac-tivity using lines across columns.This task aids in locating specificinformation from a text and canprepare students for reading chartsand graphs.

1. The teacher writes the matchingactivity on big paper.

2. The class reads it together anddiscusses the answer: that is, whichthing in column A gets matchedwith which thing in column B. Forexample, names in column A getmatched with activities in column B.

3. An individual learner comes tothe front with a marker to draw aline connecting the matching items.

4. Students then get an individualworksheet and complete the activityin pairs or on their own.

Modeling...Modeling...Modeling...Modeling...Modeling...continued from page 22

continued on page 24

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field notes

Lee Haller teaches and supervisesthe basic ESOL literacy and mathprogram at the InternationalInstitute of Boston. She can bereached at <lhaller@iiboston.org>.

Literacy Services at the BostonPublic Library

artha Merson, Coordin- ator of Literacy Services for the Boston Public

Library, oversees literacy events andcollections for the main library and 25branches around greater Boston. Pro-grams might want to explore the lit-eracy and ESOL collections at theirlocal branches, which are cataloged but arranged in user-friendly browsingarrangements. Many branches have class sets of reading materials, includingSylvia Greene’s self-published low-literacy materials: Sal and Val, MainStreets, and Next Stop, Love. Public events offered for developing readersinclude the popular “Readers Talk to Writers” series. Coming attractions in-clude Marjorie Agosin, Luis Rodriguez, and Arn Chorn Pond.

The main library at Copley and many of the branches offer free conver-sation groups for people who want to practice their conversational English.Programs with students on waiting lists are urged to refer waiting students tothese conversation classes, run by trained volunteers or sometimes ESOLteachers.

For more information about the library’s offerings, call the Literacy ServicesOffice at (617) 536-5400, ext. 2296 or e-mail Martha at <mmerson@bpl.org.

Practitioners are invited to submit articles to Field Notes for publication. First time writers are

especially encouraged to contribute. The deadlines below are often negotiable.

Modeling...Modeling...Modeling...Modeling...Modeling...continued from page 23

As you can infer from theabove activities, successful mod-elling is repetitious: the wholeclass does the whole exercise,then learners do it individuallyon their own paper.

Such repetition in themodeling process may soundboring, but in my experience, itnever is. It feels like a differentactivity when the whole classdoes it versus individual learnersworking independently.

The repetition, far frombeing boring, gives learners thepractice they need to successfullycomplete the activities indepen-dently.Resources for props: J.LHammett Co. catalog1-800-333-4600 or<www.hammett.com>

Winter 2000: AssessmentCall by: October 16Submit by: October 30

Spring 2000: Health and LiteracyCall by: December 30Submit by: January 15

Summer 2000: Summer ReadingCall by: March 30Submit by: April 17

M

Coming Up: Literacy Services in libraries across the Coming Up: Literacy Services in libraries across the Coming Up: Literacy Services in libraries across the Coming Up: Literacy Services in libraries across the Coming Up: Literacy Services in libraries across the state.state.state.state.state.

Write for Field Notes : Upcoming Issues

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fall 2000

few years ago, MiddlesexCommunity College in

Lowell became part of agrant-funded teacher trainingproject, Fluency First, lead by AdeleMacGowan-Gilhooly. Teachers andtutors were trained in a literature-based reading-writing approach fornonnative English speakers. Thisapproach is suitable for intermedi-ate or advanced ESOL students aswell as ABE students.

My students were all about 20years old, so young adult titles ap-pealed to them. One of the bookswe used in the project was TheHouse on Mango Street by SandraCisneros. This beautifully writtenbook included evocative vignettesthat worked well as catalysts for stu-dent freewrites. For example, stu-dents completed many freewritesabout their names using the chapter“Names” as a catalyst. I found out alot of important information aboutmy students with this exercise. Forexample, two of my students werenamed after famous authors.

HipsHipsHipsHipsHipsThe chapter “Hips” proved to

be an excellent bridge for studentwriting. This chapter turned mystudents on to writing jump ropesongs and other childhood gamesongs from around the world. As afollow-up, students enjoyed creat-ing a booklet of their childhoodmemories. We added maps to pro-vide locations for the origins of thechildhood songs. We also analyzedthe similarities among children’sgames around the world.

Library TLibrary TLibrary TLibrary TLibrary TripripripripripOur final project led us to the

local library where each studentcould select another book. The li-brarian steered us to the young adultsection of the library. My studentschose books like: Circle of Love, byJane Peart; Jacob Have I Loved, byKatherine Paterson; Dreams in theGolden Country, by Kathryn Lasky;and Sounder, by William Armstrong.

Online ReviewsOnline ReviewsOnline ReviewsOnline ReviewsOnline ReviewsStudents were asked to write

in a double-entry dialogue journalfor each chapter of their book. Theywere also asked to write a paragraphabout their opinion of their book.Some students write book reviewsonline for Amazon.com<www.amazon.com>, or Barnes andNoble.com <www.bn.com>, wherereaders are invited to share their

Fluency First: Developing Independent Readingby Anita Feld

Anita Feld has worked at MiddlesexCommunity College for nine years. Shecan be reached at<Stacho11@aol.com>.

thoughts on titles. You can imaginethe enthusiasm this evoked. One ofthe students found that she was thefirst to review a particular book.

As a result of the project, stu-dents definitely showed an in-creased interest in independentsummer reading.

Notes:MacGowan-Gilhooly (1995). A.

Achieving fluency in English: A wholelanguage book. Dubuque, Iowa:Kendall Hunt

Iancu, Martha. “Implementing flu-ency first activities in an intermedi-ate-level EAP reading class.” TESOLJournal, 9 (2) summer, 2000, 11-16.

Classroom TClassroom TClassroom TClassroom TClassroom Tip: Double-Entrip: Double-Entrip: Double-Entrip: Double-Entrip: Double-Entry Joury Joury Joury Joury JournananananalOn one side of the notebook, the student copies excerpts that inter-est her from the book she is reading. On the other side, the studentwrites her reaction to the copied text.

I milked the cows, I churnedthe butter...I baked the bread...

Jamaica KincaidAt the Bottom of the River

page 37:This reminds me of when Ilived on the farm in Georgiaand I had to work hard.

page 77:I saw a world in which the sunand moon shone at the sametime. . .

This sounds like a poem. I likethe idea.

A

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field notes

Resources: Books and Articles forTeachers and Students

Cheatham, J. et al. (1994). Whole language foradults: A guide to instruction.Syracuse, NY: :New Readers Press.*

Dixon, C. (1983). Language experience ap-proach to reading and writing.Alemany Press.*

Freeman,D. &Freeman, Y. (2000). Teachingreading in the multilingual classroom. Ports-mouth, NH: Heinemann.

Gillespie, M. (1990). Many literacies: Modulesfor training adult beginning readers and tutorsAmherst, MA: Center for International Educa-tion. *

Hood, S & Solomon, N.(1987). Focus on Read-ing. Australia: National Curriculum ResourceCentre. *

Nessel, D.(1981). The language experienceapproach to reading: A handbook for teachers.New York: Teachers College, Columbia Uni-versity .

Roffman, A. (2000). Meeting the challenge oflearning disabilities in adulthood. Maryland:Paul H./ Brookes Publishing Co.

Smith,F (1995). Essays into human leanringand literacy. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann,.(See espcially his chapter Learning to read, thenever ending debate, pp.39-52

Smith, F. (1997) Reading without nonsense.New York: Teachers College Press.

Wrigley, H. & Guth,J.A.. (1992). Bringing lit-eracy to life: Issues and options in adult ESLliteracy. San Mateo, CA: Aguirre International.

Books for TBooks for TBooks for TBooks for TBooks for Teacherseacherseacherseacherseachers

Agosin, M. (1997). Melodious women. Pitts-burgh: Latin American Literary Review Press.(poetry)*

Cisneros, S. (1994) La casa en mango street./New York: Vintage Espanol.*(English version also available.)

Gossett, H. (1988). Sister no blues. Ithaca, NY.(poetry)*

Mohr, N. (1975). El bronx remembered: A no-vella and stories. New York: Harper Trophy.*

Woodson, J. (1994). I hadn’t meant to tell youthis. New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell. *

*Indicates available at ALRI library

LocalL

Books for StudentsBooks for StudentsBooks for StudentsBooks for StudentsBooks for Students

Auerbach, E., & Paxton, D. (1997). It’s not theEnglish thing: Bringing reading research intothe ESL classroom. TESOL Quarterly, 31 (2),237—261.

Constantino, R. (1994).Pleasure reading helps,even if readers don’t believe it. Journal ofReading, 37 (6), 504-505.

ArArArArArticlesticlesticlesticlesticles

Rivera, K. (1999). Native language literacy andadult ESL instruction. ERIC Digest. Wash-ington, DC: National Clearinghouse for ESLLiteracy Education.

Sylvia Greene, ABE teacher at the CommunityLearning Center in Cambridge, has publishedthree high-interest books for beginning readersusing controlled vocabulary. They include: SalSalSalSalSaland Vand Vand Vand Vand Val, Main Street, al, Main Street, al, Main Street, al, Main Street, al, Main Street, and Next Stop, Love. Next Stop, Love. Next Stop, Love. Next Stop, Love. Next Stop, Love. Formore information, call Sylvia at (617) 349-6363.

Love and LiteracyLove and LiteracyLove and LiteracyLove and LiteracyLove and Literacy

(Thanks to Sandra Darling)

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fall 2000

Gay, Lesbian and StraightEducation Network (GLSEN)Annual National ConferenceTeaching Respect for All Arlington Heights, IL [Chi-cago]Contact: Brenda Vollman(GLSEN), (212) 727-0135<www.glsen.org/pages/sec-tions/news/calendar/con-ference/2000>

October 6–8October 6–8October 6–8October 6–8October 6–8

October 20-22October 20-22October 20-22October 20-22October 20-22

November 13–16November 13–16November 13–16November 13–16November 13–16

Information about upcoming conferences relating to adult literacy can be sent to:Lenore Balliro, Field Notes Editor, World Education,44 Farnsworth Street, Boston,MA 02210.

Teachers of English toSpeakers of Other Lan-guages (TESOL), 35th

Annual ConventionTESOL2001: Gateway to the FutureSt. Louis, MOContact: (703)836-0774<www.tesol.org/conv/2001> Financial aid available for TESOL members only. For information,check out <www.tesol.org/assoc/>or<www.tesol.org/isaffil/affil/index.html >You must apply byOctober, 2000.

Commission on Adult BasicEducation (COABE), 2001National ConferenceMeet Me in MemphisMemphis, TNContact: Peggy Davis(901) 855-1101

Literacy Volunteers ofAmerica (LVA), NationalConference 2000Show Me the FutureKansas City, MOContact: LVA, (315) 472-0001<www.literacyvolunteers.org/conference/index.htm>Financial aid for LVA stu-dents only.

Massachusetts Coalition forAdult Education (MCAE),Network 2000Marlborough, MAContact: MCAE,(800) 339-2498

American Public Health Asso-ciation (APHA), 128th AnnualMeeting E liminating HealthDisparities Boston, MAContact: (202) 777-2742<www.apha.org/meetings>

American Association for Adultand Continuing Education(AAACE), 49th Annual Confer-ence, Providence, RIContact: (301) 918-1913

Center for Study of AdultLiteracy, Georgia State Univer-sity and Centre for Literacy(Quebec) 3rd International Con-ference on Women and LiteracyAtlanta, GAContact: Sandy Vaughn,(404) 651-1400Email:<alcsvv@langate.gsu.edu

Mark Your CalendarThis issue lists several conferences within Massachusettsand nearby states. Some conferences also provide limited financial aid.This information is included in the listings.

October4–7,2000October4–7,2000October4–7,2000October4–7,2000October4–7,2000 October 25–26October 25–26October 25–26October 25–26October 25–26

November 11–16November 11–16November 11–16November 11–16November 11–16

JanuarJanuarJanuarJanuarJanuary 22–24 2001y 22–24 2001y 22–24 2001y 22–24 2001y 22–24 2001

FebruarFebruarFebruarFebruarFebruary 28–March3y 28–March3y 28–March3y 28–March3y 28–March3

March 30 –April 4March 30 –April 4March 30 –April 4March 30 –April 4March 30 –April 4

Local

Mass Networks EducationPartnership and TERCJoint National conference“Students as TechnologyLeaders” Waltham, MAContact: Patricia Ward(TERC) (888) 638-1997<http://projects.terc.edu/satl/index.html>

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field notes

Nonprofit OrgU.S. POSTAGE PAIDBoston, MAPermit 5015744 Farnsworth Street

Boston, MA 02210

Return Service Requested

Click Here: Web Sites for Teaching Reading

www.cal.org/ncle/digests/index.htmERIC Digests: National Clearinghouse on Literacy Education. The following are examples of articles you can access

online: Reading and the Adult English Language Learner; Τeaching Low-Level Adult ESL Learners by Grace

Massey Holt; The Language Experience Approach and Adult Learners by Marcia Taylor.

www.covington.k12.tn.us/resources/word/hots5.htmThis is a k-12 site but can easily be adapted to teaching reading to adults.

Teaching Reading Skills: Tips From the Trenches Tracy Henninger-Chiang.

www.rethinkingschools.org/Archives/13-04/wars.htmLessons From the Reading Wars. A Review by Jeff McQuillan of Reading Lessons: The DebateOver Literacy by Gerald Coles.

www.midtesol.org/articles/art1.htm

www.reading.org/advocacy/policies/phonics.htmlSummary of the position statement of the International Reading Association: The Role of Phonics inReading Instruction.

Lists publications of the International Reading Association.

www.reading.org/publications/