Literacy Now

When I tie my shoes, I no longer say to myself, “OK, first make a bunny ear….” I never once took a quiz on the steps of shoe tying in order to prove I understood the bunny strategy.

Literacy strategies should be just like that: Students are weaned off of them when they are no longer needed or when a particular strategy proves to be unnecessary, impractical, or ineffectual.

Teachers are always on the lookout for the newest strategy to fix student literacy issues. Websites like Pinterest and Teachers Pay Teachers are full of strategy examples (unfortunately, many pilfered from the work of others and recycled with a new graphics) to distill the process of comprehension and understanding into an acronym. We can teach students to UNRAAVEL, RAP, UNWRAP, SCRIP, GIST, SOAPSTONE, THIEVES, SWBS, KWL, or SQ3R their text. These strategy acronyms are printed on posters, charts, and packets of worksheets. The hope is that if students memorize and follow all the steps in the acronym, “deep comprehension” (feel free to substitute other phrases like “fabulous writing” or “high-level thinking” as needed) will result.

Consider lit circles. Although intended as a way to help students practice critical conversation about text through various lenses, lit circles can easily become packets of role sheets completed before a mechanical and disjointed conversation—a round robin exercise that is little more than having students read their role sheet aloud. The goal of academic conversation is lost because the completion of the role sheet is what students see as their focus.

Don’t misunderstand, I think strategies have value.

However, I worry that a hyper-focus on steps and acronyms distracts from the real purpose of teaching strategies, which is to give students a way to organize information in text and encourage deep thinking when necessary.

Role sheets, acronyms, and posters are tools, meant to be temporary. The goal is to teach students to understand when a strategy would be helpful and give them options when they need to use them—and when they don’t.

The bunny strategy for shoe tying might not work for everyone. My little brother learned it as “wrap it around the loop and push it through.” With my own kids, I found it easier to just buy them shoes with Velcro straps.

Just as every student doesn’t need a reading strategy in every instance. Voracious readers who love to share their ideas do not need to be reminded to stop and annotate every new plot point to prepare for a small group conversation. In fact, stopping the flow of the reading becomes frustrating and cumbersome, doing more harm than good.

Strategies and acronyms themselves can easily become the learning target instead of comprehension and understanding. Students are sometimes quizzed and tested on the acronyms, not the learning gained from the text. If you give a quiz or assignment to make sure students can label the parts of the strategy, you might be missing the point.

Let’s look at a couple of examples where the assignment focused more on the parts of the strategy than on the actual learning students should be doing:

Example 1: “Okay, students! For full credit, you need to find and annotate six examples of places where you visualized and four examples of places you made text-to-text connections. You also need to stop and make at least three predictions as you read your book independently.” What if these particular annotations don’t make sense with the students’ text? What if they get wrapped up in the reading and forget to stop?

Example 2: “Good morning, learners! We have been talking about context clues. In your packet you need to show you can label what you have learned. Does each passage selection contain a definition/explanation clue, a contrast/antonym clue, or an inference/general clue?” Should the point of the lesson be to identify the clue correctly or to determine the meaning of the word based on the clues given?

Strategies are meant to be temporary. They are meant to give students a way to organize their thinking, to support and nurture their success until the thinking process reaches automaticity. The goal is to teach students to understand when a strategy might increase their understanding and then allow them to use their chosen strategy flexibly, according to their task and need.

Here’s my advice for deciding when to use a strategy in class:

Be selective. Before you introduce a strategy, ask yourself the following questions: How many of your students need this type of strategy? Is it useful in other situations or disciplines? Is it for fiction or nonfiction? Is it too complicated or cumbersome?

Be flexible. Make sure students know that some strategies will be more helpful to them than others in certain texts. Remind them they can choose what makes sense for them.

Be careful. Strategies are intended as a means to an end. They are not the end.

Julie Scullen is a former member of the ILA Board of Directors and also served as president of the Minnesota Reading Association and Minnesota Secondary Reading Interest Council. She taught most of her career in secondary reading intervention classrooms and now serves as Teaching and Learning Specialist for Secondary Reading in Anoka-Hennepin schools in Minnesota, working with teachers of all content areas to foster literacy achievement. She teaches graduate courses at Hamline University in St. Paul in literacy leadership and coaching, disciplinary literacy, critical literacy, and reading assessment and evaluation.

Although many insist on blaming some children’s disinterest in reading primarily on the distractions caused by electronic gadgets in their lives, a child who finds it difficult to read is unlikely to pick up a book and read it, gadgets or no.

By the end of the third grade, students are expected to be able to read independently and proficiently. However, current indicators in fluency and comprehension are extremely low in many parts of the world, and a vast number of children are embarking on their fourth-grade journey while struggling with the most important skill needed for academic success.

The struggle in reading and the reluctance to read are strongly connected. The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), defines the reluctant reader as “the teenager who, for whatever reason, does not like to read.” I took the liberty to extend this definition to include the children of 9 years old and above, because this is the age when they are supposed to be proficient in reading and may not be. Here, we find a vicious circle in which struggling readers become reluctant readers that don’t improve their proficiency and on and on. We learn reading by reading, and we will enjoy it more when we are better at it.  

Addressing this issue has become a matter of priority for policymakers, educators, and publishers. Many approaches include the use of technology to encourage reading; however, the production of new, innovative, and diverse reading programs is an urgent necessity.

I have struggled to find fun fictional reading material for children over the third grade threshold in Arabic, both as a bookstore owner and as a mother. During the past decade, production of Arabic picture books has experienced relative growth, though it is still modest and lacks diversity. The young adult genre has always benefitted from classic literature written for adults. Nevertheless, the tweens arena is sorely lacking, filled mostly with translations and sporadic original attempts. So I decided to write for tweens, and I was determined to write a series. I learned from my childhood experience that if readers like a title in a series, they will look for the next one. 

The idea of writing a series fascinated me. It meant creating long-term characters with many stories, a variety of experiences, and a diversity of themes.

Soon after the launch of the Hind and Saif series, I was invited to schools to meet students, many of whom were reluctant and struggling readers. Talking to students firsthand was priceless and rewarding and made me realize that I created a special niche through which I could offer my young readers an enchanting reading experience that they will seek to repeat outside the classroom, transcending any academic obligation. Such experiences are the first steps towards creating readers—lifelong readers—and thus breaking the vicious cycle of reading reluctance.

Suzy, known as “Zu”, is devastated when she hears the three words from her mom: “Franny Jackson drowned.” Franny was Zu’s best friend. Zu couldn’t believe that Franny had drowned during her vacation in Maryland because Franny was a good swimmer. The only explanation that made sense to Zu is that an Irukandji jellyfish sting caused Franny’s death. In her notebook, Zu wrote, “Maybe she is dead because of that jellyfish sting.” To prove her theory, Zu studies jellyfish and secretly plans her trip to Cairns, Australia, to meet a jellyfish expert. As Zu recalls her memories with Franny, it is revealed that Zu’s friendship with Franny was over long before Franny’s death. Zu felt sad and betrayed as Franny, who used to be her best friend, was fading out in Zu’s life. While Zu clung to the long-gone friendship with Franny, Franny hung out with other girls who didn’t care much about Zu. Zu’s emotional journey begins before and continues after Franny’s death. 

Cross-Curricular Connections: Language arts, science, geography

Ideas for Classroom Use

Changes in Friendship

Zu and Franny used to be best friends, but their friendship falls apart as they enter middle school. Franny made new friends, leaving Zu alone. Do you think the friendship between Zu and Franny naturally fell apart or do you think Franny intended to break up with Zu? Do you have friends like Franny who you like but the friendship falls apart? What do you want to say to Zu or Franny about the change in their friendship?

Speech Collage

In the YouTube video, the author of The Thing About Jellyfish, Ali Benjamin, said this book is about a lot of things. What do you think this book is about? If you have to pick one keyword for the theme of this book, what word that will be? In class, each student can take turns, and students will be able to hear the recurring words as well as with the new words that they didn’t say.

“Travel Route”

Zu attempts to fly to Cairns, Australia, to meet Dr. Jamie Seymour, professor of biology and jellyfish expert. Find Cairns, Australia on the map. How far is it from your home? If you were Zu, what would your travel route look like? Plan your trip from your home to Cairns, Australia. How long it will take? What do you need to prepare for this trip? What do you need to know about Australia before you fly?

K-W-L Chart on Jellyfish

Zu studied the topic of jellyfish and gave a presentation in class. Make a K-W-L chart on jellyfish. K: What do you know about jellyfish? W: What do you want to know about jellyfish? L: What did you learn about jellyfish? Briefly research jellyfish online. Share your findings with your small group members.

A Note to Zu

Zu thinks to herself in the book, “I knew I didn’t deserve happiness.” Assume you happen to hear this when Zu was saying it to herself, and you want to write a note to her. What do you want to say in your note as a friend? How might your note help her to feel better about herself?

Additional Resources

Author Ali Benjamin on The Thing About Jellyfish: A short video clip on the author’s introduction of the book, The Thing About Jellyfish. Some of publishers’ online reviews are included at the end of the clip.

Author Ali Benjamin’s homepage: More information about Ali Benjamin and her books.

Additional Literature With Similar Themes

Addie on the Inside. James Howe. 2012. Atheneum Books for Young Readers.

Fish in a Tree. Lynda Mullaly Hunt. 2015. Nancy Paulsen.

Jongsun Wee is an associate professor at Winona State University in Winona, MN, where she teaches Children’s Literature and Language Arts method courses.

In recent years, educational software developers have offered the adaptive method as an innovation in language learning, but the concept of internal differentiation emerged decades ago. This response to the behaviorist approach considered that all students learn in the same way, but the development of new theories has changed this idea.

In the case of English as a foreign language, the assumption that students have different learning characteristics was influenced by the nativist, cognitivist, and interactionist theories.

From the nativist perspective, language learning is a biological mechanism regulated by the language acquisition device that processes input in the foreign language. Cognitivism, in turn, considers that learners act, construct, plan, and analyze their learning on the basis of internal and mental processes. The interactionist theory assumes the learners’ heterogeneity, meaning that mediated interaction among individuals with different knowledge levels, is the key to an efficient learning process.

All of these theories (and more) have guided the development of new methods and teaching practices, but using the same method with different learners within a group counteracts the importance of heterogeneity.

Despite the effort of language courses and schools to create an environment that uses methods to respect differences, choices made exclusively by schools become contradictory. Not only surrounding cognitive aspects but also cultural, social, and ethnographic elements that have singularized the way people behave which, in turn, affects how they learn a foreign language.

Furthermore, the massive use of Internet tools and other technological devices in the classroom also demands the development of different literacies and the consideration of the constant differentiation during the learning process.

The use of technology emerges as an efficient way to account positively for the differences among learners to promote self-identification, autonomy, and motivation. Therefore, technological devices and the Internet can be useful in developing individual courses for singularized individuals who are in constant transformation. But it needs to be authentic. The application of some social and ethnographic data to the same foreign language course (with modifications), the difference in progress, or the possibility of teachers determining, through technology, what and how students learn cannot be called truly adaptive. Adaptive learning must take into account all differences to create different courses with varied methods and content according to the needs of each student. Not only this, but it is necessary also to consider we are all individuals in constant development. An adaptive course must be modified according to student development during the entire process.

It is complex but possible and promising. Adaptive learning will help create new learning environments (online or face-to-face) where learner differences are not only respected but an underlying concept in the foreign language learning and teaching processes.

Erica C. M. Coutrim is a PhD student in Languages and Education at the University of São Paulo, Brazil. Gustavo Fuga dos Reis is an honoree on ILA’s 2016 30 Under 30 list. He is the CEO and founder of 4YOU2, a self-sustaining social entrepreneurship-focused venture that has served more than 5,000 language learners in Brazil.

Reading in the same ways day after day can become a habit. Habits are not choices, and by nature we tend to lack awareness of what we are doing when we are involved in them. As a result, we become stagnant and often unaware of the other choices and possibilities that exist. If I always tie my shoes in the same way, I no longer even think about it and I forget there are other ways. If I always read a book in the same way, I miss other dimensions and may end up skimming the surface. As more and more focus is placed on reading with rigor we can think about what rigor really means. It is likely not reading by habit and instead involves reading deeply with choices in mind.

The habit loop

The best-selling, influential book The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business, by Charles Duhigg (2014) brought attention to habits and began to clarify the difference between habits and choices. Duhigg explains the habit loop, which consists of a three-step process. First, there is a cue or trigger. When the cue happens, our brains begin to identify the routine we should follow on the basis of previous experiences. The loop ends when there is a reward. After a while of following this loop, our routines become automatic and we no longer have awareness of what we are doing and it no longer feels like a choice. Duhigg explains:

When a habit emerges, the brain stops fully participating in the decision-making. It stops working so hard, or diverts attention to other tasks. So unless you deliberately fight a habit—unless you find new routines—the habit will unfold automatically.

When we read by habit, our brains are not working very hard and we might not be making decisions that help us more deeply understand our books.

Consider Tim, a third grader, who reads in the same way every day, no matter what the text. He reads and follows the character’s actions, not noticing the character’s motivations, emotions, or relationships. As he reads, Tim asks himself the question, “What did the character do?” over and over. It was not until Tim began talking to his reading partner, Michele, about her books that he realized there were other elements to pay attention to—he was stuck in a habit loop. Michele is a reader who tends to think about why the characters are making the choices they do. She tends to ask herself the questions, “Why did she do that?” and “What is motivating her now?” As Michele and Tim had conversations, they began to realize there were multiple ways to read a book and they had choices concerning what they wanted to think about. They might not have consciously chosen their reading habits, but they still had them.

To help students become aware of their reading habits you might do the following:

• Model how you, the teacher, reflect on the habits you tend to follow as a reader.
• Create a class habit chart and invite students to share their habits so they can begin to change them.
• Offer students a few minutes before independent reading time to jot down a plan for what they are going to think about as they read. Students can look back at their plans and see patterns they might want to change.
• Pair up students to discuss how their reading habits might be not only helping them as readers but also limiting their thinking too.

Turning a habit into a choice

“Once you can break a habit into its components, you can fiddle with the gears,” Duhigg said. Perhaps we always sit in the same seat at lunch. Maybe we always tie the left shoe before our right one. The small repetitive acts add up to living a lot of our lives without awareness, on “autopilot.” The clearest example for me is driving home after a long day. It is scary to arrive home and realize I was not paying attention at all, that my mind was on autopilot, and I somehow made it home and don’t remember the drive. Best-selling author Don Miguel Ruiz teaches something called “non-doing.” Non-doing is when you consciously choose to break the pattern you always do. That could mean tying the right shoe first or sitting in a different seat at lunch. When we practice non-doing, we are giving ourselves new perspectives and bringing awareness back into our lives. From awareness we can make choices. As a reader this might mean choosing to focus more on the characters’ motivation rather than reading by habit and paying attention only to the plot. Readers can choose their own “non-doing” strategy.

To help students change a habit into a choice you might do the following:

• Connect the strategies you teach to when a reader would choose them. This helps readers view strategies as choices.
• Give students a few minutes at the end of independent reading time to reflect with a partner about what habit they broke and how it had an impact on their thinking.
• Read aloud and discuss books showing a character that broke a habit. A few of my favorites are The Incredible Book Eating Boy, by Oliver Jeffers, The Old Woman Who Named Things, by Cynthia Rylant, and Naked Mole Rats Get Dressed, by Mo Willems.
• Use a visual to show the habit loop and explain it to students. Let them know that the way to change a habit is to replace the old routine with a new one.

Remember that sharing our habits is not about judging them or beating ourselves up for having them. We all have habits, and they all help us in some way. The key is to realize when we are stuck in a reading habit and turn it back into a choice.

Gravity Goldberg is author of Mindsets and Moves: Strategies that Help Readers Take Charge(Corwin 2016) and coauthor of Conferring with Readers(Heinemann, 2007). She leads a team of literacy consultants in the NY/NJ area and presents to teachers across the United States. At the heart of Gravity's teaching is the belief that everyone deserves to be admired and supported. She can be reached viae-mailand onTwitter.