All Discussions Tagged 'struggling' - Classroom 2.02024-03-29T00:34:55Zhttps://www.classroom20.com/forum/topic/listForTag?tag=struggling&feed=yes&xn_auth=noUsing Foreign Films to Engage Reluctant Readerstag:www.classroom20.com,2013-05-10:649749:Topic:9311532013-05-10T15:07:05.046ZKaren Cameronhttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/KarenCameron
<p><img alt="reluctant readers" border="0" class="alignLeft" height="225" id="img-1368129689191" name="img-1368129689191" src="http://info.marygrove.edu/Portals/94958/images/reluctant-readers1.jpg" style="float: left;" width="300"></img> In her book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Engaging-Reluctant-Readers-Through-Foreign/dp/157886206X"><em>Engaging Reluctant Readers Through Foreign Films</em></a>, Kerry P. Holmes recounts a Saturday evening, one where she intended to put all thoughts of school aside and relax with her husband. It was decided that they would finally watch <em>East/West</em>, a French film with English subtitles. At first, she found herself grumbling over the subtitles, but as the film progressed,…</p>
<p><img id="img-1368129689191" src="http://info.marygrove.edu/Portals/94958/images/reluctant-readers1.jpg" alt="reluctant readers" class="alignLeft" style="float: left;" border="0" height="225" width="300" name="img-1368129689191"/>In her book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Engaging-Reluctant-Readers-Through-Foreign/dp/157886206X"><em>Engaging Reluctant Readers Through Foreign Films</em></a>, Kerry P. Holmes recounts a Saturday evening, one where she intended to put all thoughts of school aside and relax with her husband. It was decided that they would finally watch <em>East/West</em>, a French film with English subtitles. At first, she found herself grumbling over the subtitles, but as the film progressed, she became swept up in the plot—so much so in fact, that she forgot she was even reading the subtitles. This experience sparked an epiphany: <b>What if she started using foreign films to engage reluctant readers?</b></p>
<p>As many of us know, finding creative ways to focus reluctant readers on books, the very thing that evokes feelings of frustration, inadequacy and failure, is challenging. But there are several reasons that foreign films can capture students’ interest and <b>stimulate their imagination in ways that books can’t.</b></p>
<p><b>Films are sensory</b><br/> Psychologists have long known that the brain is a “novelty seeker.” We are attracted to movement and stimulated by unexpected events. Films are brimming with moving images and sounds; these create a context for the text in ways that print simply can’t. Let’s explain.</p>
<p>In foreign films, sight and sound are used simultaneously. A man shouts; we see it, hear it <em>and</em> read it. In fact, every action is accompanied by sound, movement and text, which means that your reluctant readers are hearing <em>and</em> seeing the emotion of the words they are reading.</p>
<p><b>Subtitles come in short bursts, not long pages<br/></b> Long paragraphs and twenty-page chapters can be paralyzing for reluctant readers. The text in subtitles, however, appears in short bursts that are never more than one or two sentences at a time. There’s something else to consider: The text we find in a typical book is limited to small black words on a page. Sure, there may be accompanying pictures or graphics, but they don’t move, speak, or make sound. Films do all three.</p>
<p><b>Foreign films come in a variety of genres <br/></b> How often do your reluctant readers complain that there aren’t any books that suit their interests? By adding foreign films to your classroom library, students will have even less of a reason to say they can’t find “books” that they like. Like books, foreign films come in a variety of genres; there’s bound to be one that will resonate with them. </p>
<p><b>Foreign films expose students to cultural differences<br/></b> As with books, foreign films allow students to transcend their own lives for a short time and enter the lives of those from another culture. In films, cultural differences (which are often abstract) can be seen, heard and read, making them much more real and digestible.</p>
<p>If you are looking for a few more ways to engage your reluctant readers, check out two of our recent blogs, <a href="http://info.marygrove.edu/matblog/bid/92901/text-based-games-a-cure-for-the-common-book">Text-Based Games: A cure for the common book?</a> and <a href="http://info.marygrove.edu/MATblog/bid/92460/Engaging-reluctant-readers-with-a-multi-media-reading-experience" title="Engaging reluctant readers with a multi-media reading experience">Engaging reluctant readers with a multi-media reading experience</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;"> <span class="hs-cta-wrapper" id="hs-cta-wrapper-0c5e8d70-102a-46bd-b649-5f7b8a0b7463"><span style="visibility: visible;" class="hs-cta-node hs-cta-0c5e8d70-102a-46bd-b649-5f7b8a0b7463" id="hs-cta-0c5e8d70-102a-46bd-b649-5f7b8a0b7463"><a href="http://cta-service-cms2.hubspot.com/cs/c/?&cta_guid=2135f4fa-fb1d-47ba-bf50-ab04f1af8a62&placement_guid=0c5e8d70-102a-46bd-b649-5f7b8a0b7463&portal_id=94958&redirect_url=ZuKbi9zag7/QltSx8tnXYt3EK7qzObGHk3F0uIrod/SNdTlCBvib%2B0TtZYQxLdR80buopnDvGgCwlFaE4FtiCMmpHOJxqGTE&iv=tbb%2B1nW5jOQ%3D"><img class="hs-cta-img" id="hs-cta-img-0c5e8d70-102a-46bd-b649-5f7b8a0b7463" style="border-width: 0px; width: 200px; height: 279px;" alt="Guide to Reading Comprehension" src="http://cdn1.hubspot.com/hub/94958/file-24484674.png" name="hs-cta-img-0c5e8d70-102a-46bd-b649-5f7b8a0b7463"/></a></span></span></h3> Uncommon commonsense ways to empower struggling studentstag:www.classroom20.com,2013-05-06:649749:Topic:9306822013-05-06T13:30:26.508ZKaren Cameronhttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/KarenCameron
<p><img alt="struggling students" border="0" class="alignLeft" height="210" id="img-1367612400022" name="img-1367612400022" src="http://info.marygrove.edu/Portals/94958/images/struggling%20students.jpg" style="float: left;" width="314"></img> When we were students, it quickly became apparent who was “smart” and who was “not so smart.” This writer happened to find himself in the latter category, especially when it came to math. How did we figure this out? Those who struggled with math, for example, simply interpreted the arrangement of the math groups: Group A, who was often first to work with the teacher (and the first to finish), was obviously the “smart group.” Group B, who went next, was the “decently smart group”…</p>
<p><img id="img-1367612400022" src="http://info.marygrove.edu/Portals/94958/images/struggling%20students.jpg" alt="struggling students" class="alignLeft" style="float: left;" border="0" height="210" width="314" name="img-1367612400022"/>When we were students, it quickly became apparent who was “smart” and who was “not so smart.” This writer happened to find himself in the latter category, especially when it came to math. How did we figure this out? Those who struggled with math, for example, simply interpreted the arrangement of the math groups: Group A, who was often first to work with the teacher (and the first to finish), was obviously the “smart group.” Group B, who went next, was the “decently smart group” and so on and so forth. “Smart kids” earned A’s in math. “Not so smart kids” didn’t. “Smart kids” went outside during recess. “Not so smart kids” had to get extra help during recess. Most teachers know A’s say very little about a student’s intellect. Unfortunately, most students don’t.</p>
<p>Whether our struggling students know it or not, they have a unique gift. And it’s up to us to unearth that special talent and find ways to empower them. </p>
<p><b>Uncommon commonsense ways to empower struggling students</b></p>
<p><b>Have your students talk about their interests<br/></b> There are myriad ways to find out what your students are passionate about. One way is to have them write about it. We’ve had success with prompts like, “What are three things you want me to know about you?” and “Describe three things that you are really good at.”</p>
<p>Another way to discover your students’ special talents is to have them go around the room and talk about them. Or you might pair students up and have them interview one another and report back to the class.</p>
<p><b>Publicize the strengths of each student<br/></b> In fifth grade I sat next to a student named Marcus for most of the year. He had little interest in most of what we were asked to do and received low marks because of it. If you would have asked his peers where Marcus fit, they would have relegated him to the “not so smart” category.</p>
<p>A typical day for Marcus went something like this: His group would work together on a project; meanwhile, he would pull out his notebook, place it on his lap beneath the desk, and sketch. Even at that age, he was supremely talented. One day, as the class worked in groups, he was finally caught—but instead of punishing Marcus, our teacher quietly whispered into his ear. He nodded and handed over the notebook to her. Then the strangest thing happened: She asked everyone to stop what they were doing and held up his sketch. As we looked at it, she raved about its sophistication. Then she walked around the room so that every student could see. Marcus beamed. When she finished, she returned the notebook, which he closed and promptly put back in his desk.</p>
<p>Prior to this, Marcus’ strengths had never been publicized. This simple, but brilliantly executed decision by our teacher had a lasting impact on his learning experience—and we all began to notice a change in him.</p>
<p><b>Spend more time talking to parents about the student’s strengths<br/></b> When we meet with parents to review our students’ progress, it’s tempting to gloss over the A’s and B’s and quickly move on to the D’s. The reasons for this are obvious enough, but doing so may come at the cost of building on our students’ strengths. Spend an equal amount of time talking about the A’s and B’s as you do the D’s. Though higher marks have little to do with intellect, they do point to where a student’s strengths lie. Spend time investigating the meaning of that A; explore ways to develop that strength, both inside and outside the classroom.</p>
<p><b>Encourage students beyond academics<br/></b> Are some of your students in the school play? Are others on the baseball or soccer team? Why not spend five minutes before class talking about yesterday’s game or tonight’s performance. Not only will this ease your students into the work that lies ahead, it will give your athletes and artists an opportunity to share talents that they might not get to share otherwise. </p>
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<p><span class="hs-cta-wrapper" id="hs-cta-wrapper-2d8bb364-ccc9-41a7-a542-110def64dad1"><span style="visibility: visible;" class="hs-cta-node hs-cta-2d8bb364-ccc9-41a7-a542-110def64dad1" id="hs-cta-2d8bb364-ccc9-41a7-a542-110def64dad1"><a href="http://cta-service-cms2.hubspot.com/cs/c/?&cta_guid=c13467af-16fa-4321-af6b-b9d97f1d27b2&placement_guid=2d8bb364-ccc9-41a7-a542-110def64dad1&portal_id=94958&redirect_url=o2%2B3SYkF4/A%2B%2BigTC9qGLRyZlk7LOXrCahlD5auINFvw1bOg3Ah4v4/ZFEbNogNn8L7vtWWSgCSEltdaNovcug%3D%3D&iv=pUlHCLCFskk%3D"><img class="hs-cta-img align-center" id="hs-cta-img-2d8bb364-ccc9-41a7-a542-110def64dad1" style="border-width: 0px; width: 192px; height: 263px;" alt="New Call to action" src="http://cdn1.hubspot.com/hub/94958/file-25442120.png" name="hs-cta-img-2d8bb364-ccc9-41a7-a542-110def64dad1"/></a></span></span></p> Text-Based Games: A cure for the common book?tag:www.classroom20.com,2013-04-15:649749:Topic:9262432013-04-15T13:28:38.893ZKaren Cameronhttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/KarenCameron
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<p><img alt="text based games" border="0" class="alignLeft" src="http://info.marygrove.edu/Portals/94958/images/text-based-games.png" style="float: left;"></img> We’ve mentioned it before, but when we were kids, we devoured <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choose_Your_Own_Adventure">Choose Your Own Adventure books</a>—especially those released by Bantam Books. Bantam ended the series in the late 90s and we’re not embarrassed to admit that we shed a few tears over it. </p>
<p>Thankfully, <a href="http://www.choiceofgames.com/">Choice of Games</a> has picked up where Bantam left off and thrown in a few perks:…</p>
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<p><img src="http://info.marygrove.edu/Portals/94958/images/text-based-games.png" alt="text based games" class="alignLeft" style="float: left;" border="0"/>We’ve mentioned it before, but when we were kids, we devoured <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choose_Your_Own_Adventure">Choose Your Own Adventure books</a>—especially those released by Bantam Books. Bantam ended the series in the late 90s and we’re not embarrassed to admit that we shed a few tears over it. </p>
<p>Thankfully, <a href="http://www.choiceofgames.com/">Choice of Games</a> has picked up where Bantam left off and thrown in a few perks: First, all of their titles (or what they are calling “text-based games”) are <a href="http://www.choiceofgames.com/">free on the web</a>. They’ve also produced mobile versions that can be played on iPhones, Android phones, and other smartphones.</p>
<p><img id="img-1365794803210" src="http://info.marygrove.edu/Portals/94958/images/text-based-games-2.png" alt="text based games" class="alignCenter" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" border="0" height="491" width="562" name="img-1365794803210"/></p>
<p>But there’s more.</p>
<p>Choice of Games has developed a <b>simple scripting language for writing text-based games</b>, ChoiceScript, which they make available for others to use. Readers are encouraged to use this technology to <b>write their own text-based game;</b> the company will then host submissions on their website.</p>
<p>Currently they have <a href="http://www.choiceofgames.com/category/our-games/">12 text-based</a> games, but there are also 18 other <a href="http://www.choiceofgames.com/category/user-made-games/">user-created books</a> to choose from.</p>
<p><span class="hs-cta-wrapper" id="hs-cta-wrapper-593ed050-a2d4-458c-b10f-04a4ca3e8548"><span style="visibility: visible;" class="hs-cta-node hs-cta-593ed050-a2d4-458c-b10f-04a4ca3e8548" id="hs-cta-593ed050-a2d4-458c-b10f-04a4ca3e8548"><a href="http://cta-service-cms2.hubspot.com/cs/c/?&cta_guid=3bc1d0c0-1477-461d-806c-756af0be3bfe&placement_guid=593ed050-a2d4-458c-b10f-04a4ca3e8548&portal_id=94958&redirect_url=snOgx3eZ/wWIFUqwUypCTbzlADGzHDFyy8Dh8NV%2BWblB3YrlvnZgaQVA51Zf6qBHE2Lek9FIC0sBggCM0gVgVjfn5Q6QeLN%2B&iv=mTeeNJyQ5pE%3D"><img class="hs-cta-img align-center" id="hs-cta-img-593ed050-a2d4-458c-b10f-04a4ca3e8548" style="border-width: 0px; width: 195; height: 274;" alt="New Call-to-Action" src="http://cdn1.hubspot.com/hub/94958/file-28655053.png" name="hs-cta-img-593ed050-a2d4-458c-b10f-04a4ca3e8548"/></a></span></span></p> Spark It: A free reading assessment tool for parents and teacherstag:www.classroom20.com,2013-04-09:649749:Topic:9247092013-04-09T13:24:38.760ZKaren Cameronhttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/KarenCameron
<p><img alt="reading assessment" border="0" class="alignLeft" src="http://info.marygrove.edu/Portals/94958/images/reading-assessment.png" style="float: left;"></img> It’s unfortunate, but every year we encounter struggling readers who have been lost in the shuffle or flown under the “reading radar” for years. So you can imagine how pleased we were to come across <a href="http://www.sparkitreading.com/login/">Spark it</a>, a <b>free reading assessment tool</b> that not only <b>evaluates readers’ skill level</b>, but also offers <b>recommendations for improvement</b> and <b>activities to develop their skills.</b></p>
<p>What impressed us about…</p>
<p><img src="http://info.marygrove.edu/Portals/94958/images/reading-assessment.png" alt="reading assessment" class="alignLeft" style="float: left;" border="0"/>It’s unfortunate, but every year we encounter struggling readers who have been lost in the shuffle or flown under the “reading radar” for years. So you can imagine how pleased we were to come across <a href="http://www.sparkitreading.com/login/">Spark it</a>, a <b>free reading assessment tool</b> that not only <b>evaluates readers’ skill level</b>, but also offers <b>recommendations for improvement</b> and <b>activities to develop their skills.</b></p>
<p>What impressed us about Spark It was its “user-friendliness.” As parents facilitate the four parts of the assessment, they’re <b>guided by pop-up icons</b> that tell them exactly what to do, when to do it and what they should say. Should parents experience any issues during the assessment, they can refer to the “tips” icon.</p>
<p>SparkIt assesses students’ proficiency in four areas:</p>
<ul>
<li><b>Vocabulary</b> (Picture Identification): Looking at pictures of objects and correctly naming the objects</li>
<li><b>Fluency</b> (Rapid Naming): Quickly naming a string of familiar items—a series of numbers, letters or colors</li>
<li><b>Phonemic Awareness:</b> Understanding how individual letter sounds combine to make a word and saying them</li>
<li><b>Letter and Word Calling:</b> Pronouncing letters and words correctly, either by sight (just knowing it) or by sounding them out</li>
</ul>
<p id="img-1365513198023" class="alignCenter" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"> <img id="img-1365513198023" src="http://info.marygrove.edu/Portals/94958/images/reading-assessment2.png" alt="reading assessment2" class="alignCenter" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" border="0" height="400" width="573" name="img-1365513198023"/></p>
<p>Once the reading assessment is finished, you’ll receive instant results (see above picture) along with a personalized plan to help the reader improve his or her skills.</p>
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<p><span class="hs-cta-wrapper" id="hs-cta-wrapper-0c5e8d70-102a-46bd-b649-5f7b8a0b7463"><span style="visibility: visible;" class="hs-cta-node hs-cta-0c5e8d70-102a-46bd-b649-5f7b8a0b7463" id="hs-cta-0c5e8d70-102a-46bd-b649-5f7b8a0b7463"><a href="http://cta-service-cms2.hubspot.com/cs/c/?&cta_guid=2135f4fa-fb1d-47ba-bf50-ab04f1af8a62&placement_guid=0c5e8d70-102a-46bd-b649-5f7b8a0b7463&portal_id=94958&redirect_url=4AaGa%2BqvVMy8ALz%2BSEcUztYekfYPInz13/NgmKlR2iWeq8n5kMb3MCnyH9Y4wh3dNLTOQCYttUJSNWl/BxsBi4seg7cgc03F&iv=gHTDwdibVcU%3D"><img class="hs-cta-img align-center" id="hs-cta-img-0c5e8d70-102a-46bd-b649-5f7b8a0b7463" style="border-width: 0px; width: 200; height: 279;" alt="Guide to Reading Comprehension" src="http://cdn1.hubspot.com/hub/94958/file-24484674.png" name="hs-cta-img-0c5e8d70-102a-46bd-b649-5f7b8a0b7463"/></a></span></span></p>