Notice & Note Signposts
Much of what I have applied for this grade level has been based off of Kylene Beers and Robert E. Probst’s strategies of “Notice and Note Nonfiction Signposts.” Students who are considered struggling readers are typically placed in an intervention course designed to provide additional support in reading. One of these supports is the implementation of signposts. For nonfiction, there are five signposts with accompanying anchor questions that are used when guiding readers through text:
- Contrast & Contradiction
- Numbers & Statistics
- Quoted Words
- Absolute Language
- Word Gaps
To introduce these signposts, I created a template poster for students to engage with. Each poster included the guided anchor questions and signal words that may indicate a signpost. Each day, during guided reading sessions, we read an article and identified different signposts. I gave students colored sticky notes (their choice – to allow for some student decision) and I asked them to quickly jot down their signpost with an explanation as to why it is a signpost and why it is important. For the signpost “word gaps,” I asked students to guess what the word could possibly mean depending on context clues. Following their independent work with signposts, we held a brief discussion about why we were identifying the assigned signpost and how it helps us monitor our reading.
I used this lesson in preparation of using text annotations and to illustrate to students a method of monitoring their own reading comprehension. Being able to physically cooperate and create a poster together additionally made this lesson more meaningful for students, because it was their own thoughts being hung up in the classroom.
Finished posters:
My coordinating teacher is the reading liaison of Lefler Middle School, so much of what we discuss is in relation to student reading course placements and exam scores. This year, students were tested using the MAP test. MAP testing allowed for my coordinating teacher and myself to determine areas that were needed for growth in reading skills. What we determined to be most beneficial for our students were:
- Identification of text structure
- Author’s perspective and purpose
- Vocabulary skills
- Text annotations
To address these areas, my coordinating teacher and I use day-by-day lesson planning that build off of the previous day’s assignments and tasks.
Vocabulary Practice
Some of these assignments include the addition of vocabulary practice. Listed below is a copy of the vocabulary worksheet I created and modified from my Grade 9-12 Reading Ideas practicum. Each day, I pull 2-3 vocabulary words from the text we plan on reading and create a PowerPoint presentation in which students write the word, definition, and a meaningful sentence, as well as draw a visual to help them remember the meaning of the assigned vocabulary word.
Additionally, we worked with appropriate suffix practice. The below example PowerPoint is a game I created in which students were given white boards to write the appropriate suffix.
Identifying Text Structure/Organizational Patterns
Some text structures are more difficult to decipher for struggling readers because they are so similar. For example, sequence of events in comparison to chronological. To help my students practice these identification skills, we worked in guided reading groups constructing graphic organizers that fit each type of text structure. The structures we practiced were: chronological order, sequence of events, compare and contrast, cause and effect, and problem and solution. After reviewing and working with text structure, we played a Pear Deck Game that was similar to that of the Suffix Game listed above.
This lesson was used to engage students while building on a skill they have already been using throughout their middle school career.
Text Annotation
After building on skills like signposts, I modeled to students the concept of textual annotations or “having a conversation” with the text for the first paragraph of their assigned article. After modeling, I asked for students to make some of their own annotations.
I used this lesson to introduce my students to this idea of having a conversation with the text, because it will be done frequently in high school. A lot of 8th grade curriculum is preparation for their future high school career. It is additionally another method my students can utilize to monitor their own reading.
Literature Circles
April is Poetry Month, so for guided reading groups my coordinating teacher and I decided it would be wise to incorporate some reading of poetry. This is why we decided to read Love That Dog by Sharon Creech. Given that it is at a 4th grade reading level and would not take long to read, we felt that it would be a good introduction to not only reading poetic prose, but also to literature circles.
Each day, each group was asked to come back and read either silently or as a group. Then, using the assigned literature circle questions we would discuss the book itself. During our first group meeting, I outlined my expectations for literature circles saying, “I expect you guys to discuss together. I will only be here to guide and facilitate if there are long pauses, but otherwise, it’s on you guys. I will be grading discussion, not necessarily the amount of notes you are taking.”
Along with these expectations, I crafted a graphic organizer for them to fill out. Below is the graphic organizer and the literature circle questions inspired by Scholastic.
Chelsea Fritz 