Increasing Comprehension by Creating More Engaged Readers

Exhibited by:

• Barry Greenberg

PLO Attended:

Coached by:

PLO LEARNINGS:

I learned new teaching methods and strategies to get my students more engaged in reading. I implemented annotative collaboration strategies with my students with the goal of students increasing their reading comprehension. I believe, if my students are more engaged with the text, they will comprehend the text better.

IMPLEMENTATION OF TECHNIQUES & PRACTICES:

I started collaborative annotation techniques with a small group that included 5^th grade S.E.T.S.S. students and E.N.L. students. Ms. Bergin observed me with these students and was able to give feedback and advice. Over the next few months, my practice evolved as well as the students. As the year progressed, S.E.T.S.S. students in grades 3rd through 5th merged into the group.

My co-teacher in 6^th grade Social Studies explained to me that he has used collaborative annotation in the past. He was eager to use these techniques with the students we shared. We started trying these techniques while students were examining documents for DBQ (Document Based Question) activities and while working on station teaching activities.

IMPACT and DATA:

Students appeared more engaged in reading comprehension activities. This was especially useful when introducing new styles of text such as poetry and looking at documents to analyze in Social Studies class. Many of the students in my group changed during the school year. However, 4 students were constant for the 5 months since collaborative annotation was introduced. 2 out of 4 of the students met the end of year benchmark. However, all 4 students increased their reading levels throughout the year. When this strategy was used while using NEWSELA and ReadWorks leveled text, they generally scored higher when answering the comprehension questions at the end of the text.

NEXT STEPS:

• Find a better way to keep track of student growth.
• Find a way to track what type of questions students were able to answer correctly.
• Create a PLC in my school around getting students more engaged and inspired in their reading and turnkey techniques I learned at the PLO.