Auerbach Central Agency for Jewish Education

NESS

TERMINOLOGY USED BY

THE PENN LITERACY NETWORK AND

ADAPTED BY THE NESS PROGRAM

 

The 5 Critical Experiences of Learning - exposing children to Transacting with Text (critical and responsive reading), Composing Text (writing), Extending Reading and Writing (self-selection), Investigating Language (active approaches to decoding and grammar) and Learning to Learn (becoming strategic and reflective learners).

 

1) Transacting with Text -   reading, listening to someone reading aloud, discussing a text being read, raising questions about a text that was read, joining with a partner or a small group to respond to a text.

 

2) Writing, Composing Texts - Writing prose or poetry, collaborating on written work, Writer's Workshop, reviewing a partner's writing, storytelling, picture writing, art

 

3) Extending Reading and Writing -  Self-selecting additional texts for personal or social reasons, sharing texts, art, drama, music

 

4 ) Investigating Language - Investigating how language works- sentence and word formation, construction, relationships, grammar, roots

 

5) Learning to Learn - Metacognition, understanding how one learns, understanding best learning strategies

The 4 Lenses of Learning - lessons are social (collaborative), meaning-centered (within a meaningful context), language- based (reading, writing, listening, talking) and human (everyone can feel successful)

Whole-Part-Whole Instruction - going from the whole (text), to the parts and back to the whole

Do Now - Individual writing task that is done briefly as a reflection of a topic to get students actively involved in a topic, theme or concept.

Marking Text - Individuals silently read and respond to text by marking it/making meaning as they read: * = important words/favorite ideas; ? = questions, things that I'm confused about; a heart = nurturing/personal connection. The marks on text are then shared and discussed with a partner and then the large group.

Text rendering - The group sits in a circle at the end of a learning experience and each person responds to the experience in a single sentence. The second time around the circle, each person responds with a word about the experience. The text rendering is a collage of words and ideas briefly stated/key ideas, concepts and connections.

”The Important Thing” Pattern Book Writing/Text using a Template -

For instance, Shabbat is…  The important thing about Shabbat is______. Shabbat is also, _____, _____ & _______. And on Shabbat, ________________. But the important thing about Shabbat is___________________.  (Repeat the first line)

Picture Walk - Pre-reading task with a text-looking at pictures to pre-tell a story.

Oral Reading Activities to engage students - "Choral Reading," "Echo Reading" & "If I Stop Guess Which Word Comes Next?" (oral close technique-fill in the missing word).

Sustained Talking/Sustained Listening - Student pairs take turns talking/listening about an assigned subject-each have 1 or 2 minutes to talk or listen non-stop.

Think/Pair/Share - Students think briefly about a topic, pair up and share ideas. Often students are asked to jot down their ideas before pairing and sharing.

Jigsaw/Expert Jigsaw - Each member of a team is responsible for a section of information unique and different from that of other team members. Participants meet in expert groups to study their unique section with others who have that assignment, then everyone returns to their home team to teach the material they have learned.

The Before-During-After Approach to Text-

Before Reading : 
An Activity that activates the learner's prior knowledge and experiences relevant to the upcoming text or learning experience.

During Reading : 
An activity the learner completes while reading that directs him/her to think about the text.

After Reading : 
An activity the learner completes that connects the before and during activities and further asks him/her to think about the text.

KWLU - At the beginning of a new unit or lesson, students are asked to link their background experience and questions to the new unit of study. The letters stand for: K-What do I already know about this topic? W-What do I want to learn/know about this topic? As the unit progresses, the students are asked: L-What are we learning? Finally, U- the students are asked to think about how they might use/apply/transfer this knowledge in their lives inside and outside of the classroom.

Book in Hand Theatre - Students (and/or the teacher) pick a part of a book to read aloud in small groups, deciding who will be the narrator and who will take different speaking parts. After reading the text together, students change roles and/or talk about the story itself.

List Poetry - Students brainstorm words related to content, and by adding descriptive words, make it into a poem.

Story Sequencing for Comprehension - Students retell or write a written retelling of the story in 4-6 sequential sections.

Point of View Activity using a Story Line - Sequencing a story then plotting a character's feelings throughout the story sections on a line indicating happy excitement, worrisome excitement or neutral in terms of the character's point of view at various points in the text.

Predicting and Finishing a Story as a Way to Extend Reading and Writing - Students predict how a story will end and/or rewrite the ending possibly from another character's point of view.

Vocabulary Exercise :  "How Well do I know this Word?" Students take a close look at words from a text and analyze their recognition of and understanding of the words.

Writer's Workshop - A predictable approach to writing that emphasizes mini-lessons, sustained writing on a topic (poetry, prayer writing, for instance), and sharing.

Investigating Language: Making Words and Sentences -

· Taking a word, phrase or sentence  from a text-- students cut it up and put it back together in order and practice reading it.

· Taking a text, students cut up the parts of the text (words or phrases)  and piece it back together as they read it.

I-Search/We-Search and Investigations - Student-led research emphasizing a combination of knowledge and personal reflection. Students choose research topics based on their interests and questions, brainstorm what they want to know, and where the information can be obtained, then write a “first person” research document explaining what they found and its importance to them.

Curriculum Problem Solving - a teacher-to-teacher conversation that focuses on management concerns and practical solutions for implementation in the classroom related to the critical experiences and 4 lenses of learning.

Drama as a Response to Text - Dramatic movement and text interpretations in whole group and small group settings.

 

Note Making- Making notes on a text or lecture as part of the learning process, noting not only important information but also questions, ideas, keywords.

 

Graphic Organizer – A pictorial or graphic way of organizing information and constructing knowledge. Seemingly disjointed information or ideas are connected in a structured, simple-to-read graphic display or chart.

 

Double Entry Journal – Recording response to text by dividing a paper into columns: in the left column students summarize text while in the right column, students react tot the text with their own comments, questions, analysis.

 

Paired Reading, Summary Pairs, and Reciprocal Questioning – Reading text with a partner, then jointly completing a task – either summarizing the text, asking questions on the text to be shared with the class, or both.

 

 

 

Please direct all questions to Anita Block, Director of the NESS Initiative, at 215-635-8940, ext. 1235 or ablock@acaje.org.