Framing our reading - Engagement

Engagement Example

Citation:

Carson, R., Darling, L., & Darling, L. (1962). 10. Indiscriminately from the Skies Silent spring (pp. x, 368 p.). Boston, Cambridge, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin; Riverside Press.

Rationale for Choosing:

Classic environmental text laying the foundation for why we should care about the environment. After reading parts of it, it provides a historical context for conservation efforts as well as a compelling evidence for why and what we can do to take care of nature.

Text Frame:

Problem/Solution

Proposition/Support

Strategies used and resource:

Prereading Plan (Langer, 1981; McLaughlin, 2015). Prereading Plan or PreP, is an engagement tool to have students access their prior knowledge on a subject. This is done by having students respond to a cue (topic or idea) with a brainstorm list of everything that they know about the topic. It is put into a list with a brief reason behind why it is related. This is done before the reading and then the list is revisited after the reading is completed to see if anything changed.

Challenge to Students

            I think that one of the benefits of this reading is that it is accessible to most high school students, especially the students of an independent school. There may be some initial challenges with the chemicals used and the historical context, but that reading does a good job of making all of this easy to understand.

Why Prereading Plan?

I chose the PreP strategy because it seemed like an easy way to engage with prior knowledge, while also interacting in a social setting within the classroom. I did not get that experience when doing this by myself, however, a group of students being able to discuss and talk about the ideas on the list would make for a good constructivist activity.

Prior knowledge can be an issue as students may not know what to expect during a reading. Without knowing it, I have previously used this strategy after reading the first few paragraphs. After identifying the main idea or cue, I have been able to engage prior knowledge that leads to better understanding of the reading. As I think about it, a title should be a good cue, letting the reader know what they are about to read so they can think about what they already know about the topic. PreP also ended up being a good summarization tool by reviewing the list after the reading. It helped me to look for the main ideas.

My Experience using Prereading Plan

Pre-Reading Impressions:

This was awkward to do before reading the text. I have never read Silent Spring, so I am not exactly sure what it is about. I have heard about the negative impacts of the use of pesticides on the environment, but not sure exactly the nature of this chapter. So, I guess that I feel just like a student in this situation, however I have no cue to read from. I only read the first few sentences of the book description on Amazon.com to give myself a cue to use. The process was good to tap into previous knowledge, but also to try and be creative to develop more brainstorm responses. You can see the Pre-reading cue that I used and the brainstorm list.

Pre-Reading Cue:

Negative Effects of Pesticides

Pre-reading PreP

Brainstorm Response	Reasons
Bald Eagle Eggs	I can remember hearing radio discussions about removing pesticides (maybe DDT) from use due to softening of bald eagle eggs.
Run off into water	I think that I also remember hearing about pesticide contamination of
Pro/Con Pesticides	There may be negative effects of pesticides, however there is a benefit to their use in terms of yields of crops through limiting destruction from pests. There is so much here, need to read it to get more info
Effects on Humans	Heard recent discussion about the use of neonicotinoids and their possible carcinogenic effects
Organic Farming	Makes me think about the methods that are available before humans developed pesticides

Post-Reading Impression

            Overall, this was an interesting activity. I think that it was very different than a student would experience for two reasons. First, I was looking at it as a teacher, so I was not experiencing it as a way to engage with the material, but how to actually implement it. Secondly, I did not have the proper prompt because I, had not read the work before, which would have defeated the purpose of the activity. I used the prompt from reading a two sentence summary of the entire book, and not the chapter that was part of this reading. As a result of reading the chapter there are a few changes that I would make, have a better prompt and as student’s would do, I would change several things on the list and the reasons.

            The prompt that I should have used was “spraying pesticides from the sky” or “action without information”. Those were the two general themes that I took from the reading that could have created a discussion list in the classroom. The reading itself was about the use of pesticides sprayed from the sky. So this would have activated students’ prior knowledge about anything they know about this. The second prompt was the general theme that ran through the chapter when it was talking about the government’s use of spraying pesticides without having enough information about the effects that it would have. This could engage prior knowledge about the general practice of doing something, without knowing what will happen.

            The changes that I made to my brainstorm list were significant. I took out all except for the organic farming one, which I added to. I added the ideas of current mosquito control methods, action without information, and stewards of the environment. I think that this was useful for me, and would be for students. I was trying to list out as much as I knew about the topic, even though it was slightly off. And the reading made much more sense as soon as I read the first paragraph. The changes to the list helped me develop the key themes of the reading that a student could take with them. Overall, this was an easy, and effective way for students to engage prior knowledge, and also summarize a reading.

Below you can see the changes that I made in response to reading the chapter.

Pre-Reading Cue:

Spraying pesticides from the sky OR Action without Information

Post-Reading PreP

Brainstorm Response	Reasons
Mosquito Controls	Throughout the reading all I could think about were the methods that have been discussed to control mosquitos in the wake of the zika outbreak.
Action without information	Government acted on things that were not real problems, without knowing the likely outcomes or responding quickly to changes
Responsibility- Stewards of the environment	The reading make me think about human being role in the world considering the chemical and technological advances that we have access to. We have a responsibility to a high ethical and moral standard
Organic Farming/Killing the beneficial	The original idea still stands, however specific examples of livestock, good insects, and crops were brought up by in the reading.

Connections to broader themes

            PreP also seems to fit in well as a metacognitive strategy to literacy by having student access previous learning, as recommended to enhance comprehension (Tanner, 2012). PreP could be used as part of a larger metacognitive strategy by having students use it identifiy what was learned by reviewing the list and then reflecting back on the process of as a whole to determine if they have a new understanding about how they learn.

            PreP could also be a specific strategy under the umbrella of engagement theory as it stresses the use of themes in a social environment (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). If it also takes place in a student centered discussion it would rely on student choice of the theme. Under the engagement theory this could lead to a more engaged reader

Group Experiences

            While me and my partner chose different reading strategies, we both found that the social aspects of the activity were very important. The act of sharing ideas and discussing them is a vital component to utilizing texts in a constructivist classroom. PreP can help facilitate this by having students offer and defend ideas that are related to the pre-reading cue and connecting them through discussion.

References:

Langer, J. A. (1981). From Theory to Practice: A Prereading Plan. Journal of Reading, 25(2), 152-156.

McLaughlin, M. (2015). Content area reading: teaching and learning for college and career readiness. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Tanner, K. D. (2012). Promoting Student Metacognition. CBE-Life Sciences Education, 11(2), 113-120.

Tracey, D. H., & Morrow, L. M. (2012). Chapter 4: Constructivism Lenses on reading : an introduction to theories and models (2nd ed., pp. xx, 251 p.). New York: The Guilford Press.