Chapters International

In recent years, much of the conversation around literacy instruction has focused on the Science of Reading. But after students learn to decode and read with fluency, how do we help them continue to grow as readers?

Our most important job as teachers of comprehension is to help children understand and think deeply about increasingly longer and more complex texts. As students move past the primary years, research shows that growth in reading succeeds or fails in direct proportion to the level of student engagement. Keeping in mind the developmental level of readers grades 3-8, a social element to reading instruction becomes critical. From a teacher’s point of view, this means teaching into and providing opportunities for:

impactful book talk, both scaffolded and independent;
a variety of formal and informal reading responses, sometimes interactive and sometimes individual;
a balance of whole class texts and independent choice reading;
engaging word work (e.g., vocabulary, structures of language) in the context of comprehension;
centering the connection between reading and writing instruction (i.e, reading like a writer and writing like a reader).

In this interactive webinar series, Dan will explore concrete ideas for teaching students in upper elementary and middle school to think deeply about narrative and expository text. Participants will come away with practical, classroom-ready strategies, structures, and routines for helping older students become versatile, independent comprehension decision makers.

Session One - Research and Getting Started: Book Talk, Reading-Writing Connections, and Identity

What exactly do we teach older readers? The content of comprehension.
What research tells us about the importance of engagement, choice, and reading response for upper elementary and middle school readers
Creating a culture of engagement through book talk
“I’m the sort of reader who…”: Learning student’s reading personalities
Where do vocabulary instruction and studying complex language structures fit in?

Session Two - Whole Class, Small Group, and Independent Reading: Gradual Release Toward Deeper Comprehension

Using whole class texts as a springboard for engaging, direct instruction
Balancing teacher comprehension questions with student driven inquiry
Literary essay, jots, and virtual correspondence: Formal, informal, and interactive reading responses
Not Just Guided Reading: Different Models of Small Group Instruction, and When To Use Which
Read Like a Writer, Write Like a Reader: Making Explicit Connections Between Our Reading and Writing Instruction

Session Three - Differentiating Instruction Through Independent Reading

Individual reading conferences: A step-by-step approach
It’s Not Just A Free For All: Class Routines, Structures, and Accountability to Ensure Independent Reading Remains Productive
A Democracy of Thought: Sharing the work of independent reading
Keeping Track: How Do I Stay on Top of What Each Student Is Doing?
Setting up independent reading partnerships and book clubs

Session Four - The Logistics Will Make You or Break You

Management routines that foster student independence
Tips for Balancing (and Connecting) Whole Class, Small Group, and Independent Reading
Record keeping and assessment
Common Stumbling Blocks: Ensuring Book Variety, Keeping Track of Volume, Conferring Around Books the Teacher Hasn’t Read Herself, etc.
Parallel Planning: Targeting Instruction to the Individual Child While Also Addressing Standards

DAN FEIGELSON

Dan Feigelson has worked extensively in New York City schools as a teacher, staff developer, curriculum writer, principal, and local superintendent. An early member of the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project, he leads institutes, workshops and lab-sites around the world on the teaching of reading and writing. A regular presenter at national and international conferences, Dan is the author of Radical Listening: Reading and Writing Conferences to Reach All Students (Scholastic 2022), Reading Projects Reimagined: Student-Driven Conferences to Deepen Critical Thinking (Heinemann 2015), and Practical Punctuation: Lessons in Rule Making and Rule Breaking in Elementary Writing (Heinemann 2009). He lives in Harlem and Columbia County, New York.