Getting+Started

//** Welcome to the WRESA Online Book Study: 7 Keys to Comprehension **// You may work at your own pace but must contribute to the discussion on a regular basis. I have posted discussion topics for each chapter. I will check discussions each week and note discussion participation. Please contact me if you have any questions: cbennett@wresa.org

** Module One **


 * Read chapter one. Reply to one of the following prompts on the discussion page and respond to 3 other class members' comments also. **


 * 1) What am I doing currently to help improve students' comprehension? Ideas I already understand within this topic are. . ..
 * 2) Why is this topic important? Therefore, as I read this book, I plan to focus on _____________ because. . ..
 * 3) What can teachers do to "drench" their students with language? What can school leaders do to facilitate this?

** Module Two **


 * Read chapter two. Reply to one of the following prompts on the discussion page and respond to 3 other class members' comments also. **

-Share your successes and “ahas” with the other participants.
 * 1) Take a mind journey: read something vivid to a child and describe the sensory images that you experienced. Share what you see in your mind and feel in your heart. Describe the child’s reactions.
 * 2) During this current era of “getting kids ready for the test” how can we justify the time to use strategies described in this chapter?
 * 3) What have you done in the past to make reading come alive for your students? Find a magical passage (from something you have read lately) that has underlying importance (see page 33) and share it with the other class participants.
 * 4) Have you ever used the crafting session technique with students?

** Module Three **


 * Read chapter three. Reply to one of the following prompts on the discussion page and respond to 3 other class members' comments also. **


 * 1) Describe your experience when you shared your background knowledge with a child or your students during a read-aloud.
 * 2) Describe what you have done to help your students or children activate their background knowledge.
 * 3) I loved the authors’ statement: “Background knowledge is like Velcro. It helps new information adhere.” It formed a visual that I will always think about when I teach others about background knowledge. Choose a statement you liked and explain why.

** Module Four **

Read chapter four. Reply to the one of following prompts on the discussion page and respond to 3 other class members' comments also.


 * 1) “An unanswered question is a fine traveling companion. It sharpens your eye for the road” (p. 71) What unanswered question do you have? What are you doing to find the answer?
 * 2) What can educators do to help students “dive” into their reading with more questions? What do you do about students who don’t ask any questions?
 * 3) Select a book and model asking questions about its cover.
 * 4) Ask yourself: who owns the questions in your classroom? What advice would you give someone outside our online class about how asking questions helps you better understand what you read?

** Module Five **


 * Read chapter five. Reply to the one of following prompts on the discussion page and respond to 3 other class members' comments also. **


 * 1) Find an appropriate cartoon to use to teach your students or a child how to infer. --Write about their reactions.


 * 1) Use one of the games or make up your own to help build the power to infer. Try it out with students or children. Write about how it went.

** Module Six **


 * Read chapter six. Reply to one of the following prompts on the discussion page and respond to 3 other class members' comments also. **


 * 1) We have learned, “your purpose for reading affects how carefully you read” (p.125). Describe your purpose for reading this book: The 7 Keys to Comprehension.
 * 2) “Without a sense of wonder, without wanting to know more, people will find reading to be a dull and empty skill” (p.129). Describe what you have done, or plan to do, to prevent students from viewing reading as a dull and empty skill.
 * 3) “A synthesis occurs as you summarize what has happened and what it means to you” (p.130). Synthesize one of your favorite read-alouds for students.

** Module Seven **


 * Read chapter seven. Reply to one of the following prompts on the discussion page and respond to 3 other class members' comments also. **

-Explain how you have (or plan to in the future) helped a student to become a “mindful reader” (p. 155).
 * 1) Discuss a time you had to go backwards in order to go forward in your teaching.

-Have you used any fix-up strategies as you have read this book?
 * 1) What fix-up strategies do you use when you read something difficult to understand?

** Module Eight **


 * Read chapter eight. Reply to one of the following prompts on the discussion page and respond to 3 other class members' comments also. **


 * 1) I love the analogy that reading is like making chocolate chip cookies. Is there another analogy that you would use to compare to reading? Why do you like it?
 * 2) “What makes you really soar in your work?” Describe it.
 * 3) In your current (or former) work in classrooms, do you feel that reluctant readers are lacking surface structures or deep structures? Elaborate.
 * 4) Describe anchor experiences you have provided for readers.

** Module Nine **


 * Reflection: Respond to each of the following questions. **


 * 1) Now that you have finished reading the 7 Keys to Comprehension, what do you know (or understand better) than before you read the book? What would you say to a colleague to convince him or her to read this book?
 * 2) What questions do you still have?
 * 3) What will you read (professionally) next?

** Module Ten **

**Plan of Action: Respond to each of the following questions**.


 * 1) This book was based on cutting-edge research and more than 10 years of application in hundreds of classrooms. Create a plan of action. How will you use these strategies to improve your work with students? Be specific.
 * 2) How beneficial was this online class to you? What could be improved or changed to facilitate greater learning or to make the class more interesting to you?