Posted on by Stephanie McGann

Literacy, Wisdom, and Virtue #4: Focused Practice

All of the strategies presented in this series so far have offered support for developing reading virtues alongside opening a child up to the wisdom in Great Books. This final post does that also, but with a more deliberate emphasis on the virtue side of the equation. Just as athletes use drills to master the fundamental skills of their sport, readers benefit from deliberately isolating reading virtues in order to improve them.

My two favorite exercises are repeated readings and cloze readings, both of which are research-based and complement classical education very nicely.

Repeated Readings

Classical educators have long held up the importance of reading the same material over and over again to develop a deeper understanding of the text. Many of us do that for pleasure when we enjoy a book or out of necessity when we don’t fully understand something we read. Inevitably, we gain more the second and third time around.

The same is true for repeated readings. The catch, though, is that it seems at first like students are just mindlessly working through a text.

Here is why.

Repeated readings consist of students speed-reading aloud a small selection of text, usually about 100 words, as quickly and as many times as they can in one minute. Once they’re done, students record how many words they read. Then, the teacher resets the timer and has the student do it again some number of times.

Almost always, students read more words with each reading because they become more comfortable with the text. This builds confidence, reading fluency, and—perhaps surprisingly—reading comprehension at the same time. I like having students write something at the end, such as a moral if we read one of Aesop’s fables.

Here is a repeated reading example. Notice that each word is numbered to make it easier for students to track their progress. It’s just as easy to pencil in the numbers, which is what I normally do.

There could be many different versions of managing repeated readings. Some teachers might complete this one-on-one with a student, but I find it works very well to have students do this in pairs. I manage the clock for the entire class, and pairs of students take turns reading. It gets very noisy when half the class is reading at the same time, but students enjoy the competitive spirit it elicits. Best of all, the “competition” is always against oneself as the student is trying to beat his own score.

Another variation I like is pairing students up from different grade levels. Older students take on a mentor-role, helping younger students pronounce words and break down meaning, while developing their own reading virtues in the process. Everyone benefits!

Match this exercise with a significant passage from a Great Book, and students are primed for a critical discussion or writing assignment.

Cloze Reading

Another research-based strategy for improving reading virtues is cloze reading, which sharpens critical reading by explicitly drawing on the faculties of logic.

It consists of a teacher selecting a passage of text. I find it most valuable when chosen from a Great Book that students are already reading. Then, the teacher “blanks out” key words. Students must read the passage and figure out what words are missing. The goal is not necessarily to find the precise word the author uses in the original text, but to figure out a word that would make sense in context. After an appropriate amount of time, the teacher reads the original passage to students, and the class collectively compares answers and assesses how well they did.

Cloze reading is like a puzzle in that it challenges our brains to piece words together in a logical way. Though the exercise does not explicitly require a student to re-read the passage, he will have to do so in order to figure out the missing words. It’s a more restful exercise than repeated readings, not least because it is completed silently. Nonetheless, it can be more stimulating because it is all about finding meaning. When I look around the classroom during a cloze reading, I feel like I can see students’ brains firing away.

Here is cloze reading example from The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White.

On a final note, repeated readings and cloze readings take very little time to complete, so they are relatively easy to work into the school week, and they have tremendous benefit. The key to serving the twin goals of wisdom and virtue is not only making sure the selections come from a Great Book, or perhaps a Classic Story, but also requiring students to articulate something valuable at the end.

And, I find it best when it feels fun for students. They know they’re developing reading virtues, but the exercises don’t feel tiresome. Instead, they feel energizing and empowering, and that is an essential prerequisite for building a love of reading.

Posted on by Stephanie McGann

Literacy, Wisdom, and Virtue #3: Silent Reading

If given the choice, most children would prefer to be read to indefinitely. It seems easier, especially for early and struggling readers, and it’s engaging and restful. But the time comes for every child to really learn to read independently. I’m not just talking about decoding either. I’m talking about trying to read the likes of Shakespeare and the other Great Authors in one’s own head.

That requires a child to practice the virtue of silent reading. Put differently, he must learn to turn off the noises around him and listen to his own internal voice in conversation with an author.

Silent reading develops the habits of discipline and attention in a very different way than reading aloud. Whereas the latter grabs students in a more sensory, interactive, and energizing way, the former calls on students to be still within themselves.

That can be very hard, even for adults!

Depending on our mood, level of interest in a subject, or the things going on around us, it can be difficult to get into a silent reading rhythm. Here are several strategies that can help.

Classroom Culture

Classrooms should be the ideal place for students to get lost in a book, but that can be hard to facilitate. Not surprisingly, silent reading needs silence of mind and body, and just one restless student can upset the rhythm for an entire class. For that reason, it may be tempting to assign silent reading as homework and use class time for discussions.

I do that plenty of the time, but I still work silent reading into the school day. After all, there is no guaranteeing silent reading is even possible in a child’s home. I moderate it in small chunks at first—ten, fifteen minutes or so—and work up to longer sessions as the year progresses. With time and deliberate oversight, students become stakeholders in a silent reading culture, not least because it means less homework!

Teacher Prompted

Sometimes I want to say, “Okay, turn to chapter six and begin reading in silence.”

But that is not a good way to get a class going. It’s kind of like pushing a beginning swimmer into the deep end. He is so focused on not drowning that he can’t even think about how to use his arms and legs, let alone control his breath. Likewise, the reader pulls and grasps in his head, often drowning in the text before him.

Instead, I generally set up silent reading with some kind of prompt. Perhaps it’s a discussion about the previous chapter and how it positions the next.

Before having students read Act III of William Shakespeare’s King Lear, I might ask, ”Why do you think King Lear believed Regan and Goneril when they said they loved him?…Should their insincerity have been obvious?…Then why didn’t he pick up on it?”

In just a few minutes, students realize that King Lear’s mental state is in a bad way, and it’s about to get much worse. Then when they read Act III on their own, they are primed to recognize King Lear’s final descent into madness.

Other times, I assign a writing exercise that draws out important themes that a story will cover.

Before reading “The Marriage Set” from Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales I like to ask, “Who knows more about marriage, a person who has been married and divorced multiple times or someone who has studied about it in books?” The abstract people from the prompt take on form when students meet the Wife of Bath and the Clerk, two characters who sharply disagree in their views on marriage. Students must then “test” their preconceived notions against the story line.

Another favorite approach is to read the first several paragraphs aloud to the class with them reading along. This draws students into the story and prepares them to successfully finish it on their own. For more on this, return to my previous post on reading aloud.

Directed Reading

One way to aid student comprehension and prompt critical thinking is to give students writing assignments in conjunction with reading. I favor narration exercises, reading guides, and journal entries, though there are many ways teachers can accomplish this.

Reading Guides

Reading guides are teacher-generated questions about the text. If my class is reading a novel, I have a reading guide for each chapter. If we are reading a play, then I might have one for each act or scene. In either case, I write my questions in chronological order, so students can read and answer questions more or less simultaneously. I like this model the best for middle school students because it keys them in to the important details and ideas in the reading.

Here is an example of a reading guide I designed in conjunction with Saint Benedict: The Story of the Father of Western Monks by Mary Fabian Windeatt. Although it’s not considered a Great Book, it is beautifully written and enriches my classical curriculum as a whole. Students read this book entirely on their own. My reading objective in this case is to help students improve their reading comprehension while learning about a great medieval saint. For that reason, a reading guide is ideal.

Narration Exercises

The Latin root narr means “tell,” which is not surprising when one thinks about words like narrator and narrative. Likewise, narration exercises are designed to teach students how to re-tell a story, which is a wonderful way to check their comprehension after reading something. Narrations can be done verbally, but I prefer having students complete them in writing as the end product tends to be more thoughtful and well-planned.

Narrations are somewhat similar to summaries, but they have more of a story voice. Instead of just stringing together sentences that present details from the original story in chronological order, students are encouraged to make the narration exciting and suspenseful. Students may stick with the narrative perspective, but they may also choose to tell the story differently, which can be very fun to read aloud to classmates.

This narration example was completed by a small group of students in connection with reading the story of Genseric the Vandal in Heroes of the Middle Ages by Eva March Tappan. Though also not a Great Book, the stories Tappan tells are beautifully written and historical by design.

Journal Entries

For journal entries, I write deeper, more analytically focused questions that address a central Truth or major theme at play. In response, students end up writing mini-theses about each chapter.

This is a more challenging assignment for students than reading guides and narrations because it requires higher level thinking in addition to basic comprehension and creative writing. Students must synthesize a number of details in the text and develop their own ideas. Moreover, journal entries are open-ended in the sense that students write as much or as little as necessary to answer the questions in a logical, evidence-based, persuasive way.

Here is an example of a journal entry based on questions I designed for Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc by Mark Twain. Unlike the two aforementioned examples, Mark Twain’s book falls squarely in the Great Book genre and demands a higher level of reading.

Informal Assessment

Silent reading provides invaluable insight into students’ reading habits. I may sit at my desk and discreetly “watch” students, or I may walk around and openly “monitor” them. In either case, I am constantly assessing how students read. While I may not be able to hear the mental process going on in a child’s head during silent reading, I can determine much from his body language or just tracking how quickly he turns the page.

“No wonder so-and-so’s journal entries are sparse. He’s reading too fast to absorb much,” I might observe. Or, “I wonder why so-and-so is having so much trouble reading today. He keeps looking around. Better have a chat with him.”

Collectively, these strategies help students develop the virtue of silent reading. I always remind students they will be working on this virtue their entire life, and I make sure to let them know my first reading of each of the works we study together was difficult, too. It’s only through continued work on the same texts that I have learned what I know, and I get more out the books each time I read them. They will, too.

Posted on by Stephanie McGann

Literacy, Wisdom, and Virtue #2: Reading Aloud

Words are meant to be spoken. Yes, we write them and read them, but that is really a secondary function. A writer says the words in his head as he composes, just as a reader hears the words in his head as he reads. Thus, even the written word is a type of long-distance conversation.

What’s more, there is something about the sound of writing that either attracts us or repels us.

Just watch the face of a little child when he hears a well-read story. His eyes light up with understanding. His face smiles along with excitement or drops with sadness. He nods to show agreement or frowns to show objection. He feels like he is in the story, like the author wrote it just for him. He thinks about every word and asks questions whenever the reader pauses to take a breath. He is quite literally trying to speak to the author.

Clearly, reading aloud is as instinctual as it is meaningful. All of us want to hear words so we can really listen to them. For that reason, classical educators rely heavily on various types of reading aloud.

Teacher-led

One of the most obvious strategies is teacher-led read-alouds. There are many variations of this depending on the age group. For middle school students, I find it best to have them read along in their books while I read to them. I make a point of modeling critical thinking by pausing frequently and asking questions about the text. My goal is for students to learn how to engage the story deeply by showing them what an internal dialogue with a story looks like.

When reading “The Lady of Shalott” by Alfred Lord Tennyson, I might say something like, “I wonder why he uses bridle in this verse…Can you think of a homonym that we might substitute…Yes, bridal, as in getting married!…What message is Tennyson trying to convey about how the Lady of Shalott feels?…Yes, she wants to find love!”

Another good thing about reading aloud to students is that it establishes a proper pace for them. It slows down the reading process for those who are inclined to speed ahead and pushes others forward who might generally lag behind. As the adage goes, it keeps everyone on the same page, which is very important for generating insightful discussion.

But that does not mean it forces an artificial equilibrium in the classroom. Rather, it scaffolds the learning process in a wonderful way. “Developing” readers get a keener understanding of the text and increase their comprehension. Meanwhile, “advanced” readers are able to more critically analyze the underlying meaning and extract its wisdom.

Likewise, everyone benefits from hearing the appropriate pronunciation of words, use of pauses, and tonal inflections. It shows students what the words are supposed to sound like, which can be difficult when reading is done only in one’s own head. Teacher-led read-alouds model what students should be aspiring toward.

Student-led

But exclusively reading aloud to students is not productive in the long-run. They must also read-aloud themselves. This helps students develop their reading fluency and hear what their own voice sounds like. To this end, it allows them to “check” their own reading in a much more accurate way than simply hearing their voice in their head.

As we all know from experience, something might sound better in our heads than when spoken. So, if we want students to develop to their best potential, they need the most accurate measure of their progress, which comes from reading aloud. They need to hear their own voice, not an idealized internal version of it.

Paired with this, of course, is the teacher’s ability to assess the student. Only by hearing a student can the teacher know where he is struggling, help him master tough words, and point out the right places to pause and inflect.

I once heard an educator say that students should never be forced to read aloud since some are so uncomfortable doing so. I strongly disagree with this view. Well-intentioned as it may be, I think it is a tremendous disservice to students because it denies them a premium opportunity to improve their reading.

What’s more, I think it’s fairly easy to establish a respectful, loving reading culture in a classroom where students feel encouraged and supported. At the outset of the school year, I let my students know that everyone will read throughout the day (and not in a “popcorn” fashion). When called upon, the student stands, and everyone else reads along silently. No one but me is allowed to correct a student.

Some students will always be more comfortable than others, but the inability to “opt-out” and the insistence on a respectful reading culture helps everyone feel “safe.” As the school year progresses, struggling readers improve, gain confidence, and realize that everyone mispronounces words and needs help.

Choral Reading

A variation of student-led read-alouds is choral reading, which consists of the teacher reading aloud along with the whole class in one voice. This is one of my favorites. It lets everyone practice reading at the same time, which is very efficient. Additionally, it provides “cover” for struggling students by letting their mistakes blend into the chorus of voices. Plus, since the teacher is reading, too, the students have a good model to follow along with. Although the teacher cannot as easily hone in on individual mistakes, students automatically self-correct.

Blended Read-Aloud

Another variation is to employ a little bit of each strategy, kind of like the “I read; we read; you read” approach taught in conventional teacher education classes. For example, the teacher might start off reading aloud a chapter in King Arthur and Knights of the Round Table. Then, once the setting and tone are established, turn it over to students for individual read-alouds or choral reading.

Assessment

It is helpful to remember that reading aloud to and with students does not ensure comprehension. Many times have I read and discussed passages with students and felt they understood it only to realize that some number were still grasping with concepts and ideas.

That is where assessments come in handy. They can be in various formal and informal formats, but they should definitely be completed independently. For example, a student might check in verbally with a teacher through a simple conversation, narrate a story in verbal or written form, answer a reading guide, complete a journal entry, or something similar. I like using a combination of all of these with the various Great Books my students read. More on assessments, including examples, in the next post!

Not only does the assessment give the teacher much needed insight into a student’s progress, but it also compels the student to articulate his ideas. After all, that’s the goal—helping students to understand and form their own ideas in the process.

Posted on by Stephanie McGann

Literacy, Wisdom, and Virtue #1

Great Books are a pillar of classical education, most obviously because they impart wisdom in some form or another. Some cause us to look out at the world and think deeply about what we see. Others compel us to look back at ourselves and reflect on who we are.

But there is another, equally important yet sometimes neglected reason why Great Books should be read in schools. They are powerful tools for teaching students to read well.

That’s right. Great Books, challenging as they can be, should be read by children of all ages, even young readers, to help them read better. No book is too hard or too advanced—if a teacher or parent is poised to guide a child through it.

It is the rare child who could pick up a Great Book by the likes of Shakespeare and unpack its meaning all on its own. For that matter, I can’t imagine an adult who could do that! The language is so difficult and the ideas so complex that a first read often feels mind-numbing and senseless.

For that reason, many educators shy away from the Great Books.

“Skills first!” they argue. “Students need to be good readers before they can dive into something like Shakespeare.”

Classical educators, however, respectfully disagree. The Great Books can be used to teach skills like reading fluency and comprehension while also opening up a child’s world to a wealth of wisdom. In this way, the reading experience is productive and meaningful. Children fall in love with reading as they grow in wisdom and virtue.

So what is virtue in this context?

If you read my series on King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table, you know that virtue is a major theme of my teaching. Here, I use the term as somewhat of a synonym for skill, and that’s not just because it’s a fancier word. Rather, I prefer virtue because it more fully captures the idea of a trained habit, whereas skill tends to imply something that can be mastered and moved on from.

Fluent reading, for example, is acquired from a steadfast devotion to practice, just as comprehension is achieved to an ever greater extent over time through continued effort. Both are constantly evolving in a reader. Even a highly literate adult reader might struggle with Shakespeare during a first read but will certainly understand more and more as he works through it. Thus, his virtues improve through the act of reading itself.

In this series, I am going to present a variety of strategies I use to teach the virtues of reading. Some are “tried-and-true,” while others are “research-based.” All are distinctly classical in that they are paired with the Great Books and all their wisdom.

I have grouped the strategies according to the following categories: reading aloud, silent reading, and focused practice.