EDU 512 Reading Notes Format:

Name Madison Schweizer

Book Title Teaching Literacy in the Visible Learning Classroom

Chapter Number and Title Chapter 1: Mobilizing Visible Learning for Literacy

Do the following:

Part 1: Describe each of the concepts clearly

Part 2: Describe the three specific applications in each chapter for your work in this current class or
what you might expect to be doing in a future classroom as a credentialed teacher. Be able to describe
the supporting reasoning as to why this research would be worth applying to your professional practice.
Each application should be sufficiently described and applied to cover the ideas you are presenting.

Be well prepared to discuss your ideas in class. The Chapter notes must be submitted each week in the
class assigned to receive full credit.

Application 1:

Description of Concept
One of the first concepts that was discussed in this chapter was visible learning for literacy and what
that looks like. One of the most effective aspects of this is problem-solving teaching. This chapter
discussed how a fourth-grade teacher used the assessments of her students in order to help them set
goals for themselves. She made success very simple for her students by providing them with a
“problem” (their weaknesses) and then helping them develop a solution. This problem-solving teaching
gave the students an active role in their learning and allowed them to be aware of how they were doing
and what they needed to do in order to improve. This chapter provides a table where the characteristics
of a highly effective teacher are listed alongside the actions of the students. For example, “highly
effective teachers communicate clear learning intentions such that students understand the learning
intentions” (Fisher et al, 2017, p. 9). The success of the student is related to the teaching that goes on in
the classroom.

Application to your work/learning

As a teacher I think that it is important to constantly evaluate yourself and the impact that your teaching
strategies are having on your class. Helping students take an active role in their learning is a key part in
their success rate. If students take a passive role, they are not going to be as successful as they could be.
Giving students the tools that they need and helping them see the things that need improvement are
great ways to help them tackle little things at a time. This problem-solving teaching has an effect size of
0.61 which means that it is has been proven to work. Therefore, this is something that I wish to
implement in my future classroom.

Application 2:

Description of Concept
Another thing that this chapter addressed was the phases of reading development. “Classroom
instruction must be responsive to these phases of development in order for students to acquire the skills
necessary to read and the tools necessary to understand what they are reading” (Fisher et al, 2017, p.
14). In order to best help students, teaching must be aware of where each student is at so that the
content and the instruction meets them where they are at. This chapter describes four stages: emergent
readers, early readers, transitional readers, and self-extending readers. Each one of these stages plays
an important part in the child’s development. In the classroom there is going to be a wide variety of
reading levels. This is something that was very evident in my fieldwork.

Application to your work/learning

One of the things that I wish to apply to my work is remembering that not every student is the same and
that my job is to learn where they are at in terms of reading levels. After talking with numerous teachers
during my fieldwork I realized that they know exactly where each one of their students is at without
having to refer to their gradebook. They familiarized themselves with the differences in standards and
levels and know their students well enough to identify their strengths and their weaknesses. Because of
this, the teacher knows exactly how to adapt the lessons and assist the student in order for them to
become successful. I hope to be this kind of teacher because it truly makes a difference.

Application 3:

Description of Concept
Another concept that was discussed in this chapter was cues. “All readers in every phase of reading
utilize a number of clues to figure out the print on the page. These clues are collectively called cueing
systems” (Fisher et al, 2017, p. 16). This chapter discussed four different kinds of cues: graphophonic
cues, syntactic cues, semantic cues, and pragmatic cues. Graphophonic cues are “those associated with
the relationship between the symbols (letters) and their sounds” (Fisher et al, 2017, p. 16). Syntactic
cues are “governed by the grammatical rules of the language” (Fisher et al, 2017, p. 16). There are also
sematic cues which “are connected to the meaning of the words” and pragmatic cues which “are related
to the social use of language in a culture” (Fisher et al, 2017, pp. 16-17). Each of these cueing systems is
important for teachers to be aware of because they impact how children read.

Application to your work/learning

Knowing each of these things is important as a teacher because it provides a better understanding of the
different things that go into reading and reading development. “As children advance through phases of
reading development, they acquire an increasingly larger bank of cues, now termed comprehension
strategies” (Fisher et al, 2017, p. 17). As a teacher I want to make sure that I am constantly keeping track
of where my students struggle because these things impact other aspects of their learning. The better I
am at teaching them these cues, the better their comprehension will be which will enhance their
learning experience altogether. While observing, it was evident how limited fluency led to limited
comprehension and as a teacher I want to help my students get as much out of reading as they possibly
can.