Annotated Bibliography

Spence Farmer

Abuhasnah, R. (2015, April 27). Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR): A Comprehension

Strategy to Enhance Content Area Learning. Edutopia. Retrieved December 15, 2022,

from

https://www.edutopia.org/discussion/collaborative-strategic-reading-csr-comprehension-s

trategy-enhance-content-area-learning

This article outlines a theoretical approach to reading education that involves collaboration. For

classrooms already designed around student teams and collaborative learning activities,

reading can feel like an unpleasantly isolative task. By using the tenants of Collaborative

Strategic Reading (CSR), students are encouraged to externalize their comprehension

checks, and have organic opportunities to iterate and reiterate content derived from a text.

Cooperative Learning – Critical Review of Literature. (2019, December 9). Ivory Research.

Retrieved December 15, 2022, from

https://www.ivoryresearch.com/samples/cooperative-learning-critical-review-of-literature

In this research article, literary criticism is taken out of writing and into dialog. The resource

provides an outline for the promotion of “positive conflict” in the classroom, pointing to

strategies and approaches to critical analysis that has students working together and

bouncing ideas off of one another to come to consensus.

Cornell University. (n.d.). Examples of Collaborative Learning or Group Work Activities | Center

for Teaching Innovation. Center for Teaching Innovation. Retrieved December 15, 2022,

from

https://teaching.cornell.edu/resource/examples-collaborative-learning-or-group-work-acti

vities

As a follow up to the article outlining CSR (ways to socialize reading procedures), this cite is a

nice index of specific collaborative teaching strategies that draw on the same principles.

Students, in heterogeneous teams/pods can engage with these activities to create deeper

connections to any given text while simultaneously being engaged in practicing

communication, negotiation, and teamwork skills.

Corwin. (n.d.). Visible Learning - Influences. Visible Learning MetaX. Retrieved December 15,

2022, from https://www.visiblelearningmetax.com/Influences

This is a resource that is invaluable for teachers looking to optimize their student interventions.

This website hosts data from a meta analysis gauging what teacher and schoolwide

interventions produce the most change in student understanding. Observations are

recorded in an easily readable way and hyperlink to definitions of jargon or other

valuable research on particular issues.

Gerlach, J. (2015, February 20). Differentiation In A World Without Learning Styles. Michigan

Virtual. Retrieved December 15, 2022, from

https://michiganvirtual.org/blog/differentiation-in-a-world-without-learning-styles/?utm_

campaign=Michigan%20Virtual%20Blogs&utm_content=140332558&utm_medium=soc

ial&utm_source=twitter&hss_channel=tw-38437482
This article is a great overview of the modes of classroom differentiation that fit best to our

modern understanding of child psychology. The article, rightly, dispels a common myth

(and correlated preoccupation) of the triad of “learning styles” - Kinetic, Visual, Auditory

- and proceeds to flesh out a theory of practical differentiation that relies on minimizing

time wasted and maximizing inclusive, differentiated lesson plans for students with an

emphasis on student agency.

Gonser, S. (2021, August 12). 4 Reading Strategies to Retire This Year (Plus 6 to Try Out!).

Edutopia. Retrieved December 15, 2022, from

https://www.edutopia.org/article/4-reading-strategies-retire-year-plus-6-try-out/

This article debunks the efficacy of some common reading strategies implemented in the

classroom. The author emphasizes the irrelevance of rote accountability, and instead

suggests means of comprehension assessment that put agency back into the hands of

students. This is yet another resource that emphasizes the importance of focusing on

student understanding rather than task completion.

Pardo, L. S., Raphael, T., & Highfield, K. (2002). Book Club: A Literature-based Curriculum.

Small Planet Communications.

This book takes an untraditional and productive approach to literature education. The authors of

this resource suggest using student teams to form a set of in-class “book clubs.” In the

provided examples, students lead discussion and take pride in becoming an expert on

their material with a small group of other students. Assessment happens periodically, but

is not bound by text, so students can choose whichever text best suits them.
Qasim, A. (2021, August 2). 10 Collaborative Learning Strategies for Online Teachers.

Teachfloor. Retrieved December 15, 2022, from

https://www.teachfloor.com/blog/10-collaborative-learning-strategies-for-online-teachers

This cite contains a series of resources that build off of CSR’s theoretical approach, but consider

the limitations of online learning scenarios. This resource is particularly useful for its

suggestions and links to specific websites and tools that can help fulfill the outlined

strategies while teaching either fully or partially online. The resources could also be

useful for assigning collaborative work outside of the classroom in a structured manner.

Waters, M. B. (2014, November 8). Reading Comprehension: Strategies For Middle School

Students. reThink ELA. Retrieved December 15, 2022, from

https://www.rethinkela.com/2014/11/reading-comprehension-strategies-for-middle-school

-students/

This article outlines a practical, classroom ready approach to cultivating comprehension in

secondary classrooms. The approach is divided into four sections, Predicting,

Questioning, Clarifying, Summarizing. All four categories have hyperlinks to more

specific teaching strategies for implementation in the classroom. This approach to

comprehension challenges students to be cognizant of themselves and their own

understanding before, during, and after they engage with a text.

Wiggins, G. (2005). Authentic Assessment and Validity. In Understanding by Design.

Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Understanding by Design is a fantastic resource that expounds the core tenets of constructivism

and collaborative learning. In this module of the book, the author goes into detail about

authentic assessments and designing student-led, gamelike tasks that lead to productive

learning and the generation of real value in classrooms. Examples of great assessments

are outlined in detail, and the steps to designing such tasks are laid out for the reader.