Thanks for the post Barbara. I agree with your mention of using more open-ended questions with our students as well as using the wait time. I recently read that research supports the notion that frequent use of higher-order, open-ended questions in interacting with our students has a direct effect on their GPAs and test scores. We need to believe in their intellect and treat them as young people capable of intellectual thought. They will only give us what we expect of them--it's in our hands. And this goes to the essence of Keene's book. Instead of asking them what happened at the end of the book, we need to ask them how reading the book changed them in some way. That is a more personal connection--and it is in connections that we construct meaning. When have boring, dry facts ever resonated with us after we have put the book down?--but, an intellectual discussion of the last few pages of Sounder might resonate for years, as it has with me. As Keene suggests, we need to be Renaissance thinkers in the classroom. We cannot be afraid to make emotional connections through deep, probative thoughtful discussions and even assessments. Assessments can and should be stimulating learning experiences as well. Our understanding and comprehension are enriched through joyful learning environments where teachers believe in their students--and themselves--and will go out on a limb to cultivate a safe environment where real learning--and thinking--can happen. To understand is to experience the thought, not just memorize or mimic it. Great book!

barbara's comment

A professor in my undergraduate education also gave a lecture once about how to ask questions to our students. The most important idea that I remember from that lecture is the three second rule. Ask a question and wait at least three seconds for a student to raise his or her hand with an answer. Don’t just jump in and give the answer or call on a student before giving him or her the chance to reflect on the question and develop an answer.
The professor also made us think about asking open-ended questions promoting thinking and solving problems. Remember, I was in the hands-on technology major and much of our students thinking relied on taking chances, designing ideas and trying different methods of solving construction, transportation or communication problems or challenges. It was a difficult thing for my students to grasp the idea that there might be more than one solution to a problem. They were only thought to think of the answer that would answer the comprehension question asked by the textbook. No thinking involved, just memorization. A difficult habit to break!!!!

Summary

Finally, I want to say that I have enjoyed reading this book. As a result, I am a different teacher now than I was before I read it. Most importantly, I now understand how important it is to not only teach the comprehension strategies but also teach the students how those strategies help them understand the text on a deeper level. I've always just taught the strategies in the past. Now I will think and talk about how a text affects me as far as what I understand about humans, whether a text changes what I believe, etc. I will focus on fewer concepts; instead I will choose the most important ones and teach those to a deeper level, giving my students more time to think, understanding that 'silence is golden'.

Ch. 8: The Great Conversations

This chapter dealt with giving the students time to think and gather thoughts for disscussions and reflections. Having them reflect on what they learn was a key point with me since I have begun tutoring my student in word study and allowing her the time to reflect on what she has discovered by doing the word sort. In the beginning, she appeared very lost when I asked her to write reflections for her sort. I had to give her lots of guidance and almost dictated her first set of reflections to her. However, now as I watch her completing the sort, I can see her analyzing the way the words are spelled in preparation for writing the reflections. This increases learning and allows deeper learning to take place. No longer can she just "do it to get done" but she has to think about it while she's doing it. And I have certainly experienced that learning curve myself. When I'm contemplating a new teaching idea, for example, it feels very foggy and I am uncertain about the execution of the idea. But when I articulate and discuss the idea with a colleague, it feels as if my thinking comes into a clear focus from the fuzzies.

I agreed that there has to be balance in every thing that we do. But, the youth of today does not have the idea of balance in anything that they feel, do or experience. They are driven to extremes in their emotions and actions. We have to be the examples for them. If they can see that balance is achievable, perhaps they will follow.

In my previous experiences of teaching Technology Education (new version of woodshop) I was constantly trying to get my students to “think out of the box”. They, for the most part, could or would not even try this abhorring idea. They felt there was one and only one answer to any question or problem or challenge put forth to them. They had been taught since DAY 1 of their education to absorb information, then, spit out back to their teachers when asked on a quiz or test. They were never asked what they thought about an idea or concept, never asked or allowed to question. They were afraid of trying something new or different for fear that they might be WRONG. We must change this in our students. We must encourage them all to be Renaissance thinkers. Barbara

Chapter 6: A Renaissance of Understanding

In this chapter, Keene comments on the different types of children we encounter throughout the years. They all usually start out in Kindergarten as eager and interactive participants in the learning process. Then, for some of them, they continue throughout the years in the pleasurable and intoxicating love of learning whereas others lose the glow and the passion. What happens when this occurs? Is it because of the testing culture? Is it because of us as teachers? Is it normal development for some of them to become more interested in social development and the intellectual development becomes boring? I, personally, have heard teachers comment that the kids come into Kindergarten very widespread in their intellectual abilities but by the time they reach sixth grade, they are all in the same ball park intellectually. I have to ask: Why? Is this what we do when we lump a group of 20 or so kids in one room and teach whole group? Is this our goal as teachers? Should we be concerned about this? While this appears so negative, I cannot always come down on ourselves as teachers. The past doesn't look so great, but when I consider the present and the future with so much emphasis on differentiated instruction, and teaching kids on their level, I feel for classroom teachers. That is a very difficult task for one person to accomplish. In reality, I don't think it can be done. If teachers manage to teach different groups of kids in differing levels of reading and spelling, I think they are really doing well. To differentiate in everything, classroom teachers would be so exhausted by the end of the day!! As I work shoulder to shoulder with them every day, I think they have an enormous task and one which cannot be attained other than by word only.
Keene also pursues the idea of creating Renaissance kids in our classrooms. While I agree that it's a good idea to teach kids the "think outside the box" in inventing new thinking, pursuing a wide range of interests, etc. I see how easily Renaissance thinkers can come up against the ethical dilemmas that rampage throughout society-then and now. In a sense we can look at the banking crisis we have today and draw a comparison. There were individuals who were trying to think outside the box and came up with lots of ways to "do business". Other people, the consumers, did not do enough thinking outside the box, and thus took on loans and mortgages they couldn't afford. What were both the bankers and consumers motivated by? One word...greed So now I'm back to a similar question I had asked in another chapter...what is it that makes one person a Renaissance thinker but another person someone who doesn't think at all? There has to be a motivating factor inside each and every one of us. And if our motivation is less than worthy, our society can certainly turn into one big mess, which we see in our economy today. I'm sure each of you have views on these issues, but to me, having balance and standards are key concepts in "Renaissance thinking" that should not be overlooked.

Chapter 9, "To Feel, to Remember, to Understand"

In this final chapter of Keene's book, she confesses that when she reads a good book, she is not sure if the emotions are the characters' or her own. Well put. This is what we strive to accomplish for our young readers--get them to feel what they read. I immediately connected with her statement. Many times I have come away from a good book feeling like I had experienced the journey of the characters. Keene just drills into her reader the necessity for encouraging our students to make personal connections with their text. This is exactly what I see Jenna's group encountering in Miller's book. The many authors' research have proven connection to be an integral component to remembering. Keene uses Bruce, a teacher she knows, as an example. Bruce has the ability to articulate how emotions affect what he understands, the way he studies the world, and the ways in which he writes. Emotions that make others cringe or retreat into a cozy state of denial are fodder for daily discussion in his classroom. How exciting! When Bruce makes a mistake in an approach to a lesson, he admits it and challenges his children to do the same. He questions an author's use of wording aloud as he reads with his students. He questions their motivation and honesty. He asks his students if they noticed the beautiful sunrise, and if they did, they write about it. Keene calls Bruce a Renaissance man because his curiosity carries over to all aspects of life. Keene believes students are lucky to encounter a teacher like Bruce because the result of his teaching can be measured in the confidence of kids who didn't believe in themselves and the willingness to feel among kids who used to hide from emotion--and the outcomes are academic as well. Keene worries that many of those children may never know another Mr. Morgan (Bruce) in their lives. She worries that we have sterilized our teaching approaches and removed much of the emotional component that anchors the concepts we teach. She outlines the cognitive strategies we have all come to realize as the cornerstone of improved reading and comprehension: monitoring, questioning, determining importance, synthesizing, using prior knowledge, inferring, and creating sensory and emotional images. She asks that we promise to not only ask, but listen. She states the capacity for our students' thinking is nearly limitless if create the learning conditions to support it, provide the language to define and describe thinking, and if we simply ask "What else?" I think we all agree with her, but I am always left wondering how to apply these strategies and principles to the instruction of expository texts. Can anyone share their success--or struggle--with bringing this same enthusiasm to the dry, fact-filled text books that our students struggle with each day?

Chapter 7: "Nothing as Certain as Change"

One thing about Chapter 7 is certain--change. The author begins by wondering "How much authors want their readers to be changed?" and "How much of the world we [as readers] let in?" She then shifts gears to the difficulty our students encounter with expository text.
First, building on Debbie's comments from Chapter 4, Keene stresses the importance of giving our students time to think or time to "dwell in the mind." She acknowledges the importance of incorporating comprehension strategies into our classroom instruction but feels more is necessary. We need to take it a step further and describe the outcomes of using these strategies. In other words, we need to help them "let the world in." We need to give them the space, the time, the freedom to think on their own. Children are too anxious to repeat what their teacher thinks. She wants them to realize that "understanding is not a fixed element--you either get it or you don't--rather, understanding is an outcome that can be manipulated, altered, and improved by using comprehension strategies"--changed or revised thinking is the goal. She encourages students to share thoughts with their classmates and record how their thinking changes in the process. A journal entry might read, " I used to think...but now I think," as they move through reading and discussions of a book. We must move away from the literal questions, such as "What happened at the end of Chapter 5?" and instead ask, "In what ways were you changed by this book?" I just love that!!!!
At that point, as if to make the point of change, Keene shifts to text structures and expository texts. Yes, expository texts pose an especially difficult hurdle for students in the U.S. I think we all agree. Keene refers to the research of Duke and Pearson who have found that students who receive explicit instruction in how expository text structures differ from narrative forms comprehend more than students who do not receive this instruction. This instruction needs to begin in kindergarten and continue through twelfth-grade. The research is clear--we must incorporate explicit instruction in the following text structures: descriptive, cause and effect, compare/contrast, problem/solution, chronological, and enumerative--with an emphasis on definitions and signal words. She notes that the solution to the challenges of expository text is very straightforward--"We need to give at least as much instructional attention to expository text structures as we give to narrative text structures." Using think-alouds as well as pacing and building schema remain highly effective tools of instruction. Literature focus units are useful for building background knowledge and fostering connections so that the expository text is "considerate"--material which a student is familiar with, instead of "inconsiderate"--one which is too foreign to comprehend.
The chapter provides too many suggestions to mention, but well worth considering. I think K-8 teachers do recognize this disconnect more than secondary school teachers. High school teachers should not ignore the research and should, instead, build on what is being taught in the elementary and middle school grades. Keene suggests that this instruction, more than any other, has "staying power." The ability to navigate expository text is not only necessary for college-bound students, but it is also an integral part of any vocational program, so it is a powerful piece of the puzzle for success. I think of Barbara Jean's student who at 53 has not given up on putting those pieces together. What an inspiration.

Chapter 4: Dwelling In Ideas

This chapter opened with a poem that I did not get much out of except for the last thought...it said "AS important as what is happening is what is not". This idea ran through the whole chapter and Keene made a strong point that is really counter-intuitive to how we normally think of teaching. It is the idea that silence is as important to teaching as talking. We need to give our students time to think...to "dwell in ideas". She makes some statements in this chapter which I would like to reflect on this blog....

• "I may have to choose to dwell, I may have to be purposeful when I decide to reflect on an idea or concept-and that takes time."

I wonder if making that decision to dwell...what is it that motivates us to do that? Is it a personality type? Is it deliberate for some people but spontaneous for others? Through practice, can it become spontaneous for all? In thinking of my struggling students, they so frequently just want to "get it done". However, I have seen a turn-around in one student this year. His classroom teacher is one who has exposed him to this type of teaching...dwelling in ideas. He was really an emotionally-disturbed child who had been sent to Princeton House for part of his 5th grade year. He was an emotional train wreck due to home and family issues. But he has done a 180 this year. In writing an assessment with me last week, I told him I wanted to take a picture of him sitting and thinking. So take heart teachers..we can have an impact on our students, no matter how desperate the situation!!

• "In our frantically paced classrooms, I worry that our children don't have the time they need to dwell in ideas in silence, to purposefully reflect on an aspect of text or a social studies or science concept they are learning."

I think "How true!!!" I think we all understand what she's saying...we live it every day. And she asks us as teachers if we would be able to think in those environments?? Can I give a thoughtful response in the five to eight seconds we typically give kids? This chapter has really given me some food fo thought.

• In developing Cornerstone Initiative, she was given lots of advice from the experts for these high-poverty schools. She was advised to work in a slow, incremental manner and to start with rudimentary skills; don't use too much critical thinking; stick with the basics; etc. Then she says "If such approaches - ubiquitous in this country - are so effective, why haven't they provoked sweeping improvement in America's schools?"

What a thought! Everyone keeps commenting how our schools are failing in this country and yet no one seems to understand the idea that if something isn't working, we need to change what we are doing. But the "experts" just doesn't seem to get that idea. The Abbott districts come to mind...with the stiff and stymied protocols. Hello??!! In deference to this idea, Keene recommends that higher thinking and skills be taught simultaneously.

Chapter 5, "To Savor the Struggle"

After struggling through several introductory pages in this chapter, I arrived to the meat of Keene's message: We struggle for insight and we learn from the struggle itself--this is when we venture into new learning territory. If we remain where we are comfortable or allow our students to stagnate in that spot, we are not experiencing intellectual engagement. She writes that to overcome obstacles is to know our strength. Hurray! I think we all agree with that. The author includes an entire page of teacher and student behaviors where there is evidence of the intellectual struggle. One which jumped out at me is that students go beyond reporting or retelling after reading; instead they are asked to share their thinking about the text--inferences, images created, questions pursued, etc. Another is that students are encouraged to challenge the text. I, personally, love it when students challenge the author because it demonstrates they are engaged and thinking. They are reading at a higher level.
Keene then goes on to challenge the barrage of standards that are mandated by the states and the dilemma of how to cover content while addressing those standards. She argues that people learn best when a few important concepts are taught in great depth over a long period of time and when they have opportunities to apply those concepts in a wide variety of texts and contexts. She believes that when we try to address every skill that anyone ever thought important, the result is teaching that lacks focus and depth. At this point, the author delineates those essential skills and strategies for learners in grades k-12. They are 3 "surface" structures: graphophonic, lexical, and syntactic--the cueing systems necessary for learning to read; and 3 "deep surface" structures: semantic, schematic, and pragmatic--the cueing systems for acquiring deeper understanding of what we read. Keene refers to Rumelhart who argued that these 6 systems are used simultaneously by proficient readers and, therefore, need to be taught simultaneously. Keene believes instruction of the 3 "surface structures" receives more instructional attention in schools than the "deep surface" structures, and without providing solid knowledge of all 6 systems, we may be selling our students short. Her suggestions for using the pragmatic system--the highest level on Bloom's Taxonomy--include book clubs, reader's theater or skits, sketches which illustrate their thinking, or something as simple as written responses to what they have read. She emphasises that these activities help us "figure out" what we think.
Keene concludes the chapter by stating that as teachers our instinct is to free the path from obstacles and make their way clearer and easier, but to limit their opportunities to learn through struggle is to tame one of the most dynamic forces in their intellectual development. While this is a bit lofty, I do agree. It strikes me as being very constructivist--along the lines of Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development--we put the intellectual ladder up for them and give them the tools to climb each wrung as is within their ability; as long as they are moving up the ladder, they are moving in the right direction.

Chapter 3, "Driven to Understand"

In Chapter 3, “Driven to Understand,” Keene explores the ideal of “fervent learning,” and the reader is taken on a trip with the author and her daughter to an art museum. There, they try to understand some of the world’s great works of art, Ellin with her pen, her daughter with a sketch pad. Their different approaches illustrate the notion that we all get to the point of understanding differently, but what is important is that we get there. They agree at the end of the day that they have more questions than understandings. Again, the author reinforces another important concept in understanding—questioning. Keene comes to the conclusion that “great thinkers, great artists, great writers—not unlike more ordinary learners—use their work to better understand their worlds.” She refers to this intellectual exploration as “fervent learning,” and it is where we want to take our students in the classroom and in their lives, but how?
The “how” is the evolving theme of the book. We, as teachers, must show or model for our students what it means to be “captivated, rapt, engrossed, and resolved.” She asserts that our students must have models who can explicitly describe and show through their behavior what it looks and feels like to learn with persistence and PASSION. Keene refers to the “think aloud” model as a means of achieving this goal. I call it the “feel aloud” in my lesson plans. I will venture to guess that everyone in our class is practicing “feel alouds” or we would not be spending our time and money to engage young people in reading. Through reading, with resolve and passion, we come to understand our world—and I will take it one step further—ourselves. Isn’t this the ultimate objective of us all as we step into the classroom each day? Keene outlines a Literacy Studio model (a rethinking of the reader’s and writer’s workshop model) which focuses on creating a classroom culture of rigor, inquiry, and intimacy to achieve the goal of enhancing our students’ propensity to think and learn with excitement and inquiry. Although the reader is made to suffer some extraneous text—for instance, the death of the author’s mother—her call to create great thinkers and fervent learners of our students continues to make this a worthwhile read.

Chapter 2 Seeking Understanding in Our Minds, in Our Lives

In chapter 2, Keene is plagued with the question posed by her husband during her teaching days. She came home so excited by the conversations in her students' book clubs where they delved deep into understanding text by making connections, posing questions, etc. In response to her excitement, her husband asked, "Why don't they do that every day?" And this became Keene's quest...to make this deeper learning be the norm rather than the "happy accident". She lists her reasons why the students don't engage every day but felt that most importantly, her students didn't do it every day because she didn't expect them to. I do wonder about her conclusion...it is probably true some of the time for most of us. However, in working with struggling readers, I strongly feel that my expectations could be as high as a kite at times, but if a child is struggling with divorce issues, law enforcement issues, and a myriad of other things in their lives weighing them down, their desire to think deeply about literacy issues becomes very low on their priority list. I think the child's personality is a key factor in all of this. Some of them can have such sad and distressing lives but are still able to think "big picture". And there are others who have major upsets and meltdowns by minor things. But what I took away from this reading is that it is important to have high expectations for my students while maintaining a compassionate attitude concerning whatever may be troubling them.
Keene also poses models that she has created in order to bridge the gap between research and reality in the classroom. These models are: Dimensions and Outcomes of Understanding; What's Essntial for Literacy Learning; Literacy Studio. These are all take-offs from the readers and writers workshops that we are familiar with. These models include explanations for what happens in our minds and lives when we comprehend what we read and are able to retain and reapply what we've understood.
She addresses the idea of all the benefits gained from reflecting on our intellectual experiences which I read with great interest. I've always wondered about the added task of reflecting on what we do with our students. Beyond the shadow of a doubt, I see the importance of completing this activity and how much we grow and develop as teachers when we do this. However, I see so many teachers who really don't want to take the time to do this...they are so overwhelmed with what they already do that they just don't bother. So in those cases, is it better to give them what they want which is something that is already prepared and they just need to make copies and hand it out? At least, the students would be getting some benefits rather than missing the boat entirely when it comes to thinking on a deeper level. I'm not sure...any thoughts?
She also made an interesting comment when she said "...I found that if I defined and modeled what happens when a reader does question-when I showed the children what they can expect to experience when they understand deeply (such as the desire to dwell in an idea for a long time (dimension) or the feeling of empathy for a character (outcome)-they tended to ask more relevant and penetrating questions..." I had a thought. I think we need to be very careful as teachers, (since we are known for loving to hear ourselves talk!!...don't hit me!!) that we avoid droning on and on with our own "modeling" and thereby putting kids to sleep because they are so sick of listening to us. Anyone else have any thoughts on this?

To Understand by Ellin Keene, Chapter 1

To Understand: New Horizons in Reading Comprehension is Ellin Keene’s latest book on the subject of reading instruction with the goal of deeper understanding. Chapter 1 questions what it actually means to understand. Keene revisits a conversation with Jamicka, a student in the class Keene has visited, and is taken by the young girl’s comment: "But, none a y’all ever say what makes sense mean.” So begins Keene’s journey to actually define comprehension beyond the strategies she and Zimmerman outlined in Mosaic of Thought. She questions if it is enough to expect students to retell, answer questions, and learn new vocabulary. The underlying theme of her new book searches for the answer to Jamicka’s question and a definition of comprehension which nurtures and challenges intellectual development. She asserts that only through building intellectual muscle and truly understanding a concept are we able to remember it, revise it, and reapply it later—the keys to lifelong learning! We must begin instruction with an idea that is intriguing, experience it intellectually, and reapply it in new contexts to build intellectual muscle. Keene refers to decades of research to support her claim that students will learn best when concepts are introduced a few at a time, important to the learner, taught in depth, taught over a long period of time, and applied in a variety of texts and contexts. Constant intellectual discussion in the classroom, both about content and how we learn content, is essential if we are to provide the answers to Jamicka’s question. Don’t you agree that this all sounds very familiar to the push for essential questions embedded in our curriculum to make learning more meaningful for our students? Stay tuned for Chapter 2.