Written by Rebecca Forchuk, Director of Staff Development
Douglas Fisher: Visible Learning for Literacy on August 16, 2017
“TEACH complex texts, don’t just ASSIGN
complex texts…”
(Douglas Fisher – August, 2017)
(Douglas Fisher – August, 2017)
Regardless of the subject and grade we teach, all students will
interact with complex texts, which means complex for the
student, not the teacher. It is essential
to remember this when using textbooks, books, videos, podcasts and others. Fisher makes a great point that we can no
longer assign complex texts, such as ‘read
Chapter 2 and answer the questions at the end’, or ‘google search the topic’; we must teach students how to make
meaning from these texts. This requires teachers to teach differently. No
longer do we simply teach content; we must teach students how to acquire
information and make meaning from the texts we provide in class.
One high impact strategy [1]
Fisher explained is one that many teachers have used for years:
ANNOTATION. It is important to understand that annotation
is not highlighting but “slows down the reader in
order to deepen understanding.” As teachers, is deep understanding not our
goal for students? Annotation becomes
more effective when it is used throughout a school as a routine where students
develop the habit by practicing it over and over and over again with common
understanding and expectations.
Similarly, we can improve students thinking by developing surface learning and deep
learning while they read or view text. Fisher
suggests that can schools adopt the same three questions that all teachers,
regardless of grade or subject area, use when requiring students to make
meaning and annotate to deepen understanding of content:
What does the text say?
(Literal)
|
How does the text work?
(Structural)
|
What does the text mean?
(Inferential)
|
GENERAL UNDERSTANDING
|
VOCABULARY
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INTERTEXTUAL CONNECTIONS
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Who is delivering the speech?
|
What does Chief Joseph mean when he says “From where the sun now
stands…”?
|
Chief Joseph succeeded his father as leader of the Wallowa band in
1871. Before his death, the father
said to his son….How does this second passage help you to understand the
speech? What inner conflict would Chief Joseph have experienced?
|
What happened?
|
What is the tone of the speech? What words and phrases support your
claim?
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Where do you see evidence of conflict in the speech?
|
Without knowing who Looking Glass and Toohulhulsote are, what can we
say about their roles in the decision?
|
||
KEY DETAILS
|
STRUCTURE
|
|
What concerns does Chief Joseph have about the health and welfare of
his people? How do you know?
|
How does the text structure convey Chief Joseph’s mood?
|
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What is it about the use of the word forever in the last line, “I will fight no more forever” that
makes this statement so memorable?
|
From
Douglas Fisher Professional Learning Session, August 16, 2017
As you have students read and view text in your class, ensure that you
are teaching them how to read complex texts rather than just assigning complex texts.
Using these levels of questions will help develop strong readers and thinkers
at the universal level. Focusing on structural questions has also proven to improve writing of students as well!!
[1] High impact strategy refers to a
strategy where the effect size is equal to or greater than 0.4, which results
in at least one years worth of learning for one year of schooling.
