TACTics Journal
A Publication for and by TOC for Education Practitioners
In this week’s issue:
Connections
(1) PAR2—A Student-Owned
Ambitious Target, Belinda Small
Editors’ Notes
(2)
NETWORKING
(1) PAR2—A Student-Owned
Using the Ambitious Target
By Belinda Small, B.S., M.Ed., Classroom Teacher,
In last week’s TACTics, Belinda shared how she and her class
applied the
Ambitious Target tool to create a reading method that helped her
students
overcome obstacles to taking a
statewide reading test: “The PAR2 Reading
Method was born!” This week we are publishing the results of using
the
Ambitious Target tool.
Below is an explanation of the PAR2 acronym. Following the
explanation, I
have included a comparison of
PAR2 to an older research based reading
method.
PAR2
I simply named the three groups Previewing, Attacking (the
passage), and
Reflecting. Thus, P –
A – R. We connected the series of actions connected
with if – then statements such
as, “If I am ‘Previewing’ a passage then I…
and if I check off the title
then I….” The students did this until “P” was
complete.
Then the logic connects, “Once I have previewed the passage, then
I must
‘Attack’ the passage. If I attack the passage, then I must draw a
symbol at
the end of the first paragraph
to identify the genre. And, if I identify the
genre with a symbol, then I
underline the topic…” and so on until the attack
on the passage was complete.
“If I attack the passage while
reading, then I must ‘Reflect’ on what I just
read. If I reflect, then I write
down the overall mood. If I make a note of
the mood, then I…” and the
process continued. As we worked, students
reviewed concepts that they had
studied all year and found new
understanding of how each concept is
related to PAR.
The Teacher’s “Ah-ha!”
As we completed PAR, I personally reflected on our original
obstacle work. I
realized our work was not done. In
years past, I had been making an
assumption that was not true. I had
always assumed that students could not
effectively read the passage. For
some, this is definitely true. However, by
using the ambitious target, I
learned something important. Many of the
students’ obstacles were not problems
with understanding the passage, but
in understanding the question
and answer choices. Thus, my acronym evolved
to PAR2. The number two
means times two or “repeat the method twice.” A
reader should follow the pattern
once on the passage and once on the
following question/answer session.
This second focus was a new focus for
me—but, as you can imagine, a
very important part of testing.
The use of the ambitious target brought my students and me to a
new
conscious level about the importance
of understanding everything you read
on the test. My motto for the
upcoming year is “I just don’t read, I read
and understand!”
A Comparison
When I was doing some research regarding existing acronyms and
reading
strategy techniques, I came across
one tried and true formula that was
coined in 1946 by F. P. Robinson in
a book entitled Effective Reading. It was
still around when I was in school.
And it is still around today: SQ3R. I was
pleased to find that this
reading/studying method has proven effective over
a period of time. However, in my
past ten years of teaching, the method has
simply not been the trend in my
field. The SQ3R Reading Method is Survey,
Question, Read, Recite, and Review. This method has been widely
accepted
as an effective study method.
PAR2 is quite similar. However, PAR2 is
different in a couple of ways.
In PAR2, there is a queue for the active reader to follow the same
strategies for understanding the
questions and answers. In addition, PAR2
was unique because we used
student language to create the steps together.
I found this had more personal and connected meaning for my
students.
PAR2 and SQ3R are both acronyms to help trigger memory, but PAR2
is
presented using text boxes and arrows
(graphic organizers) to show the
logic. Once students practiced a
few times using the boxes and arrows they
could still remember all the steps
without their notes.
The ambitious target tool helped us create a step-by-step reading
strategy
that students could recognize as
a pattern to be used when actively reading.
Adding the meaning of PAR2 to our vocabulary allowed students to
know
what to look for and what to do
when reading. Equally, it also allowed
students to follow a pattern for
reading question and answer sections. This
pattern remained constant even when
performing reading skills under time
pressure.
Universal Implications
Because students could easily remember the reading strategy
pattern, even
under time pressure, I felt we
accomplished a lot. The bigger picture is
this: students could leave the
language arts classroom and use this method
in any class. This pattern is
universal and general to all reading, not just the
FCAT.
Just like SQ3R is used with any textbook, it stands to reason that
PAR2 will
have the same cross-curricular
application.
Other Points of Interest for Teachers
The Time Advantage
The Ambitious Target tool had a big impact in the classroom using
very little
time. Once we defined the goal,
exposing the obstacles took about thirty
minutes of class time. Listing the
Intermediate Objectives took about
fifteen minutes the next day.
Organizing the sequence of action steps took
up the remaining period. In the
larger scope of any lesson plan, this was very
little time. In fact, no more time
than completing one reading lesson of out
of a literature textbook.
The Teaching Method Used to Implement PAR2
Implementing the PAR2 was accomplished by traditional teaching
practices
with one exception. I modeled,
gave guided practice, then I assigned
independent practice*. I did this part
by part. Then the students
performed FCAT-like practice tests without
using the graphic organizer
notes.*
I first used this teaching practice for the preview steps, then
the attacking
steps and then the reflecting
steps. However, I added a twist. The twist
was to TIME it. Somehow this
added an interesting urgency for the
students. Using time pressure
addressed the obstacles students raised at
the beginning of this
experience. Complaining about the time stress was a
frequently mentioned student obstacle.
The idea of timing the reading
process is not a new one. But, I had
not planned to do it this year. Every
year I think that next year I
will make a point to add timed practices into
my lesson plans. BUT, I think
of doing this AFTER the test is administered
and then, sadly, I forget about
the importance of it the next year.
This year the Ambitious Target tool was crucial in remembering to
practice
reading strategies with time
constraints. The tool allowed me to
systematically remember that time
management was an uncomfortable issue
with the students.
Based on observing reading assessment in progress, it appeared
that
students neither rushed nor finished
too early. They appeared confident
and steady. I was completely
satisfied that all the students tried their best
on the FCAT.
*These very important steps are based on the ideas and practices
of Dr. Sirias.
EDITORS’ NOTES
(2)
Next week we will publish the last part of this article, which
will be an
explanation of the many benefits of
using the Ambitious Target from both
the students’ perspective and
the teacher’s perspective.
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us. Send
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the thinking processes, lessons,
announcements, and etc. by mail to: Cheryl
A. Edwards, 2253 S. Hill Island
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