K20 LEARN | Strategies for Negotiating the Reading

Summary

This resource is part of a series of professional learning activities that can be used to support a group book study. In each section, you will be able to select from several activities that will enable you and the other participants in your book study group to think critically about the reading. The first section includes introductory strategies that may be used to make predictions about the assigned chapter(s). The middle section features text analysis strategies that will help participants make sense of the reading. The final section contains wrap-up strategies that will enable participants to apply what they have learned at work and in their daily lives.

Essential Questions

What have we learned while reading these chapter(s)?
How might we apply that information at our work or in our daily lives?

Learning Goals

Make predictions about an anticipated reading.
Analyze the content being read.
Identify valuable information and determine how it might be applied at work and/or daily life.

Snapshot

Introduction

Participants engage in a strategy for making predictions about what they will read before reading a chapter or section of the book.

Activity

Participants use a processing strategy as they are reading the chapter(s) to analyze what they are reading.

Wrap-up

Participants reflect on the chapter(s) after reading and use a strategy to apply what they have learned in their work or daily life.

Materials List

Presentation slides
Beach Ball or Six-sided dice (if you elect to use the Beach Ball Toss & Talk strategy)
Collaborative Note Organizers for each selected strategy (shared through Google Drive)
Pens/pencils (optional)
Notebook paper (optional)

Introduction

15 Minute(s)

Before you begin the reading, display slides 3 and 4 to share the essential questions and activity objectives with participants. Let participants know that they will want to keep these questions and objectives in mind as they read the entire book. Consider beginning each meeting of your group by displaying these slides again to refresh participants' memories and keep them focused over the course of the study.

In the following section, you will find instructions listed for four strategies that your book study group could use to make predictions prior to reading the assigned chapter(s). These strategies are meant to be completed before the reading begins. They can be used to frame the whole book or before entering a new section, chapter, or reading. Some of these strategies will be continued following the reading, so that participants may gauge their understanding of the text over time.

You can select any one of these strategies for your group to use before they begin reading the material for an upcoming book study meeting. It is recommended that you vary these strategies, using different ones for different sections of reading in order to provide group members with many different kinds of opportunities to gather their thoughts as they begin each section of your book. Consider conducting one of these strategies in person at the end of a book study group meeting before starting a new section of reading or asking participants to complete them on their own as they prepare to read a new section.

Preflections (Part 1)

Use the attached Presentation Slides, starting on slide 5, to guide the Preflections strategy. The Preflections strategy helps readers to see growth in their thinking over the course of their reading. To begin, have participants reflect on the book they are about to read and hypothesize what they think they will learn from it. After they read, participants will return to this reflection, comparing and contrasting what they initially thought they would learn with what they feel they actually learned. This is an excellent strategy for participants to see how their thinking changes over time. Make sure all participants have a piece of paper and a writing utensil or share the Preflections Collaborative Note Organizer and make sure all participants are able to access it. Explain to the group that each participant will write a paragraph in response to the following prompt: “What do you think you will learn from the reading?” If participants are completing their Preflections in person, give them at least five minutes to write their responses. You may even wish to have them hold on to these until they finish the book, so they can include them in their summative reflection process.

I Used to Think…Now I Know (Part 1)

Using the attached Presentation Slides, move to slide 7 to guide the I Used to Think… But Now I Know strategy. This strategy is different from Preflections in that instead of having readers reflect on what they think they will learn, participants will list what they already know and think on the topic of the book chapters they are about to read. Then, after finishing the chapter(s), they will list their understanding of the topic, so they can see what they learned from the reading. Similar to Preflections, this strategy gives readers an opportunity to see how their thinking changes as a result of the reading and helps them to identify any misconceptions they may have held going in. To begin, share the I Used to Think But Now I Know Collaborative Note Organizer with participants and provide time to make sure everyone is able to access the document. Explain to the group that each participant will write a paragraph in response to the following prompt: “I used to think…” If participants are completing their reflection in person, give them at least five minutes to write their responses.

Tip of the Iceberg (Part 1)

Using the attached Session Slides, show slide 9 to guide the Tip of the Iceberg strategy. To begin, share the Tip of the Iceberg Collaborative Note Organizer with participants. Similar to the other strategy options, this strategy gives readers an opportunity to reflect on what they know about the topic(s) in the chapter before they read. Each participant will choose a column of the organizer and type their name in the top cell. Then for the first cell, at the tip of the iceberg, have participants list what they believe most people have heard about or are aware of on the topic they are about to read in the next section of your book. Then, at the water line, they will write down questions they have, their suspicions, and what they hope will be clarified or revealed in the next section of reading. Let them know that after reading, they will return to complete the rest. If participants are completing their reflection in person, give them at least five minutes to write their responses.

Beach Ball Toss & Talk (before reading)

Using the attached Session Slides, show slide 11 to guide the Beach Ball Talk & Toss strategy. To begin, divide participants into groups of three to six. Make sure each group has a beach ball. This strategy will get participants up and moving and talking about what they anticipate from the reading. First determine what prompts you will use, and assign them to the colors of the beach ball. This list is a good start if you don’t want to write custom prompts:

What do you already know about the topic of this chapter?
What do you think most people have heard about or are aware of on this topic?
What questions do you have that you hope will be answered by this chapter?
How do you think the information in this chapter might be relevant to your personal or professional life?
How do you think you are going to feel about the content of this chapter?
How do you think this chapter will relate to the book's overall theme or purpose?

Ask each group to stand in a circle and take turns tossing the beach ball to others. As the ball is caught, whichever color the participant’s right thumb lands on will determine the prompt or questions that they answer. Once the participant has answered the prompt or question, they will toss the ball to another participant. Repeat the process until each person has had at least one chance to answer a prompt.

While this activity lends itself well to in-person and verbal sharing, you can use dice and the Beach Ball Toss & Talk Collaborative Note Organizer to complete this reflection asynchronously.

Display slide 19. No matter which of the above strategies you use to introduce your chapter(s), once participants have completed the strategy, have them divide into groups of three to six to summarize what their group discussed through the strategy. Ask a volunteer from each group to share with everyone. (See the Wrap-Up section for Part 2 of the above strategies.)

Activity

50 Minute(s)

In the following section, you will find instructions listed for four strategies that your book study group could use to analyze and make sense of the text as they read the assigned chapter(s). You can select any one of these strategies for your group to use while reading the material or you can use all of them, selecting a different one for each chapter.

WICK

Before they head home to begin the assigned reading, make sure each participant can access the WICK Collaborative Note Organizer. Display slide 13, and take a few minutes to explain to participants how the WICK strategy works. Let them know that this strategy will enable them to categorize information and think critically about the content presented in the reading.

Explain that the Collaborative Note Organizer has been divided into four different categories: What, Interesting, Confusing, and Kind of Like. As they read, they should write down one or two sentences in each column. For the What column, they should write a brief summary of the topic discussed in the chapter(s). In the Interesting column, they should note what they found to be interesting about the topic. For the Confusing column, they will write down what confused them as they read about the topic. Finally, in the Kind of Like column, they will relate something they learned during the reading to something they already know about.

Display slide 19. After reading, next time your book study group meets in person, divide them into smaller groups of three to six. Ask participants to talk about their reading notes with the other members of their small group and compare and contrast their thoughts.

After groups have had about 10 minutes to discuss their thoughts, have the larger group reconvene. Call on a few volunteers to share some of their groups’ collective observations with the larger group.

Wrap Up

30 Minute(s)

In the following section, you will find instructions listed for six strategies that your book study group could use as a final reflection after reading the assigned chapter(s). Some of the strategies listed will be continuations of the strategies you selected for participants to make predictions about the content before reading. Other strategies are typically used during the evaluation phase of K20’s LEARN resources, and these strategies will also enable participants to draw conclusions about the content they have read and apply what they have learned in their work and in their daily lives. As before, it is recommended that you vary which strategies you use by chapter and try to use as many of these strategies as possible in order to provide group members with a variety of ways to process their thoughts as they critically read an assigned section of the book.

Tip of the Iceberg (Part 2)

To conclude the day’s book study session, display slide 10, and let participants know that they will be returning to the Tip of the Iceberg activity. To begin, have participants return to your copy of the Tip of the Iceberg Collaborative Note Organizer that they started before reading. Now that they’ve finished the chapter(s), they will summarize how their understanding of the topic was deepened from the reading. This strategy creates a great visual metaphor for depth of understanding. Just as only 1/8 of an iceberg is visible above water, learning has some aspects that are visible and many others that can only be suspected, guessed, or learned over time; the visible part of a subject is only a small part of a much larger whole. If participants are completing their reflection in person, give them at least five minutes to write their responses.

Beach Ball Toss & Talk (after reading)

To conclude the day’s book study session, display slide 12, and let participants know that they will be doing the Beach Ball Talk & Toss strategy. To begin, divide participants into groups of three to six. Make sure each group has a beach ball. This strategy will get participants up and moving and talking about what they have learned from the reading. First determine what prompts you will use and assign them to the colors of the beach ball. This list is a good start if you don’t want to write custom prompts:

What is the main idea or argument presented in this chapter?
What evidence or examples does the author use to support their points?
How does this chapter relate to or build on previous chapters?
Were there any concepts or points that you found surprising or challenging?
How can you apply the insights from this chapter to real-life situations or your own experience?
What questions or topics for further exploration does this chapter raise for you?

Ask each group to stand in a circle and take turns tossing the beach ball to others. As the ball is caught, whichever color the participant’s right thumb lands on will determine the prompt or questions that they answer. Once the participant has answered the prompt or question, they will toss the ball to another participant. Repeat the process until each person has had at least one chance to answer a prompt.

While this activity lends itself well to in-person and verbal sharing, you can use a dice and the Beach Ball Toss & Talk Collaborative Note Organizer to complete this reflection asynchronously.

Mirror, Microscope, Binoculars

To conclude the day’s book study session, display slide 18, and let participants know that they will be completing a Mirror, Microscope, Binoculars reflection. Make sure everyone can access the Mirror, Microscope, Binoculars Collaborative Note Organizer, and have them each select a row on the table and type their name in the left column. Then provide time for each participant to fill in their own response to each of the prompts provided across the top of the table. This reflection strategy is a way of looking at their learning through three different lenses: As mirrors show oneself, participants will reflect on how the reading impacts them. Microscopes make details more apparent, so next they will reflect on the learning content or activity as it pertains to deeper understanding and application. Binoculars help one see further, so finally participants will look beyond themselves and reflect on social and global issues.

After participants have had enough time to write out their reflections, have the group briefly reconvene, and call on some volunteers to share what they wrote with the rest of the group.

Once share-outs are finished, you will decide as a group which strategy you would like to use for the next chapter or series of chapters. Once you have decided on a strategy, instruct the group to write out their notes at home or in person prior to the start of the next reading.

Follow-Up Activities

After completing the reading of the whole book, you can use the From Knowledge To Action: Turning Insights Into Practice professional learning activity to guide your book study group in a summative reflection and practical application of the reading.

Research Rationale

Research advocates for professional learning initiatives aligning with adult learning principles, such as those proposed by Lawler and King (2000), including creating respectful climates, encouraging active participation, building on experiences, employing collaborative inquiry, focusing on actionable learning, and empowering participants.

Within this realm, book studies emerge as potent vehicles for professional learning. Stover and Elston (2017) emphasized that extended-duration book studies enable educators to assimilate content, connect it to their teaching environment, and foster collaborative learning communities. Insights from Blanton et al. (2020) and Stover and Elston (2017) coalesce, underscoring how book studies promote a culture of sharing experiences, reflection, and collective sense-making. Successful book study experiences were characterized by voluntary participation, diverse material choices, active learning of new strategies, equitable participation within trust-filled groups, and extended timeframes.

Resources

Blanton, B. S., Broemmel, A. D., & Rigell, A. (2020). Speaking volumes: Professional development through book studies. American Educational Research Journal, 57(3), 1014-1044.

K20 Center. (n.d.). 3-2-1. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/117

K20 Center. (n.d.). Beach ball talk and toss. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/3049

K20 Center. (n.d.). Emoji reflection. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/927

K20 Center. (n.d.). I used to think… but now I know. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/137

K20 Center. (n.d.). Mirror, microscope, binoculars. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/3020

K20 Center. (n.d.). Preflections. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/191

K20 Center. (n.d.). Say something! Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/778

K20 Center. (n.d.). Tip of the iceberg. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/67

K20 Center. (n.d.). Two stars and a wish. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/83

K20 Center. (n.d.). WICK. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/2513

Lawler, P. A. & King, K. P. (2000). "Refocusing Faculty Development: The View from an Adult Learning Perspective," Adult Education Research Conference.

Stover, S. & Elston, A. E. (2017). An Online Book Study Approach to P-12 Teachers’ Professional Learning Experience. Adaptive and Responsive Educational Renewal, 93.

Authentic Lessons for 21st Century Learning

Strategies for Negotiating the Reading

Summary

Essential Questions

Learning Goals

Snapshot

Materials List

Introduction

Activity

Wrap Up

Follow-Up Activities

Research Rationale

Resources

Publisher

Downloads

Facilitator Resources

Authentic Lessons for 21st Century Learning

Summary

Essential Questions

Learning Goals

Snapshot

Materials List

Introduction

Activity

Wrap Up

Follow-Up Activities

Research Rationale

Resources

Publisher

Downloads

Facilitator Resources

Related Resources