EDU 512 Reading Notes Format:

Name Madison Schweizer

Book Title Visible Learning for Literacy

Chapter Number and Title Chapter 2: Surface Literacy Learning

Do the following:
Part 1: Describe each of the concepts clearly
Part 2: Describe the three specific applications in each chapter for your work in this current class or what you
might expect to be doing in a future classroom as a credentialed teacher. Be able to describe the supporting
reasoning as to why this research would be worth applying to your professional practice. Each application should
be sufficiently described and applied to cover the ideas you are presenting.
Be well prepared to discuss your ideas in class. The Chapter notes must be submitted each week in the class
assigned to receive full credit.

Application 1:

Description of Concept
One of the concepts that was discussed in this week’s chapter was leveraging prior knowledge.
“Although a teacher may have no influence over the knowledge a student has acquired om the past, the
teacher has significant influence over how it will be leveraged” (Fisher et al, 2016, p. 42). In order to
leverage prior knowledge, a teacher must be aware of what the student already knows, and they must
teach with the goal of building upon and extending this knowledge. Many people have the ability to
assess what a student already knows, however not everyone knows how to take that knowledge and
leverage it. One of the ways to assess a student’s prior knowledge is by using an anticipation guide.
“Anticipation guides are designed to determine what students know and are especially effective when
they hone in on common misconceptions” (Fisher et al, 2016, p. 42). Knowing where the common
misconceptions are will allow you to teach your class more effectively while drawing from the
knowledge that they have already obtained. Another method that teachers use is called a cloze
procedure which requires students to fill in the blanks that are in the passage based on the context of
the sentence. The great thing about this method is that it can be adapted based on the types of learners
that you have in your classroom. Both of these methods are beneficial because they allow the teacher to
gauge the progress of the students. Keeping a close eye on the progress of the learners is essential to
helping move students through their education.

Application to your work/learning

As a teacher, I want to get to know my students so that I know the best ways to help them. Throughout
this chapter, I realized that one of the best ways to help your students is to gauge where they are at in
terms of prior knowledge. Once I have this understanding, I will have a better idea of how I can leverage
their knowledge and help them expand upon the things that they already know. Not only that, but I will
be able to monitor my own progress more accurately. I hope to be the kind of teacher that is constantly
looking for ways that I can learn and grow so that I can better help my students as they go through their
educational journey. Assessing what they know at the beginning and at the end of a lesson will help me
to see where I am proficient and where I need to improve as a teacher. Leveraging prior knowledge has
been proven to be successful as well. Research shows that it has been used to get students to where
they need to be. The effect size for prior achievement is 0.65 which places it in the “Zone of Desired
Effects” on the Barometer for the Influence of Sentence Combining. The fact that it has been proved to
be effective is an even bigger indicator that I should use this strategy in my classroom. In my future
classroom, I will use anticipation guides in order to assess my students’ prior knowledge and from their I
will adapt my lesson to make sure that I am leveraging their knowledge in an accurate manner.

Application 2:

Description of Concept
Chapter two also discussed the use of vocabulary instruction and different methods of teaching students
the vocabulary that they need to know in order to meet standards. The chapter states that “constrained
skills instruction alone fails to provide students with the tools they need for mature readings, and
especially for transfer” (Fisher et al, 2016, p. 49). Because of this, it is important that teachers find
alternative ways to teach their students vocabulary. Vocabulary is something that instructors shouldn’t
take lightly because it is “a strong predictor of reading comprehension” (Fisher et al, 2016, p. 49). While
researchers state that vocabulary knowledge will not ensure success in reading, a lack of knowledge will
lead to failure. This kind of knowledge “must be taught for depth and transfer” (Fisher et al, 2016, p. 49).
Research has found that vocabulary knowledge should be viewed across five dimensions: generalization,
application, breadth, precision, and availability. As a teacher, one should never find it adequate to
simply expose students to vocabulary, students must know how to use it and apply it to daily life. Each
of the five dimensions plays a part in learning vocabulary: generalization takes place through definitional
knowledge, application takes place through correct usage, breadth takes place through the recall of
words, precision takes place through understanding examples and nonexamples, and availability take
place through the use of vocab in discussion. It is important to pay close attention to each one of these
dimensions because they all play a part in a student’s acquisition of vocabulary. Vocab is something that
can’t just be taught through instruction, learners need to be able to comprehend it and apply it
themselves.

Application to your work/learning

Research has proven that the effect size for vocabulary programs is 0.67 which places it in the “Zone of
Desired Effects” on the Barometer for the Influence of Sentence Combining. This means that in order for
students to get where they need to be regarding vocabulary, they need more than just a lesson on the
words and what they mean. As a learner, I have never been able to retain information simply because I
sat in a lecture and heard everything the instructor had to say. Rather, I learned when I wrote things
down, made connections to my personal life, and used the concepts in a discussion. This is what I hope
to do with my students. When it comes to teaching them vocabulary, I will go over the word and the
definition with them, have them find a way that the word can be applied, and give them a short quiz in
order to assess their ability to recall the words and what they mean. I will also play a game with them
where I will present two sentences: one where the word is used correctly and one where the word is
used incorrectly. Two students will come up and whoever rings the bell first will get to tell me which
sentence is correct and why. The last thing I will do is intentionally incorporate the words into my lesson
and class discussion. Students have the ability to receive extra points or tickets in class if they use vocab
words correctly in their discussions throughout the day. I want my students to love learning new words
and not see it as a chore. These are just a few examples of how I wish to use the five dimensions of
vocabulary knowledge in my class.
Application 3:

Description of Concept
Another concept that was discussed in chapter two was feedback. The authors state that “feedback
from the teacher and peers can provide learners with the information they need to move incrementally
toward success” (Fisher et al, 2016, p. 66). In order for students to truly grow, they must know where
they are at and how they are progressing. Knowing the areas in which they are weak can help them
progress even further as this allows them to target a specific area to improve. However, in order for
feedback to be truly beneficial, it must be constructive. Providing random notes or simply critiquing the
student is not going to help them perform better nor will it help them see their strengths and
weaknesses. The goal of feedback is to guide students, not make them guess what it is they need to
work on. Chapter two lists four characteristics of good feedback: it is timely, it is specific, it is
understandable to the learner, and it is actionable. Timely feedback is one of the most important
elements of this concept because if it comes too late, the student will have already moved on to another
lesson and their chance to improve in this particular area will be over. Not only that, but lessons typically
build upon each other, and if the feedback isn’t timely, the student’s foundation for learning won’t be as
strong as it could be or should be. Being specific is also essential as this allows the learner to know
exactly where they are struggling and what things they can do to improve. Growth happens most when
there is guidance. Simply telling a student they are wrong will not help them; they need to know which
path to take in order to get to the correct place. Not only does feedback need to be specific, but the
learner also has to be able to understand what it means. The things that make sense to you as the
teacher aren’t always going to make sense to the student which is why it is important to break things
down. Lastly, feedback should be actionable. Once receiving feedback, students should be able to go
back through that assignment and revise the things that need fixing. If the student can’t put into action
the response that they get from their instructor, they aren’t going to learn. It is important that they get
to learn from their mistakes by fixing them.

Application to your work/learning

I know exactly what it is like to be a student and not get timely feedback from your instructor. It makes it
incredibly difficult to know how you are progressing and it is also frustrating to never know where you
need to improve. It is also frustrating to get comments such as “needs improvement” on an assignment.
As a teacher, my goal is to always provide my students with timely feedback that is specific and
encouraging. It would be unfair for me to hold my students to a standard and not provide them with the
help necessary to get there. The progress of my students isn’t just their own responsibility, it is my job to
make sure that I help them in whatever way I can so that they get to where they need to be. I truly
believe that giving them guidance through feedback is one of the best ways to help them learn and
grow. It is impossible to learn without making mistakes, so I want to welcome my students’ mistakes and
provide them with opportunities to revise the things that they didn’t quite understand. The effect size
for feedback is listed as 0.75 which is located in the “zone of desired effects”. Because of this, I feel as
though this kind of feedback is essential for me in my future classroom as it has been proven to help
students achieve the outcome that we all desire. My goal is to provide students with feedback on all of
their writing and tests as well as an opportunity for them to go over their errors with a classmate, if they
desire, and submit their revisions.