My Master's Action Research Project was "Talking Deeply: Facilitating Accountable Talk in Book Clubs to Lift the Level of Thought". I decided to use this as an implication for teaching in this portfolio. I saw it as a way to offer all students a tool to use that gave them the opportunity to use their personal backgrounds and experiences as they interpret and work with texts in the classroom. By giving students the guidelines and concepts of accountable talk (talk that is accountable to the community (book clubs and their comprising members), accountable to knowledge (reverting to the book as evidence to support talk), and accountable to each other's thinking (thinking based on the individual's discourses) I saw it as an opportunity for students to use their discourses and understandings of the world and word. Other students did work that was more specified in critical reading and, I'm sure, lent itself more easily to this portfolio. I can, however, now find opportunities for more critical analysis of the works they were reading in their book clubs and the incorporation of a scaffolding that asked students to look at the assumptions, marginalizations, and limitations of certain texts in regards to the 'mainstream' and 'non-mainstream'. *** my apologies for the formatting mix-ups in this post. I tried to upload the Project from it's Word document and what is below looks very different from the original document's formatting. I wish I knew more about blogging to correct this.)
Introduction to TALKING DEEPLY in it's entirety---
I have so frequently seen students assigned a topic to discuss between pairs or among group members, and then quickly witnessed the conversation fade far off topic, and move toward the content of their lunchboxes, after school activities, or recess gossip. It wasn’t my perception that these students were ‘being bad’ or, by choice, defying their teacher, but that they simply didn’t know how to carry on the conversation their educator had envisioned them having. This led me to the development of my action research question: How can I facilitate accountable talk in book clubs to lift the level of thinking?
I entered PS 116 in a Midtown East neighborhood of Manhattan, mid-March of the 2007-2008 school year, and began my Master’s Action Research Project in a third grade classroom. At PS 116, Mary Lindley Murray School, whose population is 798 students (43 % white, 23% Hispanic, 21% Asian American, and 13% African American) there are a number of talented and gifted classrooms, one of which was the classroom I would be conducting my research in. The classroom teacher, Rachel Greenberg, a first year classroom teacher who previously worked as a classroom aid in the school, suggested I work with a particular book club group in strengthening their book talk because she felt they were ‘flying from level to level’ and although they were able to comprehend what they were reading on very basic/surface levels, they saw little importance in ‘wasting their time talking about books’. This provided a perfect opportunity to work toward the lifting of thought through accountable talk incorporation in book clubs. And so our time together began…
Cycle 1
An Introduction Sprinkled with Talk Rationale
I have so frequently seen students assigned a topic to discuss between pairs or among group members, and then quickly witnessed the conversation fade far off topic, and move toward the content of their lunchboxes, after school activities, or recess gossip. It wasn’t my perception that these students were ‘being bad’ or, by choice, defying their teacher, but that they simply didn’t know how to carry on the conversation their educator had envisioned them having. This led me to the development of my action research question: How can I facilitate accountable talk in book clubs to lift the level of thinking?
Reading in Calkins’ The Art of Teaching Reading (2001) about Lauren Resnick’s work with accountable talk, at the Learning Institute, out of the University of Pittsburg, helped me “stand on the shoulders of those who came before” (Falk & Blumenreich, 2005). Resnick’s description of accountable talk was: “the expectation that students will be able to ground what they say in the text” (Calkins, 2001). This helped give shape to my Master’s Action Research Project (MARP) question brainstorming and jumpstart my thinking about getting students to truly participate in book club discussions that hold them accountable to their community (other book club members), accurate knowledge (from their book club books), and rigorous thinking (ideas and themes from these books) (Wolf, Crosson, & Resnick, 2006).
In another source of research (Fisher & Frey, 2007), accountable talk’s foci are defined in following guidelines that can be used to help students understand the commitment asked of them when engaging in book club talk:
1. “Stay on topic.
2. Use information that is accurate and appropriate for the topic.
3. Think deeply about what your partner has to say” (p. 23).
Research gives evidence of the importance of “the role of talking about books [to] enhance children’s language development […] [and] literacy growth” (Beck & McKeown, 2001). Beck and McKeown continue that the most effective talk features help students build meaning through the discussion of important ideas they construct from the books they read (ideas throughout an entire text) and provide students with the opportunity to reflect. Based on this research, in combination with a study entitled Accountable Talk in Reading Comprehension Instruction, which focused on classroom talk that holds students liable for each category of accountability (to community, accurate knowledge, and rigorous thinking) to help improve the quality of reading comprehension (Wolf, Crosson, & Resnick, 2006) I decided to form an action research project around the facilitation of such talk about books in clubs.
Time for Book Club Talk Research
I entered PS 116 in Midtown East, mid-March of the 2007-2008 school year, and began my observation of a third grade classroom. At PS 116, Mary Lindley Murray School, whose population is 798 students (43 % white, 23% Hispanic, 21% Asian American, and 13% African American); there are a number of talented and gifted classrooms, one of which was the third grade classroom I was working in. Students were placed in these talented and gifted classrooms after taking the Otis-Lenon School Ability Test (OLSAT) and the Bracken School Readiness Assessment (BSRA) and were found to be in the 95th percentile among nationally tested students. The classroom teacher, Rachel Greenberg, a first year classroom teacher who previously worked as a classroom aid in the school, suggested I work with this group in strengthening their book club talk because she felt they were ‘flying from level to level’ and although they were able to comprehend what they were reading, they saw little importance in ‘wasting their time talking about books’.
Cory Gillette, a staff developer and literacy consultant, from the Teachers College’s Reading and Writing Project, who works with many teachers in various schools of the New York City Public School system, once told me, while shadowing her, that often times it’s your highest children that are most difficult to push forward along the reading comprehension continuum because often times teachers find it difficult to identify their areas of need, because it seems they ‘have everything’. Ms. Greenberg, the boys’ classroom teacher, expressed the same concerns and offered this as her main rational for suggesting I work with Ethan, Neil, and Payton.
I started by observing a 12-minute book club discussion conducted by three boys from this classroom. This particular book club was reading Yang the Third and Her Impossible Family, by Lensey Namioka, a Fountas and Pinnell leveled Q text. At the point of my initial observation, they had read approximately 40 pages of the 144 page paperback. This was the third book club meeting students in this classroom had participated in, since their book clubs had just been formed and they had only been in them less than two weeks.
My goal for this observation was to see how these students talked about books. Unfortunately, the 12 minute video of this telling preliminary conversation was ‘lost’ after a hard drive crash, however, my sparse hand notes tucked in a small notebook from that day remain. I have organized them into a chart of observation notes (you may notice the coding of these notes, which will be further discussed in the next few paragraphs):
Book Club Discussion Observation Notes: Chart A
Coding Key: ___Accountable to Community ___Accountable to Knowledge ___Accountable to Rigorous Thinking
Time Observation Thoughts
9:13 -The three boys sit side by side in a line against the hallway wall. From left to right, it is Ethan, Neil, and Payton.
-Ethan and Neil talk about a movie, facing each other (Neil’s back is to Payton.)
- Payton reads a book (not book club book, Yang) with his body positioned toward the camera. -This is an ‘unnatural’ setting. Usually, book club discussions occur inside the classroom, not the hallway.
-I wonder if they normally sit in a row, rather than circle.
-Does Payton normally read during the book club discussion?
9:17 -Ethan pulls out his reading notebook and starts listing his “noticings”.
-Neil agrees or disagrees with each noticing, and flips through his copy of Yang to prove his disagreements. -Ethan is prepared.
-Neil and Ethan are having a “retelling” conversation, referencing their books.
-Will Payton participate?
9:18 -Payton puts down his books and turns toward Neil and Ethan, and argues that the last agreed upon noticing Neil and Ethan made “isn’t even what happened in the
book”.
-Neil and Ethan ignore Payton’s comment. -Payton must have been listening. He can read and listen to their talk, simultaneously.
-Payton’s input isn’t valued (???)
9:19 -Payton goes back to reading.
-Neil and Ethan talk about unrelated book topics. -Have they had a model of a book club conversation before?
9:20 -Neil flips through the book.
-Ethan: “We already thought about everything.”
-Neil: “Wait, one more thing…” -I think this talk will end soon. They seem bored/forced to do this.
9:21 -Ethan: “I’m waaaaaiting.”
-Neil: “OK, nevermind.”
-No talk.
-Payton is reading. -They seem very separate from each other.
9:23 -The three boys decide upon how much to read before the next book club discussion. -This seems routine/mandatory. Something they have to do before they can leave book club talk.
9:24 -Students collect logs, notebooks, and books and return to the classroom for independent reading time (45 mins.) -They seem excited for the talk to be over.
In order to find themes, categories, and common threads among these three students’ perception and understanding of how book club talk can help them better understand their books, and to add validity to my study, I chose to triangulate data: the above book club discussion observation, an interview about book clubs, and entries from their reading journals/logs. I felt these three sources of data, taken from each student, would help give me insight into their current behaviors as they participate in a newly formed book club. I was then able to code the data, finding opportunities used when the talk or ideas about book club discussions were related to each particular accountable talk category: accountable to the community, accountable to accurate knowledge, or accountable to rigorous thinking.
Based on the work of Wolf, Crosson, and Resnick in their accountable talk study (2006), I organized criteria for each category of accountable talk, helping me code observed book club discussions and interview responses:
Category Description Talk Moves
Accountable to Community To what extend does the student explicitly link different people’s ideas? • Who agrees/ disagrees with what was just said?
• Who wants to add on to what was just said?
• I want to add on to what you just said…
• I agree with you because…
Accountable to Knowledge To what extent do the students support their ideas with evidence based on the text? • How do you know that?
• Can you give me some examples?
• Where did you find that information?
• Can you show me which part of the text tells you that information?
• What do you mean?
• I know that because it says here…
Accountable to Rigorous Thinking To what extent do the students explain their thinking? • Why do you think that?
• Can you explain that more?
• Say more about that.
• I think because…
A rubric, based on one used by Katherine Bomer, found in Calkins’ (2001) text, was used to assess the accountability of this discussion because I felt I needed a systematic tool that allowed for measure and comparison across conversations that were occurring during all three cycles. I was interested in determining the strength of students’ linkage to community, knowledge, and thinking. Because the transcript and video of this first book club discussion were not available (the conversation was video recorded using Mac OS X’s iMovie and saved to the computer’s hard drive, which crashed before Cycle 1’s completion.) Along with recording the conversation on video, I took observation notes that documented activity during this first observed book club discussion (Observation Notes: Chart A can be found on page 6.) I have filled the rubric based on my observation notes, but do not consider this completed rubric to be a true measure of the students’ actual use of accountable talk, as the transcription of the book club meeting was not available (again, lost in the hard drive crash):
Rubric: Accountable Talk During Book Club Discussions
Date: March 11, 2008 (Observation Notes: Chart A)
Book Club Member Accountable to Community: Addresses what another person has said Accountable to Knowledge: Refers to text for evidence
Accountable to Rigorous Thinking: Asks questions of each other’s thinking
Ethan 9:19- Ignores Payton’s comment about finding proof in text. 9:17- Names his noticings from previous night’s reading, that he’s listed in his reading journal
Payton 9:18- Tells his book club members their agreed upon noticing ‘isn’t even what happened in the book.”
Neil 9:17- Neil agrees or disagrees with each noticing made by Ethan
9:19- Ignores Payton’s comment about finding proof in text. 9:17- Flips through text to prove his agreements or disagreements
I would consider the use of this rubric when assessing future discussions to be an accurate measure of accountable talk use which can then be used when comparing talk use growth over all three cycles, as long as they are completed based on the consideration of all talk that occurs during book club discussions.
What I learned about these students from the rubric and coding activity, mostly, was that they are not accountable to the book club community and the knowledge from the text yet lacked any links to each other’s thinking. I know this because of my notations about missed opportunities for students to revert to the text to supply evidence from their readings to support their discussion points. This gives me insight into where my action can go and cycle back to the original purpose of this project, my inquiry of how I can facilitate accountable talk in book clubs to lift the level of thinking.
I wanted to see ‘where’ the students were currently working within their reading journals, and how their writing about books was being used to support book club talk. I noticed that Ethan was the one, out of the three boys, who routinely collected what he noticed in his journal (which I observed him use as talking topics during the preliminary 12-minute conversation.) He asks questions, talks back to the text, records his thinking, and uses all of this to offer up talking points for his group, many of which can be ideal building blocks to create accountable talk within book clubs:
Image from Ethan’s Reading Journal. Reads: “ 3/5/08, [illegible book title] If my mom got a haircut like that I’d freak out! What Sam did was for nothing. 3/6/08, Yang the third and her Impossible Family, I don’t think it was smart to have a cat without there family knowing. Would you sneak a cat? Why or why not? 3/7/08, The temple of [illegible] of fire, Why did Geronimo stay at that hotel? I think the ruby’s fake.”
When looking at Payton’s reading journal I found mostly writings about how what he was reading connected to his life or experiences (although, many of them appeared to be a retelling of the book, only making it his own personal experiences rather than the character’s.) Possibly this may be a ‘quick fix’ answer for Payton, rather than reflecting and recording his thoughts, understandings, predictions, and syntheses. Nonetheless, he is writing after reading, which is evidence I can use to support my choices of providing an organization tool he can use to collect his thoughts about what he is reading. This is one page from his reading response journal:
Image from Payton’s Reading Journal. Reads: “One of those days, This book made me remember the time when I was 3 or 4 years old, and I got underwear for my birthday, and I rushed upstairs with my friends, dropped them in the toilet, flushed, and said, “Bye-bye, undies.” I[t] made me remember it because of the picture of the guy who got underwear for his birthday.”
Neil was unable to locate his previous reading journal and recently started a new one. All that was to be found in his new journal was the “Reading Response Journal Prompts” worksheet taped to the inside front cover (Image to the left.) Most of these prompts are those that I have filtered into the three accountable talk categories. I will look to see if and how he uses these prompts in his writing about reading, as the cycles progress through time.
Each of the three boys’ journals were absent of post-its and when asked if they use post-its to record their ideas about what they are reading Payton joked, “Only as book marks.” Neil shrugged his shoulders, and Ethan argued that he did record his ideas, just, only in his journal to “save time”, he told me. This was another instance I found myself thinking that by supplying them with a new ‘rule’ for book club, (they need to bring at least one post-it that holds their idea about what they read) it will be a steppingstone toward talking (accountably, eventually) long about focused ideas.
In order to conduct a triangulation of data, I chose to conduct an interview with each member asking questions about idea generation and use of ideas in book club discussions:
Book Club Interview I Conducted: Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Location: PS 116, outside of student’s Grade 3 classroom
Interview Questions:
1. What are book clubs for?
2. Why is it important to talk about books?
3. Does talking in your book club help you understand your book?
4. How do you know what to talk about during book club discussions?
5. What makes an idea a good idea to talk about in book club discussions?
Ethan’s responses:
1. Well, book clubs are to learn from others thoughts and ideas and what other people think about books.
2. Because when you talk about books you have more ideas to reflect like for homework. You hear if others disagree or agree with your idea.
3. Yes, because you get more ideas about it and you might notice something other group members didn’t.
4. Well, you can tell when you read and something pops in your head or you look back and think of a question.
5. What makes a good idea in book club is when it’s on topic and is one you can answer without having to look ahead.
Neil’s responses:
1. Book clubs are for like studying the same book with others, and it’s a great way to make friends with people reading the same book.
2. Well, the reason you talk is to share your ideas and listen to others. You can know your ideas mentally but hear others say it.
3. It can if you don’t understand really well when you share ideas you can help understand.
4. There’s really, actually, you don’t know. You just share ideas about what you found out.
5. Usually most are good. The only way they’re not good is one that doesn’t relate to the book.
Payton’s responses:
1. I think book clubs are for to be together and get each other’s thoughts, not just what you think.
2. Yes, I think when you talk together it helps you get along with the books.
3. No, I can understand them fine by myself. But when you talk about books, it’s good to see what others think, not just you.
4. I sort of don’t plan beforehand, but when we get there I remember a part I want to talk about and talk about that.
5. Like if you start out wondering, you should talk about that.
After analysis of this interview, it was my belief that these students saw book clubs as a way to share ideas and thoughts about books, but that the job of preparing ideas to talk about during book club was not theirs. They collectively felt thoughts and ideas about books were meant to be discussed in book clubs, but I didn’t get a sense that these students were being asked to prepare post-its while reading, that are brought to book clubs and focused on and built upon. This is when I felt I started to find an avenue of action for my first cycle.
And…ACTION!
A goal of mine was to provide a reading strategy that acted as a “scaffold for thoughtful reading” (Calkins, 2001) that could, in turn, be used to make talk easier for these book club members by generating ideas they can bring to book club, to start facilitating discussion that can grow ideas through talk about discovered themes, threads, and ideas about their book club book. After all, how can I facilitate accountable talk if there is little talk related to the book actually going on during these book club discussions? Kylene Beers (2003) suggests “students use these [post-it] notes as they construct meaning during reading” (p. 134). Calkins (2001) supports my notion that post-its can jumpstart conversation when she writes, “A culture of Post-its […] becomes a culture of conversation” (p. 365).
When shadowing Cory Gillette, as she cycled through PS 116 providing support to 3-5 grade teachers, I watched her conduct a minilesson focusing on the generation of ideas about books for book clubs through the use of post-it notes. I used her example minilesson as rationale and reasoning for me doing the same, in this classroom. I wrote up and implemented this whole class minilesson, in which the book club I’m working with participated in:
Teaching Point: Good readers can talk long about one topic by preparing ideas to bring to the book club discussion.
Connection: I’ve been noticing in book clubs many of you are talking a lot about what is happening in your books. And that’s great because good readers can learn more from their books by talking about them. What I’d like to teach you, today, is that good readers can prepare their ideas to bring to book club by writing post-its as they read.
Teach: We can write post-its while we read to help us keep track of our ideas about the books we read. Let’s look at how I made this a T-chart (onse side "What I Know...", and the other "What I THINK about What I Know")
I can put this T-chart in my reading journal. I will first list on the left side some details I know from my books (information that I can find right on the pages of my book). Then I can write what I think about each of those things I know. Watch me as I list some things I know from our read aloud book James and the Giant Peach. (List details and events that I know from the book on the left side of the chart). Now, I want to record what I think about each of those things. (Write a thought on the right side, for each item on the left side of T-chart). I can do this by reading each one on the left, then asking myself, “What do I think about that?” then write it down on the right side.
Now, what goes on my post-it is what I wrote on the right side of the chart, the “What I Think” ones. Then I bring those post-its to book club conversations, so I can share them with my members and we can decide which one we want to talk long about.
Active Engagement: I want you to try doing this. Let’s pretend that we have to create a post-it for our book club. Let’s say we all have on the left side of this chart, under ‘What I Know’: “James doesn’t know what will happen after the peach fell into the ocean.” Take the post-it I gave you and write what you think about that “What I Know” point. I’ll be walking around finding some post-its to share.
(Find several “What I Think About What I Know” post-its to share with the class)
Wow! Look at all this great work. This is exactly what good readers do to prepare for book club talk. Good readers prepare ideas on post-its based on what they think about what they know from their books. Then they can talk long about those post-its during book club discussion.
Link: I’d like you to start having at least 3 post-it ideas to bring every time you go to book club. Remember, we can always write post-its during reading a book. I’ll be seeing how your book club talk changes when you start to focus on these post-it ideas. Now, let’s go talk long about an idea in our book clubs!
Cycle 2
Reflection Upon Cycle 1
Based on my findings while observing a talented and gifted third grade class’ book club consisting of three boys, I decided my first step of action would be to teach a minilesson on the generation of good ideas that would then be used as conversation starters about the shared texts they were reading. Cycle 1’s focus was to see, from the implemented action based on evidence found in scholarly research, what change in accountable talk use during book club discussion could be seen when observing talk and coding for the three categories I used as criteria: accountable to their community (other book club members), accurate knowledge (from their book club books), and rigorous thinking (ideas and themes from these books) (Wolf, Crosson, & Resnick, 2006). In turn, it was the goal of my research and action, to lift the levels of comprehension at which students think when reading and talking about books.
After completion of the first cycle, areas of revision have been identified. I’d like to address the nature by which I came to work with these particular students. I entered Rachel Greenberg’s 3rd grade talented and gifted classroom at PS 116 upon the recommendation of a senior staff developer, Cory Gillette, of Teachers College Reading and Writing Project. Cory has worked in PS 116 as a staff developer assisting grades 3, 4, and 5 for the past several years. Cory identified Rachel’s classroom as one that I would have the freedom to put into practice my designed action, particularly with students Rachel felt needed additional instructional support. I felt welcomed and at liberty to dive in and try out my hypothesized plan. Rachel, a first year classroom teacher, suggested I work with the three students who made up the class’ highest leveled text book club because she felt they were the students that ‘got it’ so much she had difficulty pushing them further along the reading continuum while still supporting their advanced use of comprehension strategies and skills.
I entered the classroom during the early weeks of March, and the three boys were reading a Q leveled book. Wanting to find out more about these students, I conducted an interview with each of them, Payton, Neil, and Ethan, to find out what their thoughts were about idea generation in preparation for book club talk, and the purpose of talking about books. Reflecting on this, I feel I could have built a stronger report with each of these boys had I allowed for more time to casually learn about them as people, rather than solely as readers. This is, indefinitely, a tactic I would employ during my observation time with the group, gathering information. The importance of learning as much as possible about the whole student, rather than just in areas directly correlated to the purpose I entered the classroom to begin with (the facilitation of accountable talk in book clubs), is a lesson I have learned and chalked up as growth as a literacy professional. I feel doing so would have allowed me to tap into interests of each individual and design instruction that incorporated methods that lent itself more naturally to the character of each student, building upon their interests and backgrounds. I also think it would have varied the results of my first book club talk observation or the answers students supplied during the book club preparation/purposes interview.
Through casual talk and observation of the boys outside of book club, I did learn Payton is the youngest of four siblings (none of whom are in PS 116 with him), who enjoys baseball, soccer, and adventures around the city. Payton is the ‘most advanced’ student in her class, Rachel tells me, excelling in all areas of study in the third grade. She feels he often times is bored with what is happening because of this intelligence. Neil plays piano and tennis, comes from a home where his parents are first generation Chinese-American, and is an only child. I perceive him to be a quiet student who values time to work alone, but can easily partake in a debate with his peers about current news issues. Rachel says he is extremely conscious of the work he is asked to do in the classroom and expectations of his parents. Ethan has an older brother in the fourth grade, whom has visited Ethan several times during my work in Rachel’s room. Ethan is impressively well mannered and polite, and an often time is seeking any way in which he can assist others in the classroom. This information can be used to impact the design of literacy instruction, say for example the organization of book club discussion time, tapping into Neil’s debate tactics, using them as models for his book club members as a tool for the facilitation of talk that is accountable to each other’s rigorous thinking. In relation to this project, I can use my knowledge of Ethan’s attentiveness to manners, routine, rules, and codes of politeness and reference such behavior when teaching the group to be accountable to community, being Fisher and Frey (2007) have described one of accountable talk’s foci as politely thinking about each individual statement partners are making (p. 23).
Again, it is my understanding now that these and other more specific types of insight into the true character and being of each of these students is essential when truly designing differentiated instruction. Without it, action research could hypothetically be designed for a ‘generic’/unspecified student, yet outcomes and findings would be of extraordinarily less value, because the learner himself is not put as the driving motivation for action.
I also would like to take the opportunity to reflect and elaborate on this mentioned growth as a literacy professional that I have experienced during Cycle 1. Upon entering Rachel’s classroom, I felt almost hesitant about grabbing the reins and steering the course of book club talk. This was something I quickly decided I needed to overcome. I thought, ‘What type of injustice would I be serving this group of students, as well as my future students, by wasting this opportunity, say, by only half-heartedly committing to this journey we are about to embark on?’ I also acknowledged what privilege it was for me, as a pre-service learner, to be able to enter this classroom and be given near total freedom and trust that what I am intending to teach will, in fact, change these students for the better. I looked at this (MARP) as the first step I was going to take wearing the hat as a literacy specialist. I positioned myself with resources standing as rationale for decisions, and returned to my initial reasoning for pursuing higher education in the specified field of literacy: the empowerment that comes from the ability to read and write. After all, how could I aid in this empowerment if I wasn’t fully confident in my ability to do so? Even from the beginning of this project to now, one month after beginning at PS 116, I see tremendous change in my confidence that, ‘Yes! I do know what is going to help these students.’ I’ve also realized that kids sense this confidence and seemed to be much more ‘on board’ with me, progressing forward together, once I settled this qualm within myself.
Transitioning Between Cycles
During an initial 12-minute observation (Observation Notes: Chart A, found in Cycle 1) of the class’ highest leveled (Q) readers’ book club, I found minimal evidence of use of accountable talk strategies and prompts:
Rubric-Talk 1: Accountable Talk During Book Club Discussions
Date: March 11, 2008 Observation: notes, not video, found in Chart A in Cycle 1
Book Club Member Accountable to Community: Addresses what another person has said Accountable to Knowledge: Refers to text for evidence
Accountable to Rigorous Thinking: Asks questions of each other’s thinking
Ethan 1 1 0
Payton 0 1 0
Neil 2 1 0
Out of a hearty 12 minutes, the three boys combined talked accountably only six times (each time lasting no longer than one full sentence). Neil championed over the other two members, (only barely) by using three accountable talk prompts, followed by Ethan’s two, and Payton’s one. It was obvious that this group was a nice match for my MARP, they weren’t currently talking accountably within their book club, as Rachel had told me. I was enthused by the ‘room for improvement’ and the opportunity to see how far they could be lifted through action research.
Findings in works by Beers (2003) and Calkins (2001) support the explicit instruction of idea generation and the importance of distinguishing ideas that are worth talking about and then talking long about those ideas to develop richer theories and understandings of themes from books being read. Because of this, I decided to take action and teach these great readers how to become better talkers, (well, really, how to even START talking about their ideas). I noted ideas they were developing in their reading journals and brains when I interviewed each of them about the purpose of ideas and preparing for book club talk. They were ‘right there’ as far as being able to accurately recall detail and critical information from the text, but stopped at that level. They could state what they knew from the text, but not what they thought about what they knew. I felt I needed to provide a structure in which they could work to be more prepared to talk accountably about their thoughts, by first giving them a pathway in which to generate thoughts and determine the difference between “What I know…” and “What I think about what I know…” post-its. So, I took action! I taught a minilesson that explicitly outlined the “how to” of idea generation. Cycle 2 marked the opportunity to notice what change, if any, would surface in their talk about texts accountable, when they were prepared to discuss ideas (which can act as a catalyst for disagreement among persons with different schema, experiences, or opinion) rather than simply retell information that each of them were gathering while reading from chapter to chapter.
Let’s Research! Looking for Change…
I began my second cycle’s observation (research) of the three boys’ book club (which from here on out will be referred to as The 3Bs), looking for signs of accountable talk that they may currently working with. I began to record a conversation (this class typically talks in clubs Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays) of The 3Bs that took place two days after the implemented action of Cycle 1 (a minilesson on generating idea post-its in preparation for book club discussion). I then coded this video recording looking for evidence of change in their accountable talk that would surface when they used idea post-its to generate talk. I tallied the number of prompts used by each member, classifying them under each of the three above mentioned accountable talk categories:
Rubric-Talk 2: Accountable Talk During Book Club Discussions
Date: March 26, 2008 Observation: Video 1= 13 minutes
Book Club Member Accountable to Community: Addresses what another person has said Accountable to Knowledge: Refers to text for evidence
Accountable to Rigorous Thinking: Asks questions of each other’s thinking
Ethan 1 “Neil (whispering, and barely audible) you have to talk, we are being video taped” 1 “Yeah, because it (text) said she gave a smile like this…”
2 “Wait… I don’t have an example.” (Book club laughs).
3 “But, look (points to page but doesn’t read from the book) what’s his name, the older brother here…”
4 “And the book says, …”(Although not directing group’s attention to specific page.)
5 “Well first of all, in that part, when they called him a nerd…” (not referencing specific page). 1 “That makes me wonder if…”
2 “This makes me think…”(after Payton retold part in text)
Payton 1 “I think so too…” 1 (Looks for evidence in text, yet can’t find supporting information and lets his proposed idea trail off.) 1 “Yeah but I play soccer and that doesn’t make me think…”
2 “I don’t think actions do much actually…”
Neil 1 “I don’t think that’s what will happen.”
2 “We’re supposed to be talking about the book!” 1 “It was really mean when Matthew’s dad did…(searching for evidence while flipping through pages surrounding his post-it)”
1 “Well, I play piano and I know that’s not true.”
2 “Don’t let anyone change how you think. That’s just your opinion.”
3 “Yeah well you can’t change my thinking with THAT (in response to Ethan’s comment)”
4 “I wouldn’t like if my dad made me…that’s why I think that.”
I read when researching book talk that, “the key to experiences with decontextualized language that make them valuable for further literacy […] lie not in merely listening to book language, but in talking about the ideas” (Beck & McKeown, 2001). Because of this information, I found it critical in supplying tools to now talk as deeply as possible about these ideas The 3Bs were bringing to book club on post-its. I decided to teach, via minilesson, accountable talk concept, categories, and examples of what this type of talk looked like (which continues on to the
following page):
Teaching Point: Good readers can talk deeper about what they are reading, to help them understand their books better. Readers do this by using accountable (responsible) talk during book club discussions.
Connection: So, I’d like to share a story with you guys about a talk I had with my sister, Allie, yesterday morning. She calls me and says, “Whitney, I know you’ve been saving up for a Nintendo Wii, but I just heard they stopped selling them over the weekend.” I sat in silence on the phone. I said nothing. My brain was scrambled, and I couldn’t find the words to respond to what she just told me. She waited for me to say anything, “Say SOMETHING, Whitney!” But I couldn’t, I was so upset and startled by what she told me, I wanted that Wii so badly. Then, after another long pause of silence, Allie asks, “Do you know what today is?” I thought, ‘Why is she asking me what today is, all I’m thinking about is how crushed I am that I can’t get a Wii, now.’ I still said nothing. The silence was broken by, “APRIL FOOLS!!!” “Oh my goodness!” I yelled through the phone, “How could you do that to me?” She said, “You never asked any questions, you never asked how I knew it or why I thought that! You were so easy to trick.” I got off the phone with my sister, smiling to myself, and then I thought, “WOW! This is exactly like the talk I’m seeing in Ms. Greenberg’s room. I’m seeing a lot of people talking the talk but not walking the walk.” I’d like to show you today, readers, that, just like in our ‘real lives’ like this conversation with my sister, when reading we need to use some responsible talk to dig deeper and find out what’s really going on in our books.
Teach: Allie was able to trick me so easily because I never used responsible talk to hold her accountable (discuss meaning of accountability using synonyms like: answerable, responsible, liable, answerable/answer to) to what she was saying to me. Let’s create a chart that is made up of 3 different categories of accountable talk to find out how we can use prompts from each category to responsibly talk in book club in ways that help us dig deeper into our books.
Responsible Talk
Accountable to Community | Accountable to Book Knowledge | Accountable to HIGHEST Thinking
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When we say “Accountable to Community” it means listening and hearing what book club members are saying, and acknowledging what each member talks about. My community during my story was what was being said over the phone between my sister and myself.
When we talk about being “Accountable to Book Knowledge” that means being able to find evidence from the book as proof to support what is being discussed. I could have asked for proof or evidence from my sister when she claimed that she “heard they weren’t selling Wiis anymore”.
Lastly, when we talk about being accountable to HIGHEST Thinking, that means we want to not only hear what people are saying they think, but asking for reasons why they think that, trying to push book club members to their HIGHEST level of thinking. We know we can retell what is happening in our books but that doesn’t really push our thinking to the HIGHEST level possible. It’s our job as book club members to do this. It helps our brains grow as readers.
I’m going to list some prompts that belong under each of these categories to help you understand and recognize what these types of responsible talk sound like. Please feel free to jot them down in your reading notebook, or use this chart later, as it hangs in the classroom. (Prompts taken from Wolf, Crosson, & Resnick, 2006.)
Accountable to Community Accountable to Book Knowledge Accountable to HIGHEST Thinking
• Who agrees/disagrees with what was just said?
• Who wants to add on to what was just said?
• I want to add…
• I agree/dis because… • How did you know that?
• Can you give me some examples?
• Where did you find that information?
• Can you show me which part of the text tells you that info?
• I know that because… • Why do you think that?
• Can you explain your thoughts more?
• Say more about your thinking please…
• I think because…
Again, these prompts used during accountable or responsible talk in book clubs are ways that can help us as readers dig deeper into what the books really are about and mean.
Active Engagement: I want you to try doing this. Let’s pretend that we are in the middle of book club talk. Let’s say the post-it we are discussing is, “I think the author wants us to know that James is a resourceful character because he is able to find ways to succeed in life even when he is faced with challenges.” (The class’ read-aloud text is James and the Giant Peach) Turn and talk with a partner as if you just started discussing this post-it in book club. Try using some of the prompts we listed here on the Responsible Talk chart that can help you dig deeper, finding out what really the author wants us to learn. Let’s practice for about a minute and I’ll pop around to listen for a great pair to share. (Listen in to partners, looking for responsible/accountable talk use to share with the class.)
Link: AMAZING! Listen to what I heard, (share or offer an accountable talk prompt used during turn and talk.) This is the great work that readers to when digging deeper into their books. We want to try to use these when talk in book club. I’m interested to see how much we can grow as talkers, thinkers, and readers.
Although this minilesson was whole group, I, for the purposes of this action research project, was interested in the effect it had on The 3Bs. I conducted an open forum discussion among the boys and myself, seeking another source of data that could be used in triangulation when discovering common threads and understandings surrounding book club talk and use of accountable talk prompts. When asked what they thought of the idea to use accountable talk during book clubs, Payton promptly declared, “We already do.” I asked the other boys if they agreed. Ethan said, “I agree. I agree.” (They didn’t know what was coming!) “Neil?” I asked. Neil shook his head, “Mmm, probably. We ask a lot of questions.” I sensed he was keener to what I had lined up. His response perfectly supported the use of discovered research, which supported this discussion/action’s purpose:
“Initial questions may not bring forth meaningful responses from young children. Yet simply asking more questions will not necessarily prompt richer comments. Thus a great deal of our emphasis in working with teachers as they implement [instruction that] was focused on how to follow up children's initial responses.” (Beck & McKeown, 2001).
“I’d like to show you something.” I opened my laptop and before pressing play said, “Ok—your job is to find proof that you use accountable/responsible talk during book club discussion.” The 3Bs watched themselves talk about Yang (the second time I had observed the book club talk, as the first video was ‘lost’ during a hard drive crash). They were silent. “You don’t have to wait, just jump in as soon as you hear some accountable talk.” I bantered. We watched 5 of the video’s 13 minutes. I recall Payton protesting, “That’s NOT the whole video.” I explained for the sake of time, I would summarize the video for them, and showed them my notations on their talk us, outlined in the Rubric-Talk 2 chart presented earlier in this cycle’s write up. “These charts are not for a grade, and it’s not a competition so it doesn’t matter who used more or less prompts, because, to be honest guys, none of you are totally blowing me away with outstanding use of accountable talk. Not YET, at least.” We discussed how few times they actually took advantage of opportunities to dig deeper. I also showed them the rubric from the first observed talk, Talk 1, that noted only 6 prompts used throughout the whole talk. I did want to stress that since preparing and bringing post-its to book club discussion, they had naturally begun to use some responsible talk prompts, even BEFORE I instructed the whole class about the 3 categories of accountable talk and giving examples for each type of category (during the minilesson on Accountable Talk Use). I showed them proof of this by counting up the prompts used in observed Talk 2 (13 more than their previous talk).
Then we discussed where to go from here so that they continued to progress as book club members who use deep talk and even deeper thinking to understand their books. “Would it help to have the prompts in front of you during book club talk, say, to get started?” The spokesman of the group that day, Payton, “Maybe.” And a third action in Cycle 2 was born. The next book club talk, the boys had a miniature-sized version of the chart from the Accountable Talk Use minilesson. Whether it was of value, I would soon see after videoing and coding yet another book club discussion searching for use of accountable talk (see Rubric-Talk 3 on page 28).
I’d like to note, although reflection of Cycle 2 will fully be elaborated upon in the beginning of Cycle 3, that the above conversation took place for a duration of about half the time the previous book club discussions were lasting (a special activity with the Lincoln Center staff disrupted this talk’s length). What is so notable is that during this 6-minute conversation (Talk 3) 33 prompts were observed, compared to 19 observed prompts during the 13-minute Talk 2, and the mere 6 prompts heard during Talk 1 (also 13 minutes).
Rubric-Talk 3: Accountable Talk During Book Club Discussions
Date: April 4, 2008 Observation: Video 2= 6 minutes
Book Club Member Accountable to Community: Addresses what another person has said Accountable to Knowledge: Refers to text for evidence
Accountable to Rigorous Thinking: Asks questions of each other’s thinking
Ethan 1 “I agree except one thing…” (In response to Payton’s post-it idea)
2 “No, I said…” (After a misinterpretation by Payton)
3 “Yeah but how does that relate?” (After Neil does not find evidence.)
4 “That’s not evidence.” (In response to Neil’s claim to have evidence in #3 accountable to knowledge comment)
5 “That’s not evidence.” (In response to Payton’s findings in #5 accountable to knowledge comment) 1 “Yeah, but, where is it in the text?” (In response to Payton’s #1 accountable to knowledge comment.)
2. “Which one, show me, which text?” (Looking on the back cover at the titles of the other books in the series)
3 “Who are they?” (Asking about a group Neil brings up, that he says exist in this text)
4 “I’ll show you. Hold on. Where’s it at, again?” (Searching for evidence to support his argument against Neil’s claim)
5 “Where’s the evidence? I want the proof, Neil.” (In response to Neil’s #2 accountable to knowledge comment)
6 “Yeah it (the book) said that…” (Not supported by book evidence). 1 “Yeah, but you know the book already…”
(Explaining why Payton thinks a certain way when arguing his (Ethan’s) post-it)
Payton 1 “But remember…” (In response to Ethan’s #1 accountable to community comment)
2 “I said, ‘I think that…’” (Trying to get members to ‘hear’ what he is saying)
3 “I’m going to be silent because if I respond, I’ll give it away.” (In response to Neil and Ethan’s debate about whom a particular group of characters may be, since Payton has read the previous books in the series.)
4 “Are you sure you haven’t read this book?” (To Ethan, after Ethan makes a prediction.)
5 “I disagree because…” (After Ethan offers up new post-it idea)
6“We already know that.”
7 “Neil said that he thinks…”
8 “What did you say about (character)?” 1 “He already found that out in another book.” (Payton comments when Ethan makes a prediction)
2 “It’s not in this text, he got it in another book in the series”
3 “Wait, what page are we on?”
4 “You want to know who (character’s name) is?” (Referring to character from another book in the series that the other two members have not read.)
5 “I found what I was looking for…” (Providing evidence to support his justification of Neil’s thinking).
Neil 1 “Yeah, that’s what I think too, (In response to Ethan’s finding of evidence from the text).
2 “But there are two of them, you said…” (Referring to an idea Ethan has about the character’s problem)
3 “No, not those. I’m talking about…” (After Ethan misinterpreted Neil’s comment) 1 “Remember it (book) says…” (Neil does not site a specific page)
2 “But there’s a part in the book that I read…” (Neil does not site a specific page)
3 “It (the book) says that-Look at this…” (Neil does not site a particular page.) 1 “But I think…because…”(In response to Ethan’s finding of evidence from the text).
2 “I think that because…” (In response to Ethan’s #4 accountable to community comment)
Side note: Opportunity to reflect on my growth…
I like to express the amazement at which I watched these boys flip vigorously through their texts biting at the chance to ‘PROVE IT!’ Although I had read, “Well-crafted questions are a great way for teachers to determine what their students know, need to know, and misunderstand.” (Fisher & Frey, 2007) and may have agreed with that exact statement at the beginning of this MARP, limiting the use of well crafted questions as being teacher generated and directed toward students. I adjusted my thinking about the use (and by whom) of questions in the classroom. These boys, with the supply of accountable talk concepts, turned a consistently low/surface level thinking book club into an action packed arena for debate that was proving to be helping them develop deeper thoughts about book ideas, themes, messages, and purposes. This action research has cultivated growth and change in my views of student potential, helping me come to the conclusion that the expectations we set for our students is indicative of the success they will achieve.
Reflecting on my participation in this classroom, under these circumstances, I struggle with the notion that I am not able to track and assess the changes in use of accountable talk and deeper thinking in all book clubs of this classroom. When I use these developing practices in ‘my own’ classroom, it would be imperative to know at the same depth and insight, the interests, abilities, and backgrounds of each student and how to, in turn, differentiate instruction based on this knowledge. Without having done so, I can’t with total certainty say that the whole class minilesson I implemented was as beneficial to all of the classroom’s learners, as it was designed based on my time with The 3Bs.
Cycle 3
Transitioning between Cycles 2 & 3
When reflecting on the findings of Cycle 2 it was obvious to me that the minilesson on Accountable Talk Use, showing The 3Bs their changing talk, and supplying cards with prompts listed on them were all actions that impact their conversations during book club. The notable changes can be seen in the numbers:
Talk Total Accountable to Community Prompts Used Total Accountable to Knowledge Prompts Used Total Accountable to Knowledge Prompts Used Total Accountable Talk Prompts Used
1 3 3 0 6
2 4 7 8 19
3 16 14 3 33
The 3Bs talk was including more and more accountable talk prompts. The categories of accountable talk were taken from the Accountable Talk in Reading Comprehension Instruction study by Wolf, Crosson, and Resnick's (2006) which concluded with:
"This study provided supportive evidence that a classroom discourse including listening to others, questioning other's knowledge, and exploring one's own thoughts has a positive relationship with the academic rigor of reading comprehension" (p. 20).
Because my work was based on the study's use of accountable talk instruction to be used during book club discussion, I would conclude the same positive relationship between their deep talk and a lifted comprehension level.
When identifying areas of change from Cycle 2, I would have decided to use Calkins' (2001) below list to identify 'predictable issues' earlier in the entire process, which would have allowed for the opportunity to compare the students initial talk to their final, in an additional manner other than solely coding for accountable talk prompts used. By addressing which 'predictable issues' this book club was struggling with early on, I would be able to have had more time to provide scaffolding for the incorporation of talk about the two later determined areas (author's choices, and particular and general ideas) of support needed.
After reflecting on Cycle 2, I would have addressed the fact that these students were not given a choice of what books to read in clubs. Because of book shortages and the fact that these readers were the classes highest leveled readers (this cycle they are reading at level R), Ms. Greenberg, the classroom teacher, often gave them their book club book without the offering of choice among three, or even two titles. I would address this by conducting interviews with readers, referencing book lists I would compile of leveled text choices relevant to the current unit being taught to seek information about what books students have currently read or would be interested in reading before attempting to retrieve copies for book clubs. And really the ultimate purpose of this type of interview is to assure the greatest room for students choice, as Calkins (2001) discusses when telling of the importance of student choice in book club discussion and books because “children will invest much more if clubs have the same allure and power as a tree fort.” (p. 403).
I think it is also imperative that even when book clubs and teachers find themselves in a situation where none of the book options are unread by all members, guidelines for the continuation of discussion should be in place, as I have supplied with accountable talk categories. The focus is not on the retelling of the stories and elements found in the text, but on the deeper digging in texts to help build on initial notions or understandings to develop high level, more complex relationships with the read text, which can actually be done by reread books and elaborating on the findings during book club talk by holding discussions that are accountable to each other’s thoughts, the given knowledge found on the pages, and push each other’s thinking beyond the “What I know…” toward “What I think about what I know…”.
Cycle 2 additionally made me realize I needed to include more research to interpret my data (as I did not do enough, when analyzing Cycle 1's information). Really throughout this entire process of an action research project, I am realizing the extensiveness which must take place when interpreting data to influence action and instruction. First, data must exist to interpret; this comes from the sources that are used when triangulating looking for commonalities among current performances of students. Looking back now, I am realizing that more opportunities for triangulation need to have occurred in order to interpret the entire situation these students were experiencing in book clubs. The use of knowledge about these individuals is one way to shape instruction, tailor fitting it to their needs. But with time constraints, and to be honest, in experience with action research, this was not occurring as it needed to. I can improve my practice as a literacy professional by only marking this (collection of an abundance of data to interpret and indicate areas of specific need) as a new understanding I have come about because of this project. I am also recognizing that the designed action was not intended for 'just any' student, but for these three boys whom I have spent time focusing on.
I'd like to take the opportunity to reflect on my learning up until the beginning of Cycle 3. The entire process has been learning, as I have never been responsible for assessing the learning of students' comprehension of texts based on their talk. It was helpful for me to have readings to return to, without them, I would feel like I was creating action that was ungrounded and ineffective. I've discovered the importance of conferring, and conferring often with a book club, fish bowling their talk in its most authentic environment as possible. I have watched video of their talk when I was present and absent and the noticings, initially, were like night and day, yet eventually tapered off, and I could rely on them to carry the same discussions, whether I was there or not. This is something to think about for future use of video when observing students. The results were varied, therefore, calling for me to exclude some portions of video from this study, as they were deemed unauthentic because the talk was swayed by the distraction of students during talk.
Observing Where The 3Bs Are at the Beginning of Cycle 3
Calkins (2001) speaks of 'predictable issues' that teachers encounter repeatedly in their class' book clubs. I used the list (found below) of issues to identify gaps between existing and desired work of The 3Bs book club in order to help me shape action for Cycle 3. I sought to answer a critical question from The Art of Teaching Reading (Calkins, 2001), "What is the major issue here that's keeping the club from going further?" (p. 420). The list consisted of these issues:
• "dealing with management issues (doing homework, moving efficiently into club meetings, how to handle the situation when one child leaves to go to the bathroom, and so on)
• bringing out all the voices
• staying grounded in the text
• exploring versus answering questions, that is avoiding premature closure
• finding and pursuing a focus
• learning that values of disagreeing with each other and learning to do so in ways others can hear
• realizing the author made choices and asking often, "Why might the author have decided to write it this way?"
• inserting time for rereading, jotting notes, or talking with a partner into club conversations as a way to ground the talk in the text, reenergize the conversation, and bring out more voices
• moving between particular and general ideas; it is important for readers to shift between referring to particular sections of a text and thinking, "How can I go from this to say something about the text as a whole?"
• learning to respond or talk back to and to linger with each other's ideas
• finding opportunities to chart a conversation
• moving between one text and another
• extending today's talk by writing more about the topic of conversation as we read the next chapters
• beginning a book talk by retelling then building upon yesterday's conversation
• book choice (does one book relate to the next? Can the group progress through the books at a reasonable rate? Are the books challenging them?
• Using advice from minilessons and conferences" (pp. 420-421).
Because I adamantly documented each discussion The 3Bs took part in, I was able to go back and review each of them specifically looking for proof relevant to each of the above issues, helping me answer, ""What is the major issue here that's keeping the club from going further?". Based on the evidence found in these recorded conversations, it is my belief that the two major issues this book club is dealing with that are preventing them from pushing their talk deeper helping them further understanding themes, threads and author's messages are:
• realizing the author made choices and asking often, "Why might the author have decided to write it this way?"
• moving between particular and general ideas; it is important for readers to shift between referring to particular sections of a text and thinking, "How can I go from this to say something about the text as a whole?"
The club often neglected the author as the creator of the stories they read, failing to mention that what appeared on the pages were choices made by the author. Also, when creating ideas on post-its or adding comments to club talk, they were getting better at finding supporting evidence from the text (seen in the Rubrics found in Cycle 2 displaying their Accountable to Knowledge prompt use), yet weren't making connections across the whole text based on particulars from the text, or connections for 'real life'.
Knowing this, it was now my responsibility to provide students with instruction that addressed their specific needs. The outlined issues will be the topic of instruction, yet, being that this action research focuses on the use of accountable talk in the facilitation of deeper thinking, students will be responsible for holding accountable talk while incorporating these discussion topics in their book club meetings. These issues are being addressed because, as they are featured in the list of characteristics of 'good' book club talk by Calkins (2001), lifting the level of talk can be done through higher level comprehension work such as developing realizations about the purpose of author's choices and interpreting meaning across an entire piece of literature.
Taking Final Action
I wanted to consider what I knew about these particular students when creating the action for this cycle. During my work at PS 116, I had discovered that Payton had read much of the classroom's library, including the entire series his book club book (they were reading during Cycle 3) came from. I could call on this information to now shape instruction and incorporate the entire group in working toward moving between particular and general ideas as they lingered for a bit at the completion of this text. I had come to this realization after witnessing several times during my Cycle 3 observations Payton say, "I can't talk. I've already read the book." His participation was limited as one of the rules his class had created at the beginning of their work in book clubs was 'Not giving the book away if you've already read it.' Ms. Greenberg's "What makes a good book club member?" chart
I also knew that Neil was particularly interested in abiding by these rules and would 'reprimand' Ethan's behavior of reading ahead in the book, often reporting to Ms. Greenberg or myself. Ethan was rather interested in Payton's knowledge about the texts they were reading (because he had already read it previously) and would try to coax Payton into 'just tell me if I'm right' situations. So, by addressing the 'moving between particular and general ideas' issue at the end of their book club book, when all members had completed the reading and Neil wouldn't be worrying about Ethan having read ahead, Ethan couldn't ask for advances in information from the text from Payton, and Payton wouldn't have to refrain from participating because he feared he 'knew too much'.
At the beginning of the book club meeting that occurred after the group had completed Charlie Bone and the Castle of Mirrors by Jenny Nimo, I cheerfully plopped down next to them and celebrated that 'FINALLY' (Payton's dramatic proclamation, as if it had been an eternity, when really they had been with this book for 2 weeks) they all could say, "We can all talk! We have all read the book, now!" I wanted to emphasize the opportunity that was at hand to now do all the great things we were about to discuss; a fresh spot, for this book, where all members could be truly held responsible for talking accountably. ***May I interject for a moment… I'd like to speak a bit to this. I found the fact that this book club was reading books they had read recently/before to be an aspect of this action research project that I felt I would have changed if this work was being done in 'my own' classroom. I realize that Ms. Greenberg was having tremendous difficulty finding texts or the appropriate number of copies of books that all members of the book club had not previously read, as they are readers who devour books and move through titles at a rapid pace. Book club books were not decided upon by members after choosing from several options that had been determined to be matched to their interests and backgrounds. Beers (2003) says she "look[s] for enough [personal] information that I can steer them in the right direction in […] choos[ing] the right range of books for book-talks." (p. 295). Even knowing their interests, they simply were not considered, being there were few books in the classrooms' library at their level these readers hadn't already read. This contributes to my growth as a literacy professional and my understandings of literacy instruction relating to book clubs because I saw what types of problems can cultivate when book clubs are ‘forced’ to read books that a member has previously read, especially when clear expectations of they type of work that should be continuing to occur during book club discussion when readers opt out because they’ve already read the text. (See the paragraph that begins “After reflecting on Cycle 2” on page 34 for relevant comments on this area of growth as a literacy professional.)***
So back to the celebration that all members could now fully, uninhibitedly participate in a talk about the Charlie Bone book just read. After identifying that these students had not yet been given the tools to talk between particular and general ideas helping them think "How can I go from this to say something about the text as a whole?", I chose to in small group (since I had not been observing the other book club's talk at the same depth) collaboratively talk through and create a chart mapping out talk that moves between comments and generalizations (pictured to the left).
I wanted to first establish a definition of each of the steps in which I wanted to build upon: comments, connections, and generalizations. I asked each of them they thought each term meant. They used examples to shape their unified understanding of each:
Ethan: Well Rose (his classmate) mostly says comments in read aloud.
Whitney: Ok—give me an example.
E: Like, she'll say, 'I think Stargirl is different.' Yeah, so does everyone else!
(The boys laugh.)
W: So, we could use that as our example under 'Comments'. Because it's
really low level. Not based on any evidence or connection. Now, what
about connections.
Payton: Well, Charlie Bone is weird too. In a different way [than Stargirl.]
He wants to get attention from the Bloors, and, and-- (characters from
Charlie Bone and the Castle of Mirrors)
Neil: What's your point?
P: If you would WAIT! A connection is like, 'I got attention when I colored crazy in Kindergarten.'
W: Ok—can I rephrase that? Tell me if this is the same as what you mean:
'Once, in Kindergarten, I colored all my drawings with weird colors in
order to get attention from the class.'
P: Ok.
W: Good. I like it. Ok, now generalization. Hmm. What would a
generalization look like in book club talk? Neil. Can you give it a go?
N: Characters just act different.
W: Alright. We can work with that. Mind if I rephrase this one too?
(Neil shakes his head.) Well, let's say 'people' instead of characters, since a generalization is suppose to be something that relates to 'life' or the 'big picture' of life. So, how about I write, "Sometimes," because that's even more general, "people may act different in order to stand out." That's general enough, right?
I went on to explain that comments can come first in book club discussion (but that our comments aren't as basic as this because we've been doing really great work developing ideas that we can then accountably talk long about) and then be built upon. I talked about how connections are a great way to build on top of comments, which lead to generalizations. I wanted to give them an opportunity to try this. I asked each of them to take one post-it and write a comment about anything from Charlie Bone. They did so. I asked them to share their post-it comments with each other and decide on one that they would build upon. They chose, Payton's (pictured to the right), which read, "It was good that he [Charlie Bone] stayed home [rather than going to fight Bloors]."
I asked them to try discussing, while still abiding by the guidelines of accountable talk (accountable to community, knowledge, and rigorous thinking) what type of connections can be made to this comment. They offered up connections from their lives (some naturally stronger than others) and I chose to highlight and showcase Ethan's remarks: "One time, I thought it was going to be a bad thing that I couldn't go to Mikah's party, but really, it was better because I went snowboarding." "Do you think this was a connection that related to the comment?" I questioned Payton and Neil. I wanted to act as a facilitator of their discussion guiding them toward thought about what type of connection would truly mirror the comment Payton made about about whether their offered connections were similar to the comment they chose to make a connection off of (Payton’s post-it pictured above). By identifying if it was a strong, medium, or weak connection helped them determine that Ethan’s remark (‘One time, I thought it was going to be a bad thing that I couldn't go to Mikah's party, but really, it was better because I went snowboarding.’) wasn’t as strong as it could be because in Charlie Bones and the Castle of Mirrors it was good that Charlie stayed home, because if he had not, he may have encountered something the couldn't handle. It was his choice to stay home, rather than go fight. Ethan didn't choose to go skiing instead of Mikah's party, it just happened that that was the reason he couldn't go (this talk was leading to the construction of a generalization). This work done during this open group discussion can now stand as a model of the type of work they must do when developing connections between book comments and their own lives. Wolf, Crosson, and Resnick (2006) explain that "accountability to rigorous thinking is concerned with the teacher's efforts to promote students' reasoning to support their ideas, and students' elaboration of their logic" (p. 15). We did so during this discussion by developing a stronger connection when Neil stated, "It was good when I moved to a different [reading] spot instead of fighting with Hannah [for the carpet in the corner]." My specific goal by rejecting the first offered connection was to get the students to think deeper about what type of connection could be considered relevant and able to build upon to develop a true generalization or theme from the text, helping them answer, "How can I go from this to say something about the text as a whole?" We spent several moments thinking about how this connection could be used to name a generalization we felt could say something about the book starting from a comment like, "It was good that he stayed home." The boys volleyed several 'life bumper stickers' around: "Think about what you do before you do it" and "Life is about choices", but I didn't think either of which summed up this particular text. ***May I interject AGAIN for a moment… I have also realized, through this process, the sheer significance that stands by a teacher really knowing the books his/her students are reading and discussing. To think about the insight and opportunity I would have had if I had read the books The 3Bs were reading—to think I hadn't read these books is almost unimaginable when trying to conduct this type of research. I can't imagine at what advantage it would have put me, when developing action. It is my professional belief now that it is a total necessity to have read or have some background information knowledge about the stories students are reading.***
As a group, we settled on "Follow your instincts" as our generalization of this text. I allowed them to continue their discussion (since I did conduct this small group lesson during their book club talk time) talking about how this determined generalization can be linked across the entire text.
My second action was to address the other issue I saw arising in the book club: realizing the author made choices and asking often, "Why might the author have decided to write it this way?" Wolf, Crosson, and Resnick's (2006) study on accountable talk instruction's influence of reading comprehension "provided empirical evidence that discussion-based activities coupled with academically challenging tasks are positively related to the development of students' literacy skills."
I felt by addressing this issue, the talk these students would be participating in would be that much richer and in turn lift their level of thought from low, basic, surface level talk about the retellings and character conflict found in most stories to comprehending texts at deeper levels. Based on Calkins' (2001) suggestion as to which direction to work in after naming the problem, I decided to "ask students to replay a conversation and try a different way of doing it" (p. 422). Fortunately enough, I had recorded their talks from very early on in my time with them, and could literally replay a video of the conversation allowing them to see their lack of attention paid to the author's choices. I've transcribed the transpirings from after they viewed clips:
Whitney: Did you notice anything about the author in those clips?
Ethan: Who?!
W (laughing): Oh, Ethan. This is my point. The author! The person
who created these stories you're talking about in book club. Did you see any talk about the author in any of those clips?
Payton: No.
(Neil shakes his head.)
W: Ok. So I've seen the great talk you guys do. I've seen it, you've seen it, anyone watching your videos would see it. I'd like you to try something that can make your talk even stronger. You will be able to take your thinking from here (motioning/ "setting the bar" low to the floor) to here (motioning/ "setting the bar" high above my head). I want you guys to try thinking about "Why might the author have decided to write it this way?"
They stared blankly back at me. I instructed them to stop and jot a bit in their reading journals, reflecting on why Jenny Nimo wrote Charlie Bone and the Castle of Mirrors the way she did (being as this was the most recent book they had read). I used Payton's initial response to launch our discussion about the author's purpose.
Payton's reflection on why the author wrote the story the way she did- "I think they [the author, Jenny Nimo]wrote it [Charlie Bone and the Castle of Mirrors] because there are more stories about Charlie and to show more trouble in his life and to say 'Follow your heart'."
***Another interruption for comments: “Texts that are effective for developing language and comprehension ability need to be conceptually challenging enough to require grappling with ideas and taking an active stance toward constructing meaning", Beck and McKeown (2001) write, and helped me find support and rationale for thinking that this particular text, one of a series that features many books that have similar and often times predictable storylines, is not the best fit for these readers. I have seen them problem solve and debate topics of much higher complexity than the climaxing problems from this text. I believe it to be under stimulating,
especially for Payton whom, as I mentioned previously, has read the entire series.***
Rubric-Talk 5: Accountable Talk During Book Club Discussions
Date: April 9, 2008 Observation: Video 4-8 minutes
Book Club Member Accountable to Community: Addresses what another person has said Accountable to Knowledge: Refers to text for evidence
Accountable to Rigorous Thinking: Asks questions of each other's thinking
Ethan 5 7 3
Payton 9 9 0
Neil 5 4 0
After their reflection I opened up their book club discussion, allowing them to 'talk normally' and I coded the conversation for accountable talk use (see Rubric below).
This was my last observation in Cycle 3 of their talk and I would indefinitely have been interested in observing future talk, looking for the use of talk about the author's choices. If the time constraints of this research were otherwise this would be an area of further investigation.
The Wrap Up
I was pleased with the direction of Cycle 3 and my addressing of the 'predictable [book club] issues' list in Calkins' The Art of Teaching Reading (pp. 420-421). I realized a way they could lift their level of comprehension was to provide support and instruction that addressed ways students can comprehend text (Calkins' list) in ways they weren't currently comprehending texts, and as the research from Wolf, Crosson, and Resnick's (2006) study show, when students are involved in a classroom discourse that requires them to me accountable to their community (book club members), knowledge (evidence from the text), and rigorous thinking (their own and each others) a positive relationship with reading comprehension is seen.
The use of accountable talk prompts when I first met these boys was nearly nonexistent. They went from using less than 1 accountable talk prompt every 2 minutes during Cycle 1, to approximately 3.5 prompts per minute in Cycle 2's observed talk, and concluding using about 5 prompts per minute.
The largest growth in this action research was my own. My understanding of the use of research-reflection-action has grown exponentially. This cyclical patterning was entirely new to me. I also realized that not all environments are conducive when conducting this type of research and action, as I experienced a placement initially that was not fitting to my desired work. The second classroom I found myself in while working on this project offered the freedom to take my actions based on readings and research and apply them with liberty. Ms. Greenberg had full confidence and trust in my ability and work with her students. Without this, I indefinitely would have faced many more barriers restricting my project. I appreciated the opportunity she gave me.
I'd also like to acknowledge the students I worked with. I initially floundered with the idea of working with the class' highest leveled readers, unsure of my ability to lift their level of already impressive comprehension. This was something I needed to do to improve my practice as a literacy professional and feel that much more prepared to assess readers’ needs and implement well supported action to create change.
Bibliography
Beck, I. & McKeown, M. (2001). Text talk: Capturing the benefits of read-aloud experiences for young children. The Reading Teacher, 55(1), 10-20.
Beers, Kylene. ( 2003). When Kids Can’t Read: What Teachers Can Do. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Calkins, Lucy. (2001). The Art of Teaching Reading. New York, NY: Addison-
Wesley Publications.
Falk, B. & Blumenreich, M. (2005). The power of question: A guide to teacher and student research. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Fisher, D. & Frey, N. (2007). Using Oral Language to Check for Understanding. In D. Fisher, & N. Frey, Checking for Understanding: Formative Assessment Techniques for Your Classroom. (pp. 15-35). Baltimore, MD: ASCD.
Wolf, K., Crosson, A. & Resnick, L. Accountable Talk in Reading Comprehension Instruction. CSE Technical Report 670. January 2006. Los Angeles, CA: National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing (CRESST).
Final Reflection
Standing back from this Master’s Action Research Project, gazing at it in its completion, I think about the real change that has occurred. Although I would love to say that the greatest growth occurred within my fantastic group of boys as they worked in their book clubs (and yes, they did exhibit signs they grew as readers of and talkers about the books they read in book clubs) but really the vast improvement was found in my understanding of action research and its importance in the continuing acquiring of knowledge as a literacy professional.
This is my first experience with action research. As the cycles progressed I saw the impact I was making on the learning this book club was experiencing, as it was reflective of my instruction/action which was based on those researching observations. But, equally, as I witnessed an expansion of the ability to talk about books’ themes, ideas, and purposes more deeply, I grew to realize that my informal note taking and even constant presence during their talks was not a strong enough assessment to prove their thoughts had been lifted.
The revision of my original work (cycles) occurred and is marked with green tabs in the ‘Original Cycles’ section. These revisions were made based on the suggestions of a reader who reviewed the cycles as the project was submitted in thirds. Because of the reviews and suggestions for revision, I realized the necessity and emphasis of the triangulation of data, and that the more data an action researcher can obtain, the more convincing they will be in proving their students’ accomplishments and learning. I can see, as I illustrated in the road map, that they have most certainly increased their use of Accountable Talk in their book club discussions, which in my supporting references lead to the deepening of comprehension, but as I fail to do in Cycle 3, proving this with fact based evidence (possibly the use of a pre and post assessments) proved to be a much larger and more difficult task for me to do in my first-time action researcher inexperience.
Without feeling defeated by my mistakes, I chose to continue this project’s work, and developed plans for a forth cycle. In this continuing research my goal will be to develop an assessment tool that can be used to measure the levels at which students currently comprehend the texts they are discussing during book club talk. In ways, I had done this informally during my field note taking, but this was not able to be translated in a satisfactory manner that showed the effectiveness of accountable talk incorporation during book club talk in lifting the levels of thought students are discussing. I realized this only after review of the cycles in their synthesized entirety and receiving the reviewers suggestions and completed rubrics. During Cycles 1 and 2, I worked toward helping students obtain the tools (prompts, guidelines, understandings of Accountable Talk) to talk in ways that will allow them to build upon current surface level thoughts about their books, but in Cycle 3 failed to pull all of their work together in a succinct manner that verified that in fact their levels of thought had been lifted. Me ‘knowing’ based on my constant scrutiny was insufficient and not inline with the action research model in its wholeness.
Again, refraining from feelings of defeat, I can recognize the tremendous amount of learning I have done as a literacy professional as I wrote and reflected upon throughout cycles (pages 20, 22, 34, 35, 40, 48, and 49).
I take with me the confidence to continue on with action research to improve issues that students are experiencing in the classroom and help create instruction that truly addresses the needs of learners in my classroom.
