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Teaching Students How to Read Infographics

9/9/2013

Infographics, the newest form of internet wallpaper, are complex representations of information. Because they seem to be popping up everywhere, students will need to be able to read and comprehend them. Yet, the characteristics and layout of infographics are varied - some more readable than others.

To help students approach these complex text forms, we printed out several types for them to explore. Each infographic was placed inside a page protector. Students used dry-erase markers to mark various elements of the info graphics. (You can do something similar with iPads and annotation apps.)

For example:

Place a star next to the very first thing that catches your eye.
Place a circle around the one word that best describes the topic.
Place a square around important quantitative information
Draw an arrow to point out the best graphic that helped you to understand the topic.
Put a smiley face next to the data source.
Draw an arrow showing the best pathway to follow to read all of the important information.

Students were able to realize that not all infographics read from left to right, top to bottom; not all infographics have sources listed and therefore may not be reliable; some infographics use much more effective visuals to make a point, and some have too much information! At the end of the lesson, students had to choose which infographic they are thought was the best and

If you would like to use some of the infographics we used in the lesson, you can find them at this weebly site.

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Reading Comprehension Booster

7/23/2013

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After more than a year in development, my Reading Comprehension Booster iPad app is now available on the App Store! Many of my regular readers have attended my workshops and seen the app in the early stages. I welcomed your input and changed the design to include your suggested features. Testing with children of various ages also improved our design to the point where I believe it will be an asset to any literacy program.

What makes my app different? I have reviewed many apps tagged as reading comprehension apps. What I found was that most of these provide students with text to read and then answer questions. It seems to me that this assesses reading comprehension but doesn’t work on the skills needed to improve reading comprehension! Reading Comprehension Booster targets the foundational elements of understanding fiction and non-fiction and engages students in interactive responses to these. The app is also fully accessible - children can respond with audio recordings, drawings, text and drag and drop.

Click here for a video overview of the app, or read below for the specific details. If you feel that it is worthwhile, I would appreciate you spreading the word for me through your contacts, blogs and other networks. I will also welcome your feedback as we work on updates. I already have ideas for adding more non-fiction features in a future release.

Boost reading comprehension with this set of interactive tools! Based on the idea of paper bookmarks, each booster encourages the child to record responses, while they are reading, based on a specific reading focus. No more wondering if your child or student was actually paying attention while s/he was reading!

Booster bookmarks were designed by an expert in the field of differentiated instruction, and are based on essential instructional elements identified in literacy, brain and learning research. Each booster has a variety of interactive options to tap into different ability levels and interests. Users can read or listen to directions, draw, type, drag or record responses, and much more. Children can choose from Characters, Connections, Story Seeds and other bookmarks, or use several simultaneously. Children can easily email their work to a parent or teacher for review and discussion.

Features

•    Interactive tools to increase reading engagement and comprehension

•    Each bookmark provides cues to prompt thinking

•    For beginning readers through early teens

•    Allows for multiple users for classrooms sharing iPads

•    A range of response options increases accessibility

•    Data can be emailed to parents, teachers, RtI specialists, IEP team members

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Symbaloo

7/9/2013

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One of the sessions I attended this week at #geekcamp13 was on the use of Symbaloo. Linda Horne, teacher extraordinaire and Certified Symbaloo guru, provided an idea-packed workshop on engaging ways to use Symbaloo with students of all ages.

Symbaloo is a curation tool for visually organizing your favorite websites and documents. Instead of searching through a long list of bookmarks, Symbaloo allows you to design webmixes, using tiles, that include images and text. You can choose to color-code the backgrounds and group items together.

Comparing Symbaloo to Pearltrees, another curation tool, I would suggest that Symbaloo is more accessible for students who struggle. The color-coding and visual structure of Symbaloo tiles feels more organized and linear - important for students who may experience attention or organizational difficulties.

I had the chance to play with Symbaloo and found it very intuitive, and quickly developed this Symbaloo - an iPad app teaser.

My mind is buzzing with ideas for using Symbaloo in teaching!

Set up a webmix for a web quest
Provide access to your substitute teacher of all websites and documents they might need
Develop a webmix for the Common Core Standards relevant to your students
Gather your favorite math sites for student independent practice time
Students can create a webmix related to a research project
Show parents various resources and sites for homework help.

How are you using it?

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What makes an effective Graphic Organizer?

5/15/2013

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I am fortunate enough to be invited to co-teach in classrooms all over the country. When these opportunities arise, I ask the classroom teacher to email me the lesson plan and any accompanying materials a few days in advance so that I can look at them. My goal is to analyze the materials from the perspective of a special educator, thinking about what adaptations or differentiation I can add to support struggling students.

Often, these classroom materials include a graphic organizer (GO) of some kind. Recently I reviewed several different “graphic organizers” and was struck by the breadth of what that term seems to mean to teachers. Some of the GOs were very detailed, while others were minimalistic. Reflecting, I wondered if educators need a rubric of some kind for what an effective GO looks like. (A web search led to several rubrics to use after a student has designed and completed a GO, but none for teachers to use in designing or choosing a GO to provide students. If you know of one, please share.)

Here is my first attempt at the criteria to include in a GO Rubric. Please let me know what you think!

·      The format allows for relationships or patterns to be clearly seen

·      Illustrations/graphics support the learning objective

·      Prompts are provided in a simple but clear manner

·      Scaffolding (as necessary) provides access to the concepts

·      Once complete, the graphic organizer can be interpreted in a meaningful way

The GO on the left was provided to me, designed for a lesson on the Civil War, in which the primary objective was for students to be able to identify multiple perspectives on a topic, especially that of the African American soldiers. The GO on the right shows my redesign, based on the above rubric, including supports for struggling students. It is generic enough to be used for any discussion of multiple perspectives. Feel free to download it here.

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Teaching Students How to Read Infographics

Reading Comprehension Booster

Symbaloo

What makes an effective Graphic Organizer?

Anne M. Beninghof

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