NewsELA Study: Does it really help?

As part of my Masters Degree I studied the effectiveness of NewsELA on student reading comprehension over a four month period. The data I collected was from several classes of diverse students encompassing basically all populations of students at our school site (SPED, EL, reclassified, EL, AP, Mainstream). After 4 months and two sets of data, I recorded an average advance of 1.5 grade levels in student reading comprehension. Here are my takeaways and details of how I did it.

 I determined several things during my study:

1. Students were more engaged and finished articles more thoroughly when they were using a platform that was familiar to what they were already using for social media(feedback from student surveys)
2. Digital learning platforms like NewsELA positively influence student achievement slightly, even without teacher intervention.
3. The use of digital learning platforms(like NewsELA) coupled with strategic teacher support helped students overall to raise a reading comprehension level over 1.5 grade levels(according to lexile data collected from quizzes). This was based on teachers using and training students to utilize text-dependent questions, annotations, and close-reading strategies like SQ3R 
4. Student engagement increased when students were given choice in the content of what they were reading.

The first set of data is from a 2 month period of time. I call this the “PRE-INTERVENTION DATA”. I simply asked students to read the articles I assigned and then to answer the quiz questions that followed. *My only other instruction was to lower the Lexile rating for the next article they read if they got less than 50% on the previous quiz.

PRE-INTERVENTION DATA

• 140 out of 374 quizzes over 50% with a Lexile of 1000+
• Average of Grade Level 7.820855615
• Average Lexile level attempted was 1055.2673

Intervention

Based on the findings of the pre-data, some changes were made in the delivery of reading non-fiction articles.  Several strategies were adapted in the intervention to help with literacy development of students. First, students were coached in the use of Text Dependent Questions. I did this in two ways based on the Depth of Knowledge sentence frames:

1. I added questions in the margin of articles to focus student reading.

2.I asked students to use the DOK sentence frames and the SQ3R close-reading method to ask their own questions about the articles. I then responded to those questions or had them use the questions for in class discussions and debates. I always wanted them to focus on depth of knowledge level 3 questions because those were the best for discussion and critical thinking. 

  Along with the use of text dependent questions I coached students in making color annotations in the text.  I also asked them questions that required them to go back into paragraphs and use several colors in their invitations. For example, “In the previous 2 paragraphs highlight all words that describe the TONE in green”. In particular, the annotation technique of SQ3R was a strong way to focus student reading and reflection which asks students to:

“Survey: skim text for headings and charts Question: turn headings into questions Read: read to answer questions Recite: answer questions and make notes Review: reread for details and unanswered questions” (Frey & Fisher-SQ3R Reading Strategy)

The “AFTER INTERVENTION DATA” results below are much more promising.

The end results suggest that digital learning platforms do enhance student reading comprehension of up to one full grade level across all populations of students when coupled with proper teacher support using methods of annotation and close-reading.

AFTER INTERVENTION DATA 220 out of 429 quizzes over 50% with a lexile of 1000+ Average lexile level attempted was 1111.35514 Average of Grade Level 8.457943925

Conclusions

The above statistics indicated that the intervention was successful.  Overall, the teaching of literacy was positively enhanced by digital learning platforms. Even greater success was shown through the digital learning platforms coupled with teacher accountability of annotation techniques, text-based questions, and feedback strategies coached during the intervention process.

One teacher I surveyed this year embodied optimism about the CHS literacy Modules:

“I believe my students are becoming better writers because of this resource. I force them to write annotations and detailed summaries of the information using academic language. They also see the value in trying to push into higher Lexile levels. They like reading the articles and even after only using it a few times, I see a huge improvement.”

-CHS Teacher, 2016

The work we are doing with the Modules this year are aimed at supporting just this type of growth with student literacy in your own classes. If you’re interested in looking at your own data on NewsELA, get in contact with me and I can walk you through it. Otherwise, I’m available to help in any way I can with these intervention strategies in your own classroom.

Your Colleague,

Zane Boehlke

NewsELA-Teaching Election Issues w/ Annotation & Discussion

NewsELA is a great way to promote civil discourse and to allow students to explore the issues that relate to the 2016 elections. NewsELA has curated TEXT SETS based on the election and issues surrounding the political process. On the home page of NewsELA.com go to Text Sets=>Election Issue Text Sets=>(Many Issues Included!!)

 

Teaching discussion on these topics should be coupled with a lesson on civil discourse, which is why NewsELA has partnered with Teaching Tolerance to provide resources for promoting acceptance and civility when having class discussions.  

 

I give this to my students and then use the link to provide SENTENCE STARTERS for their discussions, and then reinforce this language throughout the class discussions:

Basic rules for civil community discussions:

-Listen intently to what others are saying.

-Back up assertions and ideas with evidence.

-When refuting an argument, restate the argument being challenged; then, state your objection supported by evidence.

-Allow everyone to speak and be heard.

-Build in debriefing sessions.

Civil Discourse Sentence Starters

 

More resources:

**Teaching Tolerance-Resources-

Teaching tolerance website-catered to teaching election 2016

-PD Cafe-discuss and navigate this year’s election

-“Building blocks for civil discourse”

 

EXAMPLE of a Lesson built on one available Text Set under the Election Issues Text Set

 

Gun Control & 2nd Amendment

 

Goal: Facilitate discussion with a Gun Control Laws Tag Team Debate

Read Several articles and synthesize

Give students choice in articles for text sets

Teacher Support Link: https://support.newsela.com/hc/en-us/articles/211746426-Election-Issues-Terrorism-Homeland-Security-and-Gun-Control

 

–Annotate 1 article in class–

Model-Annotation, margin notes,

-Guiding Questions to class in margin

-PRO Details-A drop down arrow at top of article=Extra resources & focus for discussion

LESSON:

Color Coding Annotation:

1. Even if you give students choice, assign students purpose for reading:
   1. Highlight PRO/CON evidence to show “Should we limit the right to bear arms?”

 

• Elaborate in margin as to how this defends/attacks this issue

 

2.) Write-(You can change this prompt)-Go over prompt before reading so they can annotate with focus

a.) Crafting an ARGUMENT

ARE: Assertion-Statement, Reasoning-the Because, Evidence-ideas from a source

SEE: Subject-Statement, Evidence-ideas from a source, Elaboration-the because(explain how evidence supports Statement

3.) Several other articles for HW

4.) Student Debate(After TEACHING TOLERANCE “Getting Along” framework)

5.) Student Polls(an option for ending the debate in NewsELA)

 

**Create a MINI-TEXT SET-PAIRED TEXT

Text sets=>Your Text Sets=>Create a new Text Set=>Name/Description: “What Connections are their between recent terrorism events and why should presidential candidates be concerned with them?” =>Visible: Everyone(So students can view)

 

Assignment Instructions:

1. Review Guided Questions
2. Preview WRITE prompt before they read
3. While reading, reflect on parts of SEE/ARE so they annotate with this thinking.
4. After several paragraphs written in NewsELA copy into a larger writing assignment into notebook?

NewsELA Bolsters Student Reading

A recent online education article asked the question, “Why are 6.1 million students using Newsela?”. In this article, Shannon Garrison, education blogger and elementary school teacher veteran, offers an in-depth overview of how to use NewsELA.com. The article can be found here, but the highlights include the following:

 

• A library of articles

 

• “The news articles span a wide array of content, including science, money, law, health, arts, sports, and opinion. The site provides high-quality nonfiction texts from well-regarded media sources, such as the Washington Post, the Scientific American, the Los Angeles Times, and the Associated Press.”

 

• Multiple-Choice quizzes and writing prompts aligned to Common Core Anchor Standards

 

• “Newsela provides real-time assessments of student comprehension through multiple-choice quizzes and writing prompts. Each article is accompanied by a four-item quiz that probes the following areas: what the text says; central ideas; people, events, and ideas; word meaning and choice; text structure; point of view or purpose; multimedia; or arguments and claims. These categories are aligned to the first eight Common Core Anchor Standards for Reading.”

 

• Tracking of individual student progress

• “The biggest benefit of the PRO version is that it allows teachers to go beyond classroom-level data to view individual student progress and to track student progress against the CCSS. It allows teachers to see individual quiz results and read, score, and provide feedback on student responses to the writing prompts. Teachers are also able to sort and filter student-performance data and print reports, enabling them to track data, identify trends, and adjust instruction accordingly.”

The company of NewsELA also offers trainings via webinars which can be found at their calendar here.

NewsELA Rocks My School Site

In my first few weeks as Technology TOSA, I have seen several teachers using NewsELA effectively in their classrooms. During these observations I have seen students engaged with content, teachers able to organize lessons at differentiated levels, and students able to access material in ways that they find meaningful.

One such classroom was Ms. Fleener’s 6th period. In Ms. Fleener’s class, students are at many different reading comprehension levels, making meaningful differentiation difficult. However, Ms. Fleener approached reading nonfiction using NewsELA by allowing students the option to choose the article they wanted to read which kept them focused. She also taught them the benefit of the changing the lexile rating and had students choose the reading level they felt fit them. By doing this, and having students use a Goal Setting Chart like the one below, students are empowered to continue reading past their frustrational level and choose texts that interest them. This approach to teaching reading empowers students, teaching them ownership of their learning and skills in autonomy. Occasionally, I have even heard students say, “I want to read it AGAIN. Take the quiz AGAIN! I CAN DO BETTER!!”

INSTRUCTIONS FOR CHART (ABOVE)
In my own AP language class, Juniors were using NewsELA to not only access content about politicians and the political debate process of a presidential election year, but also used the annotation feature to highlight text highlighting text and write notes in the margin for reference when we had ours in class discussions. In the video below, one student explains his annotations and shows how to use the highlighting and note taking feature available in NewsELA Pro.

 

• Link to CHS Student explain NewsELA Annotations: https://youtu.be/z4iCkMVaJoo

 

 

Literacy Learning Platforms

Literacy Learning platforms 

The goal of supporting students in reading is daunting. The spectrum of possible texts out there for teachers to choose from is limitless. So, where to begin?

First, we as teachers need to understand that our students do read. In fact, they can search for, retrieve, and read information very quickly on social platforms they are comfortable with, such as Facebook and Twitter. The problem is, this skill is not usually being redirected for educational purposes. This is one reason why digital learning platforms are powerful.

NEWSELA Tutorial

Students can become more empowered with text that they can access in familiar ways(on tablets, with phones, color images, and interactive text). Learning platforms, such as Google Classroom, NewsELA.com, or Birdbrainscience.com, engage students because of their appearance and the comfortability that students have with social platforms.

NEWSELA with Google Classroom Tutorial

Bird Brain Science Tutorial

Finally, reading lexile ratings tell us how difficult a text is. Lexile can be changed to suit the student in learning platforms such as NewsELA.com. This allows teachers to use the data from previous years of testing and differentiate instructional materials and readings based on their student’s scores. When the lexile of a text is altered for a particular student, their lesson is being differentiated because they are receiving the same content, but at a reading level personalized for that student. The quizzes that come with the articles are also changed to fit the lexile of the article.

My advice: sign up your strongest class for one of these learning platforms and try it out! You may find it as something useful for your own organization and engaging for your students.

(**If you need help setting these up, I will be available in my room Thursdays after school until about 4:15. If you are using these, please let me know, I would love to spread the word on our Twitter feed #cougaredu !!)