Teaching Middle School ELA
Welcome to the Teaching Middle School ELA podcast, where we are dedicated to helping English Language Arts teachers create dynamic and engaging lessons for their students, while also managing the day-to-day responsibilities that come with being a Middle School ELA teacher.
As educators ourselves, we understand the challenges of finding a work-life balance that allows us to pursue our passion for teaching while also enjoying our personal lives. That's why each Tuesday, hosts Caitlin Mitchell and Jessica Cannata share practical and innovative solutions for managing your workload and staying inspired in your teaching practice.
Whether you are looking for fresh ideas to inspire your students, strategies for improving your writing instruction, or tips for managing your time more effectively, this podcast is designed to provide you with the tools you need to thrive as a Middle School ELA teacher.
Join us each week for curriculum and lesson ideas, classroom stories, and interviews with fellow educators who are experts in the field. We believe that with the right support and resources, you can create a classroom environment that encourages students to become strong and passionate learners.
If you teach reading and writing to middle schoolers and want to stay up-to-date with the latest trends and best practices in ELA education, then this is the podcast for you! Tune in every week and let us help you make a difference in the lives of your students and in your own teaching career.
Teaching Middle School ELA
Episode 303: Navigating the Science of Reading Part 4: Verbal Reasoning
On this episode of The Teaching Middle School ELA Podcast, Jessica, and Megan dive into the fourth strand of the Reading Rope: verbal reasoning. They’ll explore how this strand plays a crucial role in understanding and interpreting texts and offer a dynamic activity to help students sharpen their inference skills.
After listening, you'll have a clear strategy for guiding students through the process of making inferences with a mystery-based activity. This approach not only makes learning fun but also enhances students' critical thinking and comprehension abilities. Don’t miss out on these valuable techniques to enrich your teaching and support your students' reading development!
Well, hey there teachers, welcome back to our science reading series. We are guiding you through the essential strands of the reading rope. In today's episode, jessica and Megan are going to be talking about the fascinating topic of verbal reasoning, so you'll learn why this skill is crucial for reading comprehension and discover a fun mystery activity that helps students sharpen their inference skills. This episode is going to equip you to lead your students through the process of interpreting clues and justifying conclusions. This is going to boost their ability to make inferences and understand deeper meanings in texts. Don't miss this valuable lesson to enhance your students' reading abilities and bring excitement to your classroom. Hi there ELA teachers. Caitlin here.
Speaker 1:Ceo and co-founder of EB Academics, I'm so excited you're choosing to tune into the Teaching Middle School ELA podcast. Our mission here is simple to help middle school ELA teachers take back their time outside of the classroom by providing them with engaging lessons, planning frameworks and genuine support so that they can become the best version of themselves both inside and outside of the classroom. And we do this every single day inside the EB Teachers ELA portal. This is a special place we've developed uniquely for ELA teachers to access every single piece of our engaging, fun and rigorous curriculum so that they have everything they need to batch plan their lessons using our EB Teacher Digital Planner that's built right into the app. Over the years, we've watched as thousands of teachers from around the world have found success in and out of the classroom after using EB Academics programs, and we're determined to help thousands more. If you're interested in learning more, simply click the link in the podcast description and in the meantime, we look forward to serving you right here on the podcast every single week.
Speaker 2:Welcome back everyone to the Teaching Middle School ELA podcast. Megan and I are really happy to be continuing our Science of Reading series with you, where we're really helping you navigate the strands of the reading rope with tips, with activities that will help students strengthen their reading skills. So this is actually the fourth episode in the series and today we're talking about verbal reasoning, and I think this might be one of my favorite activities that we're going to share with you. So this activity, this episode, can stand alone.
Speaker 2:So if you want to just listen to this, if you're like, oh, I didn't even know you were doing a science of reading series, go ahead, stay with us and just listen to this one, or you can go back to episode 300 and start at the beginning. That's where we'll give you some extra background knowledge or information about the science of reading and then we'll start diving into all the different skills on the reading rope. So it's up to you what you want to do, but either way, we think this episode is going to be really helpful with you and your students, whether or not your school is saying look, we're embracing the science of reading, get with the program. Even though it's not a program, it's a way of researching that's really important. Or if you're like, nope, my school doesn't even do that, you're still going to find value in this because this is just so helpful. And, of course, you want to help your students develop their reading skills, so we hope you enjoy this one.
Speaker 3:Yes. So, as Jessica mentioned, today's topic is verbal reasoning, and verbal reasoning is a broad category that basically boils down to finding meaning in a text, and at the language level, this can include things like interpreting figurative language, for instance. Level this can include things like interpreting figurative language, for instance, so readers can analyze devices like idioms or metaphors to see what an author is suggesting about a certain topic or an idea. And at the whole text level, this is going to include the skill of making inferences, and that, of course, is the ability to read between the lines and draw conclusions based on the information that is implied by the author but not explicitly stated in the text.
Speaker 2:This might sound very nerdy, but like I love inferences.
Speaker 1:I love that skill.
Speaker 2:They're so much fun. So anytime I could have done a lesson like this with my students, like I'm all about it. This is where I'm like this is my jam, so super excited about this. So we're actually going to focus on that last part, how you can help students elevate those inferences skills Although you know idioms are also fun and other ways to find meaning in the text, but we're all about inferences today. So making inferences is really an invisible process for our readers when you really think about it, right, and it can be easy as a teacher to kind of forget that some of our readers need direct guidance here. Like it might come naturally to us, right, because we've been doing it for so long, but our middle schoolers might need some extra help with this. So we're going to show you an activity that can really guide your students through the inferring process in a really fun way, honestly, in a way that they're like wait, can we do that again? Like I don't want to go out to recess, like this stuff is fun. So we're going to do that through a mystery. We love a good mystery.
Speaker 2:So, before we share that mystery with you and that activity, here are the steps that you're going to be taking, and this is one of those episodes. Maybe listen to it all the way through and then go back and kind of jot down the order of the steps, because I think they're what is there? Six steps, megan, I think. So six or seven. Yeah, six or seven. So it's kind of a lot, but we'll break it down for you.
Speaker 2:So the first step is you want to activate students' prior knowledge by asking them notice prior knowledge, background knowledge. That was the first skill on the reading rope, by the way. You want to ask them what do you look for when you're reading or watching a mystery? And then how do you try to figure out the solution and write down their responses on the board or let them talk about it in groups. You can even share some mystery stories with them, just even the cover of some of them, or talk about some mystery shows that maybe they watch on TV or on Netflix or whatever, or a good mystery movie they might like. Just get them talking about that genre, yep.
Speaker 3:Second step, then, is to explain that inferring basically means to find clues that the author leaves you, and use those clues to figure out what the author is trying to tell you. So you can even do a quick practice with students by asking them if an author describes a character shaking off her umbrella before entering her house, what can you infer about the weather in the story? And, of course, hopefully they're going to say, well, it's raining, right. And you can ask them what clue led them to think this, and hopefully they'll point out that well, you don't have to shake off a dry umbrella.
Speaker 2:Of course I love it. It's a simple example but it's really effective of like walking them through the process of looking for clues. Step number three is explain to students that when we infer, we should keep the following things in mind Well, we need to find clues in our reading and we need to add those clues to what we already know. Right, what's our prior knowledge about this topic? So this can be what you already know from the text. Maybe you read it a few chapters back or a few pages back, but it can be also knowledge that you have from your own lives. So that's really important to bring in the knowledge and experience from our own lives into our reading. Students also should be aware that when we infer, there can often be more than one possible answer. Sometimes there is one or more way to interpret a detail.
Speaker 2:So I'm just thinking of that umbrella example and although this is unlikely, maybe it wasn't raining, maybe I left my umbrella outside and someone was watering the garden and it got all wet from the hose and that's why I had to shake it off, like, who knows Again, not as likely, but it's a really good way to bring that into the discussion. And although there may be more than one way to interpret a detail. We need to be able to support those inferences with evidence and reasoning. So if there's no evidence that someone was watering the garden that day, then that's probably not a good inference, right For sure. That day, then that's probably not a good inference, right For sure, for sure. So an inference can be strong or it can be weak, depending on how well students support it, and I think that's really important. I know I always saw that in the classroom. When you first start like developing this muscle of creating strong inferences, students say things and I'm like where did they even come up with that?
Speaker 3:Like okay, that's a stretch, and they're like it could happen.
Speaker 2:I'm like I guess so, but like this activity will really help them strengthen that muscle For sure.
Speaker 3:So then, step four in this activity is that you're going to pass out a short mystery and just read it aloud to the class. You could also use an audio version or a video version of a text if you want to use those formats with your students.
Speaker 2:Which I think could be really fun, like in a mystery. You could even like hype that up with spooky music. Oh yeah, step five you're going to have students work in pairs or in groups to highlight or take notes on what they believe are clues that lead to the solution of the mystery. This totally makes me think of Encyclopedia Brown. Did you read those stories? Oh, I loved those. I've been reading them for a thousand years. So good. I mean, they are so old school.
Speaker 2:I bought them for Jameson and Davey to read. They didn't think they were as cool as I did. But I'm like come on, you flip to the back and it says the solution and now we get to go back. But they're fun, anyway, sidetrack, so you can. But they're fun, anyway, sidetrack, so you can. I don't even know where I was. They're in groups, sorry, they're highlighting, they're taking notes on any clues that leads to that solution. And then you can make this a little bit more fun by you know, if your students are into it, which mine were turn them into detective agencies. Give them two minutes to come up with like a very clever name for their detective agency and tell them okay, like which agency is going to solve the case today. I don't know if your eighth graders would have liked that, but fifth graders ate that stuff up.
Speaker 3:They actually did and you know what I to your point on the timer situation, like I had to very purposely say okay, we're going to create agency names, but this is literally going to take us three minutes because otherwise they would have sat all and like they were so creative that they would have sat all hour to make up names.
Speaker 3:I'm like that's not really the point of today's lesson, so anyway. But step six, then, is to ask students to write a short explanation of the mystery's solution. So this explanation should include the clues, of course, that the students found and then how those clues led them to their conclusion. So you can use sentence stems to help with this, which we will share in just a moment, and the exact sentence stems will really kind of depend on the mystery you're using. And then, finally, step seven you're going to give each group a chance again to share their conclusions with the class, talk about which clues in the mystery most strongly led to a reasonable conclusion. And this was always my favorite part of these mystery activities, because there were so many unique things that different groups thought of, and I love those moments where the other groups be like, oh my gosh, how did you see that? You know it's a good activity.
Speaker 2:It really is. And so maybe you're listening to this and you're like, okay, this sounds fun, like I'm on board, but where do I find a mystery activity? Well, encyclopedia Brown, there's one for you. If you're an EB teacher, you might be familiar with one of our mystery stories, like we have the case of the missing tablet or the case of the stolen pearls.
Speaker 3:Yes, and I use stolen pearls with my eighth graders and they absolutely loved it, so it's a good one. Oh, cool, if you're listening, you can go to the link I'm about to provide you to find the stolen pearls activities and you can turn your middle school students into detectives. This is a long link, so we'll probably put it into the show notes too. So it's ebteachercom backslash free-argumentative-writing-activity. Again, it's a long one. We'll put it in the show notes for you guys.
Speaker 2:But so worth it to go there. I love that. You used it with your students, megan. So if you choose to use that and you're like, wait, this was so much fun, I want to do another mystery with my students. You can also grab five minute mystery books from your local library. Or just Google five minute mystery book, you'll get a whole list of ideas. There's even five minute whodunit books Like there's so many options out there. And then there's even five minute mystery podcasts, youtube videos, like so many different ways to tie this into your classroom. And we're also going to share one with you right now. So I think this is going to be really fun. So I'm going to actually read you a very, very short mystery and as I'm going through it, I want to see what inferences do you come up with, and then Megan will actually share some things that we wanted to draw your attention to. But pretend you're a student right now. So this is the mystery of the missing trophy.
Speaker 2:One Monday, miss Chen, the principal of a small middle school, decided to showcase the school's golden championship basketball trophy in the main hall, right next to the library and across from the gym. The trophy was a symbol of the school's pride and was kept in a glass display case with a combination lock. The next morning, ms Chen was shocked to find that the trophy was missing. The display case was still locked, with no signs of having been tampered with. The display case was still locked, with no signs of having been tampered with. She spotted a small glittery feather on the floor nearby. Mr Carter, the school custodian, had been painting lockers in the hallway after school on Monday and he saw some people around the display case as he was working.
Speaker 3:He noted the following details Darius, a quiet boy who loves books, was seen reading in the library for hours. Before entering the library, mr Carter noticed Darius pausing at the display case for an unusually long time, presumably reading the plaque on the trophy. Sierra, the star basketball player, was practicing for the upcoming game in the gym. Mr Carter noticed that Sierra paused to admire the trophy on her way to the drinking fountain during a break in her practice. Mr Carter noted that Sierra was taking a lot of these water breaks. Jodi, the drama club president and principal student assistant, was seen wandering past the display case a few times. Mr Carter asked her why she wasn't in the auditorium and she explained that she needed a quiet place to practice her lines.
Speaker 2:So can you already see, like, if you read that to your students, they're going to start forming opinions already, like, oh, it was definitely Jodi that took the trophy, or nope, nope, it was Sierra, and here's why. So they're going to come up with these already. But again to my point earlier where sometimes students' inferences can be a bit weak. If you don't want that to happen, it's really helpful to ask them some guiding questions to help them make their inferences. So I want to share some with you so you get higher level answers from them, so you can ask your students what clues were found near the display case that might help identify the thief. Why might Darius have paused at the display case for a long time before entering the library? What do you think Sierra's frequent water breaks and her pauses at the trophy suggest? Why would Jodi choose to practice her lines near the display case instead of in the auditorium? And how might the glittery feather be connected to any of the suspects? So that's really going to help students like come up with more concrete answers and keep your discussion more focused so they're not just going off on tangents. And then, to take it a step further, if you're an EB teacher, you can use the EB paragraph framework to help students write their conclusions so they get in some writing practice as well with their inferences. It's like win-win. Or you can even offer some simple stems to your students. So you might say for this particular mystery and you can just adjust this for any mystery you might say we conclude that blank took the basketball trophy.
Speaker 2:One clue is that blank. This clue suggests that blank because blank. Another clue is that blank. This clue suggests that blank because blank. And this I love using sentence stems like this because when you go to check their writing then it's so much faster for you because it's flows well, it's structured. You're not like wait, where's your even your inference and where's your evidence? It's right there for you, like they have to include it.
Speaker 3:Yes, and it gives students a starting point too. So they're kind of not all over the place and I think that makes it quite a bit for sure for them to scrabble their thoughts. So, filled out, this could what Jessica just shared. This could sound something like this we conclude that Jodi took the basketball trophy. One clue is that a glittery feather was found near the display case. This clue suggests that a drama club member is a likely suspect, because plays include decorative costumes. Another clue is that the display case was not tampered with. This clue suggests that Jodi took the trophy because, as a principal's assistant, she may have had access to the combination numbers. Jodi yes, jodi, that little Jodi combination numbers.
Speaker 3:And my favorite part yes, jodi, that little girl, jodi. But my favorite part of these written explanations is that they really make the inference process just more visible to students, and this activity really demonstrates that what we tell students in the beginning, which is that readers find clues and use what they know about the text and about life in general to make inferences. It also shows that there isn't always one correct inferences, but a strong one again we've talked about this that is supported with evidence and logic, right? So if you wanted to take this activity even further. You could follow this up by having groups write their own five-minute mystery to share with the class and they could drop clues in their writing to help students just be more mindful about them in their reading, which is fun, I think students would love that, coming up with their own mystery.
Speaker 2:But that is one of those activities. I feel like you'd have to rein it in and set the time limit, because they could argue over what clue is too obvious. All of it right, like we know where students could go with that. So hopefully you can give an activity like this one a try in your classroom because, again, students love this stuff. They are going to be begging for more of these and they just are so much fun. And at the same time, you're tackling a really critical reading skill of verbal reasoning and inferences.
Speaker 2:So we hope you join us next time where we're discussing the fifth strand already in our reading rope, and that's literacy knowledge. And let us know if you've been, you know, trying these activities out in the classroom. We'd love to hear your feedback, if you're feeling like okay, science of reading not as scary and overwhelming as I thought it might be, so give us that feedback. We'd love to hear it. Yes, that would be great. We hope you have a great rest of your week. Enjoy that time with your students, go enjoy your weekends. All the good things to make this your best year yet. So thanks for being with us everyone. Bye, everybody.