Characteristics of Junior High School Students Teaching Reading to Junior High School Students
activities to individuals, groups, or the entire class as needed
b. Providing overt, targeted instruction and review as models for peer and
self-evaluation c. Teaching
skills, mechanics,
or vocabulary that can be used during
integrated activities such as literature discussion
d. Using all three kinds of instruction to scaffold ways to think and discuss e.g.
summarizing, justifying answers, and making connections
the exclusion of the other two. b.
Focus on separated andor simulated activities with no integration with the
larger goals of the curriculum
2 Teachers integrate test preparation into instruction.
There are two kinds of activities about the effective and ineffective teaching instruction related to the test preparation. Those activities are presented below.
Table 5: The activities that work and do not work to integrate test preparation into instruction
Some activities that work What do not work
Using district and state standards and goals, teachers and administrators
work together
to: identify
connections to the standards and goals,
develop instructional
strategies that enable students to build
necessary skills,
make connections between and among
instructional strategies, tests, and current
learning, develop
and implement
model lessons
that integrate test preparation into the
curriculum. 1 Short-term test preparation
2 Test preparation that focuses on how to take the test
3 Separate rather than integrate test preparation experiences
3 Teachers make connections across instruction, curriculum, and life.
The teachers should be able to make connections between the lessons and the students’ lives in and out of school so the students can see how their knowledge and skills
can be used productively in a range of situations.
Table 6: The activities that work and do not work to make connections across instruction, curriculum, and life
Some activities that work What do not work
a. Making connections between and across the curriculum, students’
lives, literature, and literacy. b. Planning lessons that connect with
each other, with test demands, and with students’ growing knowledge
and skills.
c. Developing goals and strategies that meet students’ needs and are
intrinsically connected to the larger curriculum
d. Weaving even unexpected intrusions into integrated
experiences for students e. Selecting professional development
activities that are related to the school’s standards and curriculum
framework a. Isolated lessons
b. Lessons that leave connection implicit c. Lack of follow-through on curricular
goals by teachers andor administrators
d. Selection of materials not connected to curricular goals
e. Professional development activities unrelated to goals or curriculum
f. Separated and isolated rather than integrated use of materials
4 Students learn strategies for doing the work. The students not only learn about the content of the materials that are taught, but they
also need to know the strategies for doing the tasks.
Table 7: The activities that work and do not work to make strategies for the students to do the work
Some activities that work What do not work
a. Providing rubrics that the students review, use, and even develop
b. Designing models and guides that a. Focus on skills and content
b. Instructions that lack procedural strategies to support and extend
lead students to understand how to approach each task
c. Supplying prompts that support thinking
thinking
5 Students are expected to be generative thinkers. There are two kinds of activities which differentiate between the effective and
ineffective instructions to make the students become generative thinkers.
Table 8: The activities that work and do not work to make students become generative thinkers
Some activities that work What do not work
a. Exploring texts from many points of view e.g. social and personal
b. Extending literary understanding beyond initial interpretations
c. Researching and discussing issues generated by literary texts and by
students concerns d. Extending research questions beyond
their original focus e. Designing follow-up lessons that
cause students to move beyond their initial thinking
a. Stopping once students have demonstrated understanding
b. Asking questions with predetermined answers that require little or no
discussion or thought c. Covering content rather than
addressing the complexities of understanding
6 Classroom foster cognitive collaboration. The classroom activities should allow the students and the teachers to play multiple
roles in the interactions. There are two kinds of activities which are effective and ineffective to make cognitive collaboration.
Table 9: The activities that work and do not work to foster cognitive collaboration in the classroom
Some activities that work What do not work