Unison Reading: How Children Learn the Responsibility of Democratic Citizenship
At P.S. 126 in Lower Manhattan where Genre Practice is being implemented, we use an approach to instruction called Unison Reading (McCallister, in process). If you were to walk into any classroom, you would see children taking part in reading groups that are integrated by race, class, gender and ability. These “integrated” groups are a distinctive feature of Unison Reading, and contribute to important facets of children’s learning. Unison Reading involves a small group of no more than five children in an oral, synchronized reading of a joint text. Unison Reading entails a few simple rules: Read loudly enough that others can hear you (but not too loudly that your voice overpowers); keep pace with one another; stop the group and speak up when you are confused or have something to say that others might benefit from hearing; and act in ways that promote others’ learning. Each week a few group leaders are responsible for selecting a text that the rest of their classmates then sign up to read. Groups meet several times over the course of the week—twice with a teacher and twice independently. And the whole process begins again the following week. Over the course of the year, every child in second grade and above will have the opportunity to read at least 30 different texts of their choosing, all of which involved some level of teacher-facilitated instruction. Children use the format of Unison Reading to deliberate over comics, gossip columns, sports articles, history and science texts and math problems. Unison Reading carves out social space across grade levels and content areas for children to insinuate the spoken word into their reading of the printed word. Unison Reading “works” on several levels. On one level—the one that the stodgy field of reading research obsesses about decade after decade with an unrelenting focus on the cognitive dimensions of reading—Unison Reading supports children’s vocabulary, fluency, phonics and comprehension development. Children voice their own confusions aloud to others at the table, and tablemates “follow in” to the point of confusion (Bruner). Because they are initiated by the student and not the teacher, these interactions are pedagogically much more powerful than traditional teacher directed instructional formats where children are expected to follow into the teacher’s focus of attention (which many children have difficulty doing). With an emphasis on learning rather than teaching, instruction is inherently “developmentally appropriate” because children themselves bring attention to points in the text that cause cognitive dissonance. Indeed, Unison Reading helps prevent teaching from interfering with learning. But Unison Reading also “works” on another level that has been woefully neglected by the field of reading specifically and by the traditions of formal education in general. Unison Reading provides opportunities for children to take part in what John Dewey called “conjoint communicated experience” which he deemed vital to democratic society. Unison Reading invites children to act of their own volition to take part in a process of collective reading of texts that address topics they care about in groups that are not restrictive on the basis of status. Because children have opportunities to act on issues of personal concern, to deliberate the merits of their ideas and to broaden their perspectives in the company of others, they learn how to be citizens of a democracy. Honoring what should be the central aim of reading education in a democracy, Unison Reading lets children learn what it means to participate in civil discourse.
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EVENTSAMERICAN EDUCATION RESEARCH ASSOCIATION Unison Reading: Engaging, Effective, Heterogeneous Small-Group Reading Instruction, K-8 INTERNATIONAL READING ASSOCIATION Genre Practice: A 'Principled' Pedagogy for Adolescent Literacy Genre Practice: A Pedagogy fo Student Responsibility for Literacy Learning Unison Reading: Engaging, Effective Small-group Reading Instruction, K-8 Genre Practice: A Pedagogy for Literacy that Supports Avoidant and Low Achieving Students Research Poster Session by Cynthia McCallister, Kim Greene & Kerry Decker NATIONAL COUNCIL OF TEACHERS OF ENGLISH Supporting English Language Learners with Genre Practice Engaging Reluctant Learners through Genre Practice: Literacy Instruction that Supports Engagement and Achievement Genre Practice: A Model for Accountability for Literacy Learning Radical Freedom and Genre Practice: How Children Still Learn What's Expected When They're in Control of Reading Workshop Feelings, Emotions, and Genre Practice: Restoring Joyfulness into Standards-Based Literacy Education
59th NATIONAL READING CONFERENCE Acquiring English Literacy through "Genre Practice": Accounts of K-8 English Language Learners
RECOMMENDED READING
"The Cambridge Handbook of Literacy, by David R. Olson and Nancy Torrance, is a comprehensive and descriptive survey of literacy across a full range of social and psychological functions. The authors' treatment of the topic of literacy extends far beyond the narrow concerns of learning to reading and write, offering a constellation of insights that hold promise to guide the reconceptualization of literacy instruction." Cynthia McCallister, Ed.D. FRIENDS OF GENRE PRACTICE Jenny Brown, has a great web site devoted to childrens' books. It's called Amy Simone Piller is a poet, teacher and blogger.
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Many of us felt the same way
I think many of us felt the same way; we were a bit skeptical about the approach, yet we have seen evidence that it truly does work. Many of us have been experimenting with the approach in schools where we work; it's quite amazing to see how the social nature of Unison Reading works especially for younger students. Just today I tried Unison Reading with a group after school; it was the first time these students had ever participated and I was really amazed at the breaches that occurred. Within the first paragraph students needed to stop because "they were reading to fast for us." So many great teachable moments presented themselves during this one session and I didn't have to do much work; the students taught each other!
a reformed nonbeliever
At the beginning of the semester I was not buying the Genre Practice approach. I could not believe that giving students so much freedom would provide such immediate and astounding results. Over the weeks I slowly started accepting different aspects of Genre Practice through questions about it, reading about it, seeing videos, hearing first hand accounts from Sabina and Cynthia, and implementing it practices with my own subjects. I know am a firm believer that implementing Genre Practice in a classroom will engage, excite, and entice students to learn. I am happy to have a new approach under my belt and am excited and hopeful to see Genre Practice popping up in more classrooms in NY area, and beyond.
I feel that you cannot fully
I feel that you cannot fully appreciate the idea behind Unison Reading until you try it. Once you are actually participate in the group then you see how it actually works. It is actually a really difficult practice and requires a lot of thinking on the part of the students. By participating in a group I also understood the need for a short text. Reading can take quite a long time, especially because these are mixed ability groups. It's not easy to get students to stop and share breaches or insights; it is easy to get carried away by focusing on the decoding aspect of the reading, so if a student is able to say,"Stop, I have an idea" or "This reminds me of..." then they are actually using higher order thinking skills while reading, which is the ultimate goal of reading for meaning.
Unison Reading
I had never heard of Unison Reading before this fall, and I am only in the writing course at NYU, so it is helpful to hear and learn more about Unison Reading. I am intrigued by the shared commitments and purposes of the students, and by their intrinsic motivation to read. In my own experience, I have always leveled students in groups and chose the groups myself. The idea of integrating ability groups seems refreshing, as students see themselves as contributing members of a group and not the lower achieving student on the side. Unison Reading seems to be motivating a new generation to be lifelong readers and to read for enjoyment and purpose.
I wonder if reading out loud would inhibit comprehension for some students. I always need time to process what I have just read and reread sentences in my head before discussing it with a group. Is the idea that students will say, "Stop" and the entire group would reread a selection? Are students invited to reread silently if they need a moment to process the text?
Reading out loud in unison
Reading out loud in unison creates a different way to comprehend texts compared to the modes of comprehension that silent reading allows. Because the pace is slower, we can focus attention on the thoughts we are thinking in the moment. The challenge is to access these thoughts and to be able to voice epiphanies and confusions at the moment they occur. Through on-going practice in Unison Reading, children improve their ability to do this. Unison Reading opportunities tend to help improve children's ability to think metacognitively and metalinguistically while reading--capacities that ultimately improve their comprehension during silent reading.
Developing a Community
I think that the most interesting aspect of using Unison Reading is the way that it encourages cooperation and respect. By having students work together and resepect one another Unison Reading prepares students for life outside of school. Is this part of Unison Reading ever explicitly discussed with the students? This could be a great link to Social Studies instruction!
hmmm....
Innovative, scary, and tempting to try all at the same time. Is that possible? Its been overly embedded in me and in my school culture to immerse students in partner reading, literacy groups, and book clubs. As result of becoming an over-processed entity, teachers pick out kid's text, the partnerships, the "just right" materials, and so on and so on leaving group work lead and undemocratic.
Unison Reading is a far cry from the Cawkins scripts and literature. It's also a far different approach to what I've been exposed to in my schooling. I have to say a wee bit skeptical. I guess I'm not as progressive as I thought I was!!
Unison Reading
I too am looking forward to see Genre Practice in action. I am most excited to finally see a student-centered approach to learning. In the "interated" groups, do the children get to create their own or is that selected by the teacher?
It is amazing how Unison Reading allows children to read a vast amount of texts in a year - minimum of 30 in the second grade. The fact that every child has to read aloud simultaneously, is very beneficial, especially for struggling readers. Even if the struggling reader cannot pronounce half the words, they would still be able to listen to the story and participate in the group discussion. Furthermore, the children have the opportunity to learn from each other, instead of the teacher. As much research has noted - learning from your peers is much more powerful than learning from the teacher.
I think in terms of staying on task and avoiding off topic discussions, it would be part of the group leader's job, as well as group participants, to make sure that doesn't happen. Plus, when the teacher facilitates the groups twice a week, I'm sure the children are given feedback on their group/individual participation or general comments as to model/guide the discussions.
Democractic teaching
Right away this makes me think of the Instruction-Education continuum (Sadoski, chapter 5?). I think establishing a democratic classroom environment is essential to teaching children how to be independent and function in society. Every day I see teachers at work wondering why their students are always asking them questions that students should be able to answer for themselves - i.e. Dennis put his feet on my binder; what do I do?. The problem is we expect independence but teach in a way that implies teachers hold all the information. We can tell them to be independent, but we are not actually giving them the opportunities to learn how to be. I can't wait to visit PS126 and see it in action!
curiosities
I am quite curious to see the Genre Practice Approach in action.
I do have a few curiosities about how it works. For example, how can we ensure that students are going to stop and ask questions or voice their thoughts while reading. I have seen children working independently and in groups where they do not understand a part of the text, yet they just keep on going. Are students more apt to ask questions during Unison Reading because they are interested in the chosen topic?
I think the social aspect of this approach is very important because sometimes you do your best learning when discussing a reading or new information with someone else; however, it's not the same to have social interaction centered around text and social interaction where the focus then shifts to, "What are you doing this weekend?" I find that many times when students of any age work together cooperatively, the focus tends to shift. Is this ever an issue with Unison Reading? How is such a situation handled?
We can never ensure that kids
We can never ensure that kids will stop and ask questions when they have them. But we can give them opportunities to learn to do this. I spend a lot of time in Unison Reading talking to kids about the importance of realizing when you have a question and the need to speak up at those points. Over time, they become more aware and comfortable in raising questions and making comments. I also tell them that Unison Reading more fun when people have things to offer, and that it is their responbility to the group to speak up.
The "rules" of Unison Reading allow children to take part in conversations that meander freely onto any and all topics related to the text at hand. Possibly because these conversations are satisfying, this form of "school talk" doesn't tend to wander off topic. And when it does, and we notice, we intervene to remind children to be accountable to the rules. But also, I think the fact that children have themselves chosen which text they want to read naturally contributes to higher levels of engagement and prevents some of the "off topic" talk that is characteristic of teacher-dictated curriculum.