Framing Our Reading | Part 3: Extended Thinking

          This week, my partner, Jennie (Teach, Learn, Explore 2016), and I continued with the assignment format that we started last week. We both chose an article and reading strategy, and then gave the activity to the other person to complete. Last week we chose articles dealing with climate change and chose strategies to help guide students’ thinking. This week, we chose readings that related to cell biology and created activities based on strategies for extending students’ thinking beyond the text. I chose an article from the University of New South Wales about groundbreaking stem cell research and created a quick-write activity for Jennie to complete following the reading. For more details, see Table 1.

Table 1

	Text Citation or Link	Rationale for Choosing	Text Frame(s)	Strategies Used and Resource
Extending Thinking Example	UNSW Newsroom: Medical scientists develop ‘game changing’ stem cell repair system	Article contains many complex biological terms and concepts. The research discussed has major implications in the field of medicine. Stem cell research has a history of being a controversial topic.	Concept/definition Problem/Solution Proposition/Support	Quick-Write (Buehl, 2014)

McLaughlin (2010) states that the goal of strategies for extending thinking is to “elaborate on what we have learned, extend learning beyond the classroom, and clarify understandings.” Quick writing is a strategy that asks students to quickly respond to one or more prompts. Students are given a time limit and encouraged to answer the question with as much information as they can fit into that time limit. This strategy allows students to bring together information that they have read with prior knowledge in a way spontaneous and free-flowing way. Quick write assignments are not typically graded on structure or grammatical correctness. Instead, the emphasis is on the student being able to translate what they have read and what they know into a written answer (Shen, 2016). Not only do quick writes ask students to consolidate information, but they also help students develop writing skills.

          When I provided Jennie with this assignment, I gave her the following 4 writing prompts and asked her to spend no more than 3 minutes responding to each: 

1. Before reading this article, what did you know about stem cell therapy?
2. Why is the research in this article is described as “game changing?” Identify the benefits of using induced multipotent stem (iMS) cells over embryonic stem (ES) cells.
3. The UNSW researchers focused on using iMS cells to treat injuries to the spinal column. What other implications does this research have on the medical community?
4.  How would you explain the findings of this research to a friend or family member that has a limited background in biology? Write a one-paragraph summary of this article using terms that they would understand.

  When writing these prompts, I attempted to create questions that asked Jennie to summarize what she has read as well as think critically about how the information in the article was relevant to the real world. After completing the activity, Jennie remarked that she felt the questions were too specific and should be even more open-ended. I agree that a goal of this activity should be to focus on student reactions to the reading material rather than facts presented in the text. I will need to spend more time developing open-ended questions when using this activity in the classroom. Another suggestion that Jennie had was to make sure to stick to a specific timeline for answering questions. In her opinion, she felt that it was difficult to stick to the 3-minute limit. When implementing this strategy in a class, I would definitely time the students to make sure they were not spending too long on any one question.
Overall, I think it is very important for spend time following a reading to consolidate information and reflect upon the reading. During this time, students can focus on making connections between what they have read and the real world. The strategy of quick writing allows students to practice putting these thought processes into words without getting distracted by writing structure or formalities. In a classroom, I could see the potential of using quick write responses as a basis for eventually writing a more formal paper. 
     This week, Jennie provided me with an article about researchers who had identified the minimum number of genes required for a cell to sustain life. I completed a Double Entry Diary activity during and following the reading. To read more about this strategy, visit her blog: http://teachlearnexplore2016.blogspot.com

References

Buehl, D. (2014).  Classroom strategies for Interactive Learning.  International Reading Association.

McLaughlin, M. (2010).   Content Area Reading:  Teaching and Learning for College and Career Readiness .  Boston:  Pearson.

Shen, D. (2016). Quick Writes. Harvard University. Retrieved from: http://ablconnect.harvard.edu/quick-write