Media Center Uses Graphic Organizers to teach Reading Comprehension!

Barbara McSwain
Jun 09, 2008

It works! Jane Surrency recently exclaimed to a Learning-Focused Instructional Specialist. Surrency is a Media Specialist at Lake Region High School in Polk County.  She is using graphic organizers, suggested by Learning-Focused, to enhance Florida Teens Read book club meetings.  Florida Teens Read book club meetings are sponsored by the Lake Region High School Media Center.    

Recently the club read Crossing the Wire, which is a story about a young boy who illegally crosses the border into the U.S. so he can earn enough money to send back to his family in Mexico.  His family's corn crop has failed due to drought and they no longer have a way to earn a living. The students listed the events that led to the boy's decision to cross the border and the events that occurred afterwards. The students were immediately able to understand "cause and effect" with the aide of the graphic organizer.

Learning-Focused has the mantra "adapt don't adopt!"  "We have customized the graphic organizers to reflect the themes of the books we are reading" stated Surrency.  Students at Lake Region are concentrating on comprehension skills across content areas.  Many of the teachers have participated in Learning-Focused Parts 1-4 training.  Others recently attended the Learning-Focused Vocabulary Workshop. All teachers will be trained in Parts 1-4 and Vocabulary by the conclusion of FY 09.

Lake Region has participated in the Learning-Focused Alliance package.  Joel McGuire, principal, has attended all the Learning-Focused Trainings and has been instrumental in the success of the implementation process. 

Teachers have observed an increase in student engagement when students use graphic organizers for guided reading, note taking and study tools.  Teachers have also used Learning-Focused Unit/Lesson design, previewing strategies with vocabulary, collaborative pairs and distributed summarizing in every lesson.