2. Goal
Develop deep knowledge of one slice of reading
education by reading and writing
Create an associated digital resource that serves
as a practical and useful resource for parents,
colleagues, other educators
---------------
G-r-o-w as a reading teacher AND a writer
3. Matrix
• Evolving document
• Organizer
• Considerations:
– Fit with topic
– At least 10 refs
– Peer reviewed
– Range of publication dates with at least a few
published this year or last year
– Balance researcher/practitioner
– Reading/literacy journals
– Record take-away for each article
7. Analyze the Matrix
• Consistencies, inconsistencies, and patterns
• What should your reader know about your
topic? Tell your reader what your articles say.
Be an expert!
10. Introduction
• Get your reader on the “right planet.” What
are you talking about?
• Usually one or two paragraphs.
• Include a thesis/purpose statement in the
introduction.
• Tell your reader what is coming next.
11. First or Third Person?
• SYNTHESIS: THIRD person
– Report what is “out there” on your topic – you’re
not part of this portion of your paper.
– Objective
– They, educators, teachers, them, he, she, etc.
• REFLECTION: FIRST person.
– This is about YOU!
– Subjective
– I, we, me, us, etc.
12. Headings
• Use headings to help your reader understand
the organization of the paper and follow your
writing.
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/56
0/16/
13. How to write in APA about what other people
have written about.
• Butcher (2006) stated…
• Smith and Jones (2009) posit…
• Keeting (2008) found…
• Billings (1999) and Yinley (2001) recommend…
• Miles, Yinley, and Zhang (1999) suggest…
14. Change it Up
• Many researchers posit … (Geurney, 2009; Smith &
Roberston, 2006; Yang & Zhang, 1999).
• Research has demonstrated … (Kuhn & Stahl, 2003;
Rasinski & Hoffman, 2003)
• Some researchers recommend … (Billings,1999; Yinley,
2001).
• Research suggests … (Rasinski, 2006).
16. • Butcher (2006) stated…
– The author said something
• Smith and Jones (2009) posit…
– The authors said something or theorize something
• Keeting (2008) found…
– Results from the author’s study are…
• Billings (1999) and Yinley (2001) recommend…
– These authors recommend something based on the
findings of their study.
• Miles, Yinley, and Zhang (1999) suggest…
17. Change it Up
• Many researchers posit … (Geurney, 2009; Smith &
Roberston, 2006; Yang & Zhang, 1999).
– These researchers claim that …
• Research has demonstrated … (Kuhn & Stahl, 2003;
Rasinski & Hoffman, 2003)
– Results from several studies show …
• Some researchers recommend … (Billings,1999; Yinley,
2001).
– These authors recommend something based on the
findings of their study.
• Research suggests … (Rasinski, 2006).
– This research study suggests these implications …
18. Direct Quotes
Use a minimum amount of direct quotes;
better to paraphrase
If you do use quotes:
Swaggerty (2013) explains that “snow skiing is super-
dee-duper fun” (p. X).
Snow skiing is “super-dee-duper fun” (Swaggerty, 2013,
p. X).
Note:
-If your quote is more than 40 words, there are special rules to follow:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/02/
-If you want to cite something that another author cited, you must go to the original source and
include that source.
19. References
• Ref list starts on a separate page.
• All references in your ref list should be cited
within your paper, and vice-versa.
• Make sure ref list is in ABC order. Don’t change
order of authors for an article, though.
• USE THESE LINKS (notice the links on the left
related to references):
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/10/
20. Reflection
• Why did you pick this topic?
• Content Knowledge (SPECIFICITY REQUIRED): What did you
already know about your topic? What did you learn? How did
the new knowledge challenge you? How will this new
knowledge impact your current and/or future teaching?
What did you learn about yourself as a reading teacher?
• Writing: How did your topic evolve? What choices did you
make as you drafted and finalized your paper? How did your
paper change? What did you learn about yourself as a writer?
22. Peer Review and Writing Center
• Writing is:
– a process.
– is hard.
• Writing improves:
– with iteration.
– with a little help from our friends and the friendly
Writing Center consultants.
Writing can be awesome. Stick with it and you’ll be
proud of what you’ve learned and communicated in
your final product!
I am challenging you to navigate the databases and find those researcher and practitioner pieces written by experts in the field of reading because I want to develop your foundational content knowledge related to reading so when you are in the field and looking for ideas/activities/lessons/demonstrations/frameworks/resources, and you go to blogs and Pinterest and Teachers Pay Teachers (top teacher go-to sites), you’ll have the foundational knowledge you need to choose the most effective strategies and resources, not just the cutest ones. And when spomeone questions your choices, you can provide the research to back up your decision.
If you’ve done a good job on the matrix, you’re ready to look for consistencices, inconsistencies, and patterns in your articles. I think of this in terms of LEGOS. My kids have lots and lots of legos and to me they look like a big pile of multi-colored pieces – a mess. However, they could be sorted lots of different ways to tell different stories. For example, one person might sort them by color, another by shape, by size, by type, etc. Imagine that you sorted your legos and then had to tell someone what you had. You might say, I sorted them by color. There were 34 red pieces, x yellow, etc. Blue had the most representation. OR you might say, I sorted them by color first, then by type. Then you would proceed to describe what you have in those terms. You could write a paper this way and the ways you sorted the legos would allude to your organization and headings. Apply this to your writing. You have 7-10 articles on your topic. They are all connected to your topic in some way. You want to take a look at your articles to figure out what the commonalities, differences, themes, etc. are across the articles so you can tell the story of your articles in your paper. Once you’ve figured out the themes, you can draft an outline and then begin drafting the paper. Some students add columns to their matrix to code their articles while others have printed them out and added sticky notes with codes, physically moving them around on the table to identify themes. Think about the type of article – is the article sharing findings or advice? Make sure you’re looking through the right lens. If several of your articles seem to say the same thing, look closer! What are the details/intricacies? Remember, you are becoming an expert on this topic. Show theme indentification for navigation article.
If you’ve done a good job on the matrix, you’re ready to look for consistencices, inconsistencies, and patterns in your articles. I think of this in terms of LEGOS. My kids have lots and lots of legos and to me they look like a big pile of multi-colored pieces – a mess. However, they could be sorted lots of different ways to tell different stories. For example, one person might sort them by color, another by shape, by size, by type, etc. Imagine that you sorted your legos and then had to tell someone what you had. You might say, I sorted them by color. There were 34 red pieces, x yellow, etc. Blue had the most representation. OR you might say, I sorted them by color first, then by type. Then you would proceed to describe what you have in those terms. You could write a paper this way and the ways you sorted the legos would allude to your organization and headings. Apply this to your writing. You have 7-10 articles on your topic. They are all connected to your topic in some way. You want to take a look at your articles to figure out what the commonalities, differences, themes, etc. are across the articles so you can tell the story of your articles in your paper. Once you’ve figured out the themes, you can draft an outline and then begin drafting the paper. Some students add columns to their matrix to code their articles while others have printed them out and added sticky notes with codes, physically moving them around on the table to identify themes. Think about the type of article – is the article sharing findings or advice? Make sure you’re looking through the right lens. If several of your articles seem to say the same thing, look closer! What are the details/intricacies? Remember, you are becoming an expert on this topic. Show theme indentification for navigation article.
Develop a working thesis statement: a rough idea of your topic and the important point you want to make about that topic. Write it at the top of a rough draft or outline and look at it often to keep you focused throughout the essay. NOTE: the thesis statement that you begin with is not set in stone. If you find that your essay shifts topic slightly, you can change your thesis in later drafts so that it matches your new focus.
In your paper, include a statement or two in the first paragraph that make it obvious what the paper is about.
What do you notice about all of these sentences pulled from synthesis papers?
-last names only
-pub year in parentheses
-there can be more than one article saying the same thing
Verbs?
Researcher names aren’t in the sentence, but in the parenthetical citations.
Youi can put more than one in parentheses.
Punctuation
Ampersand instead of “and.”
Due dates are a tad bit flexible as long as all are done before the final draft is done and you have time to consider all feedback prior to submitting manuscript and you don’t mess with someone else’s schedule (e.g., submit your paper late to someone and mess up their planning).
Communication is KEY.
MOVE YOUR PARTNER’S PAPER AND YOUR OWN PAPER FORWARD!!!!!!!