Literacy portfolio: Six Reading Strategies

1.      What: Reading Anticipation guide (Before Reading Strategy)

Why?

Anticipation Guides help to instill a situational interest in material in advance of its presentation to the students. They can be crafted a as a prelude to several different sources of information: novels, websites, movies, guest speakers, or even a field trip. These techniques only take a few short minutes before the lesson begins and it provides a little background knowledge to the students to peak their interest and maintain focus while they read the lesson. The strategy provides a brief background of the information for the students in order to peak interest in the material. The work sheet allows students to follow along while they read and confirm or deny the statement written on the worksheet. This allows students to maintain interest while they read and enabling them to comprehend and apply the reading.

How?

1.      Construct the anticipation guide. Construction of the anticipation guide should be as simple as possible for younger students. Write four to six statements about key ideas in the text; some true and some false. Include columns following each statement, which can be left blank or can be labeled Yes, or No (Maybe can also be used).

NOTE: Teachers may wish to create an additional column for revisiting the guide after the material has been read.

2.      Model the process. Introduce the text or reading material and share the guide with the students. Model the process of responding to the statements and marking the columns.

3.      Read each of the statements and ask the students if they agree or disagree with it. Provide the opportunity for discussion. The emphasis is not on right answers but to share what they know and to make predictions.

4.      Read the text aloud or have students read the selection individually. If reading aloud, teachers should read slowly and stop at places in the text that correspond to each of the statements.

5.      Bring closure to the reading by revisiting each of the statements.

Applying the strategy to  Industrial Technology- This strategy could easily be applied in Industrial Tech courses by preparing and applying the guide to an instructional video on how to properly use a piece of machinery.

Source: Fisher, D., Brozo, W. G., Frey, N., & Ivey, G. (2001). 50 Instructional Routines to Develop Content Literacy. Boston: Pearson.

2.      What? Think with Heading Notes (After Reading Strategy)

Why?  

After the student has finished reading a lesson, they will go back and write down all the bold faced headings in the chapter. This will be the basis of note taking. The student will write down any notes they can remember that applies to a particular heading in their own words. Each idea is written in a bullet format. This will ensure the student understands the main topics in each chapter. The strategy will assist students in reading comprehension and recalling what they read. It ensures the student understands the content and each chapter’s main ideas. If students didn’t comprehend the first time it allows them to apply fix-up strategies such as rereading to fill in notes. The end product provides students with a great review sheet for the tests.

How?

1)      Step by step instructions are given to class to avoid confusion.

2)      The student writes down each main heading of the chapter.

3)      The student reads the chapter.

4)      The student than goes back and jots down notes relating to a particular heading, using their own words and bullet format.

5)      If students can’t remember they go back and reread to figure out the main points relating to a particular heading.

6)      Teacher will then proceed to check their work.

Applying the strategy to Industrial Tech- This after reading strategy would apply well to a reading from a text book with several different significant parts. Such as a reading on welding safety where there is a lot of technical information, it will be most important that the students pick up on the fundamental safety practices of welding.

Source- Robb, L. (2009). Reading Strategy Lessons for Science and Social Studies. New York: Scholastic.

  

3.      What? Question/Answer/Connect/Respond (After Reading Strategy)

Why?

Students scan through the chapter looking at boldface headings, pictures, and graphs. They must write down some questions that come to mind when scanning through the chapter. The student then reads the chapter and answers the questions they have come up with. The best part of the strategy is when students have to go back to their notes and read their questions and answers and react or connect to what they have wrote. This allows students to apply and make personal connections to the material which makes the material “stick.” The strategy is effective for several reasons. The strategy allows students to explore ideas that are important to them. The student will pay more attention as they read and take notes on important concepts of the chapter in an easy review like sheet. The most important piece of this strategy is where the students make connections to the material allowing information to be retained.

How?

1)      The teacher needs to prepare a work sheet with several columns labeled questions, answer, and connections/reactions. Ensure there is enough room for the student to write down information.

2)      As the assignment is handed out explicit instructions must be given and thorough modeling must be done to avoid any confusion.

3)      Students then will scan through the chapter looking at heading, pictures, graphs, or even key terms. They then write down questions based on what they observe.

4)      As the students read they answer the questions to the best of their ability.

5)      After the student will read their questions and the answers and then write down their reaction or any connections they have made to their personal lives.

6)      After the teacher will conduct a group discussion talking about what students wrote and observed.

Applying the strategy to Industrial Technology- The strategy would be perfect to use the lesson on the 1950’s. During the 1950’s there were a lot of modern day inventions and ideals that are still used today. This would allow students to make connections effortlessly enabling them to remember the material from the lesson.

Source- Robb, L. (2009). Reading Strategy Lessons for Science and Social Studies. New York: Scholastic.

4.      What: Pre-teach Vocabulary to Build Concepts (Before Reading Strategy)

Why:  Pre-teaching vocabulary words to students can drastically increase their comprehension and understanding of a reading assignment. The teacher will look through the assignment and choose several challenging vocabulary words to discuss. The teacher will pronounce the word and then thoroughly explain the words to the class giving examples to avoid any confusion. The strategy is beneficial in reading assignments that contain a lot of different and difficult vocabulary words that students need to know and understand to fully comprehend the reading assignment. The students will then not be blindsided by the difficult concepts presented in the reading allowing the student to focus on pertinent details surrounding the concepts and gain an deeper understanding of the lesson.

How?

1)      The teacher will review the reading material and choose 5 to 6 key vocabulary words that student may struggle with.

2)      Before the reading assignment is given the teacher will show the students where the vocabulary words are located. The teacher will then pronounce the words and thoroughly explain their meaning. The teacher can point out any pictures or graphs that will help explain the meaning of the word in more detail.

3)      The teacher should then go on and give examples of the meaning of the words so students will understand the vocabulary words and avoid any confusion.

4)      The teacher may even choose include a handout to the students he/she feels it is necessary.

Applying the strategies to Industrial Technology: A great lesson to apply this concept to would be in introductory courses within Industrial Tech.  When students are first in shop courses, many of them have never seen or used expensive, potentially dangerous equipment. By emphasizing key safety practices at the beginning of a text, the students will better comprehend the objectives of the lesson. 

  

Source- Robb, L. (2009). Reading Strategy Lessons for Science and Social Studies. New York: Scholastic.

5.      What? Sticky Note Strategy (During Reading Strategy)

Why?  The sticky note strategy is an easy and efficient means for the reader to evaluate the progress of their comprehension during a reading strategy. The student will begin reading, and as a student has a question or thought while reading they jot down their note and place it in their book where the thought originated. This helps avoid writing in textbooks. The reader then can go back and attempt a fix-up strategy they failed to comprehend the reading. If they are unsuccessful, they will then ask questions to the teacher the next day so the teacher can fully explain the concept.

How?

1)      The teacher will hand out sticky notes to each student. The teacher will then explain and model the entire process to the class.

2)      The students will then begin the reading assignment. As a student makes a connection to the reading they jot down a quick note and place it at the origin of the thought.

3)      When a student is reading and they become confused at a particular word or concept they will write their question on a sticky note and place it on the reading material.

4)      The student will then try to go back and apply a fix-up strategy that was previously taught. If the student is unable to come to a logical conclusion of their question, they may either ask a fellow student or ask the teacher the next day.

  

Applying to Industrial Tech- IT can be confusing for students to read. Several IT concentrations are heavy in math.  For example: In a senior year Building Trades course, students are expected to be able to apply basic to moderately difficult geometric concepts. The teacher could easily explain the sticky notes and assign students to write sticky notes for the concepts they struggled most with, or what questions they had. The next day’s lesson could be constructed around the discussion of sticky notes and explaining solutions to the students struggles.

  

Source- Robb, L. (2009). Reading Strategy Lessons for Science and Social Studies. New York: Scholastic.

6.      What? Read/Pause/Retell/Evaluate (During Reading Strategies)

Why?

The strategy encourages students to read a section of a text and then pause. The student than tries to retell the information in their own words and when a student successfully describes the text hitting on several key points and key terms, the student will then continue reading. The strategy trains students to frequently stop their reading and try to recall comprehension to ensure they understand the material.  The strategy teaches students how to comprehend difficult texts. It allows the student to break the text into chunks and analyze and explain each chunk. If the student is unable to explain a certain chunk of information it teaches students when to go back and apply fix-up strategies.

How?

1)      First the teacher will demonstrate the process. The teacher must read a section of text (called a chunk) and model how a student should retell the information in their own words.

2)      The teacher than assigns the students a section of reading.

3)      The student will begin reading a chunk of information. They then will retell the information in their own words. They can either verbally say what they read or jot it down on a piece of paper.

4)      When the student can explain several key concepts along with all the vocabulary words is a particular chunk the student can then move onto another chuck of information.

5)      If a student is unable to retell the information in a chunk of text they must go back and apply a variety of fix-up strategies to enable them to comprehend what they read.

Applying to Industrial Technology-Instead of applying this strategy to a book or article, I would use an instructional video. Instructional videos are very valuable in Industrial Technology because of animated simulations and the camera angles they can be shot in. Frequently pausing and reflecting on procedures for using complex machines can help all students find meaning in the text.

Source- Robb, L. (2009). Reading Strategy Lessons for Science and Social Studies. New York: Scholastic.