The Adult Basic Education Teacher's Toolkit

Reading Skills Toolbox

You can use the following strategies in your classroom in ways you find useful to your students. These strategies include Advance Organizers, the Anticipation Guide, Dialogue Journals, the Directed Reading-Thinking Activity (DR-TA), the Guided Writing Procedure (GWP), K-W-L, Language Experience Variations, Narrative Frames, the PReP technique, QAR, ReQuest, Story Impressions, Text Preview, Reading-Writing Think Sheets, Think-Alouds, and Word Maps.

Note: Most of the forms presented in this chapter are reproduced in
Appendix A so that you may copy them for classroom use.

Advance Organizers

Definition: Advance organizers are introduced to students in advance of learning the material itself. Two functions of advance organizers are (1) to bridge the gap between what learners already know and what they need to know before they can successfully learn the task at hand and (2) to help teachers organize and convey large amounts of information as meaningfully and efficiently as possible.

Purpose: This strategy is designed to strengthen students' cognitive structures. Cognitive structure includes what kind of knowledge of a field is in our minds, how much of it there is, and how well it is organized. Before a teacher can present new material effectively, he/she must first increase the stability and clarity of the students' cognitive structures.

Rationale: There are two kinds of advance organizers. Expository organizers provide a basic concept at the highest level of abstraction and perhaps some lesser concepts. This is the intellectual scaffold (as discussed in Chapter 2, Some Anticipated Questions) on which the student will "hang" the new information as it is encountered. Comparative organizers are used most with relatively familiar material. They are designed to discriminate between old and new concepts in order to prevent any confusion which may be caused by similarity.

These two kinds of advance organizers may be presented in various ways depending on the teacher and the lesson. Forms of advance organizers may include: a 200-500 word prose passage, a graphic presentation, a thematic organizer in the form of a picture, a slide-verbal presentation, a concrete model, an empty matrix with the horizontal and vertical axes specified, an outline form with blanks to be filled in during lecture, or a structured overview.

Description of the Process:

The teacher should:

1. Read the chapter noting main ideas and important details. Reorder the ideas so they reflect general ideas and their relationship to subordinate details.

2. Use analogies to show the principal similarities and differences between concepts that the reader knows and those that will be encountered in the new textual material.

3. Use examples in varied contexts and real incidents or illustrations that relate what the reader knows to the new material.

4. Pose questions in the organizer that help students reflect on the new material and relate it to their own backgrounds.

5. Construct a special organizer for each new unit of material so that learners will have a general idea of the more detailed material before reading it and will be able to make use of established knowledge to increase their familiarity and efficiency for learning the new information.

6. Write organizers that are approximately one-tenth to one-fifth as long as the text that follows.

7. Ensure that students understand the purpose of the advance organizer. Provide instruction in metacognitive strategies so that they know how to use the organizer and are able to apply their knowledge effectively.

Joyce, Bruce and Marsha Weil. 1992. Models of Teaching, 4th ed. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc.

Anticipation Guide

Definition: The Anticipation Guide is designed to (1) activate students' prior knowledge about a topic before reading, and (2) to set a purpose for later reading.

Purpose: This strategy attempts to increase student's comprehension by requiring them to react to a series of statements about a topic before engaging in reading or some other form of information acquisition.

Rationale: The Anticipation Guide utilizes student's prior knowledge to develop various predictions in order to motivate them to become active readers. Comprehension strategies are incorporated by requiring students to respond to statements that focus their attention on the topic to be learned. Anticipation Guides may be used with various print and nonprint media.

Description of the Process:

1. Identify major concepts.

Review the material to be used and write down major concepts into statements intended to evoke controversy. The number of concepts may vary according to text length.

Example:

Text: Food contains nutrients that your body needs for energy, growth, and repair.

Teacher's statement: An apple a day keeps the doctor away.

2. Determine students' knowledge of these concepts.

Consider the students' background and experiences in relation to the major concepts and determine how these concepts support or challenge what students already know.

3. Decide statement order and presentation mode.

Usually the order will follow the sequence in which the concepts are encountered in the text. This is subject to your judgment. Concepts may be presented using chalkboard, overhead, or handouts.

4. Present the guide.

Present teacher-made guide to the students.

5. Discuss each statement briefly.

A discussion about the guide should lead to expression of students' opinions to each statement. Students should be prepared to defend their opinions. The discussion should include opposing opinions for each side of the issue. As other students listen to the discussion, they can evaluate their own views in terms of the others.

6. Have students read the text.

The purpose for reading is developed to discover the author's viewpoint about each statement. As students read, they should keep these things in mind --their own views, the views of others, and how what they are reading relates to what was discussed.

7. Conduct a follow-up discussion.

After reading, the students will once again respond to the statements by reacting in light of the actual text. The guide now provides the basis for a post-reading discussion in which the students share the new information they gain and determine if and how their previous thoughts were modified. Make it clear to the students that agreement with the author is not mandatory.

Pearson, P.D., J. Hansen, C. Gordon. 1979. The effect of background knowledge on young children's comprehension of explicit and implicit information. Journal of Reading Behavior 11:201-219.

Dialogue Journals

Definition: Dialogue journals are intended to provide students with the opportunity to share privately in writing their reactions, questions, and concerns about school experiences (and sometimes personal matters) with the teacher without any threat of reprisal or evaluation. It affords the teacher an opportunity to learn what each student is doing and thinking in order to offer counsel.

Purpose: The major characteristic that distinguishes dialogue journals from other forms of writing is the emphasis placed on communication between the teacher and student. Dialogue journals are similar to a daily letter or memo to the teacher. While the teacher may not respond to every entry, the intent of dialogue journals is to have students write to the teacher and to have the teacher write a genuine response to the student.

Rationale: This technique is a good way to facilitate students' abilities to express feelings privately between themselves and the teacher. The teacher can interact with each student individually to meet their needs.

Description of the Process:

Introduction to dialogue journals to students can simply be an informal discussion on the purpose of the journal and an open-ended sense of what might be included. It is important to set an appropriate amount of time in order to obtain meaningful journal entries.

Journal writing provides:

• opportunities for more open responses to assignments.
• opportunities for teacher feedback, counseling, and response.
• opportunities for the teacher to interact with individual students.
• a way for the students to live inside the book through their creative writing in the journal entries.
• a time and place for student reflection.
• opportunities for development of reading skills.

When teachers respond to dialogue journals, they should keep in mind to:

• respect privacy in journals by not reading aloud or sharing journal entries without permission of the author.
• be sincere in responding by writing and sharing ideas and suggestions.
• be positive by encouraging the students.
• keep journal writing special and interesting by not overusing journal writing.
• keep their responses at approximately the same length and syntactic complexity as the student's entry.

Staton, J. 1980. Writing and counseling: Using a dialogue journal. Language Arts 57: 514-518.

Example:

John is an adult learner in his early thirties. The following dialogue journal examples represent his progress in writing and expressing his thoughts.

Example of Dialogue Journal

Directed Reading-Thinking Activity (DR-TA)

Definition: The Directed Reading-Thinking Activity (DR-TA) increases student's ability to read critically and reflectively.

Purpose: This strategy attempts to provide readers with the following skills.

1. the ability to determine purposes for reading

2. the ability to extract, understand, and assimilate information

3. the ability to analyze reading material based upon purposes for reading

4. the ability to suspend judgments

5. the ability to problem solve based upon information from reading.

Rationale: The DR-TA consists of a process and a product. The process involves the reader in setting purposes for reading, adjusting reading rate according to the purposes, verification of purposes, evaluation of comprehension, and proceeding to read with the same or different purposes. The DR-TA can be used with almost any reading selection and places a heavy emphasis on the relationship between reading and thinking.

Description of the Process:

The process includes predicting, reading, and proving.

1. Predicting: During this first step, ask students to predict outcomes and model their inferential reasoning for others. At the beginning of a story, you could use questions like the following.

• What will a story with this title be about? Why?
• Who do you think will be in a story with this? Why?
• Where do you think this story will take place? Why?

Each student is expected to form a prediction and support it with a reasonable explanation. Encourage different predictions as long as a student can logically justify a prediction he or she makes.

2. Reading: Ask students to read silently a specified passage in a story and check their predictions. Directions such as the following might be given.

Now that you have told me what you think this story is going to be about, who will be in it, and where will it take place, I want you to read and see if you were correct. Read up to the end of page ___ please.

3. Proving: During this step, ask students to draw conclusions and to model their reasoning process for others. In a discussion, have students evaluate the available evidence in relation to their predictions. Questions like the following can be used to begin the discussion.

• Was your guess correct? Why or why not?
• What do you think now? Why?
• Why do you think that happened?
• Why did (a character) do (an event) ?
• What do you think will happen next?

At the end of this discussion, begin the three-step procedure again. Use questions like the following to help students make predictions for the next story portion.

Now what do you think will happen next?

How do you think (a character) will solve the problem? Why?

Stauffer, R.G., and M.M. Harrel. 1975. Individualized reading-thinking activities. The Reading Teacher 28:765-769.

Guided Writing Procedure

Definition: The Guided Writing Procedure (GWP) has four main goals which include:

1. to activate and assess students' prior knowledge of a text topic before reading occurs.
2. to evaluate students' written expression in a content area.
3. to improve students' written expression through guided instruction.
4. to facilitate the synthesis and retention of text material.

Purpose: GWP is an aid in developing writing fluency and enhancing learning from text. It can be used with factual or content material.

Rationale: The GWP attempts to use the process of writing as a means to help students learn from text. It offers the language processes of reading and listening as a means of helping students learn from text.

Description of the Process:

Two specific procedures are involved in the GWP: include (1) informal diagnosis of prior knowledge and written expression, and (2) teaching content and written expression.

1. Informal diagnosis of prior knowledge and written expression:

Begins the GWP by asking students to brainstorm thoughts they have related to the topic. The teacher records everything the students say on the board. For example:

Topic: Plants

Board: green        light

water       animals eat them

need sunlight       photosynthesis

Next, students vote on which ideas are general and which ideas are details. The ideas are outlined in a Web or clusters. The teacher encourages students to write one or two short paragraphs using the Web as a guide. This will constitute their first draft. The teacher assigns the students to read the text on the topic.

As students read, collect the paragraphs and analyze them for organization of ideas, style, and mechanics. Because the students' papers are first drafts, you should not mark their writings but rather create a Concept and Writing Checklist to record this information for each individual student. (See following page.)

2. Teaching content and written expression:

Display an illustrative draft on the overhead along with the checklist as a guide. The draft may be an actual student's draft or one you create to use as an example. Using the checklist and the text information, encourage members of the class to contribute ideas to edit the draft on the overhead.

Return the students' drafts and ask them to use the checklist as a guide for editing their own drafts. Have students edit for both content and writing inaccuracies to develop a second draft. Collect the second draft and then examine and compare them to the initial checklist results. If necessary, you may want to hold individual conferences to provide help for students whose writing has not shown growth.

Smith, C., and T.W. Bean. 1980. The guided writing procedure: Integrating content reading and writing improvement.

K-W-L

Definition: K-W-L (What I Know, What I Want to Know, What I Learned) is a teaching model designed to help students learn from nonfiction text in any content area.

Purpose: This strategy involves brainstorming, questioning, and analyzing answers to those questions. K-W-L is a three-step procedure that enables teachers to help students access appropriate knowledge when reading expository text.

Rationale: The KWL was developed to ensure that teachers had a framework to elicit children's background knowledge and engage student interest. KWL can work well in adult classes, too. It is a mix of group and individual activities that help scaffold students’ own ideas and interests.

Description of the Process:

K-W-L consists of three steps: accessing what I know, determining what I want to know, and recalling what I learned as a result of reading. The first two steps involve the teacher and students engaging in oral discussion followed by personal responses. The third step involves personal responses followed by the teacher and students engaging in oral discussion.

K - What I Know

Step K involves brainstorming and generating categories for ideas. Prior to reading, have students brainstorm in response to a concept. The concept should be specific, rather than general, to motivate a focus on detail and to generate well thought-out ideas. As students verbalize their thoughts, write ideas on the board. Following brainstorming, you should discuss possible categories of information. Have students examine the brainstorm list and interrelate some of the information to form general categories. List these under the K category on the KWL form found on the page following these instructions.

W - What I Want to Know

While brainstorming and developing categories, students begin to develop interests and curiosities. Step W involves turning the interests and curiosities into reasons to read. Discuss various possible questions with students that they want to know about their concept. Encourage each student to specify those questions he or she is interested in having answered. List questions under the W category. Afterwards, have students read the selections about the concept. As students read, they can look at the listed K and W categories to focus on what they know and want to know.

L - What I Learned

As students complete their readings, have them write down what they have learned and check what questions they still need to answer. Discuss their findings and list what they have learned under the L category.

McAllister, Patricia J. March 1994. Using KWL for Informal Assessment. Reading Teacher, v47: 510-11.

KWL

Language Experience Variations

Definition: Language experience consists of developing students' vocabulary, sight words, and fluency in reading and writing.

Purpose: Language experience variations help the student develop vocabulary, sight words, and fluency in reading and writing. The atmosphere this strategy provides is a non-threatening one in which the student may also develop more confidence.

Rationale: This strategy is a good way to get students to gain more confidence and become self-assured in developing vocabulary and fluency in reading and writing.

Description of the Process: In using variations of language experience, the teacher uses the student's prior knowledge and experiences for literary activities. The activities may include a student dictating a story to the teacher and then later using the story to develop vocabulary or other skills. The teacher may also use some kind of directed writing in which the students do their own writing and then respond to each other's writing. In each variation of the strategy students are writing about what they know.

Variation #1 - Dictation

• The student dictates a short passage.
• The teacher writes it word for word on a large sheet of paper.
• The teacher reads the story back to the student.
• The student reads the story.
• In the future, read the story or develop vocabulary, sight words, or language lessons based on the story.

Variation #2 - Transcription

• The student or group of students tells a story from personal experience.
• The story is tape-recorded and later transcribed by the teacher.
• The tape and the story are used in future lessons.

Variation #3 - Directed Writing

A. Sentence completion activities are" filled in" by the student.

1. When I think of my country, I feel...

2. When I think of my children, I feel...

3. When I think of the weekend, I feel...

B. Have students complete questions and answers. Each student writes a question. Questions are passed to others and responses are written and read. (Some teachers and students call this activity "Ann Landers" after the newspaper column of personal advice).

Q. What is your favorite TV program?

A.

Q. How do you find a good job in this town?

A.

Variation #4 - Free Writing

• Each student, working individually, writes about a personal or a shared group experience.
• Students may read their work aloud at the end of class, or you can prepare the work for sharing at the next class (put several passages on a page without the authors' names, then copy enough for each person in the class to have a collection of each other's writings).

New Readers Press. 1975. Using Language Experience With Adults. Laubach Literacy International. Syracuse, New York.

Narrative Frames

Definition: Narrative Frames help readers in their analysis and use of a story. When used in conjunction with the guided reading of a story, these brief teacher-created, fill-in-the-blank-texts aid in reading comprehension.

Purpose: Narrative Frames may be used to produce guides useful for summarizing, identifying plot and setting, analyzing characters, and comparing or contrasting characters. This strategy can be used individually or in combination depending on the focus of the lesson for any narrative.

Rationale: Narrative Frames allow readers to develop a sense of story and ensure that the guidelines they receive are true to the story line. Narrative Frames include various procedures for analyzing stories.

Description of the Process:

Narrative Frame 1: One character included

This narrative frame helps the student develop a four sentence summary of the narrative.

Narrative Frame 2: Important idea or plot

As the student identifies the main events which creates the plot of the story, sequencing skills are also developed.

Narrative Frame 3: Setting

The student is required to identify the setting and justify their answer with actual clues from the text.

Narrative Frame 4: Character analysis

This narrative frame requires the student to identify the main character(s) by communicating why this character is important to the story.

Narrative Frame 5: Character comparison or contrast

Two characters are compared or contrasted by identifying specific traits and events supplied in the story.

---

_____________________________________________ is an important character in our

story. _______________________________ tried to ___________________________

The story ends when_____________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________.

After that _______________________________________________________________ .

Next, ________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________ .

Then ________________________________________________________________ .

The story ends when ___________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

______________________________________ .

This story takes place when ________________________________________________.

I know this because the author uses the words ________________________________

_______________________________________________________________.

Other clues that show where the story takes place are _______________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________.

_________________________________________________ important character in the

story. ________________________________________________________is important

because ________________________________________________________________ .

Once, he/she ____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

Another time, ______________________________________________________________

____________________ . I think that ___________________________________________

____________(name)_________ is _________________________________ (trait)

_______________________because ____________________________________________

____________________________________________________________ .

Character Comparison

_____________________________ and ____________________________________are

two characters in the story. __________(name) ________________________is

________________________________(trait)___________________________

while ___________(name)______________________ is _________________

__(trait)__________________________________________________________

For instance, __________________________________________________________ tries

to __________________________ and _____________________________________ tries

to ___________________________________ .

Response Options for Narrative Texts

Definition: The PreReading Plan (PreP) consists of two main goals: (1) to allow students to generate what they know about a topic and to extend these ideas and evaluate them; and (2) to provide teachers with a procedure for assessing the adequacy of the students’ prior knowledge about a topic, and for determining the language that students use to express their ideas.

Purpose: The PreReading Plan provides students the opportunity to brainstorm, develop associations for, and reflect and reformulate their ideas enabling them to access what they know about a topic prior to reading. Students who know a lot about the topic can use PReP to determine what is relevant and what is irrelevant.

Rationale: This strategy helps access relevant knowledge for those students who are unaware that they know something about a topic. For those students who know very little about a topic, PReP helps extend their understanding to prepare them for learning from their texts.

Description of the Process:

The use of the PReP consists of two facets: (1) engaging students in discussion around key concepts and (2) analyzing the nature of student responses.

1. Engaging students in discussion

Prior to engaging in discussion, the teacher should determine what the key concepts are that they wish the students to address, and in which ways to stimulate discussion. The discussion involves a three-step process:

Step 1: Initial Associations with the Concept (What comes to mind when...?)

Using a visual representation or some other stimuli, the teacher encourages brainstorming by asking the following questions:

• What comes to mind when...?
• What do you think of ...?
• What might you see, hear, feel...?
• What might be going on...?

Jot down answers as students generate ideas.

Step 2: Reflections on Initial Associations (What made you think of...?)

Students should be able to explain the associations they generated in Step 1. Doing this allows students to become aware of their own associations as well as their peers' associations. Encourage students to evaluate the usefulness of their ideas.

Step 3: Reformulation of Knowledge (Have you any new ideas about...?)

After students evaluate in Step 2, they can change or refine their associations. The teacher's role is to accept and be inquisitive rather than evaluate and be critical.

2. Analyzing Student Responses

The PreP technique offers teachers guidelines to determine if students have well-formed, partly formed, or ill-formed knowledge structures:

• Students with little knowledge about a topic will focus on low-level associations with morphemes (prefixes, suffixes, or root words).
• Students with some knowledge will mention examples, attributes, or defining characteristics.
• Students with much knowledge about a topic will offer information that suggests evidence of integration with high level concepts. They might take the form of analogies, definitions, linkages, and superordinate concepts.

Realize that responses may vary across the three steps and analysis should not be restricted to one of the steps.

Examples:

Topic: Geography of Oceans

Anderson, R.C., J.W. Pichert, and L.L. Shirey. 1979. Effects of the reader’s schemata at different points in time. Urbana: University of Illinois.

QAR

Definition: Question-Answer Relationships (QARs) is a procedure for enhancing students' abilities to answer comprehension questions by giving them a systematic means for analyzing task demands of different question prose.

Purpose: Question, Answer, Relationships (QARs) helps students look for answers in a reading passage. QARs help students develop the ability to identify both explicit and rephrased information and to draw inferences.

Rationale: QARs enable readers to analyze the task demands of questions prior to answering them.

Description of the Process:

There are three types of QARs:

1. Right There

The answer is in the story and easy to find. The words that make the question and the words used to make the answer are Right There in the same sentence.

2. Think and Search

The answer can be found in the story, but is a little harder to discover. You would never find the words from the question and words in the answer in the same sentence, but would have to Think and Search for the answer.

3. On My Own

The answer to the question will not be told in the text of the story. The answer must be inferred from what the reader knows. Think: "I have to answer this question On My Own, the story will not be much help."

In teaching QARs it is important to remember the following principles of instruction:

• Give student(s) immediate feedback.
• Progress from shorter to longer text.
• Encourage independence by guiding students from group to independent activities.
• Provide a transition from the easier task of recognizing a "Right There" answer to the more difficult task of creating an "On Your Own" answer.

Go through these steps to use QAR in your classroom.

1. Introduce the QAR concept and terminology (this may be done by showing a transparency of the various QAR types and explaining it). You should do the following activities with your students.

• Discuss the difference between text-based and knowledge-based responses and then stress the distinction between the two text-based strategies. For example, a Right There QAR with information for both the question and response can be found in a single sentence, while a Think and Search QAR requires integrating information from at least two sentences.
• Give students a short passage to read and some questions to answer with their answers and their QARs identified.
• Discuss why the question and answers have been categorized in their respective QARs.
• Give students another short passage to read followed by questions and their responses, but in this instance have students identify the QAR for each one.
• Give students passages followed by questions. After reading the passage, students should decide on the question-answering strategy, and them write their responses in the blank next to the QAR.

• Introduce slightly longer passages (75 to 150 words) with up to five questions per passage.
• Review QAR types. Students may work through one passage as a group, and then continue independently.
• Check students' work and provide feedback. It is as important for students to be able to justify their responses, based on the text and their own background, as it is for them to have the correct answer.

3. Students should:

• Practice the QAR task using one passage about two to four pages in length. The passage should be divided into approximately four sections, followed by six questions, two from each category.
• Work independently to answer the questions and identify the QAR.

• Give students a passage (600 to 800 words) as a single unit, followed by six questions from each QAR category.
• Have students read the unit and respond to the questions by identifying which QAR they used and then giving the answer.

Rapheal, Taffy E., and Dale D. Johnson. 1978. Teaching Reading Comprehension. New York, NY: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

ReQuest

Definition: ReQuest is a strategy that enables readers to comprehend their reading by developing their own purpose for reading and questions to answer.

Purpose: This procedure encourages students to:

1. Formulate their own questions about material they are reading and develop questioning skills.
2. Adopt an active inquiring attitude toward reading.
3. Set a purpose for reading.
4. Improve comprehension skills during independent reading.

Rationale: While teacher questioning and purpose setting are important to reading comprehension, of greater importance is the development of the students' abilities to ask their own questions and to set their own purposes for reading. These skills facilitate the students' acquisition of an active, inquiring attitude and their ability to examine alternatives and to originate information. This is essential if students are to transfer problem-solving involvement to different contexts.

Description of the Process: During this procedure, an individual student and teacher silently read sections of a selection and then take turns answering each other's questions about that selection. The teacher's role is to model good questioning behavior, to provide feedback to the student about his or her questions, and to assess whether the student has established reasonable purposes for independently completing the passage.

1. Preparation of material

This step involves previewing the selection for the purpose of

• selecting material at an appropriate level for the student
• selecting material that will encourage making predictions
• identifying various points in the selection where students could make predictions

Introduce the ReQuest procedure by explaining the following steps:

• each student silently reads the same paragraph.
• the student takes the role of the teacher and asks questions for the teacher to answer.
• the teacher models good questions by asking the student questions that will promote student interest in the procedure, introduce unfamiliar vocabulary, and activate prior knowledge.
• the person answering questions should not look at the selection.
• each question should be answered fully.

• joint silent reading -- student and teacher read first paragraph simultaneously.
• student questioning -- the teacher closes the book and the student questions the teacher. In response, the teacher should reinforce appropriate questioning behavior, and, if necessary, request rephrasing of any unclear questions.
• exchange of roles -- when the student finishes questioning, the book should be closed while the teacher asks the questions.

When a student has read enough of a selection to make a prediction about the remaining material, the exchange of questions is terminated. The teacher evokes students' predictions and validations. The teacher might ask, "What do you think will happen? Why do you think so?" In the beginning, it might be helpful to provide the student with a list of possible predictions and a ranking from most likely to least likely. If the teacher finds the predications and verifications reasonable, then students can proceed to the next step.

5. Silent reading activity

The teacher now directs the student to finish reading the selection in order to verify what actually happened. The teacher may either read along with the student or act as an assistant. It is important to give aid without disrupting student's comprehension.

6. Follow-up activities

The purpose of follow-up activities is to involve students in applying information gained from reading. Suggestions include reconsideration and discussion of student's predictions. For example, students might suggest an alternative ending or a variation of the story.

Manzo, A.V. 1985. Expansion modules for the ReQuest, CAT, GRP, and REAP reading/study procedures. Journal of Reading 28: 498-503.

Story Impressions

Purpose: Using Story Impressions develops students' active thinking about ideas before reading. Through creative writing students express their own prediction of the story.

Definition: Story Impressions is a prereading writing activity that involves students' using key concepts from a story to develop their own impression of how these concepts might fit together.

Rationale: A major goal of Story Impressions is to have readers build anticipatory models that are confirmed or modified as the readers encounter the actual text.

Description of the Process:

1. Before the lesson begins, the teacher reads the story and writes down 10-15, one or two word concepts in the sequence that they appeared in the story.
2. This word list is presented to the students as a tool to create their own predictions as to how the words are related. (This predicting activity can be done as a group activity or individually.) The teacher should encourage students to brainstorm how the ideas might connect.
3. The students read the story in order to discover how their stories compare with the actual text. It should be stressed that agreement with the actual text is not important, but rather how the clues were woven together similarly or differently.

 

Example:

Text: Edgar Allen Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart"

Teacher-created word list:

house	old man	young man
hatred	death	black
knife	buried	floor
police	crazy	confession

Story Impression

There was a young man who lived with his father, an old man, in a house out in the country. The old man hated his son. Feeling this hatred, the young man killed his father by stabbing him to death with a knife. He then buried the body in the floor of the house. Feeling extreme guilt and wondering if he was crazy, the young son confessed his murder to the police.

Denner, P.R. and W.J. McGinley. 1986. The effects of story impressions as a prereading/writing/ activity on story comprehension. Journal of Educational Research, 82:6, 320-326.

Text Preview

Definition: The Text Preview's goal is to have comprehension enhanced when readers draw upon their prior knowledge and are interested in the topic.

Purpose: The Text Preview has three purposes:

1. To build students' background knowledge about a topic.
2. To motivate students to read.
3. To provide an organizational framework for comprehending a text.

Rationale: This strategy helps students build their knowledge about a text selection before they read. Unfamiliar vocabulary, syntax, text structure, and/or complicated settings, events, or characters can lead to a difficult reading for students. However, the Text Preview can give readers this information in a framework to understand the characters and events at the text level and beyond. Motivation is a factor of Text Previews because connections are made between topics to be read and students' experiences.

Description of the Process:

Text Previews can be described in two parts: (1) Preparation and construction, and (2) Presentation.

1. Preparation and Construction of Text Previews

A Text Preview is written as an organizational framework to enhance students' comprehension of a text selection which consists of three parts:

• an interest-building section: This section is designed to motivate students by asking rhetorical questions to make a connection between a familiar topic and the topic of the selection.
• a description of characters and setting: A brief description of the story's theme with an introduction to the characters, setting, plot and point of view is discussed.
• a purpose-setting question or directions for reading: Students are given questions or directions to aid them in their reading.

The first step for the teacher in construction of a Text Preview is to become thoroughly familiar with the selection. This can be achieved by reading it more than once. The teacher then decides how to build a bridge between what students know and the topic of the story. The synopsis of the story should be a brief description of the characters, setting, point of view, and plot up to the climax of the story. Directions or a question for purpose of reading should be the outcome for which the students can look for as they read or a special twist they might encounter as they read.

2. Presentation of Text Previews

The following steps will guide teachers in the presentation of Text Previews:

• Introduce a new story.
• Read or talk about the interest-building section of the preview to the students.
• Give students time to relate the information to their prior knowledge and discuss it.
• Read remainder of the Text Preview.
• Have students read the selection.

A story preview should only take five to ten minutes, including the discussion in order to be focused.

Graves, M.F., C.L. Cooke, and M.J. LaBerge. 1983. Effects of previewing difficult short stories on low ability junior high school students' comprehension, recall, and attitudes. Reading Research Quarterly 18: 262-276.

Reading-Writing Think Sheets

Definition: A goal of using Reading-Writing Think Sheets is for students to gradually internalize the framework allowing them to become better writers.

Purpose: Reading-Writing Think Sheets provide students with the ability to:

• sustain their thinking about topics
• organize their writing
• increase sensitivity to audience (setting context and giving text signals)
• identify and provide a purpose for their expository writing
• perceive themselves as informants with information to share
• correctly use conventions of print

Rationale: This strategy provides a framework to help students plan, organize, edit, and revise their writing.

Description of the Process:

Think Sheets	Purpose
Plan	A guide to prompt the reader to consider topic, purposes, and audience.
Organize	Make decisions about the order in which to present their ideas. Organize think sheets can differ for each text structure.
Edit	Prompts self-analysis and discussion of their writing to help plan a revision.
Revise	Designed to help student authors consider others' comments and suggestions while allowing them to maintain control of their writings.

Raphael, Taffy E. and Englert, Carol Sue. 1990. Writing and reading: Partners in constructing meaning. The Reading Teacher.




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Plan Think Sheet

Author's name ________________________________ Date____________________

Topic ____________________________

Who: Who am I writing this for?

Why: Why am I writing this?

What: What do I already know about my topic?

1. ____________________________________________________________

2. ____________________________________________________________

3. ______________________________________________________

4. _______________________________________________________

5. ____________________________________________________________

How: How do I group my ideas?

Who or what is needed?

Setting?

What are the steps?

Read to check your information

• What do I like best? Why?

• What parts are not clear? Why not?

Tell what was being explained?	yes	sort of	no
Tell what things are needed?	yes	sort of	no
Make the steps clear?	yes	sort of	no
Use keywords to make it clear?	yes	sort of	no
Make it interesting to my reader?	yes	sort of	no

Planning a revision (Look back at draft)

• What parts do I want to change?

• What questions do I have from my editor?

1. _____________________________________________________________
2. ___________________________________________________________
3. _____________________________________________________________
4. _____________________________________________________________
5. _____________________________________________________________

Put a * next to all the suggestion that you would like to consider in revising your paper.

Making your paper more interesting

Consider ideas for making your paper more interesting to your reader:

• Does your introduction grab your reader?
• What will make your reader want to finish the paper?
• List other ideas:

_____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

Return to your draft

On your first draft, make all changes that you think will improve your paper.
Use ideas from the lists you have made on this think sheet.

Think Alouds

Definition: Think-Alouds studies the cognitive processes that readers and writers use as they develop meanings. There are five aspects of a skilled reader's thinking:

• making predictions
• visualizing
• linking with prior knowledge
• monitoring
• self-correction

Purpose: Think-Alouds are intended to help readers analyze and develop reading behaviors and strategies.

Rationale: Through Think-Alouds, teachers can help students acquire these skills through modeling by the teacher and follow-up practice by the students. The follow-up practice may include a checklist in order to stimulate student involvement and verify that they were using this procedure.

Description of the Process:

Think-Alouds involve the following four steps:

1. Teacher modeling

Teachers should select materials that contain points of difficulty or unknown words. These materials are read aloud by the teacher and the student. The teacher offers examples of Think-Alouds to be used:

• Making predictions or showing students how to develop hypotheses. "In the next part, I think we'll find out what caused the car to brake down."
• Describing visual images.

"I can see the father leaning over the car motor looking confused and frustrated."

• Showing how prior knowledge applies.

"It might be the battery. When my car broke down I had to get a new battery."

• Demonstrating fix-up strategies.

"I need to reread this."

"I need to check this out so I am going to read ahead for a moment."

2. Student partnerships for practice

After several modeling experiences, students might work together with peers if possible to practice Think-Alouds. Each student alternates reading and thinking aloud with short passages. Each student listens and offers suggestions and ideas.

3. Independent student practice with checklists

Students need to practice independently with the use of checklists to ensure student involvement and use of procedures.

4. Integrated use with other materials

Teachers need to give ample practice with school materials and integrate the use of Think-Alouds with other lessons and content reading. Give occasional demonstrations on how to read, and why and when to use certain strategies. The teacher may illustrate his or her own thinking before and during reading a content book.

Davey, B. and S.M. Porter. 1982. Comprehension rating: A procedure to assist poor comprehenders. Journal of Reading 26: 197-202.

Word Maps

Definition: The concept of definition (Word Maps) strategy stresses the importance of students' being able to figure out new words on their own, instructs them in what types of information make up a definition, and teaches them how to use context clues and prior knowledge to increase their understanding of words. Using Word Maps helps students gain control of the vocabulary acquisition process.

Purpose: Word maps provide students with a visual representation of a definition. Three categories of relationships are used in Word Maps:
(1) What is it? (2) What is it like? (3) What are some examples?

Rationale: The ability to use context clues effectively is an essential skill readers need in order to comprehend unknown words in content area reading. Students need strategies they can use to expand their own vocabularies and to master unfamiliar concepts. Many students are unaware that they have prior knowledge which may aid them in comprehending the text. 

Description of the Process:

In the center of the map students write the unfamiliar word to be studied. Next, in the topmost box they write a general one-word description that answers the question, "What is it?" The answers to "What is it like?" specifies features which distinguishes the concept. The answer to "What are some examples?" requires that the student generate examples of the concept.

1. On the first day, students learning Word Maps should be given explicit information on what they will be doing, why it is important, and how they will go about accomplishing it.

• Following the introduction, a blank Word Map form should be displayed and introduced as a type of picture students can use to remind them of what they need to know to really comprehend a new word.
• With the help of an instructor, students should take a word that is already familiar to them and fill the Word Map.

2. The students, with the aid of the instructor, will read a piece of text and fill in another Word Map using an unfamiliar concept or word.

• First, students should be able to underline or highlight pieces of the text they will need in order to complete the Word Map.
• Students should fill in the Word Map by referring to their highlighted text.
• Finally, students will generate oral or written definitions following the mapping.
• Students should be told that additional ideas may be included in the map or definition if they contribute to the understanding of the concept or word.

3. The next piece of text students use for Word Maps should only partially contain information needed for their definition.

• Students should still highlight pieces of text that they can use in their Word Map.
• Students should fill in their Word Map as much as possible.
• At this point, students should refer to other sources such as dictionaries, textbooks, and encyclopedias to obtain additional specific types of information.
• Discussion should center around students' use of their background or prior knowledge and other sources to locate components of the definition.

4. Internalizing the Word Map.

• Students use the same type of text as in item 3 (text which only contains partial components of a definition).
• Have students think about parts of the map in their heads
• To practice internalization, students are required to write the definition of the word, including all the components, without mapping the words.

Schwartz, Robert and Taffy Raphael. 1984. "Instruction in the concept of definition as vocabulary instruction." Paper presented at the National Reading Conference. St. Petersburg, Florida.

Chapter 6 | Contents