Reading Strategy Essay

What Is It? To aid their comprehension, skillful readers ask themselves questions before, during, and after they read. You can help students become more proficient by modeling this process for them and encouraging them to use it when they read independently. Why Is It Important? Dolores Durkin’s research in 1979 showed that most teachers asked students questions after they had read, as opposed to questioning to improve comprehension before or while they read. In the late 1990s, further research (Pressley, et al.1998) Revealed that despite the abundance of research supporting questioning before, during, and after reading to help comprehension, teachers still favored post-reading comprehension questions. Researchers have also found that when adult readers are asked to â€Å"think aloud† as they read, they employ a wide variety of comprehension strategies, including asking and answering questions before, during, and after reading (Pressley and Afflerbach 1995). Proficient adult readers: Are aware of why they are reading the text Preview and make predictions Read selectively Make connections and associations with the text based on what they already know. Refine predictions and expectations Use context to identify unfamiliar words Reread and make notes Evaluate the quality of the text Review important points in the text Consider how the information might be used in the future Successful reading is not simply the mechanical process of â€Å"decoding† text. Rather, it is a process of active inquiry. Good readers approach a text with questions and develop new questions as they read, for example: â€Å"What is this story about? † â€Å"What does the main character want? † â€Å"Will she get it? † â€Å"If so, how? † Even after reading, engaged readers still ask questions: â€Å"What is the meaning of what I have read? † â€Å"Why did the author end the paragraph (or chapter, or book) in this way? † â€Å"What was the author’s purpose in writing this? † Good authors anticipate the reader’s questions and plant questions in the reader’s mind (think of a title such as, Are You My Mother? by P. D. Eastman). In this way, reading becomes a collaboration between the reader and the author. The author’s job is to raise questions and then answer them – or provide several possible answers. Readers cooperate by asking the right questions, paying careful attention to the author’s answers, and asking questions of their own. HOW CAN YOU MAKE IT HAPPEN? To help readers learn to ask questions before, during, and after reading, think aloud the next time you are reading a book, article, or set of directions. Write each question on a post-it note and stick it on the text you have the question about. You may be surprised at how many typically unspoken questions you ponder, ask, and answer as you read. You may wonder as you read or after you read at the author’s choice of title, at a vocabulary word, or about how you will use this information in the future. You should begin to model these kinds of questions in the primary grades during read-aloud times, when you can say out loud what you are thinking and asking. Read a book or text to the class, and model your thinking and questioning. Emphasize that even though you are an adult reader, questions before, during, and after reading continue to help you gain an understanding of the text you are reading. Ask questions such as: â€Å"What clues does the title give me about the story? † â€Å"Is this a real or imaginary story? † â€Å"Why am I reading this? † â€Å"What do I already know about___? † â€Å"What predictions can I make? â€Å" Pre-select several stopping points within the text to ask and answer reading questions. Stopping points should not be so frequent that they hinder comprehension or fluid reading of a text. This is also an excellent time to model â€Å"repair strategies† to correct miscomprehension. Start reading the text, and ask yourself questions while reading: â€Å"What do I understand from what I just read? † â€Å"What is the main idea? † â€Å"What picture is the author painting in my head? † â€Å"Do I need to reread so that I understand? † Then reread the text, asking the following questions when you are finished: â€Å"Which of my predictions were right? What information from the text tells me that I am correct? † â€Å"What were the main ideas? † â€Å"What connections can I make to the text? How do I feel about it? † Encourage students to ask their own questions after you have modeled this strategy, and write all their questions on chart paper. Students can be grouped to answer one another’s questions and generate new ones based on discussions. Be sure the focus is not on finding the correct answers, because many questions may be subjective, but on curiosity, wondering, and asking thoughtful questions. After students become aware of the best times to ask questions during the reading process, be sure to ask them a variety of questions that: Can be used to gain a deeper understanding of the text Have answers that might be different for everyone Have answers that can be found in the text Clarify the author’s intent Can help clarify meaning Help them make inferences Help them make predictions Help them make connections to other texts or prior knowledge As students begin to read text independently, you should continue to model the questioning process and encourage students to use it often. In the upper elementary and middle school grades, a framework for questions to ask before, during, and after reading can serve as a guide as students work with more challenging texts and begin to internalize comprehension strategies. You can use an overhead projector to jot notes on the framework as you â€Å"think aloud† while reading a text. As students become comfortable with the questioning strategy, they may use the guide independently while reading, with the goal of generating questions before, during, and after reading to increase comprehension. How Can You Stretch Students’ Thinking? The best way to stretch students’ thinking about a text is to help them ask increasingly challenging questions. Some of the most challenging questions are â€Å"Why? † questions about the author’s intentions and the design of the text. For example: â€Å"Why do you think the author chose this particular setting? † â€Å"Why do you think the author ended the story in this way? † â€Å"Why do you think the author chose to tell the story from the point of view of the daughter? † â€Å"What does the author seem to be assuming about the reader’s political beliefs? † Another way to challenge readers is to ask them open-ended question that require evidence from the text to answer. For example: â€Å"What does Huck think about girls? What is your evidence? † â€Å"Which character in the story is most unlike Anna? Explain your reasons, based on evidence from the novel? † â€Å"What is the author’s opinion about affirmative action in higher education? How do you know? † Be sure to explicitly model your own challenging questions while reading aloud a variety of texts, including novels, subject-area textbooks, articles, and nonfiction. Help students see that answering challenging questions can help them understand text at a deeper level, ultimately making reading a more enjoyable and valuable experience. As students become proficient in generating challenging questions, have them group the questions the time they were asked (before, during or after reading). Students can determine their own categories, justify their reasons for placing questions into the categories, and determine how this can help their reading comprehension. When Can You Use It? Reading/English Students who have similar interests can read the same text and meet to discuss their thoughts in a book club. Members can be given a set of sticky notes to mark questions they have before, during, and after reading the text. Members can then share their question with one another to clarify understanding within their group. Since students’ reading level may not necessarily determine which book club they choose to join, accommodations may need to be made, including buddy reading, audio recordings of the text, or the use of computer-aided reading systems. Writing  Good writers anticipate their readers’ questions. Have students jot down the questions they will attempt to answer in an essay or short story before they write it, in the order that they plan to answer them. Stress that this should not be a mechanical process – as students write they probably will think of additional questions to ask and answer. The key point is to have students think of themselves as having a conversation with the reader – and a big part of this is knowing what questions the reader is likely to ask. Math Students can ask questions before, during, and after solving a math problem. Have students think aloud or write in groups to generate questions to complete performance tasks related to mathematics. Social Studies Use before, during, and after questions when beginning a new chapter or unit of study in any social studies topic. Select a piece of text, and have students generate questions related to the topic. At the end of the unit of study, refer back to the questions and discuss how the questions helped students to understand the content. Science Use before, during, and after questions to review an article or science text. You can discuss articles related to a recent scientific discovery with students and then generate questions that would help them to focus their attention on important information. Lesson Plans Lesson Plan: Questioning, The Mitten This lesson is designed to introduce primary students to the importance of asking questions before, during, and after listening to a story. In this lesson, using the story The Mitten by Jan Brett, students learn how to become good readers by asking questions. This is the first lesson in a set of questioning lessons designed for primary grades. Lesson Plan: Questioning, Grandfather’s Journey. This lesson is for intermediate students using the strategy with the book, Grandfather’s Journey, by Allen Say. Lesson Plan: Questioning, Koko’s Kitten This lesson is designed to establish primary students’ skills in asking questions before, during, and after they listen to a story. You can help students learn to become better readers by modeling how and when you ask questions while reading aloud the true story, Koko’s Kitten, by Dr. Francine Patterson. This is the second lesson in a set of questioning lessons designed for primary grades. Lesson Plan: Asking Pre-Reading Questions This is a language arts lesson for students in grades 3-5. Students will learn about asking questions before reading and will make predictions based on the discussion of the questions. Lesson Plan: Asking Questions When Reading In this lesson, the teacher will read The Wall by Eve Bunting with the purpose of focusing on asking important questions. The students and the teacher will then categorize the questions according to the criteria for each.  © 2000-2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Original URL: http://www. teachervision. fen. com/lesson-plan/reading-comprehension/48698. html Asking Questions When Reading Grade Levels: 4 – 8 Lesson Summary. Generating questions plays a key role in the process of learning how to read, and then again in learning how to read better. There are so many question that students may have about the text that they encounter – questions about the author’s style or purpose, questions about new vocabulary, questions about what might happen, etc. Students need to first begin to feel comfortable asking questions, then learn to ask the vital questions that will direct their focus and clear up confusion. In this lesson, the teacher will read The Wall by Eve Bunting with the purpose of focusing on asking important questions. The students and the teacher will then categorize the questions according to the criteria for each. Materials When you read the story ahead of time, write any questions that pop into your head on post-it notes and have them available. Provide large pieces of paper and post-its for students, and locate enough copies of the book The Wall for partners. Provide a piece of paper for each group of four students. Prepare a piece of chart paper titled QUESTIONS with different columns of categories: Questions that are answered in the text Questions that I have to make an inference to answer Questions that are not important to understanding the story. Questions that require research to answer Questions about the author’s style Questions that clear up confusion Objectives: Students will ask questions before, during, and after reading. Students will categorize important vs. interesting questions with a focus on important questions. Procedure Explain that good readers ask questions before, during, and after reading to help them understand a story better. â€Å"Today, we’re going to focus on asking questions. † Present the book The Wall to the students and say, â€Å"I will read the title, and the back cover and look at the illustrations and think of as many questions as I can. These are the questions that I have before reading. † Read your prepared post-it notes to the students. Read the story to the children and think aloud, asking questions while reading. Stress that these are the questions you have during reading. Read your prepared post-it notes to the students. When you have finished reading the story, ask questions that pop into your head and stress that these are the questions that you have after reading. Read your prepared post-it notes to the students. Take your questions on post-its, think aloud, and categorize them in the appropriate column according to the type of question that you asked. The students partner-read and use post-its on pages where they have a question. Have partners narrow their questions down to two questions. Then have the partners share their questions with another paired group. The groups of four students choose one of their questions and write it on a larger piece of paper. Gather all students and have them share their questions. With help from the class, have students categorize their questions. Discuss the questions that are important vs. interesting, and have students focus on the important questions.  © 2000-2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Original URL: http://www. teachervision. fen. com/lesson-plan/reading-comprehension/48697. html Asking Pre-Reading Questions Grade Levels: 3 – 5 Lesson Summary This is a language arts lesson for students in grades 3-5. Students will learn about asking questions before reading and will make predictions based on the discussion of the questions. Students should be able to differentiate between a question and a statement, generate questions, and work in cooperative, heterogeneous groups. Objectives Students will brainstorm prior knowledge about the topic of a text Students will make predictions about the text by asking effective â€Å"before† reading questions in order to improve our reading comprehension. Key Understandings Asking and discussing questions will improve our comprehension of the text. Good readers ask questions before they read. Materials Two narrative texts Pre-reading Show Rubric Pledge Procedure Select two narrative texts, one will be used to demonstrate the â€Å"before reading† questioning strategy, the other will be used for guided practice. It may be easier to choose two texts by the same author or two texts of the same genre. Discuss the ways in which a pre-game show and asking questions before, during, and after reading are similar. Good readers are like sports casters. Just as sports casters discuss the sports event before, during, and after the game, good readers ask and discuss questions before, during, and after reading. This improves comprehension, or understanding, of the text. You may say something such as, â€Å"Who has watched a football, basketball, or baseball game on television? Sports casters help us understand the game by discussing it. They discuss the game with us before the game, during the game and after the game. Before the game, there is a pre-game analysis. That means that the announcer gives us background information about the game, teams, players, and coaches. This information can be used to make predictions about the outcome of the game. During the game, the announcers provide play-by-play coverage. They discuss important or controversial plays to help us understand what’s going on in the game and to explain how certain plays may affect the outcome of the game. They even provide replays of the most important events of the game to make sure we remember them. Finally, after the game, announcers interview the coaches and players to get different perspectives about how the game was played. They review the highlights of the game, confirm or disprove their predictions, and discuss the implications of the outcome of the game. † Tell students they are going to focus on asking questions before they begin reading a text. If possible, show a video clip of a pre-game sports cast. Use the analogy of a pre-game show and before reading questions to help students ask effective â€Å"before† reading questions. As you generate questions for each topic. Spend some time wondering about the answers and making predictions about the book. Write your predictions about the book in a separate column. Identify a purpose for reading the text. Narrative = for literary experience/enjoyment Expository = for information Functional = to perform a task/follow directions. Examine the cover illustration and read the title, modeling how to ask questions. Write the questions on chart paper or on an overhead projector. Look at the author and model how to generate questions. Activate background knowledge by taking a picture walk with students. Cover the print with sticky notes, and think aloud as you model how to generate questions, make predictions, and build vocabulary by carefully examining and discussing the illustrations in the text. Ask questions about the setting, characters, events, and genre of the book. Pre-Game Show Questions Before Reading Predictions Team A vs. Team B What teams are playing? What do we know about these teams? Where are they from? Have we ever seen either team play? In your opinion, are they skilled? Is one team better than the other? Title of Story/Cover What topic might this story be about? What do we already know about this topic? Have we read any other books about this topic? Do we have any experience related to this topic? Where and when did we have the experience? Coach Who is the coach? What do we know about the coach? What teams has he/she coached in the past? What is his/her coaching style? Author Who is the author? Who is the illustrator? What books have he/she written or illustrated in the past? Can we describe the style of the author/illustrator? Have I ever read other texts by this author? If so, what do I remember about those texts? Stadium Where is the game being played? Who has the home field advantage? What are the current weather conditions? How will the weather conditions affect the game? Setting Where and when does the story take place? Is the place/time familiar or unfamiliar to us? Have we read any other stories with a similar setting? Players Who are the key players? What positions do they play? What are their skills? Characters Who are the main characters? What role might they play in the story? Can we predict some of their character traits by examining the illustrations? Plays What plays are the coaches likely to run? Events What events may take place in this story? Rules/Principles of Game What are the rules of the game? What are winning strategies? Genre of Text What genre of story is this? (fairytale, folktale) Have we read other stories of the same genre? What are the characteristics of this genre? Tell students that the class will read the story together tomorrow, and learn to ask new questions while they are reading to help understand the story. Guided practice Give students the opportunity to practice writing and discussing some â€Å"before† reading questions for a new story. Place students in 6 groups and have each group record or role play a â€Å"pre-reading show† for the new book, just as sports casters broadcast a pre-game show. 1. title/cover 2. author/illustrator 3. setting 4. characters 5. events 6. genre of literature Select student leaders to guide each groups through the process of examining the cover of the new story and taking a picture walk. Allow groups to discuss their topic. Students should generate two of their own â€Å"before reading† questions on their topic, and then share their questions and provide feedback to each other. Have groups include information from their prior knowledge and personal experience as they discuss the â€Å"before reading† questions, and have them discuss the possible answers and make predictions about the book. After each student has had the opportunity to formulate and write two questions, jigsaw the groups to form TV crews for a â€Å"pre-reading† show. Each TV crew should have six students, one student from each group, 1-6. Review the parts of the rubric. Provide a time limit for each TV show, and tell students that each show should include: an introduction of the members of the TV crew slogan, jingle, or music a discussion of their prior knowledge about the topic a discussion of each member’s questions predictions about the book from each member Give groups the opportunity to practice asking and discussing their questions before role playing or videotaping their show. If time permits, allow students to make larger visual aids to display during the discussion. â€Å"Microphones† can be made quickly from rolling paper into tubes. Sharing Ideas Distribute rubrics to the class. Allow students to score each TV crew as they present. Independent Practice Have students think of a younger child that they will spend time with this week. Have them think of a book that they can read to the child. Have students use some of the â€Å"before reading† questioning strategies they learned to help the younger child understand the story. Students can use this questions framework worksheet to help them with questions to ask before reading, and help the child make predictions. The worksheet reminds students to ask questions about the title and cover, author and illustrator, setting, characters, events and genre. Assessment Each group will be assessed using the scores from the presentation rubric, scored by their peers and teacher.  © 2000-2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Running Records Page Description: A running record is a way to assess a student’s reading progress by systematically evaluating a student’s oral reading and identifying error patterns. This template will help you track your students’ oral reading accuracy. Take advantages from kids that love harry potter Book Covers from Around the World: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Page Description: Enjoy comparing and contrasting colorful cover art for J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban with this printable handout. Discuss the differences in interpretations from around the world with your students. Grade Levels: 2 – 7 Analyzing a Book Character Page Description: This chart of questions will help students analyze the cover art of a book. Use this worksheet when talking about the different cover art on each international edition of the Harry Potter books. Grade Levels: 3 – 8 Literacy Glossary Page 1 of 2 Accuracy Rate: This is the rate, shown as a percent, at which students accurately read the text. Concept Map: A concept map is a type of graphic organizer which allows students to consider relationships among various concepts. Often students are encouraged to draw arrows between related concepts enclosed in oval or other shapes. Error Rate: This is a ratio of errors to words in the text. Fluency: The rate and accuracy with which a person reads. Fluency results from practicing reading skills often and with a high rate of success. Formative Assessment: These tests are ongoing and based on the curriculum, providing a way to monitor student progress. They can be used to place students in groups, based on instructional needs. Frustrational Level: This is the level at which students are unable to read with adequate comprehension. Genre: A genre is a particular type of literature, such as narratives, poetry, dramas, or fables. Independent Level: This is the level at which students can read without assistance. Materials at this level should be chosen for independent reading, or fluency practice. Independent Reading Inventories: An informal formative assessment that provides graded word lists and passages designed to assess the oral reading and listening comprehension. Insertion: In a running record or informal reading inventory, this is a miscue in which students add another word when reading printed text. For example, if the sentence is: â€Å"The dog played,† the student reads: â€Å"The happy dog played. † Instructional Level: This is the level at which students can read with assistance from the teacher. Materials at this level should be chosen for reading instruction. Metacognition: This is thinking about one’s own thinking, or being aware of one’s own learning. When students are aware of how they think and learn, they can be taught to regulate their thought and learning processes. Omission: In a running record or informal reading inventory, this is a miscue in which students do not read a word or words in the printed text. For example, if the sentence is: â€Å"The sky was bright blue,† the student reads: â€Å"The sky was blue. † Onset: The part of a syllable that comes before the vowel of a syllable. The onset of the word box is /b/. Phoneme: the smallest unit of sound. It distinguishes one word from another (e. g. , man and fan are distinguished by the initial phoneme). Phonemic Awareness: This is a type of phonological awareness that involves the awareness and manipulation of individual sounds. Phonological Awareness: The auditory awareness of sounds, words, and sentences. The understanding that speech is composed of sentences made up of words. Words are comprised of syllables, and syllables are comprised of phonemes. Qualitative Data: Qualitative data consist of verbal or graphic descriptions of behavior and experience resulting from processes of observation, interpretation, and analysis. It is often comprehensive, holistic, and expansive. Qualitative Tools: These are tools that produce qualitative data consisting of verbal or graphic descriptions of behavior and experience resulting from processes of observation, interpretation, and analysis. Quantitative Data: Quantitative data consist of information represented in the form of numbers that can be analyzed by means of descriptive or inferential statistics. It is often precise and narrow data. Reading Conferences: Conferences conducted by teachers during independent reading time provide an opportunity to meet with a student to assess progress, to note reading strategies that are being used, monitor books being read, and to provide guidance in developing reading strategies. Rime: The part of a syllable that consists of its vowel and any consonant sounds that come after it. The rime of the word box is /ox/. Scaffolding: A scaffold is a supporting framework. Scaffolded learning is a teaching strategy that helps support students in their learning when they may have difficulties. A goal of scaffolded learning is to have students use a particular strategy independently. Screening Tests: These tests provide information that serves as a baseline. They are usually given to determine the appropriate starting place for instruction. Self-Correction: In a running record or informal reading inventory, this is a miscue in which students do not read a word or words correctly, but return to the text and read the word or words correctly. Self-Correction Rate: This is the ratio of self-corrections to errors when reading the text. Sound-Print Connection: Understanding the relationship between print and sound. Substitution: In a running record or informal reading inventory, this is a miscue in which students replace the printed word with another word. For example, if the sentence is: â€Å"She said, ‘No,'† the student reads: â€Å"She shouted, ‘No. ‘† Summative Assessment: These tests are usually given at the end of a unit or at the end of the year. They assess a student’s strengths and weaknesses over a period of time.