During reading strategies
Pre-reading and post-reading strategies are worthless if students do not retain valuable information while they are reading. However, students may not be successful in comprehending their reading if they are simply reading words on the page without taking steps to consciously gather an understanding of the content presented in the reading. The strategies below can be used during reading to assist students in completely understanding what they are reading.
1) Text Coding
Text coding is a modern day take on highlighting and note taking. In this strategy, students use a class-specific system of codes that consists of symbols to make connections with their text while they are reading. The symbols can be established by the teacher or the class, or symbols and their accompanying representations can be found online or in various reading comprehension teaching aids. By marking these symbols right in their text, students can make immediate connections to what they know, what they don't know and have questions about, what they believe to be important, and what they agree or disagree with (Elish-Piper & L'Allier, 2013).
Text coding helps students organize their reactions to the text in a way that allows them to easily recall their thoughts when quickly browsing back through the text. It also allows them to set aside material that is confusing to them so that they can further explore it in the future rather than having it derail their entire reading experience (Limon & Reed, n.d.). Readers are more likely to read slowly and methodically and make a conscious effort to understand what they are reading when this strategy is implemented. Below is an example of symbols that can be used in text coding and what they represent.
Text coding helps students organize their reactions to the text in a way that allows them to easily recall their thoughts when quickly browsing back through the text. It also allows them to set aside material that is confusing to them so that they can further explore it in the future rather than having it derail their entire reading experience (Limon & Reed, n.d.). Readers are more likely to read slowly and methodically and make a conscious effort to understand what they are reading when this strategy is implemented. Below is an example of symbols that can be used in text coding and what they represent.
When implementing text coding into classroom instruction, the first step is to create a system of codes/symbols and clearly define what they will represent. As mentioned above, this can be created by the teacher, created as a collective effort by the class, or an existing system can be used. The teacher should then model the strategy for the class by using the symbols in a short reading and explaining why symbols were placed at certain points in the reading. After the strategy has been modeled, there are several ways that it can be implemented into instruction.
Text coding can be used as a small group activity. Students can be broken into small groups, be assigned a reading, and can work together to code the reading to reflect their thoughts and reactions to the reading. This encourages teamwork and allows students to discuss the strategy together. It may also increase understanding of the reading, as one student might pick up on something that another might have missed. After they have completed the reading and have coded the text, they can report their findings to the class.
Used independently in the silent classroom reading setting, text coding encourages all students to read carefully in order to use the symbols correctly and effectively. This strategy provides each student with the opportunity to make a personal connection to the text by activating what they know and gives them reason to look deeper into things that they might not understand. This activity could then be supplemented by having students write a summary of why the placed their text coding symbols where they did (Common Core writing standard 4).
Text coding can be used as a small group activity. Students can be broken into small groups, be assigned a reading, and can work together to code the reading to reflect their thoughts and reactions to the reading. This encourages teamwork and allows students to discuss the strategy together. It may also increase understanding of the reading, as one student might pick up on something that another might have missed. After they have completed the reading and have coded the text, they can report their findings to the class.
Used independently in the silent classroom reading setting, text coding encourages all students to read carefully in order to use the symbols correctly and effectively. This strategy provides each student with the opportunity to make a personal connection to the text by activating what they know and gives them reason to look deeper into things that they might not understand. This activity could then be supplemented by having students write a summary of why the placed their text coding symbols where they did (Common Core writing standard 4).
The following video provides an excellent explanation of the text coding strategy and why it is important, provides valuable tips for implementation in the classroom, and even shows the strategy in action. (Fladager, 2012)
As the next video explains, comprehension will surprisingly improve dramatically when text coding is implemented, even when students think they are sufficiently understanding through reading alone. The teacher in this video lays out a thorough description of his specific text coding symbols for his students and discusses how they will use them in their reading. (RTHS English with Ms. Brown, 2012)
2) Repeated Reading
In order for students to be successful in reading comprehension, they have to be able to read fluently. While repeated reading is a valuable strategy for developing fluency in readers, it is also helpful in improving reading comprehension.
Repeated reading is, simply put, the act of reading a passage of text multiple times. It improves fluency by familiarizing the student with the vocabulary and allowing the student to develop smooth, effective phrasing. As a result, students will begin to think less about the decoding the individual words and phrases in the reading and will be able to completely shift their focus on understanding the content being presented (Flynt & Still, 2012). Various studies have shown that repeated reading not only improves fluency, but also improves comprehension.
Assessment through corrective feedback is necessary for this strategy to effectively improve reading comprehension (Therrien, 2004). Students will need to be be able to show improvements in their understanding of the content of an assigned text after a designated number of readings. The teacher can prepare comprehension guide questions to test the student on his or her retention of content, or the student can write a summary of the passage after reading to demonstrate his or her level of comprehension (Literacy writing standard 2).
Here are two ideas for implementing this strategy in your classroom:
The video below shows this strategy in action, as the student in the video demonstrates improvements in fluency and shows understanding of the content through repeated reading. (Suchy, 2010)
Repeated reading is, simply put, the act of reading a passage of text multiple times. It improves fluency by familiarizing the student with the vocabulary and allowing the student to develop smooth, effective phrasing. As a result, students will begin to think less about the decoding the individual words and phrases in the reading and will be able to completely shift their focus on understanding the content being presented (Flynt & Still, 2012). Various studies have shown that repeated reading not only improves fluency, but also improves comprehension.
Assessment through corrective feedback is necessary for this strategy to effectively improve reading comprehension (Therrien, 2004). Students will need to be be able to show improvements in their understanding of the content of an assigned text after a designated number of readings. The teacher can prepare comprehension guide questions to test the student on his or her retention of content, or the student can write a summary of the passage after reading to demonstrate his or her level of comprehension (Literacy writing standard 2).
Here are two ideas for implementing this strategy in your classroom:
- For elementary grades, begin by reading the assigned passage of text to your students as they follow along in their books or on sheets that have been handed out. Once the teacher has finished, as students to share what they have learned. Then, read the passage aloud as an entire class. Once again, ask students what they have learned. Did they pick up on anything in addition to what was discussed after the first reading? Finally, have students read the passage one last time. When they have finished, as a series of questions to the class that will allow you to determine their levels of comprehension.
- For middle and high school grades, ask students to read an assigned passage of text silently and independently. Then have them read the passage a second time. After the second reading, encourage them to write a short summary of what they have read and then place the summary somewhere that they will not be able see it. The students should then read the passage again a third and fourth time and write a second summary of what they learned in the reading. Students should then compare their two summaries to see if additional comprehension was indicated in the second summary.
The video below shows this strategy in action, as the student in the video demonstrates improvements in fluency and shows understanding of the content through repeated reading. (Suchy, 2010)
In this video, a teacher describes that rereading a text is necessary to comprehension because it unveils layers of content that may not be evident in the first reading. (Scholastic, 2013)
3) LIT Circles
LIT (Literature) circles are a fun and engaging strategy to use during and after reading to teach reading comprehension. I am presenting this as a during reading strategy because students must approach their reading with a certain direction in mind. This helps students make a conscious effort to read comprehensively.
In LIT circles, small groups of students (usually between 4 and 6) read a text and work together to understand what they are reading. Each member of the group takes on a specific role that helps direct their reading (Briggs, 2010). For example, the following roles can be assigned to various members of the group:
Generally, the each member of the group will read the passage, prepare the work associated with each role as they read or when they have finished reading, and share their information during a designated meeting time when reading has been completed.
Literature circles allow teachers to access individual student abilities and encourages students to accept responsibility for their own learning (Nigro, 2011). This flexible strategy can be used at just about any grade level, is great for both fiction and nonfiction readings, and meets Common Core Standards due to its differentiation. In addition, it helps students develop social and teamwork skills due to its group focused nature. Roles and even groups can be changed with each new assigned reading.
In the elementary classroom, this strategy can be implemented into a lesson by first having the teacher clearly define each roll and what that student will be responsible for. Then, the class can either read the text (preferably something short that can be read in a few minutes) together and aloud or independently and silently. After the reading has occurred, the class can be divided into groups and assigned their specific roles. Students will then have a specific amount of time to complete the individual tasks that have been assigned to them while the teacher moves around the room to offer assistance. The students can then work within their groups to present the findings of their individual roles to their group members. Finally, each group can present their collective findings to the class.
In the middle school or high school classroom, the teacher should again define and demonstrate the duty of each roll first. Students can then be assigned to read the selected text independently and can even be expected to prepare their role's duties as a personal assignment, though a portion of class time could be set aside to work independently. This would cause students to take responsibility for their own learning, as they would need to uphold their duties to ensure that their group succeeds in completing the literature circle assignment. After students have completed their individual work, the groups can meet to present their findings and ideas to one another.
In LIT circles, small groups of students (usually between 4 and 6) read a text and work together to understand what they are reading. Each member of the group takes on a specific role that helps direct their reading (Briggs, 2010). For example, the following roles can be assigned to various members of the group:
- Discussion Director - Develops questions about the reading for the group to discuss.
- Literary Luminary - Analyze the reading and highlight sections that are interesting or important by reading them aloud.
- Illustrator - Draws a picture relating to the reading and shares it with the group to connect ideas about the reading.
- Summarizer - Recalls the reading and gives a brief summary to convey the key points and main highlights of the reading assignment. The summarizer can satisfy the writing component of this strategy by writing the summary in proper paragraph form. (CCSS Literacy writing standard 2)
- Vocabulary Enricher - Identify and define key vocabulary terms in the reading assignment and share them with the group.
Generally, the each member of the group will read the passage, prepare the work associated with each role as they read or when they have finished reading, and share their information during a designated meeting time when reading has been completed.
Literature circles allow teachers to access individual student abilities and encourages students to accept responsibility for their own learning (Nigro, 2011). This flexible strategy can be used at just about any grade level, is great for both fiction and nonfiction readings, and meets Common Core Standards due to its differentiation. In addition, it helps students develop social and teamwork skills due to its group focused nature. Roles and even groups can be changed with each new assigned reading.
In the elementary classroom, this strategy can be implemented into a lesson by first having the teacher clearly define each roll and what that student will be responsible for. Then, the class can either read the text (preferably something short that can be read in a few minutes) together and aloud or independently and silently. After the reading has occurred, the class can be divided into groups and assigned their specific roles. Students will then have a specific amount of time to complete the individual tasks that have been assigned to them while the teacher moves around the room to offer assistance. The students can then work within their groups to present the findings of their individual roles to their group members. Finally, each group can present their collective findings to the class.
In the middle school or high school classroom, the teacher should again define and demonstrate the duty of each roll first. Students can then be assigned to read the selected text independently and can even be expected to prepare their role's duties as a personal assignment, though a portion of class time could be set aside to work independently. This would cause students to take responsibility for their own learning, as they would need to uphold their duties to ensure that their group succeeds in completing the literature circle assignment. After students have completed their individual work, the groups can meet to present their findings and ideas to one another.
The video below shows the implementation of literature circles in a middle school English or literature classroom. The process involved in using literature circles is clearly laid out in this video and it also includes interaction between students taking part in a literature circle. (Bohonos, 2012)
As the video below states, research has shown that the interaction element of LIT circles encourages struggling readers to take a more active approach to understanding what they are reading. Because of peer influence between members of each reading circle, especially in the older grades, students feel responsibility to carry out the role that they have been assigned. (ebuckhold, 2009)
4) Say Something
Say Something is a during reading comprehension strategy that encourages students to take on a more functional view of reading. Rather than simply spitting back facts from assigned readings or only discovering what the teacher directs them to find, students who use this strategy have an opportunity to talk about what their reading means to them personally and explain how the reading ties in to their own experiences. In addition, Say Something aids comprehension because it allows readers to pause after reading small sections or "chunks" of the text and talk about what they have learned rather than trying to comprehend the entire reading at once (Harste & Short, 1996).
In Say Something, students choose or are assigned a partner with whom they will discuss their thoughts about their reading. A small portion or the reading is then read silently or orally by the students. Once they have completed reading the section, students begin to discuss what they have taken from the reading. For example, they might give a short summary of the reading, explain a personal connection to a character, or ask a question that their partner might be able to answer to help them better understand a concept that they struggled with (Beers, 2003). After the pair has finished their brief discussion, they should move on to reading the next chunk of text and repeat the entire process.
Another way to implement this strategy is to have the teacher begin by modeling the strategy for the students. Then, the teacher can provide potential 'starters,' or short guide phrases that will help direct the students' focus during reading. The image below shows some of the sentence starters that can be used. These starters can be placed on a poster in the room so that they are readily available for students to view. After the strategy has been introduced, students can be broken up into pairs to begin the activity as described above. Once the activity has been completed, students can then choose one of the sentence starters from each of the categories in the image below and write out their responses (CCSS Literacy writing standard 2.C).
In Say Something, students choose or are assigned a partner with whom they will discuss their thoughts about their reading. A small portion or the reading is then read silently or orally by the students. Once they have completed reading the section, students begin to discuss what they have taken from the reading. For example, they might give a short summary of the reading, explain a personal connection to a character, or ask a question that their partner might be able to answer to help them better understand a concept that they struggled with (Beers, 2003). After the pair has finished their brief discussion, they should move on to reading the next chunk of text and repeat the entire process.
Another way to implement this strategy is to have the teacher begin by modeling the strategy for the students. Then, the teacher can provide potential 'starters,' or short guide phrases that will help direct the students' focus during reading. The image below shows some of the sentence starters that can be used. These starters can be placed on a poster in the room so that they are readily available for students to view. After the strategy has been introduced, students can be broken up into pairs to begin the activity as described above. Once the activity has been completed, students can then choose one of the sentence starters from each of the categories in the image below and write out their responses (CCSS Literacy writing standard 2.C).
In addition to the examples of classroom implementation strategies described above, Say Something can be used as a full-class activity. The video below is an example of this, as the teacher first asks some guide questions to access students' prior knowledge, reads a portion of the story aloud to the class, and then uses some of the starters from the chart above to cause the students to talk about their thoughts on the reading (The Balanced Literacy Diet, 2012).
The video below provides a quality explanation of the Say Something strategy and shows examples of some of the types of responses that students may come up with as they read. It then shows the strategy in action, as two students take turn reading passages aloud and 'saying something' about what they have just read (Campell, 2013).
5) Directed Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA)
The Directed Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA) strategy is a flexible strategy that can be individually, in small groups, or as a full class, and can be used at any grade level in any content area. Studies have shown that this strategy improves reading comprehension and helps develop critical thinking skills. DRTA guides students in making predictions about their reading, asking questions that they hope their reading will answer, and then reading to determine if their predictions were accurate and if the reading answered the questions that they may have had (Directed Reading Thinking Activity, n.d.)
As a result of using this strategy, students become active and thoughtful in their reading, and comprehension improves as a result (Direct Reading Thinking Activity, n.d.). The strategy is made up of the following steps:
As mentioned above, this strategy can be done individually, in small groups, or as a whole class. If done individually, each student can write their predictions and questions before they begin reading. As they read, they can adjust and re-write their predictions or explain in writing why their predictions were accurate or not. Once they have completed the reading, they can write a summary to describe how their predictions were or were not accurate (CCSS Literacy writing standard 1). In small groups, students can work together to create predictions before reading. During reading they can discuss how their predictions compare to the actual content, and when they have finished, they can explain to the class which predictions were accurate, which were not, and why. Finally, as a whole class activity, individual students can share their predictions or the class can work together to establish a list of predictions that can be discussed and adjusted as reading occurs.
As a result of using this strategy, students become active and thoughtful in their reading, and comprehension improves as a result (Direct Reading Thinking Activity, n.d.). The strategy is made up of the following steps:
- D - Direct: The teacher directs students' thinking before the reading occurs. This can be done by asking open-ended questions for students to ponder as they read. This will encourage them to make predictions about the reading and helps them activate prior knowledge.
- R - Reading: The teacher should pre-select passages of text to be read, then have students read the first selected section. After reading has occurred, the teacher can ask questions about specific information included in the text. The students can then measure how accurate their predictions were and make appropriate adjustments. This process should be repeated for each pre-selected section.
- T - Thinking: When the entire assigned reading has been completed, students can go back through the text and evaluate how their predictions measured up against the actual content in the text. They can then find supporting statements from the text to verify their predictions, or they can modify their predictions to better mirror the material they have read. When all three aspects of this strategy are implemented, students make a conscious effort to comprehend what they have read.
As mentioned above, this strategy can be done individually, in small groups, or as a whole class. If done individually, each student can write their predictions and questions before they begin reading. As they read, they can adjust and re-write their predictions or explain in writing why their predictions were accurate or not. Once they have completed the reading, they can write a summary to describe how their predictions were or were not accurate (CCSS Literacy writing standard 1). In small groups, students can work together to create predictions before reading. During reading they can discuss how their predictions compare to the actual content, and when they have finished, they can explain to the class which predictions were accurate, which were not, and why. Finally, as a whole class activity, individual students can share their predictions or the class can work together to establish a list of predictions that can be discussed and adjusted as reading occurs.
The video below explains the steps in the DRTA strategy and allows us to view a lesson in which the strategy is used. I feel that watching the lesson is very valuable because of how effective the teacher is at guiding the discussion that surrounds the reading (Hill, 2013).
The next video discusses the benefits of DRTA and explains the strategy in a way that makes it ready for implementation in the classroom (Smilito1, 2012).