Reading Strategies for Non-Reading Teachers

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Reading Strategies for Non-Reading Teachers
By Jerry Burkett
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ButI am not a reading teacher!

• Wrong. No matter the content, we teach reading.
• Students cannot understand what we want to teach
  them without reading.
• Most of the time, students understand our content
  but when given a test (ahem!TAKS) they struggle
  with vocabulary, sentence structure, and
  wording.and
• MISS WHAT WE HAVE TAUGHT THEM!!

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Why do I care?

• Fluency is the building block for the expertise
  in the things we do well. Critical marker for
  permanency.
• Background knowledge is essential to help
  students understand the material.
• Using prior experience helps students to build
  that mental model which makes connections to the
  text.
• TO LEARN
• 1. Read about it
• 2. Write about it
• 3. Talk about it

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Strategies for Reading Nonfiction

• Skim the titles and subtitles. They tell you
  what each section will be about.
• Read any questions included at the beginnings of
  the chapter or in the margins to help you focus
  on the main ideas.
• Scan for bold words. Sometimes the definitions
  of these key words are included in a glossary.

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• Use the visual aids, such as maps, charts, and
  graphs, to help you learn new information or to
  help explain what you are reading in the text.
• Scan for italicized text. Key information is
  often found in italics.
• Read any study questions at the end of the
  chapter. These questions will help you know what
  information to look for as you read. Use the
  titles and subtitles to predict where you might
  find the answers to the questions.

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Things Good Readers Do

• Preview
• Look at the cover and title
• Look at some pictures and read some of the text.
• Question
• Ask who, what, when, where, and why.
• Decide if what you read makes sense.
• Predict
• Wonder about what will happen next
• Make guesses and read ahead to see if your
  predictions are correct
• Infer
• Imagine the details
• Use what youve read to understand what the
  author means

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• Connect
• Relate what youve read to what you know, and to
  your thoughts and feelings
• Compare what youve read to other texts and to
  the worlds around you.
• Summarize
• Organize and connect these details
• Draw your own conclusions
• Evaluate
• Think about what youve read
• What did you learn?
• Was it important to you? Why or why not?
• Did you like it? Why or why not?

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How to Improve Reading in the Content Area

• Teach reading comprehension strategies
• Match Lexile reading level (www.lexile.com)
• Assess critical thinking skills
• Using collaborative activities
• Technology
• Have an activity before and after your lesson to
  reinforce the skill you are teaching.

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Pre-Read Activity

• Have students glimpse at the reading material, in
  a diagonal line. They can use their fingers to
  trace diagonally from the indentation of the
  paragraph to its end.
• Have them circle 3 words (course-based or just a
  good vocabulary term) and share them with a
  neighbor.
• Have students then compile a list of the terms
  and define them, using their own words. You
  could create a class word bank with the words
  compiled.
• Have students predict the content of the reading
  material based upon the terms. This is good for
  developing creativity and critical thinking
  skills. The students enjoy doing this and have
  fun with it!

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During Reading Activity

• Have students focus on new vocabulary terms or
  develop the understanding of terms previously
  heard.
• Students should then develop a glossary for the
  reading material (concept, chapter, unit, etc.).
• They should provide technical definitions,
  definitions in their own words, and definitions
  as they pertain directly to the reading material.
• This will help them better understand
• the meaning of the term.

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Right There Questions

• Students should develop questions based on Who?
  What? When? Where?
• Answers should be found in the paragraph.
• No how questions should be addressed at this
  point (especially in Math).
• If the reading material is more than one
  paragraph, this strategy should be done for each
  paragraph.

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Post-Reading - GIST

• GIST Generating Interactions between Schemata
  and Text
• This is a summarizing technique, allowing
  students to summarize ideas with supporting
  details.
• Passages from 2 to 4 paragraphs works best.
• The 2 problems that will be encountered for
  students
• What to leave in
• What to take out

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GISTing

• Focus Statement
• Who?
• What?
• Students have 20 lines to summarize the
  information read. One word per line.

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GISTing

• When complete, passages with perhaps 250 words
  can be summarized or GISTed into 20 words.
• This strategy promotes comprehension of the
  material allowing students to highlight key
  words and use their own language.

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Vocabulary Card

• On a 4x6 index card (or in PowerPoint), students
  write the vocabulary word and its definition.
• Next to the word and definition (or on the next
  slide), students draw a picture that connects
  meaning to the word.
• On the back of the card, students write two
  sentences.
• One explains what they drew and why they drew it.
• For the second sentence, students write a
  statement using the term correctly.

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Vocabulary Card Visual

• Word Picture
• Definition

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Continued (back of card)

• Sentences
• Write a sentence explaining what was drawn and
  why.
• Write a sentence using the term correctly.

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Vocabulary Card Example (Science)

• Strata Picture
• The plural of stratum
• A bed or layer of sedi-
• mentary rock having
• approximately the same
• composition throughout.

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Continued (back of card)

• Sentences
• A slice of cake was drawn to show the layers of a
  cake, just like there are layers in strata.
• Strata is a word used to describe the layers
  found in sedimentary rock.

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Vocabulary Card Example (Mathematics)

• Slope Picture
• A ratio of change in
• the y-values and x-values
• of a line - rise over
• run

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Continued(back of card)

• Sentences
• A skier was used to demonstrate slope. This guy
  is skiing at a negative slope because he is going
  downhill.
• Slope indicates the steepness of a line. It can
  be positive, negative, or undefined. Lines with
  no slope are horizontal and no fun.

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Cloze Activity for comprehension and vocabulary
development

• Select a passage of reading
• White out or create blanks where key terms appear
• Pass out these Cloze passages and ask students
  to predict which words go in the blanks. Collect
  these when all students have finished.
• Pass out the completed text and ask students to
  read carefully, looking for the words that were
  in the blanks on the Cloze. Collect the passage.
• Pass back the collected cloze and fill in or
  change responses in blanks.
• Compare pre and post results.
• Show a copy of the completed text to the class
  and discuss each response. Discuss synonyms for
  these words.

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Individual/Group Pair Share

• Assign a reading passage for each student to
  read.
• After a set amount of time, divide the class into
  pairs or groups and have the students discuss the
  passage.
• Have one students from each pair/group
  explain/teach the passage to the class

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Section Experts

• In groups, assign a section or passage of
  reading.
• Tell the students they are the classroom
  experts on that section.
• Have the students read the passage,
  discuss/write, then teach the class.