Definition / Explicit instruction in understanding what you read / Explicit instruction in word structure, breadth and depth of word knowledge, or acquisition of words in context / Explicit instruction in prosody, rate, or accuracy of reading aloud or silently / Explicit instruction in any of the traits of writing or the process of writing
Skill set / Making inferences, main idea, building background knowledge, predicting, point of view, author’s purpose, characterization, supporting details, monitoring comprehension, synthesizing, comparing/contrasting, evaluating information, making connections, visualization / Using context clues, root words, prefixes, suffixes, analogies, synonyms, antonyms, evaluating unknown words to determine if necessary for comprehension / Phrasing, pacing, intonation, expression, volume, rate, accuracy / Organization, word choice, sentence fluency, ideas, conventions, ideas, editing, revising, publishing
Activities / Graphic organizers, think-pair-share, read aloud/think aloud, book talks, QAR, SQ3R, K-W-L, anticipation guides, probable passage, tea party, stem-starters, rereading, request, double entry journals, semantic scales, text reformulation, it says – I say, sketching/drawing, gallery walks, jigsaw / Work with word wall, word sorts, analogies, word ladders, Frayer square, vocabulary trees, graphic organizers, list-group-label, scattegories, bingo, word maps, give one-get one, foldable, parking lot / Any repeated readings, partner reading, echo reading, choral reading, reader’s theatre, vocabulary instruction to build word recognition / Graphic organizers, outlines, 3-2-1, one-minute quick write, admit/exit slip, MVP, claim and defend, RAFT, peer editing, brainstorming, response to literature
Reading instruction consists of direct or explicit instruction in one of four areas. . The skill set is what “good readers do” that you can model or explain, and the activities are strategies you can use to allow your students time for collaborative and then independent practice with the new or refined skill.
What good readers do when they read*:
→ Good readers are active readers.
→ From the outset they have clear goals in mind for theirreading. They constantly evaluate whether the text, andtheir reading of it, is meeting their goals.
→ Good readers typically look over the text before theyread, noting such things as the structure of the text andtext sections that might be most relevant to their readinggoals.
→ As they read, good readers frequently make predictionsabout what is to come.
→ They read selectively, continually making decisionsabout their reading--what to read carefully, what to readquickly, what not to read, what to re-read, and so on.
*These skills apply to good readers when they read fiction or non-fiction
We want independent readers! In order to have kids working through a text on their own, we must teach them how to monitor their understanding (or metacognition)
Metacognition can be defined as "thinking about thinking." Good readers use metacognitive strategies to think about and have control over their reading. Before reading, they might clarify their purpose for reading and preview the text. During reading, they might monitor their understanding, adjusting their reading speed to fit the difficulty of the text and "fixing" any comprehension problems they have. After reading, they check their understanding of what they read.
Students may use several comprehension monitoring strategies:
- Identify where the difficulty occurs
"I don't understand the second paragraph on page 76." - Identify what the difficulty is
"I don't get what the author means when she says, 'Arriving in America was a milestone in my grandmother's life.'" - Restate the difficult sentence or passage in their own words
"Oh, so the author means that coming to America was a very important event in her grandmother's life." - Look back through the text
"The author talked about Mr. McBride in Chapter 2, but I don't remember much about him. Maybe if I reread that chapter, I can figure out why he's acting this way now." - Look forward in the text for information that might help them to resolve the difficulty
"The text says, 'The groundwater may form a stream or pond or create a wetland. People can also bring groundwater to the surface.' Hmm, I don't understand how people can do that… Oh, the next section is called 'Wells.' I'll read this section to see if it tells how they do it.