Before, During, and After Reading StrategiesBy: Chris McIntyre

Five Before Reading Strategies

Think-Pair-Share

THINK-PAIR-SHARE : Students write down ideas, discuss with a fellow peer, and then share collaborative ideas with the rest of the class. This strategy promotes healthy interaction between the students and the non-fiction book being presented. Furthermore, it also can expose students to different perspectives, while activating students’ schema (prior knowledge) and schemata (background knowledge).

KWL Charts

KWL Chart : By using a 3 columned page, students can write what it is that they know, or think they know about the non-fiction topic in the “K” column. Then the students would write questions about what they want to learn from the text in the “W” column. After reading the nonfiction text, students would then write what they learned in the “L” column, while reflecting on their prior questions.

Previewing the Text

Teachers model the importance of identifying key components of a book like headers, pictures, subheadings, picture captions and other key features so that students can make predictions or inferences about a nonfiction book. Allowing the students to collaborate together and to discuss their findings in a class discussion is a critical component of the overall reading process.

Identifying Key Words

Identifying key words: Students write an informative essay while utilizing new vocabulary. This is an exercise that allows students to identify, and write what they know about the new terms before reading a nonfiction text. This is a great strategy for activating schema (prior knowledge), and acts as a guide for a teacher to determine the most appropriate form of instruction delivery. This strategy could also be applied as an after reading strategy, which enhances overall comprehension of the text and new terms.

Internet Scavenger Hunt

Internet scavenger hunt: A teacher presents a nonfiction topic and creates a scavenger hunt list from key terms and concepts from the text. Then students would work in small groups to collect information regarding the scavenger hunt list on the internet. After all information is collected students would discuss their findings to the whole class. This activity is a great way to pique student interest on a nonfiction topic before reading.

Five During Reading Strategies

Response Sheets

RESPONSE SHEET : Students write key concepts or terms on the left side of a piece of paper. Then students would write personal reflections to each concept or term on the right side of the paper. This can help to bridge the text to a students prior knowledge, and can also be used as a tool for studying.

Literature Circles

LITERATURE CIRCLES : Is an independent reading activity where students write down ideas and questions related to the text. Then students work in small groups to share their question and ideas in a text related discussion in order to summarize, predict, and make inferences. This activity gives students a chance to become active readers of the nonfiction text chosen.

Guided Reading

Guided Reading: Is when a teacher explicitly models how to read, while using scaffolding techniques to support students as they read a nonfiction text. The teacher must educate readers on the most effective reading strategies through explicit modeling and systematic instructions.

Reciprocal Teaching

Reciprocal teaching: Is an active reading strategy where students take turns to assume the role the teacher in small reading groups to guide other students in a discussion about the text. The acting student-teacher has to employ four reading strategies that directly relate to the comprehension of the text like summarizing, generating questions, clarifying, and predicting. The teacher must first explicitly model an effective delivery of these strategies before hand in order for a student to execute this exercise proficiently. This reading strategy promotes critical thinking skills, actively engages students to ask questions during the reading, and helps to build comprehension skills.

Graphic Organizers

Graphic organizers: Can be used by students and teachers in order organize key terms, facts, and ideas from the text which aids in developing comprehension proficiency. Some examples of graphic organizer are:

Venn diagrams, semantic mapping, timelines, flow charts, concepts maps, and etc.

Five After Reading Strategies

Literature-Based Thematic Units

Literature-based thematic units: Are a great way for students to focus on a topic, genre, author, or an illustration, and allows students to conduct further research on a topic in the efforts to get a more in-depth perspective on a particular topic, while integrating a variety of academic disciplines.

Learning Logs

Learning logs: Is a great tool where students can write down questions, ideas, and information into a composition book after reading a text. Learning logs are used to summarize what they may have learned, helps organize new vocabulary terms, and can help students to make meaningful connections to the text.

Exit Slips

Exit Slips: Is a great tool for a teacher to quickly assess what information students have learned after a reading. The teacher can hand out out slips of paper for students to write down three or four facts about what they learned from the text, or the teacher can ask questions related to the text so that the students can write down their answers. This strategy not only helps a teacher assess and track students, but it also helps students reflect and summarize the key concepts fostering the development of proficient comprehension skills.

Retelling

Retelling: This a great outlet for students to monitor how much of the nonfiction text that they can remember. The main idea of this exercise is for the student not to memorize exact words, but for the student to recall in his/her own words details about events, people, ideas, or any crucial information presented in the text. This strategy could be done orally in small groups, or in a whole class setting. This is a great way for students to share with each other their individual ideas and concepts that hey percieved about the text presented.

Oral Reports

Oral reports: Are a way for a student to do research on a chosen topic, which requires the student to read multiple forms of text, and then transfer the facts and ideas into a summary, or an outline into their own words. Next, the student/students would present their findings to the entire class without reading directly from their report, rather spoken in their own words.

Don’t forget….

“What an astonishing thing a book is. It's a flat object made from a tree with flexible parts on which are imprinted lots of funny dark squiggles. But one glance at it and you're inside the mind of another person, maybe somebody dead for thousands of years. Across the millennia, an author is speaking clearly and silently inside your head, directly to you. Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding together people who never knew each other, citizens of distant epochs. Books break the shackles of time. A book is proof that humans are capable of working magic.”

[Cosmos, Part 11: The Persistence of Memory (1980)]” ― Carl Sagan, Cosmos

References

Bursuck, W. D., & Damer, M. (2011). Teaching reading to students who are at risk or have disabilities a multi-tier approach. (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.

Campbell, E. (2001). Reading rockets. Retrieved from http://www.readingrockets.org/search?cx=004997827699593338140:nptllrzhp78&cof=FORID:11&ie=UTF-8&as_q=Before, during, after reading strategies

Chandler, O. (2007, January). Good reads: quotes about reading. Retrieved from http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/reading?page=8

Roe, B. D., & Ross, E. P. (2006). Integrating language arts through literature & thematic units. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Chris McIntyreRED 4348Critical Assignment 1: Strategy Flip Chart FEAP# 2 The Learning Environment 3/31/14

Being an effective reading specialist takes a lot of careful planning and consideration on the most effective ways to get

students actively involve in the reading process. Using before, during, and after research-based reading strategies will not

only help to activate a students’ schema and schemata, but will also build proficiency skills in all five essential reading

components. Effective delivery of various reading strategies can help to develop a student’s intrinsic motivation and

metacognition, “which is the conscious awareness of their thought process while reading” (Bursuck & Damer, 2007,

p.285). Furthermore, application of before, during, and after reading strategies can challenge students to think critically

about new ideas and content, which leads to a cultivation of meaningful, real-life connections to a text. Having multiple

research-based reading strategies can be powerful weapons for reading teachers to utilize against an epidemic of low

motivational readers, and at risk students.

In order for a teacher to motivate and connect students to the importance of reading a specific text, one

must first activate students’ schema (prior knowledge) and schemata (background experiences). If

students cannot make any real-life connections and acknowledge the importance of the nonfiction content

being introduced, then there will be a deterioration of reader motivation and participation. Using a

research-based reading strategy like Think-Pair-Share can help to activate reader’s schema, and

schemata. This strategy promotes healthy social interaction between peers and the teacher through the

sharing of ideas and different perspectives on the nonfiction text being introduced. Another excellent

before reading strategy is the implementation of KWL Charts. This is a tool that bridges what students

(K)now, (W)hat students want to learn, and what they (L)earned about the nonfiction text. Students

divide a piece of paper into three columns (K, W, and L) to make a chart that connects a student’s prior

knowledge to a free flowing of ideas and reflections. KWL charts are not only a vital instructional

procedure tool, but they set a purpose and desire to learn and can motivate students to discover the

answers to their generated questions.

Another effective before reading strategy that can be utilized by a reading teacher is called Previewing

the Text. This is a vital component to the reading process where a teacher explicitly models how to

identify key components of a book like headers, subheadings, pictures, picture captions, and generating

predictions from these observations. Identifying key words can be done strategically before reading to

activate schema, and can act as a guide for a teacher to determine the most effective form of delivery of

reading instruction. Students would first identify new terms, and then write what they know about the

new vocabulary, while comparing their ideas after a reading to their initial thoughts. Finally, Internet

Scavenger Hunts can be used to motivate and pique interest of a specific topic or subject, while

activating a student’s prior knowledge. The teacher would first create a scavenger hunt list of the most

important core concepts that need to be covered in the nonfiction text. Then, students would work

together in small groups to search the web to complete the list, and compare with the class what they

discovered. Integrating technology is imperative to incorporate across the curriculum, and captures and

holds the attention of a generation of digital natives.

During reading strategies should also be implemented to further meaningful connections, and aid

proficient comprehension of a nonfiction text. Using Response Sheets a student would write key

concepts or terms on the left side of a piece of paper during a reading, and on the right side of the paper a

reflection after a reading. This can help to bridge a student’s prior knowledge to the new concepts and

ideas being introduced. Furthermore, implementing Literature Circles where students read

independently, while writing down predictions, questions, and main ideas to be shared in small group

discussions with peers can be a excellent during reading strategy as well. This activity gives students a

chance to become active readers, promotes critical thinking skills, and helps to develop proficiency in

reading comprehension. Guided Reading is another teaching technique where a teacher explicitly models

how to read, and then provides scaffolding techniques to support students as they read. This strategy not

only shows students the correct way to read, but provides meaningful practice and supportive feedback

which is an integral component of the reading process.

Utilizing a during reading strategy called Reciprocal Teaching can be a great way for a teacher to get

students to become active readers, rather than passive, of the reading process. First, a teacher would

explicitly model how to lead a small group discussion about a text, while employing four comprehension

concepts like summarizing, generating questions, clarifying, and predicting. Then the students would

take turns assuming the role of the teacher, while the teacher walks around to each group to monitor, offer

feedback, and provide support. This reading strategy promotes critical thinking skills, keeps students

actively engaged, gives students a sense of educational freedom, and helps to build comprehension skills.

The last strategy, Graphic Organizers, could be utilized before, during, and after a reading. Students and

teachers work together to write down and organize key terms, facts, and ideas from the text, which in turn

helps to develop an understanding of new vocabulary and promotes proficient comprehension skills

After reading strategies should be implemented in efforts of furthering reading comprehension,

pique student interests, and to solidify core concepts into a reader’s long-term memory. Using a

strategy like Literature-Based Thematic Units can be an excellent way for a student to conduct

further research on a topic, or subject and promotes a cross-curriculum perspective from all the

academic disciplines. This is an effective comprehension strategy, which provides a student with

a more in-depth perspective on a particular topic, or topics. Also, creating Learning Logs can be a

great tool for students to use all year long, and students can write down questions, ideas, and

information into a composition book after reading a text. Learning logs are used to summarize

what students may have learned, helps organize new vocabulary terms, and can help students to

make meaningful connections to the text.

An additional after reading strategy that can be used is the implementation of Exit Slips. This

is an easy strategy that can be utilized by a teacher to quickly assess what information students

have learned after a reading. The teacher would hand out slips of paper to students so that

students can either write down three or four facts about what they learned from the text, or write

down answers to questions generated by the teacher about the text. This strategy helps a teacher

to assess and track student progress and comprehension, and helps students to utilize

comprehension strategies like reflecting, summarizing, and identifying main ideas and key

concepts

A great outlet for students to monitor how much of the nonfiction text that they can remember can be

done by implementing the Retelling after reading strategy. The main idea of this strategy is for the

students not to memorize exact words from a text, but for the student to recall in his, or her, own words

the important details about the main idea, people, events, or key concepts and information presented in

the text. Then students would share their findings and perspectives collaboratively in small peers groups.

This strategy promotes proficiency in comprehension skills, while fostering a healthy social interaction

from the sharing of ideas and different individual perspectives. Finally, Oral reports can be assigned to

individual or small groups of students to perform research on a chosen topic. This strategy requires that a

student reads multiple forms of text and write a summary of the main idea, key terms, and other

important information. Next, the student would present his findings to the entire class without reading

directly from their report, rather in their own words. This strategy can help a student to develop

comprehension skills, pique student interests of a particular topic or subject, and can help build public

speaking skills and confidence.

Implementing effective before, during, and after research-based reading strategies when presenting any

nonfiction text can not only set a purpose for learning, but also give a reader the opportunity to explore

new places, people, and new concepts about the world around them. Nonfiction books can pave the path

to a plethora of information that can lead a reader to new interests and lifelong hobbies. The job of a

reading specialist is not to just teach children how to read, but to show emerging readers that reading

nonfiction books can be less of a challenge, and more of a pleasurable experience that can carry on

through adulthood.

References:

 Bursuck, W. D., & Damer, M. (2011). Teaching reading to students who are at risk or have disabilities a multi-tier approach. (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.

 Campbell, E. (2001). Reading rockets. Retrieved from http://www.readingrockets.org/search?cx=004997827699593338140:nptllrzhp78&cof=FORID:11&ie=UTF-8&as_q=Before, during, after reading strategies

 Chandler, O. (2007, January). Good reads: quotes about reading. Retrieved from http:// www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/reading?page=8

 Roe, B. D., & Ross, E. P. (2006). Integrating language arts through literature & thematic units. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.