21st Century Readers:

Teaching Comprehension Strategies

Using Digital Text

With text no longer relegated exclusively to the pages between the cover of a book or a magazine, the shift from paper to digital texts has brought on a whole new form of literacy. This upheaval in how we read brings with it new opportunities for learning as well as new challenges.

-Matt Renwick

Transliteracy

Transliteracy is the ability to read, write and interact across a range of platforms, tools and media from signing and orality through handwriting, print, TV, radio and film, to digital social networks.

from “Transliteracy: Crossing Divides” in FirstMonday http://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2060/1908

Comprehension StrugglesComprehension break downs

& Fix-up strategies

Text Features in digital text

Visualizing

Close Reads

With traditional text, our students can…

identify main idea.evaluate multiple perspectives.identify author’s purpose.compare and contrast characters.annotate.

With digital text, our students should be able to

• Identify main idea (expository text)• Evaluate multiple perspectives (expository

text)• Identify author’s purpose (expository text)• Compare and contrast (expository text)• Annotate (expository text)

Source: http://www.cmu.edu/teaching/technology/tools/informationvisualization/

Digital Natives

They are digital natives, but still need…practice,strategies,explicit instruction,and guidance.

What goes wrong??

Traditional Text• Text is too long• Boring• Tired• Print too small

Digital Text• Distractions – ads, web

features• Text/font size• Hard to annotate

How do we fix it?

Digital Text Problems• difficulty navigating (we are

comfortable with text features in traditional text)

• distractions – links, ads, etc.• text size• noise distractions

Fix-Ups• find comparable features in

digital text

• zoom in to the text I need• zoom in/out• use audio features w/

headphones

We must identify the problem before we can fix it!

Text Features

• Find a comparable feature with digital text– Table of Contents– Index– Glossary

• Identify common locations on web pages for navigational tools

• What text features do our students usually ignore or overlook in traditional text?

• How does this carry over to digital text?

Text Features in Web based text

• http://www.mbgnet.net/

Visualizing

• Using apps to help students visualize in something they enjoy and it increases comprehension.

• "Proficient readers spontaneously and purposely create mental images while and after they read. The images emerge from all five senses as well as the emotions and are anchored in a reader's prior knowledge."

-- Keene and Zimmerman, Mosaic of Thought

Carnegie Mellon University - Visualizing

• Faculty at Carnegie Mellon University have used the following apps in assisting visualization of concepts with graduate students

• What difficulties might we encounter for the instructor and/or the student? How can we avoid through preparation/address when these arise?

Aurasma in a Classroom

Close Reads

• What do we require of students during close reads?

• What difficulties do they have using digital text?

Digital Annotation Tutorials - sophia.org

Practicing Digital Annotation

Revolutionary War Lino Board

BibliographyCooper, Charles. “Teaching With Aurasma.” Video. YouTube website.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHIxYpBW7sc

“Information Visualization Tools.” Article. Carnegie Mellon University website. http://www.cmu.edu/teaching/technology/tools/informationvisualization/

“Response: A Good Reading Lesson Does Not Put Standards Before Students” Article. Education Weekly.

http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/classroom_qa_with_larry_ferlazzo/2015/04/response_a_good_reading_lesson_doesnt_put_standards_before_students.html