Extensive Reading & Writing-to-Read

Applications Marsha Walker

P. Monique Ward

AL 8570

What is Extensive Reading? What Grabe says:

It’s the “hallmark” of a fluent reader (Grabe, p. 311) What Stanovich says:

It’s “exposure” to print over a long period of time (Grabe, p.313)

What Bamford and Day (1997) say: It’s “to read widely and in quantity”

What Palmer (1917) says: It’s rapidly reading book after book (focusing on

meaning) (Day & Bamford, p.5) What West (1955) says:

It’s supplementary reading (Day & Bamford, p.6)

What do you think?What constitutes extensive reading to you? Is it Sustained Silent Reading? Is it pleasure reading at home?

How long must you read for it to be extensive?30 minutes a day?1 hour over 6 months?

Should we even extensively read?

YES!

Research states that reading comprehension increases in direct correlation with the amount that you read (Greaney (1980), Walberg & Tsai (1984), Wilson & Fielding (1988), Rob & Susser (1989), Elley (1992), Pichette (2005), Tanaka & Stapleton (2007))

Additional Benefits:Positive attitude and increased motivationVocabulary growth – incidental reading can lead to 5-15% gain

Development of language and literacy skills

Conceptual knowledge – gains in world knowledge

Reasoning – with other skills involved print exposure correlates to better reasoning

How do we address extensive reading?

Provide resources for your students in class (ex. book floods, classroom library)

Give students time to read in class (SSR, DEAR)(ex. set up cozy place (bathtub, couch, rug))

Read aloud to your students on interesting topics (ex. children’s books, current songs, magazines)

Give students prizes/rewards to foster motivation (ex. stickers, candy, extra credit, recognition)

Provide resources for students to take HOME (ex. Donorschoose.org)

Facilitate discussions on what the students are reading (ex. “share chair”)

Model how to read (ex. reading circle) – Prowse (2002)

Hold students accountable (ex. reading log)

How do we address extensive reading?

Ex. Reading LogReading log pro forma As you read the book, keep a record of the main events and characters you meet or learn

about in each chapter. You could also record your comments (predictions about the plot, your responses to characters’ thoughts and actions). It’s also a good idea to record new words you have learnt.

 Use the following headings in your reading log: Chapter: Main events:  Characters:   Your comments:   New words:

From: New South Wales Grades 1-12 Curriculum

Writing to Read, Hirvela, 2004 (Using writing to support reading)

“…writing before, during, or after reading enables a reader to make sense of her or his reading, which in turn strengthens the quality of the reading and contributes to the development of L2 reading skills” (p. 73-74).

How can students benefit from classroom work that connects reading and writing?

What can teachers do to build relationships between reading and writing?

Eisterhold’s 3 Models for facilitating writing-reading development:

Directional Nondirectional Bidirectional

Offer “the second language writing teacher a valuable perspective on reading-writing interactions in the writing classroom” (Eisterhold 1990, p. 93, as cited by Hirvela, 2004, p. 73).

Directional

Writing Reading

“…transfer of structural information can proceed only in one direction” (Eisterhold, 1990, p.89, as cited by Hirvela, 2004, p. 72).

Nondirectional

Writing

Reading

“…transfer between the skills can move in both directions” (Hirvela, p. 72).

“…improvement in one domain will result in improvement in the other” (Eisterhold, 1990, p. 90, as cited by Hirvela, 2004, p. 72

Bidirectional

Writing

Reading

Writing

Reading

Reading

Reading and writing are interdependent. Reading is writing and writing is reading (Eisterhold, 1990, Hirvela, 2004).

Write-to-Read Strategies“We don’t know what we’ve read until we begin to work with it by talking and writing about it” (Linda Blanton, 1993, p. 241, as cited by Hirvela, 2004, p. 77).

Write down questions and ideas Write during and after reading Synthesize source texts (assigned reading

materials related to the subjects students are studying).

Respond to reading Paraphrase and quote Journal about reading Write an essay that addresses difficulties from the

reading

Writing To Read Graham and Hebert, 2010

Writing Next Graham and Perin, 2007

From Writing Next: Effective strategies to improve writing of adolescents in middle and high schools (p. 11), Graham & Perin, 2007. Carnegie Corporation of New York.

What is Summarizing? “An interactive, recursive process” (Kirkland &

Saunders, 1991, p. 106) Identifying main information, deleting

unimportant information, and writing a short synopsis (Graham & Herbert, 2010, p. 15)

Bazerman (1985): Deleting, selecting, note-taking, and miniaturizing (Hirvela, 2007, p. 90)

Geisler (1995): “The simplest text that attempts to represent in some form what another text says” (Hirvela, 2007, p. 89)

Newell (1998): “Compressing and integrating information from the text and plans for representing the organization of the text in a succinct way” (Hirvela, 2007, p. 90)

What a student needs to know…Purpose of the text Intended audience of the text Instructor’s preferencesAssignment details (how long, when is it due)

How to structure the textHow to analyze the text (where are the main ideas, what is the author saying)

How do I teach summarizing?From Kirkland & Saunders: Pick a manageable and appropriate

selection of texts Explicitly teach students what to include Teach superordination and

transformation (critical thinking skills) Model thought processes aloud Provide sample summaries Foster background knowledge (if

needed)

How do I teach summarizing? Cont.Teach for America strategy (Farr, 2010, p.123) Just like any other objective

Introduction to New Material (I DO)

Guided Practice (WE DO)Independent Practice (YOU DO)

(similar superordination teacher model from Kirkland & Saunders, 1991, p. 114)

Suggestion from: Landmarkoutreach.org

How do I teach summarizing? Cont.

More from Kirkland & Saunders:Get to know your students (use summaries as diagnostic tool)

Use graphic organizers (mapping diagrams)

Have students give oral summaries before written summaries

Have students practice (deleting, identifying and simplifying)

Focus on global understanding (top-down)

Ex. Graphic Organizer (from readingquest.org)

Other teaching ideas: Teach skimming, and paraphrasing skills to foster

summarizing capabilities Ex. Skimming – read a text for a limited amount

of time; write what you remember; check; edit; Ex. Paraphrasing –

Replacing difficult vocabulary words or phrases with words the student understands

Rewriting lengthy or complex sentences into simpler sentences, or combining simple sentences into more interesting, complex sentences

Explaining concepts and abstract ideas from sentences or passage using more clear and concise wording

Translating ideas and information into students’ own words (from landmarkoutreach.org)

Activity: Read through the text given and decide which

activities (from the handout) you would utilize to teach the text. Come up with your own teaching context!

When we say stop you will find who has the same text as yours, and create a group.

You will share what activities and context you came up with in your group.

Each member will vote on their favorite application.

The winner of each group will share to the whole class.

References Bamford, J. & Day, R. (1997). Extensive Reading: What is it? Why bother? The Language Teacher

Online. 21(5).

Day, R. & Bamford, J. (1998). Extensive reading in the second language classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

English/ESL Stage 4 Unit. (2004). Retrieved July 1, 2010, from http://www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw. gov.au/ secondary/english/assets/docs/stages45/eng_esl/esl_hpot_ohd.doc

Farr, S. (2010). Teaching as Leadership: The Highly Effective Teacher’s Guide to Closing the Achievement Gap. San Francisco: Jossey- Bass.

Grabe, W. (2009) Reading in a second language: Moving from theory to practice. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Graham, S., & Hebert, M. (2010). Writing to read: Evidence for how writing can improve reading. New York: Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Graham, S., & Perin, D. (2007). Writing next: Effective strategies to improve writing of adolescents in middle and high schools (p. 11) New York: Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Hiaasen, C. (2005). Flush (pp. 4-5). New York: Random House, Inc.

Hirvela, A. (2004). Connecting reading and writing in second language writing instruction. University of Michigan Press.

Kirkland, M., & Saunders, M. (1991). Maximizing student performance in summarizing: Managing cognitive load. TESOL Quarterly, 25 (1), 105-121.

Prose, P. Top Ten Principles for Teaching Extensive Reading: A Response. Reading in a Foreign Language. 14(2), 142-145.

Sedita, J. (2001). Summarizing and Paraphrasing, Chapter 4. Study Skills: A Landmark School Teaching

Guide. (pp. 63-68). New York: Landmark Outreach Program.

Sum it up. (2010). Retrieved July 1, 2010, from http://www.readingquest.org/pdf/sumitup.pdf

Suter, W. N. (2006) Introduction to educational research: A critical thinking approach (p. 208). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.