Reading Power

Adrienne Gear

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Gear offers strategies to teach students how to connect the literacy

pieces as they read.

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 Literacy instruction must balance

decoding and comprehension skills.

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Gear states, “Reading demands a two pronged attack. It involves cracking the alphabetic code to determine words and thinking about those words to construct

meaning.”

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In the words of Gear,

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Gear believes the missing piece of reading instruction is reading strategies taking

place while reading.

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Metacognition,

awareness of thinking, is a prerequisite for becoming a successful reader.

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Students need to connect with the text. Connections are not right or wrong. They are based upon our personal experiences. The ability to make connections begins the path . . . “for all other reading strategies to walk upon.”

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Students need to question the text. Questions need to go beyond the literal surface of the text. They need to stretch students’ thinking and promote students to wonder while they read. Move beyond quick questions to deep thinking questions.

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Students need to visualize the text. Help students form images in their minds as they read. Choose books that describe things that are familiar to students. Provide pre-reading language for ELL students.

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Students need to make inferences when reading text. They must fill in the information gaps by becoming a book detective by looking for the author’s clues. Clues may be found in pictures, text, or personal connections.

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Lastly, students need to transform or synthesize the text. To transform means to bring about a change in thinking. Synthesis is another word for transform. Summary is a two-dimensional display of reading. Synthesis includes the reader’s thoughts, which makes it a three-dimensional display of reading. It reveals how the reader’s thoughts were transformed.

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To teach the five reading powers the teacher must model a reader’s speaking and thinking voices.

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A teacher models through pauses while reading to explain to students what her thinking voice is saying. Students need to understand that it is the teacher’s turn to share her thinking voice.

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Guided reading the teacher guides students to read with a thinking voice. She guides students to

use strategy language. Students share their thinking with each other. Sharing of thoughts leads

to deeper comprehension of concepts.

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Independent practice and application happens when students work through strategies on their own and apply the strategies to their reading.

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Once students learn one of the five Reading Power strategies the teacher can use the strategy to assess students on any text they read. As students learn all five strategies they may display how they use the strategies in conjunction with one another and reveal they have the Reading Power!

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The three components of reading power are

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The Reading Power’s Model States:

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Book bins, while not necessary, organize materials to further promote implementation of the five reading power strategies.

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Gear clearly details methods of instruction.

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She recommends a comprehensive book list for each strategy.

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Furthermore, Gear has catchy tunes for the introduction of each strategy. The songs help to move students to think carefully of the strategy while reading or being read to.

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Gear also offers a wide array of reading comprehension sheets to use in instruction to

further promote and display students’ comprehension of each strategy.

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Adrienne Gear provides outstanding strategies for reading instruction, thorough explanations of

teaching methods, lists of resources, and assessment sheets.

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Reading Power is an excellent resource for reading instruction. Give your students the

READING POWER and get Gear’s book today!

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Additional ResourcesAdrienne Gear Biographical Information

http://www.readingpowergear.com/bio.html

Reading Power Home Page http://www.readingpowergear.com/

You Tube Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5gxSIVanmM

Teacher Tube Video http://www.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=13838