Strategies for reading instruction

Strategies for Reading Instruction

Holy Angel University

Jennifer V. Ocampo

Master of Arts in English Language and Literature Teaching


Reading is a complex activity that requires the use and coordination of many skills simultaneously.

Difficulty with any of these abilities may result in a reading problem.

Strategies should be focused on working with the child’s strengths.


1. GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS

By using graphic organizers across all subject areas, you will be empowering your students to master subject-matter faster and more efficiently.

Use graphic organizers to structure writing projects, to help in problem solving, decision making, studying, planning research and brainstorming.


1.1 STORY PYRAMIDCapitalize the first word in each line.Line 1 — one word, stating the name of main characterLine 2 — two words, describing the main characterLine 3 — three words, describing the settingLine 4 — four words, stating the problemLine 5 — five words, describing one eventLine 6 — six words, describing a second eventLine 7 — seven words, describing third eventLine 8 — eight words, stating the solution to the problem

CinderellaPoor, beautiful

Town with castleForbidden to attend ball

Fairy godmother helps her goCinderella loses her slipper at midnight

Unique glass slipper fits only Cinderella’s footCinderella marries Prince and lives happily ever after


1.1 STORY PYRAMID

Use a story pyramid to describe important information from a story, such as the main character, thesetting, and the major events in the plot. Carefully choose your words in order to provide a precisedescription. You may wish to use a dictionary and a thesaurus.


1.2 CAUSE-and-EFFECT DIAGRAM

Cause

Effect

Effect

Effect


1.3 STORY ELEMENTSTitle _______________

This story is about __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

(name the characters)This story takes place ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

(where and when)The action begins when ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Then, _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Next, _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________After that, _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The story ends when ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Theme _______________________________________________________________________________


1.4 VENN DIAGRAM

Topic: _______________ Topic: ______________

What are you comparing and contrasting?

Similarities

Differences


1.5. BRAINSTORMING WEB

Topic

Directions: Write a word in each circle that tells about or describes the topic


1.6 CHARACTER WEB

Character’s Name


2. Vocabulary Building


2. Vocabulary Building

EVERYONE—FROM BEGINNING LEARNERS in English to veterans in journalism—knows the frustration of not having the right word immediately available in that lexicon one carries between one's ears. Sometimes it's a matter of not being able to recall the right word; sometimes we never knew it. It is also frustrating to read a newspaper or homework assignment and run across words whose meanings elude us. Language, after all, is power. When your children get in trouble fighting with the neighbors' children, and your neighbors call your children little twerps and you call their children nefarious miscreants—well, the battle is over and they didn't stand a chance. Building a vocabulary that is adequate to the needs of one's reading and self-expression has to be a personal goal for every writer and speaker.


Word UnScramble is a fun and popular game. UnScramble is similar to other word games that ask the player to find words in several letters that have been scrambled up on a game board. Not only is this a great game to play for a fun time with your family, but it can also add educational value by helping to add new words to your vocabulary.


Analogies (as in: A is to B as 1 is to 2) are a ubiquitous staple of standardized tests. Learning analogies helps students not only in problem solving and decision making, but also in perception and memory as well as communication and reasoning. In fact, even creativity and emotion are closely related to and affected by one’s ability to analogize. Analogies can be categorized into many types, including synonym analogies (parody is to satire as rogue is to scoundrel) and part-whole analogies (Eiffel Tower is to France as Great Pyramid is to Egypt).


A prefix is a group of letters attached to the beginning of a root or word (or even group of words) serving to modify and/or extend meaning. Prefixes generally have an easily understood meaning in and of themselves, which they apply to the root word to which they are affixed. For example, “un” is a negative prefix which will change the otherwise positive word “happy” into “unhappy”. Learning about prefixes early on is important in that it greatly improves reading comprehension at all levels.

Although devoid of any affixes, a root word is a full-fledged word in and of itself. For example, the word “port” is the root word for export (which has a prefix) and portable (which has a suffix). Learning to recognize word roots early on is crucial in a child’s education as it not only helps carry spelling skills over to reading fluency but also greatly increases general comprehension skills, reading or otherwise.



3. JOURNALS

The Journal activity is a diary of everything a child does. The Journal can be used by children to organize work or revisit a past project, and by teachers and parents to assess a child's progress.

The Journal activity provides an intuitive interface for viewing projects and files.


3. JOURNALS

Who is your favorite character? Why? Who among the characters do you dislike? Are you like some of the characters in the story? Why? If you were the teacher, would you ask your students to read the story? Why?


4. KWL

KWL is intended to be an exercise for a study group or class that can guide you in reading and understanding a text. You can adapt it to working alone, but discussions definitely help.It is composed of only three stages that reflect a worksheet of three columns with the three letters:



Think first about, then list, what you know about the topic before reading!Think of it as a pre-reading inventory.Brainstorm!Before looking at the text, think of keywords, terms, or phrases about the topic, either in your class or a study group.Record these in the K column of your chart until you cannot think of more.Engage your group in a discussion about what you wrote in the K column.Organize the entries into general categories.

K stands for Know


The second stage is to list a series of questions of what you want to know more of the subject, based upon what you listed in K.Preview the text’s table of contents, headings, pictures, charts etc.Discuss what you want to learnList some thoughts on what you want, or expect to learn, generally or specifically. Think in terms of what you will learn, or what do you want to learn about this.Turn all sentences into questions before writing them down.They will help you focus your attention during reading.List the questions by importance.

W stands for Will or Want


The final stage is to answer your questions, as well as to list what new information you have learned. Either while reading or after you have finished.List out what you learn as you read,either by section, or after the whole work, whichever is comfortable for you.Check it against the W column, what you wanted to learnCreate symbols to indicate main ideas, surprising ideas, questionable ideas, and those you don’t understand!

L stands for Learned


Expand this exercise beyond K W L:

Add an H!Stands for HOW you can learn more.

Pose new questions about the topicHow can I learn more or answer questions not answered in my worksheetThese include other sources of information, including: organizations, experts, tutors, websites, librarians, etc.


4. SQ3R READING METHOD

SQ3R is a reading strategy formed from its letters:

Survey! Question! Read! Recite! Review!

SQ3R will help you build a framework to understand your reading assignment.


Before you read, Survey the chapter:the title, headings, and subheadingscaptions under pictures, charts, graphs or mapsreview questions or teacher-made study guidesintroductory and concluding paragraphssummary

Question while you are surveying:Turn the title, headings, and/or subheadings into questionsRead questions at the end of the chapters or after each subheadingAsk yourself, "What did my instructor say about this chapter or subject when it was assigned?“Ask yourself, "What do I already know about this subject?" Note: If it is helpful to you, write out these questions for consideration. This variation is called SQW3R


When you begin to Read:Look for answers to the questions you first raisedAnswer questions at the beginning or end of chapters or study guidesReread captions under pictures, graphs, etc.Note all the underlined, italicized, bold printed words or phrasesStudy graphic aidsReduce your speed for difficult passagesStop and reread parts which are not clearRead only a section at a time and recite after each section


Review: an ongoing process

Day OneAfter you have read and recited the entire chapter, write questions in the margins for those points you have highlighted or underlined.If you took notes while reciting, write questions for the notes you have taken in the left hand margins of your notebook.Complete the form for a critical reading review


Day TwoPage through the text and/or your notebook to re-acquaint yourself with the important points.Cover the right hand column of your text/note-book and orally ask yourself the questions in the left hand margins.Orally recite or write the answers from memory.Develop mnemonic devices for material which need to be memorized. Make flash cards for those questions which give you difficulty.


Days Three, Four and FiveAlternate between your flash cards and notes and test yourself (orally or in writing) on the questions you formulated.Make additional flash cards if necessary.


WeekendUsing the text and notebook, make a Table of Contents - list all the topics and sub-topics you need to know from the chapter.From the Table of Contents, make a Study Sheet/ Spatial Map.Recite the information orally and in your own words as you put the Study Sheet/Map together.As you have consolidated all the information you need for this chapter, periodically review the Sheet/Map so that at test time you will not have to cram.



References http://www.learningrx.com/strategies-for-reading-instruction-faq.htm https://www.teachervision.com/graphic-organizers/printable/6293.html http://www.vocabulary.co.il/ http://www.studygs.net/texred3.htm http://www.studygs.net/texred2.htm

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Strategies for reading instruction