Transactional Reading

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Transactional Reading

• By Ashley Robertson
• Shari Sterling
• Vanessa Rork

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About Transactional Reading

• The idea of Transactional Reading came from
  Lousie Rosenblatt.
• It came about in 1978.
• Ideal for 4th-12th grades however the idea may
  also used at the college level.

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What is transactional reading?

• Transactional reading is the idea that there is a
  reciprocal, mutually defining relationship
  between the students and the literary text.
• Transactional theory proposes that the
  relationship between reader and text is much like
  that between the river and its banks, each
  working its effects upon the other, each
  contributing to the shape of the literature.

http//www.ericdigests.org/pre-926/theory.htm
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How does transactional reading work?

• Rosenblatt states The text is simply ink on
  paper until a reader comes along.
• Symbolic functioning can happen only in the
  reader's mind. It does not take place on the
  page, in the text, but in the act of reading.
• the words begin to function symbolically,
  evoking, in the transaction, images, emotions,
  and concepts.

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How to incorporate transactional reading within a
classroom?

• You incorporate transactional reading through a
  journal.
• Transactional Reading, when used in the classroom
  allows the students to bring in their own
  personal experiences while relating them to the
  literature that they are reading.

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Principles for Instruction

• 1. Invite response. Make clear to students that
  their responses, emotional and intellectual, are
  valid starting points for discussion and writing.
  
• 2. Give ideas time to crystallize. Encourage
  students to reflect upon their responses,
  preferably before hearing others.
• 3. Find points of contact among students. Help
  them to see the potential for communication among
  their different points of view.
• 4. Open up the discussion to the topics of self,
  text, and others. The literary experience should
  be an opportunity to learn about all three.
• 5. Let the discussion build. Students should feel
  free to change their minds, seeking insight
  rather than victory.
• 6. Look back to other texts, other discussions,
  other experiences. Students should connect the
  reading with other experiences.
• 7. Look for the next step. What might they read
  next? About what might they write?
• http//www.ericdigests.org/pre-926/theory.htm

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A conducted study

• An experimental study showed that In comparison
  to non-TSI (transactional strategies instruction)
  students, the TSI students
• learned more about strategic processing and used
  strategies on their own more frequently during
  the reading of a challenging story
• acquired more information from the stories they
  read and developed a richer, more personalized
  understanding of the stories
• showed greater gains on standardized
  comprehension and word study skills tests.
• Thus, there were multiple indicators that
  students' reading performance benefited from a
  year of transactional strategies instruction.

Brown, Rachel, El-Dinary, Pamela Beard,
Pressley, Michael, Coy-Ogan, Lynne. The Reading
Teacher. Newark Nov 1995. Vol. 49, Iss. 3 pg.
256, 3 pgs
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Overview of Transactional Reading

• Step 1 the students are assigned a reading or
  is read to.
• Step 2 the students are allowed some time for
  the information to set in, classroom discussion
  might be administered at this time.
• Step 3 the students are provided with a writing
  prompt.
• Step 4 the students are given time to write in
  their journal.
• Step 5 after the students have had time to
  complete their journal entries they may have time
  to share their experiences if they choose to do
  so.

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References

• Brown, Rachel, El-Dinary, Pamela Beard, Pressley,
  Michael, Coy-Ogan, Lynne. The Reading Teacher.
  Newark Nov 1995. Vol. 49, Iss. 3 pg. 256, 3 pgs
• Probst, R.E (1987). Transactional Theory in the
  Teaching of Literature. Retrieved January 15,
  2008, from Transactional Theory in the Teaching
  of Literature Web site http//www.ericdigests.org
  /pre-926/theory.htm
• http//www.greece.k12.ny.us/instruction/ela/6-12/R
  eading/Reading20Strategies/transactionalreadingjo
  urnal.htm