READING COMPREHENSION USING A PODCAST

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READING COMPREHENSION USING A PODCAST

• DIANA L. WHITAKER

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Live Action Project

• To create a pod cast to teach reading
  comprehension
• Focus is on high school and post
• high school students
• Test group my 1102, 1101,
• and 99 students from the college
• I teach at

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Material Used

• 2 works of fiction
• The Pedestrian by Ray Bradbury
• Sonnet 29 by William Shakespeare

• 2 works of non-fiction
• News article The Misuse of Cell Phones by Saba
  Anwar Islambad
• Essay Why We Crave Horror Movies by Stephen King

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What is reading?

• Two part answer
• 1. calling words ability to recognize word
  structures
• 2. understand words ability to understand the
  meaning within the context of the words
• One does not exist without the
• other. For effective reading to occur,
• one must be able to call words and
• understand their meaning.

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Five Basic Steps to Reading Comprehension

• 1. Previewing
• 2. Reading and Comprehending
• 3. Skimming
• 4. Scanning
• 5. Following Up

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Previewing

• Previewing is the manner by which one uses
  previous knowledge, prior learning, predictions,
  art, limited information, etc. to grasp the
  intended readers attention. Essentially, it is
  what attracts one to read the desired material

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Reading and Comprehending

• Reading and comprehending is the conscious effort
  of one to call words and understand the intended
  meaning whether it be by reading aloud, using
  the punctuation, answering questions while
  reading, underlining key words, etc. The
  two must work together for effective reading.

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Skimming

• Skimming occurs when the
• reader intentionally looks over
• the material searching for
• details pertaining to the plot or
• the purpose of the selection.
• These details are necessary to
• understand the overall gist of the selected
  reading.

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Scanning

• Scanning is the more depth work done to better
  understand the material. This can be anything
  from learning new vocabulary to completing
  exercise worksheets. Although a certain
  amount of scanning is done mentally,
  often this is done more in a school or
  business setting.

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Following Up

• Following up is the extra mile one takes to make
  sure he understand the text he has read. In a
  leisure setting this might be done by explaining
  the text to
• someone else. In school or
• business, it might be writing a
• paper or doing a project based
• on the material.

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Questions to Ask

• The Pedestrian by Ray Bradbury
• Sonnet 29 by William Shakespeare
• News article The Misuse of Cell Phones by Saba
  Anwar Islambad
• Essay Why We Crave Horror Movies by Stephen
  King

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The Pedestrianby Ray Bradbury

• Reading and Comprehending
• Is the story futuristic?
• Does the story seem to be open ended?
• Did any information in the previewing help to set
  the stage for the story?

• Previewing
• What is a Pedestrian?
• What else has Bradbury written?
• What kinds of books does Bradbury write about?

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The Pedestrianby Ray Bradbury

• Scanning
• Who are the characters?
• What is the setting?
• What is the conflict?
• What are some key points of the story?

• Skimming
• Why is Mr. Mead being arrested?
• How is he different than the other people?
• Why does the car say he has regressive
  tendencies?
• What is the underlying theme?

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The Pedestrianby Ray Bradbury

• Following Up
• Are Bradburys fears founded or unfounded?
• Is technology taking over humanity?
• Are we losing ourselves to the progression of
  technology?
• None of these are simply yes or no questions.
  These are thought provoking questions that should
  encourage people to truly consider the role
  technology has taken in our lives.

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Sonnet 29 by William Shakespeare

• Previewing
• What is a sonnet?
• How do you read poetry?
• How are sonnets arranged?
• What types of sonnets is Shakespeare known for
  writing?

• Reading and Comprehending
• What terms stand out?
• Are those terms positive or negative?
• What terms can be either positive or negative
  depending on the usage?

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Sonnet 29 by William Shakespeare

• Scanning
• What does Fortune mean in these lines?
• What is the attitude of the speaker in the first
  quatrain?
• What is the main point of the first quatrain?
• What does the speaker desire in the second
  quatrain?
• Why is the speaker discontent?
• What is the gist of the second quatrain?
• What is the moment of awakening?
• Why do things seem better?
• What is the gist of the third quatrain?
• What does the speaker realize in the turn?

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Sonnet 29 by William Shakespeare

• Skimming
• Why does the speaker have a change in attitude?
• What are the similarities in the quatrains?
• Why does the couplet or the turn have a change of
  heart?

• Following Up
• What might be a lesson to be learned from such a
  poem?
• How can one summarize the meaning of this poem?

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The Misuse of Cell Phones by Saba Anwar Islambad

• Previewing
• Are cell phones misused?
• Who is abusing cell phones?
• How are they abusing cell phones?

• Reading and Comprehending
• Who is misusing the cell phones?
• Where are they misusing the cell phones?
• What abuses were mentioned in the article?

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The Misuse of Cell Phones by Saba Anwar Islambad

• Scanning
• What are some advantages to having cell phones?
• What are some disadvantages?

• Skimming
• Why does the article only focus on two problems
  when there are clearly more?
• Who is the primary target for the article?
• What is the emphasis of the article?

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The Misuse of Cell Phones by Saba Anwar Islambad

• Following Up
• What suggestions does the author give as a
  possible solution to the cell phone problem
  talked about in the article?
• Is the suggestion viable?
• What are pros and cons to the suggestion?

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Essay Why We Crave Horror Movies by Stephen King

• Reading and Comprehending
• Does the first line of the essay capture your
  attention?
• What is the difference between normal and crazy?
• What kinds of crazy things do we do everyday?
• What kinds of unfounded fears do we have?

• Previewing
• What do we know about the author?
• What types of stories does King write?
• Do we really crave horror movies?

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Essay Why We Crave Horror Movies by Stephen King

• Scanning
• Why do we watch things that scare us?
• Why are horror films so popular?
• How are horror films simple?

• Skimming
• Do we have a dark side hidden deep within each of
  us?
• Why are we drawn to evil?
• What about the dark side is so exciting?

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Essay Why We Crave Horror Movies by Stephen King

• Following Up
• What of the dark side excites us?
• What characters of evil do we relate to?
• What beast do we hide within?
• What entices and grabs us about horror?
• Notice that sometimes questions and ideas do
  overlap because there is not always a clear cut
  beginning and end to examining works.

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Reading Comprehension Survey

• Questions
• Who are you?
• 2. How would you normally feel about reading
  comprehension tests?

• Number of Responses
• English 1102 - 8
• English 1101 - 11
• Other 5
• Great - 6
• Not So Great - 2
• A Bit Anxious - 11
• Anxious - 2
• Very Anxious - 3

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Reading Comprehension Surveycontinued

• 3. Did the reading comprehension help your
  understanding?
• 4. Did you find the reading comprehension segment
  enjoyable?

• Very Much - 14
• Some 5
• Dont Know - 2
• Not much - 1
• Not at all - 2
• Very Much - 12
• Some - 9
• Dont Know - 0
• Not much - 2
• Not at all - 1

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Reading Comprehension Surveycontinued

• Very Much - 15
• Some - 6
• Dont Know - 1
• Not much - 2
• Not at all - 0
• Very Much - 11
• Some - 10
• Dont Know - 0
• Not much - 2
• Not at all - 1

• 5. Were the handouts helpful?
• 6. Were the reading selections enjoyable?

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Reading Comprehension Surveycontinued

• Positive Comments
• I loved it! I especially like the idea that I can
  listen to a pod cast to make up work when I am
  absent.
• Ms. Whitaker is hilarious! She made comments that
  were funny which made it enjoyable to listen to.
• I like how Mrs. Whitaker used a variety of texts.
  This shows that the steps work with any reading
  material.
• Hey Ms. Whit, Can you do a pod cast for every
  class? That way I dont have to be in class at
  800 A.M.?
• Mrs. Whitaker is very personable. She makes you
  feel as though you are in the classroom with her.
• I like how Ms. Whitaker uses her own personal
  examples like Twilight and Nancy Drew. That way
  we can all relate.

• Negative Comments
• The pod cast was too long.
• There was too much material at one time.
• I didnt understand how you came up with all the
  questions.

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Survey Explanation

• The majority of the students liked the podcast. A
  few complained about the length and the amount of
  material covered. For the most part, I received
  positive comments although I will tell the one
  student the pod cast does NOT replace class?

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What I Have Learned

• I am not sure how I ever lived without
  technology. Pod casting opens up a whole to area
  in which I could teach. The more I think about
  it, I think it is certainly a viable alternative
  to homebound or homeschooled students. I would
  love to eventually put together an entire unit or
  even class of pod and webcasts for such use. The
  recording was relatively easy. The writing I
  simply spoke out loud as if I were teaching a
  class and then corrected errors. The pod cast
  also made me look at my own grammatical skills
  while speaking which I am proud to say were
  pretty good.

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Conclusion

• Pod casting is something that I am certainly
  going to continue doing. I really enjoy it, and I
  see it as beneficial to my students. This
  replaces the old days of tape recording class
  lectures. My intent is to begin with my 1101
  class, and begin recording the to post onto my
  webpage through my college. I am also hoping that
  this will spark an interest with my boss to see
  knew possibilities that can be used with pod
  casting.

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Quote

• Force yourself to reflect on what you read,
  paragraph by paragraph.
• Samuel Taylor Coleridge

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Bibliography

• Kamil, M. (2003). Adolescents and literacy
  Reading for the 21st century.Washington, DC
  Alliance for Excellent Education.
  http//www.all4ed.org/publications/AdolescentsAndL
  iteracy.pdf.
• Krashen, S. (2003). The Power of Reading.
  Portsmouth, NH Heinemann. http//www.sdkrashen.co
  m/articles/singapore/singapore.pdf
• Maas, Klaus. (2007). Steps Towards the Skills of
  Using Reading Comprehending Strategies.
  www.kfmaas.de/read_step.html.
• Meltzer, J., Smith, N. C., Clark, H. (2001).
  Adolescent literacy resources Linking research
  and practice. Providence, RI Education Alliance
  at Brown University. http//www.alliance.brown.edu
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• Mike, D.G. (1996). Internet in the Schools A
  literacy perspective. Journal of Adolescent and
  Adult Literacy, 40, 4-13. http//www.jstor.org/pss
  /27542244

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Bibliography cont.

• Pearson, P.D., Johnson, D.W. (1983). The
  Instruction of Reading Comprehension.
  Contemporary Educational Psychology, 8, 317-344.
  http//rer.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/61/2/2
  39
• Pressley, M. (2000). What should comprehension
  instruction be the instruction of? In M. L.
  Kamil, P. B. Mosenthal, P. D. Pearson, R. Barr
  (Eds.), Handbook of reading research (Vol. 3, pp.
  545451). Mahwah, NJ Lawrence Erlbaum.
  http//rse.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/29/4/2
  22
• Snow, Catherine. (2002). Rand Reading Study
  Group. Reading for understanding Toward an R D
  program in reading compression. Santa Monica, CA
  Science and Technology Policy Institute, Rand
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  rts/MR1465/
• Walker, C. H., Meyer, B. J. F. (1980).
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