Reading in the Content Area

1
Reading in the Content Area
Thats called a book.

• August 9, 2007

2
Research

• Approximately 50 of the nations unemployed
  youth (ages 16-21) are functionally illiterate
  with no prospect of a better future.
• 75 of todays jobs require at least a ninth
  grade education.
• Illiteracy costs the U.S. approximately 20
  billion per year.
• U.S. Census Bureau, 2007

3
Literacy Levels

• Middle School and High School teachers feel an
  urgency to do everything within our power to
  improve literacy levels of studentswe take them
  forward from where they are when they come to us.
  

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Literacy Levels

• Content area teachers are compelled to teach
  reading and writing in their content area
• Do I Really Have to Teach Reading? Content
  Comprehension, Grades 6-12, Chris Tovani, 2004
• I Read It, But I Dont Get ItComprehension
  Strategies for Adolescent Readers, Chris Tovani,
  2000
• Mosaic of Thought, Teaching Comprehension in a
  Readers Workshop, Keene and Zimmermann, 1997
• Strategies That Work, Teaching Comprehension for
  Understanding and Engagement, 2nd edition,
  Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis, 2007

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THE ESSENCE OF READING IS THINKING.

• Its all about making the connections
• Text to Self (T-S) connections with
  personal experiences
• Text to World (T-W) connections with the
  world around them
• Text to Text (T-T) connections with other
  text

6
Guided Reading

• Strategies

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Before Reading

• Students bring and use prior knowledge about the
  topic. The teacher sets the focus or purpose for
  the reading and assigns the amount of text to be
  read.

8
During Reading

• Students are engaged in reading which includes
• Skimming and scanning
• Searching for meaning
• Predicting information
• Constructing meaning
• Rereading parts of the selections for better
  understanding
• Discussing the text with others
• Making notes

9
After Reading

• Students are engaged in
• Reacting and responding to what they have read
• Thinking about what they have read
• Writing in response to what they have read
• Discussing what they have read

10
What Teachers of Adolescents and Young Adults
Need

• Adequate and appropriate reading materials that
  tap student interest and represent a range of
  difficulty.
• Continued support and professional development to
  assist them in teaching literacy in their
  disciplines.
• Strategies for facilitating student-initiated
  conversations regarding texts that are authentic
  and relevant to real life experiences.

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Dealing with non-fiction text structure Reading
in the content area

• Table of Contents
• Chapter Headings Sub-headings
• Index
• Glossary
• Diagrams, charts, maps,
• graphs

12
Writing In the Content Area Examples of genre

• Recount to share a personal experience
• Procedural to show how to do something or how
  something works
• Expository - Informational to share information
• Persuasive to present an opinion or an argument

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Expository Writing

• Need for building background knowledge

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Strategies for building background knowledge

• Circle of Questions Sampson, M.B., Sampson,
  M.R., Linek, W. (1994)
• Sticky Notes, Bookmarks, Highlighters
  Cunningham, P., Hall, D. (1998)
• K-W-L and K-W-L PLUS Buehl, Doug, (2001)
• Bubble Map Memphis Content Literacy Academy
• Double Bubble Marzano, R.J., Pickering, D.J.
  (2005)
• T-Chart Harvey and Goudvis (2007)

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Circle of Questions Allows students to
brainstorm and organize information prior to
reading.

• Before reading
• Students form small groups.
• Topic is given and students are given a period of
  time to brainstorm questions about the topic.
• When time is up, draw a circle on the board or
  overhead transparency and write students
  questions around the circle.
• Students put the questions into categories.
• Questions within the same category are color
  coded.
• Each group then chooses a category to research.

16
Circle of Questions

• During reading
• Students research their selected category while
  making notes for reporting/writing about their
  category. The questions can then be turned into
  their headings.

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Circle of Questions

• After reading
• Student work may be shared through various
  formats.
• This process enables students to see how
  questions can become the headings in
  informational text and that authors often
  organize the information under headings by first
  asking questions. Activity during
  informational text reading, have students turn
  the headings into questions.

18
Sticky Notes, Bookmarks, and Highlighters

• Use these tools to mark important things you want
  to go back to after reading.
• Students read with purpose when they use these
  tools.
• Teach students to leave evidence and code the
  text.
• Consider using this strategy for vocabulary also.
• This is how adults read.

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K-W-L and K-W-L Plus

• K What I Know
• W What I Want to Know
• L What I Learned
• - What I still Want to Know

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Bubble Map Use for main topic and details

• Use the same as a web to gather information and
  sort it by details. The main idea would be
  listed in the center of the web with details
  radiating as spokes.

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Double Bubble

• Use the same as a bubble map (web) but double it
  and use the center bubbles for similarities and
  the outer bubbles for differences.

22
T-Chart

• This provides students with an organized method
  of note taking while reading information or
  listening to information being given.

23
T-Chart

• Divide paper in half two columns
• Record words or key pints in the left column
• Record definitions or explanations of key points
• Example

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Questions?
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Strategies for Persuasive Writing (and reading)

• Anticipation Guides
• Save the Last Word for Me
• Sub-genres such as editorials