Searching for Meaning

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Searching for Meaning

• Determining Importance

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If we want children to be deeply engaged in
conversations about issues of great significance
in books, we must not only teach them how to
read, but show them how to reason.Ellin Keene
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We have an abundance of information, but
information alone is meaningless. It has to be
thought about and organized and then
internalized, and then maybe you will end up with
knowledge.7 Keys to Comprehension, Susan
Zimmermann
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How Do I Determine What Is Important When I Read?
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Clue One Readers determine what is important
based on their purpose for reading.

• When reading difficult text without a purpose,
  students express complaints such as
• I just say the words so I can be done.
• I cant relate to the topic.
• I daydream and my mind wanders.
• I cant stay focused.
• I get bored.

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Why Is It Important to Have a Purpose?

• Read The House and circle with pencil whatever
  you think is important.
• Read the piece again and use a pink highlighter
  to mark places in the text that a robber would
  find important.
• Read the piece a third time and mark with a
  yellow highlighter any places in the story that a
  prospective home buyer might think are important.
• What did you notice about the three times you
  highlighted?

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Clue Two Readers determine what is important in
text at the word, sentence, and text levels.

• Word Level Contentives are words that hold the
  meaning in any sentence.
• Sentence Level There are usually key sentences
  that carry the weight of meaning for a passage or
  section.
• Text Level There are key ideas, concepts,
  themes in the text.

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Clue Three When determining importance in
informational text, think of the following

• What clues does the author provide to allow the
  reader to construct meaning from the text?
• What clue words will help me when I read?
• Which information is unimportant and which ideas
  are key to constructing meaning?

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I read everything the same way. It doesnt
matter if it is my science book or Sports
Illustrated. Whats the point? Reading is
reading. Luke, grade
10, I Read It, but I Dont Get It
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(No Transcript)
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Getting My Mind Ready to Read Applying
Comprehension Strategies to Fiction and Nonfiction
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What Does Content Area Reading Require?

• Knowledge of specialized vocabulary
• Background knowledge
• Study and memory techniques
• Comprehension strategies for nonfiction texts
• Monitoring meaning
• Knowledge of sources and the reliability of them
• The ability to overcome a personal lack of
  interest in the subject area and/or reading and
  writing to learn.

Tools for Teaching Content Literacy by Janet Allen
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Which Nonfiction Features Signal Importance?

• Fonts and effects
• Cue words and phrases
• Text structures

• Graphics
• Text organizers
• Illustrations and photographs

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Nonfiction Conventions
Convention
Purpose
Helps reader understand what something looks
like Helps the reader identify the parts of a
picture The words are bigger so you know that
they are more important Helps reader understand
the photo Helps reader see small details

• Photographs pictures in the book
• Labels-words that identify parts of a picture
• Types of print- ways words are written
• Captions-speech bubbles
• Close-ups-photographs

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Four Secrets to Figuring Out Main Idea

• Put yourself in the authors place.
• Examine the words and phrases (the details) for
  clues to what is important.
• Ask questions about what, in your experience, the
  clues combined seem to say about what is valued.
• Decide what the main idea is by saying, If I had
  written this and said things this way, what would
  that say about what I thought was important?

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How Does Overviewing, Skimming and Scanning the
Text, Help Understanding?

• Activating prior knowledge
• Noting characteristics of text length and
  structure
• Noting important headings and subheadings
• Determining what to read and in what order
• Determining what to pay careful attention to
• Determining what to ignore
• Deciding if the text is worth careful reading or
  just skimming

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Skimming and Scanning
Tools for Teaching Content Literacy by Janet
Allen
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What Guidelines Are There for Highlighting the
Text?

• Look carefully at the first and last line of each
  paragraph. Important information is often
  contained there.
• Highlight only necessary words and phrases, not
  entire sentences.
• Dont get thrown off by interesting details.
• Make notes in the margin to emphasize a pertinent
  highlighted word or phrase.
• Note cue words.
• Pay attention to nonfiction features.
• When finished, no more than half the paragraph
  should be highlighted.

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Highlight and Revisit
Do I Really Have to Teach Reading?, Cris Tovani
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Text Codes

• l Important
• L- Learned Something New
• - Interesting or important information or face
• AHA!- Big Idea Surfaces
• S- Surprising!
• S!!!- Shocking
• !!!- Exciting

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WOW!
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Discerning What Is Interesting from What Is
Important
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Sifting the Topic from the Details
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Reading Persuasive Material Carefully to Form an
Opinion
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Clue Four When determining importance in
fiction, think of the following

• Notice what the character says or does that
  provides what is important to him/her.
• Pay attention to the actions, motives, and
  feelings of the character.
• Think about what the author did to make the
  character believable.
• Decide which characters are primary and which are
  secondary. Compare and contrast those
  characters.
• Notice when the setting changes in a story.
• Decide if the setting is an integral part of the
  story or if it could have taken place anywhere.

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• Determine the theme(s) of the story.
• Determine which details contribute to the problem
  and/or the solution to it.
• Pay attention to the conflict. Characterize it
  as character vs. character, character vs. nature,
  character vs. society, or character vs. self.
• Notice the clues that the author provides to let
  the reader know what is going to happen next.
• See if and how the author builds suspense.
• Decide what seems realistic and what does not.

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• Think of the tone of the story.
• Contemplate what the authors purpose was for
  writing the story.
• Decide from what point of view the story is told.
• Think about the plot structure and characterize
  it as episodic, progressive, or are there
  parallel plots that build at the same time.
• Constructing Meaning by Nancy
  Boyles

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Identifying the Theme
Strategies That Work by Stephanie Harvey and Anne
Goudvis
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Determining Important Events
Strategies That Work by Stephanie Harvey and Anne
Goudvis
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Character Analysis
Strategies That Work by Stephanie Harvey and Anne
Goudvis
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What Is Important in the Text?
I Read It, but I Dont Get It by Cris Tovani
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Clue Five When Determining Importance in
Poetry, Think of the Following

• Note any clues in the title that may help
  determine importance.
• Think about the poet and any other works that may
  provide information about the poets style.
• Conclude what you think the poets purpose was.
• Determine the meanings of key words
• and phrases.

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Determining Importance in Poetry (continued)

• Construct meaning from any use of figurative
  language.
• Decide upon messages or themes of the poem,
  whether they are overtly stated or hidden.
• Reflect upon feelings after reading
• the poem.

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How Do I Know If a Student Has Successfully
Solved the Mystery of Determining Importance in
Reading?
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Assessing with the Major Point Interview for
Readers

• Are there some parts of this text that are more
  important than the others? Which ones? Why do
  you think they were the most important?
• What do you think the author thought was most
  important so far in this text? Why do you think
  so?
• We have just discussed important parts of the
  text. (Restate childs response.) What do you
  understand now that you didnt understand before?

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• Good strategy lessons are not over until
  students have discussed their learning process.
• Nancy N. Boyles