Literacy CPD Wednesday 30th January 2013 Focus on reading

How to read like a… mathematician linguist scientist designer musician critic historian geographer judge manager artist writer

Reading to comprehend Read the following text and answer the questions. Glombots, who looked durly and lurkish, were very fond of wooning, which they usually did in the grebble rather than the grimper. What did the Glombots look like? What were they fond of doing? Where did they go weaning? Why do you think they preferred the grebble to the grimper for wooning? What are the main barriers your pupils face in reading beneath the surface in your subject – complicated vocabulary, long texts, a need for prior knowledge?

Literacy facts 1 in 6 people in the UK struggle with literacy: working below the level expected for an 11 year old. How many of our pupils will leave school as one of the 1 in 6? 30% of 5-8 year olds read a book every day; 17% of 15-17 year olds do. How do we encourage reading for pleasure? Teenagers are more likely to read technology based materials: 2/3 teenagers read emails, blogs and networking websites every week. How do we teach information literacy? The National Literacy Trust: www.literacytrust.org.uk

Higher-level reading skills Skimming – move quickly through and across texts Scanning – locate bits of key information Reflective reading – follow the broad gist: questioning, analysing and predicting Reasoning – questioning a writer’s facts or interpretation; make inferences, deductions and connections Evaluating – make links between texts; make judgements about whether one text is better than, more reliable than, or more interesting than another text

Read like a… As a subject teacher you are passing on your literacy expertise by explaining, demonstrating, modelling and teaching. We just need to make it more explicit. Use a range of strategies to support pupils’ reading – reading aloud as a whole class (choral), in pairs (duologue), guided reading groups, teacher read aloud/think aloud, share key words and glossaries, talk about the text before answering questions. Use layout and language to make texts accessible in handouts, worksheets and presentations – summaries, bullets, short paragraphs, graphics and pictures’ key words highlighted, questions go beyond surface comprehension to explore the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of issues. Provide assessment criteria and models of appropriate texts types – handouts include a ‘big picture’ question or statement that helps pupils to understand why they are reading it

Read like a… On the following five slides are questions I would like you to consider. You will do many of the suggestions outlined but others might offer some inspiration. Take some time now to consider your response.

Read like a… Questions to ask Reading for information – How do you read in your subject? Do you talk about the conventions of the text (chronological, linking words – next, then, however). Do you model reading – explaining how you interpret texts, how you cope with difficult concepts and words?

Read like a… Questions to ask Teaching vocabulary and spelling – do you share the most significant words in your subject with pupils? How do pupils see them, access them, learn them? How do you help pupils spell them? What are the ‘game-changing’ words and phrases they need to know?

Read like a… Questions to ask Using layout and language to make handouts more accessible – are handouts clear and accessible? Are key words listed at the beginning? Do you frame the learning with a big question and other questions down the side? Do you offer alternatives to questions; draw, cloze, re-order, predict, argue)? Is the purpose of the text clear; do you ask ‘why are we reading this?’ What is the reading level of handouts and worksheets? Use the ‘readability’ statistics in Word under ‘Grammar and Spelling’ or the function on Accelerated Reader.

Read like a… Questions to ask Assessing reading – do you vary how you test pupils’ reading with active reading strategies: predict what happens next, cloze with missing words, sort out the order of a text, words to pictures, different question types - open-ended (Why? How?); question continuums (How far do you agree 1-5?); statements to agree with/argue against.

Read like a… Questions to ask Promoting reading – Do pupils see you reading? Does you classroom showcase some of the great writers from you subject, and what they have written? Do you read aloud? Do you recommend reading material about your subject to pupils?

Read like a… Design a reading task I would like you to now design a reading based task where you think about implementing some of the strategies we have looked at today. There are additional helpsheets available: ‘Reading strategies’ and ‘Reading for research’.

Sharing good practice Please take the time to write on a post-it successful ideas, activities or tasks you have used or planned so that I can circulate them to staff.