Before Reading Strategies Devoting instructional time to reading preparation helps ensure success for students.

Preparing students to handle text increases comprehension Dr. Kate Kinsella, recommends allocating 65% of your instructional time to front-loading your instruction. Front-loading instruction before, during and after reading will assist less proficient readers in tackling demanding text competently.

We must explicitly target specific skills and strategies. Each time a student is expected to read, teachers need to target one or more skills or strategies and these needs to be communicated to the students. Skills and strategies are modeled and opportunities for guided practices should be included. The goal is to expect the independent use of the skills and strategies.

Front-loading instruction To ensure success in comprehension employ the following prereading strategies: Build background knowledge Explicitly teach vocabulary Identify text structures Establish a purpose for reading

Background Knowledge Background knowledge a reader brings to a text greatly influences comprehension. Background knowledge is organized and stored in the brain so the reader can use information as needed. Helping students seek and select the information that is relevant to their purposes for reading provides a framework for making connections, predictions, and making inferences, etc.

Background Knowledge Using background knowledge helps the reader organize text information and thus enhancing the ability to retain and remember what is read. Background knowledge helps readers elaborate information thus modifying what is already stored in long term memory.

Connect to background knowledge by: Demonstrate connections between your reading and your personal life, other texts, and world experiences. Model your thinking about background information during the introduction Gather information from the group and remind students that they already know something about the topic that will help as they read.

Connect to background knowledge by: Prompt students to recall what they already know while they are reading After the reading, ask students to compare what they already knew with what they learned.

Strategies to build background knowledge Anticipation Guide 12/Reading/Reading%20Strategies/anticipation%20guide.htm 12/Reading/Reading%20Strategies/anticipation%20guide.htm K W L KWL revised See Janet Allen’s book, Tools for Teaching Content Literacy, Appendix for BKWLQ Prereading Notes - Generates an overall impression of the reading selection. This preliminary overview helps prepare for a more thorough reading by first creating a mental outline of the chapter, article, etc. Prereading Notes Predictions

Building Prior Knowledge Strategies See Chapter 5 in Subjects Matter for other strategies to build background knowledge: Brainstorming, Clustering, Role Play, and Probable Passage See Janet Allen’s book, Tools for Teaching Content Literacy, for other strategies to build background knowledge: Skimming and Scanning, List-Group-Label, Anticipation Guide, Anticipating Content: Here and Now, Predict-O-Gram, Story Impressions, and DR- TA (Directed Reading-Thinking Activity)

Integrate Vocabulary Instruction by: Analyze lesson for vocabulary concepts, academic vocabulary, and specific terms Explicitly prepare for instruction Let students know that the words to be learned are critical Ask students to determine how much they already know about the words

Integrate Vocabulary Instruction by: Engage students in active participation by listening, responding, and taking notes Follow a consistent instructional sequence for teaching a word Provide scaffold for note taking for struggling readers

Integrate Vocabulary Instruction by: Ask students to reassess their knowledge level of the lesson vocabulary, providing the teacher with information for reteaching Hold students accountable for studying, learning, and using the words Assess students’ vocabulary mastery with brief and meaningful quizzes Last three slides adapted from Kate Kinsella

Explicit Vocabulary Instruction See Explicit Vocabulary Instruction Powerpoint in this month’s session for examples of steps in vocabulary lesson design. See vocabulary strategies in Subjects Matter pages

Identify Text Structures There are several types of text structures that appear in informational texts. Writers use these structures to arrange and connect ideas. Most often there are several text structures present in a text.

Text Structure The Powerpoint named Text Structures goes into detail about each type of text structure.

Text Structures Description Chronological sequence Cause and effect Problem/solution Concept/Definition Compare/Contrast

Determine Instructional Purpose Read the following passage and jot down whatever you think is important.

The House The two boys ran until they came to the driveway. “See, I told you today was good for skipping school,” said Mark. “Mom is never home on Thursday.” he added. Tall hedges hid the house from the road so the pair strolled across the finely landscpaed yard. “I never knew your place was so big,” said Pete. “Yeah, but it’s nicer now than it used to be since Dad Had the new stone siding put on and added the fireplace.”

The House continued There were front and back doors and a side door which led to the garage which was empty except for three parked 10- speed bikes. They went in the side door, Mark explaining that it was always open in case his younger sisters got home earlier than their mother.

The House continued Pete wanted to see the house so Mark started with the living room. It, like the rest of the downstairs, was newly painted. Mark turned on the stereo, the noise of which worried Pete. “Don’t worry, the nearest house is a quarter mile away,” Mark shouted. Pet felt more comfortable observing that no other houses could be seen in any direction beyond the huge yard.

The House continued The dining room, with all the china, silver, and cut crystal, was no place to play so the boys moved into the kitchen where they made sandwiches. Mark said they wouldn’t go to the basement because it had been damp and must ever since the new plumbing had been installed.

The House continued “This is where my Dad keeps his famous painings and his coin collection,” Mark said as they peered into the den. Mark bragged that he could get spending money whenever he needed it since he’d discovered that his Dad kept a lot in the desk drawer.

The House continued There were three upstairs bedrooms. Mark showed Pete his mother’s closet which was filled with furs and the locked box which held her jewels. His sisters’ room was uninteresting except for the color TV which Mark carried to his room. Mark bragged that the bathroom in the hall was his since one had been added to his sisters’ room for their use. The big highlight in his room, though, was a leak in the ceiling where the old roof had finally rotted.

What was important in the story? If you are not sure, you are like most every person I have shared this with. Had I asked you to read this story from the perspective of a potential thief, would it have been easier to identify what was important? What if you were a potential home buyer? Would you have found different things that were important?

Identify the instructional purpose Assigning a reading without determining an instructional purpose sets students up for failure. Decide what students should know after reading the piece. Focus on essential information only.

Identify the instructional purpose Establish and adjust purposes for reading (to understand, interpret, enjoy, solve problems, predict outcomes, answer a specific question, form an opinion, skim for facts, identify models for own writing

Purpose Read the article “The Power of Purposeful Reading” in Educational Leadership that is being sent to you for more information on establishing a purpose for reading. Admit Slips in Janet Allen’s book, Tools for Teaching Content Literacy, is another strategy to establish purpose.

To Recap: Consider these questions prior to students reading the text. Are students lacking background information? What strategy will help build that background knowledge? What difficult vocabulary will interfere with meaning? What difficult concepts will need to be defined and examined? How is the text organized? Is the text about challenging subject matter? Why are students reading the text?

Lesson Plan Assignment This session you will begin to develop a lesson plan that incorporates before, during and after reading strategies. Choose an informational text reading that you will use in your classroom in December or January and one that you know has given the students difficulty in the past or know to be difficult.

Begin to design a lesson This month’s session will be devoted to determining prereading strategies necessary to enhance comprehension of the chosen text. Focus assignments for this session around the text you selected. Complete the reading of each powerpoint of this session prior to beginning your lesson plan.