1 Instruction, Not Instructions Teaching Students Strategies for Reading Different Genres

2 Unskilled Readers  Students who struggle with reading are often unaware of the role the reader plays in comprehending and learning with texts.  Unsuccessful readers rarely consider what they need to do to be successful. Instead of taking an active role in constructing meaning, they remain passive and disengaged.

3 Unskilled Readers  Students who struggle with reading often lack strategies for understanding different genres and approach all texts the same way.  Unskilled readers tend to approach reading word-by-word as if it were a word perfect act.

4 Strategic Readers Use Schema  Schema is how people organize and store information in their minds  Schema activation is the mechanism by which people access what they know and match it to the information in a text.

5 Strategic Readers  Strategic readers are constantly posing cognitive questions (Frank Smith, 1988) that allow interaction with the content of the communication.

6 Cognitive Questions  What is this text about?  What is the author trying to say?  What is going to happen next?  What does the author mean?  So what?  How does this fit with what I already know?  What questions do I have, or what don't I understand?

7 Strategic Readers  Strategic Readers have strategies to make meaning of complex texts: 1. They reread. 2. They make use of the way the author organizes ideas. 3. They ask, "What is the main point of this passage? How does the author develop it? 4. They try to use syntax cues (the grammar of the sentence). 5. They try to use semantic cues (the meaning of the text). 6. They ask for help.

8 Difficult Texts  A text may be difficult for readers because: 1. the content and/or vocabulary are unfamiliar (readers don't have enough prior knowledge), 2. the text is poorly organized, 3. the text is poorly written, 4. the text is overly superficial.

9 The Teacher’s Responsibility  When the text is difficult, scaffolding learning with the text is a primary responsibility of the teacher.  Teachers must use instructional strategies to guide students through the reading.  Time spent early in the semester teaching students HOW to be effective readers is regained as the year progresses.

10 Learner Benefits "Get students off teacher welfare!" -Donald Graves