1. ADOLESCENT ACCELERATED READING INITIATIVE
AARI
ADOLESCENT ACCELERATED READING INITIATIVE
Presentation by:
Cyndi Settecerri

2. What it is and what it isn’t
AARI is NOT a new “trick” to add to your instructional toolbox
AARI is a PARADIGM shift in reading instruction and metacognition for teachers as well as students

3. EXPOSITORY TEXT STRUCTURES

4. working through a text BEFORE READING Identifying READER’S AIDS
Help kids concentrate on the content in the book
Teachers plan questions that focus on pre- reading and help kids work through the text for answers (unlike our previous prior knowledge instruction)

5. REAder’s aids Look at Table of Contents
What vocabulary is highlighted/italicized/bold?
What are the clues for global structure?
Look at pictures (captions?)
Look at maps/graphs

6. WORKING THROUGH TEXT DIRECT GUIDED READING
Responsive teaching - scaffolding with one student until comprehension makes sense
Inferential questioning - follow student’s response with another question
QUESTIONING - QAR (question answer response) and QtA (question the author)
Textual analysis through text structures
Building a reading community
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7. EXAMPLES (from “All kinds of wheels” text)
Does the picture prove the text?
Does the author give us a clue about which of these are wheels?
Why would a train need many wheels?
Do all wheels roll on the ground?
Why does an airplane need wheels?

8. text mapping after reading - text structure analysis
Introduction
BEAVERS
RABBITS
MOLES
Some animals live underground
Some animals live in the water
Animal Homes
FROGS
Some animals live in the tops of trees
KOALAS
Conclusion
EAGLES

9. What does research tell us?
MOST IMPORTANTLY - Authors and readers communicate through text (focus is ON THE TEXT)
Curriculum theory tells us that more learnable text: presents important domain content, takes developmental level of learners into account, presents lots of examples of the important content
Research suggests these features for comprehensible text: well organized, pattern is signaled, content connects the new to the known, text is interesting to readers

10. AARI - TEACHING APPROACH
Variety and range of QUESTIONS
Scaffolding with a student until they GET IT!
Rephrasing and plenty of wait time
Questions BUILT ON each other
Cognitive TENSION is good!
Distinguish between EXTENSION and INFERENCE QUESTIONS
Bringing the STRATEGY to the surface - making concrete the THINKING PROCESS

11. Text structures - graphs
Line
Topical Net
Matrix

12. Topical Net for Lions book
baby lions
habitat
activity
LIONS
reproduction
hunters
protection
groups

13. Matrix for SPIDERS Book
Color
Tarantulas
Jumping Spiders
Trap-door Spiders
Size
Biggest of all
NIT
Hunt / Prey
Kills with sharp fangs
Shed long hairs to poison their prey
Jumps to sneak up on insects
Legs used for jumping
Make silk in tunnel
Raises trap door at night
Looks Like
Hairy
Short legs

14. TEXt structure - graphs
Main
Idea
Linear String
Falling Dominoes

15. Text structure - graphs
Supporting Details
Main Idea
Argument
Hierarchy

16. HIerarchy for Animals in Danger book
Mammals
Birds
Reptiles
Insects
Spiders
Hyacinth
Macaws
Beluga
Whales
Giant
Pandas
Turtles
Spotted
Owls
Karner
Blue
Butterflies
American
Alligators
Komodo
Dragons
Tarantulas
Snow
Leopards
Copper
Butterflies
Mountain
Gorillas
African
Elephants
Bald
Eagles

17. text structure - graphs
Branching Tree
Any structural pattern can be global (the overall structure of a text) or a local sub-structure
(an internal rhetorical within the global structure)

18. RTI - Tier 3 intensive intervention focused on closing the gap
4-5 days a week (45 minute sessions)
Assessment through beginning, middle and end of 20 weeks
3-5 students in a group
Students are grouped by reading level not grade level
Classroom teacher support is CRUCIAL for transition back to textbooks
Inferential questions (teacher “talks” with these types of questions)
Gradual release of responsibility
Teach text structures - aim for high level of thinking

19. Walk through the textbook
Look at textbook for the clues to global structure of the chapters as well as the entire textbook
Look for places in the text where you need to fill in background knowledge
Identify 2 or 3 major concepts that you would like your students to study
WHAT PARTS OF THE TEXT WILL I USE TO ACCOMPLISH THIS??

20. Questions?????