1. TWA- Reading Strategy (Expository text comprehension)
Stephanie Irizarry
Teaching Learning Strategies SPED
EDU
TWA- Reading Strategy (Expository text comprehension)

2. What is TWA? Mnemonic used for reading Has 3 parts
Before, during, and after reading
9 strategies altogether
Can be used for the whole class, groups, and for individual students
When implementing TWA, students complete 3 phrases before, during, and after reading. Each step includes 3 strategies with a total of 9 altogether. Before going into the steps, I will explain what a mnemonic is and how teachers use them within the classrooms.

3. What are Mnemonics? “A word, sentence, picture
device, or a technique for improving or
strengthening memory” (Wolgemuth p. 1)
Mnemonics can enhance students’ abilities to encode and recall factual information.

4. When are mnemonics used?
“Teachers use the strategy
whenever they want students to
remember important information.”
Can be used in all subjects, foreign language vocabulary, spelling, phonics, and spelling.
Kleinheksel, K., & Summy, S. (2003). Enhancing Student Learning and Social Behavior Through Mnemonic Strategies. Teaching Exceptional Children, 36(2), Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database.
Mnemonics can be used in all subject areas. The strategy helps for students to remember important information using one or more of a mnemonic strategy.

5. Three Types of Mnemonic Strategies
Letter strategy (ppt focus)
Keyword strategy
Pegword strategy
BECAUSE Big Elephants Can Always Understand Small Elephants
Letter strategy (ppt focus)
Acronyms and acrostics
Keyword strategy
They construct a picture and a word to go with the unfamiliar word
Pegword strategy
Short rhyming words for numbers
Now, I’ll explain the process of TWA.

6. The first component of TWA
T-Think Before Reading
Think about:
The Authors Purpose
What you know
What you want to learn
The first component of TWA consists of 3 steps to acquire prior knowledge (Mason Explicit Self-Regulated Strategy Development Versus Reciprocal Questioning:Effects on Expository Reading Comprehension Among Struggling Readers.
When students think about the authors purpose they think about the text structure. They ask themselves if the text is informative or narrative? Think about what you know and want to learn were adapted from the K-W-L chart (Mason, Explicit Self-Regulated Strategy Development Versus Reciprocal Questioning: Effects on Expository Reading Comprehension Among Struggling Readers

7. Second Component of TWA
W- While Reading
Think about:
Reading Speed
Linking Knowledge
Rereading Parts
The second component of TWA. During while reading, students think about the speed they are reading at. They link knowledge from their prior knowledge and the text they are reading. They also reread parts of text for comprehension. While reading students use different colored highlighters. Yellow for main idea, green for the important details, and pink for unimportant information. They are used to help develop the main idea and summarize after reading. Linda Mason- Self-Regulated Strategy Development Instruction for Expository Text Comprehension.

8. The Final Component of TWA
A- After Reading
Think about:
The Main Idea
Summarizing Information
What you Learned
The final component of TWA involves summarizing the topic and putting it in their own words. Students are taught to summarize using another strategy called RAP- read a paragraph, ask yourself, “what were the main ideas and details of this paragraph, and put main ideas and details in your own words. (Mason, Explicit Self-Regulated Strategy Development Versus Reciprocal Questioning: Effects on Expository Reading Comprehension Among Struggling Readers p 287)
According to TWA + PLANS Strategies for Expository Reading and Writing: Effects for Nine Fourth-Grade Students by Mason (p 71), think about what you learned “asks students to retell what they have read and learned in the passage as if the listener knows nothing about the topic.

9. Who benefits from TWA? All Students Benefit from TWA!!
All students benefit from TWA. According to Linda Masons Self-Regulated Strategy Development Instruction For Expository Text Comprehension, TWA is a 9 step strategy that promotes reading comprehension throughout the reading process has yielded excellence results and noted improvement in reading comprehension for struggling readers with and without a learning disability.

10. Your Turn! Lets practice what TWA stands for!

11. References
Kleinheksel, K., & Summy, S. (2003). Enhancing Student Learning and Social Behavior Through Mnemonic Strategies. Teaching Exceptional Children, 36(2), Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database.
Mason, L. (2004). Explicit Self-Regulated Strategy Development Versus Reciprocal Questioning: Effects on Expository Reading Comprehension Among Struggling Readers. Journal of Educational Psychology, 96(2), doi: /
Mason, L., Meadan, H., Hedin, L., & Corso, L. (2006). Self-Regulated Strategy Development Instruction for Expository Text Comprehension. Teaching Exceptional Children, 38(4), Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database.
Wolgemuth, J., Cobb, R., & Alwell, M. (2008). The Effects of Mnemonic Interventions on Academic Outcomes for Youth with Disabilities: A Systematic Review. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice (Blackwell Publishing Limited), 23(1), doi: /j x.
(2006). TWA + PLANS Strategies for Expository Reading and Writing: Effects for Nine Fourth-Grade Students. Exceptional Children, 73(1), Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database.