You are planning your lesson and you want your students to read some directions, an informational passage, chapter, novel, story, etc.
These may all seem like logical instructional approaches to reading in your classroom, but stop and think about the approach you use and whether it puts the responsibility for reading on the student or you as the teacher. Do you do most of the work or do the students? Is everyone responsible for reading in the classroom or just a few "volunteers?"
First of all, have a purpose for reading. What do you want students to be able to understand and be able to do as a result of the reading? What strategy will best fill that purpose?
Here are just a few ideas to help you incorporate more powerful instructional strategies when it comes to reading in your content area.
Reading directions: Try this: have students choral read them with you and then turn to their partner and explain in their own words what needs to be done. When students have finished partner sharing and clarified with each other, select a student to share their understanding of the directions to the whole class. If the explanation is correct, they are ready to begin. You have just put the responsibility of reading and understanding directions on the student instead of yourself. You have empowered your students to make sense themselves instead of relying on you!
ALTERNATIVES TO ROUND-ROBIN READING
As recommended in Classrooms That Work and The End of Round Robin Reading.
Again, what's your purpose for reading? Do you want to practice oral reading, or do you just want the students to read the text? There are better alternatives to both of those objectives, than choosing round-robin reading. In fact, round-robin reading is one of the most often used strategies and one of the least effective in promoting good reading. Think about it. One student reads at a time while the others may or may not be paying attention. Cold oral reading puts students on the spot and creates anxiety and embarrassment. The teacher spends a lot of time explaining what the text then means. Try this instead.
Everyone Read to page … (ERT)
This is the simplest alternative and should be used regularly. The teacher tells students how much to read. They read that segment and then the teacher follows-up on whatever purpose was set by asking: "What is the author telling us?" or "What new things did you learn?" or "What seems to be the problem in this story?" or "What did you find out was making the sky so dark?" Discuss the questions as a group or in partners, then everyone goes on to the next segment. In ERT everyone is reading the text for themselves in whatever way is appropriate in order to find out specific things they will then share with everyone. If you want to make sure that each student is actually reading the text, practice a strategy called "whisper-reading." Students read outloud, but in a whisper. As you monitor the room, you can easily see and hear that students are reading the text for themselves.
Choral Reading
Choral reading works best for poetry and refrains. The whole class can read or you can vary it by alternating rows or tables. Students enjoy choral reading and it does give them fluency practice.
Partner Reading
Partner reading allows friends to help each other read just as they help each other with numerous other activities. For partner reading to be effective, students need to learn a variety of ways to do it. On some days that are designated as "take turn" days, the partners take turns reading the pages, and helping each other as needed. On other days that are designated as "ask question" days, the partners read each page silently and then ask one another a question about each page before going onto the next page. On "sticky note" days, the partners are given sticky notes to mark things they want to remember. They have a limited number of sticky notes and must decide together where to put the notes to mark what they find most interesting, important, or confusing. Occasionally, the teacher declares a "you decide" day in which the partners can decide to read together in any way they wish. Having these different kinds of partner-reading formats over the course of the week provides some variety in the reading. It also ensures that students engage in both silent and oral reading.
Check out more suggestions in "Teaching Reading in the Content Areas" and "Strategic Teaching and Learning." These books are filled with reading strategies that have proven results.
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Have I previewed the text and determined key concepts/vocabulary students need to know? |
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Have I included activities and strategies that will help students develop a clear understanding of these key concepts? (vocabulary and concept development) |
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Have I selected activities to assess, activate, and build students' background knowledge? |
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Have I identified the text's organizational pattern(s) and made plans to incorporate teaching that pattern to the students? |
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Have I selected a suitable graphic organizer students can use to organize key concepts? |
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Have I decided the purposes students should keep in mind while reading (e.g. whether they will be using the information in a discussion, performance activity, on a quiz)? |
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Have I developed "during reading" questions that will prompt student to employ metacognitive skills? OR will I have students develop questions themselves while they are reading. |
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Have I selected post-reading questions and activities that require students to make meaningful connections, and to deepen their understanding by applying what they have learned? |