Literacy Final

Directed Reading Thinking Activity (DR-TA)

A comprehension strategy that guides students in asking questions about a text, making predictions, and then reading to confirm or refute their predictions. The DRTA process encourages students to be active and thoughtful readers, enhancing their comprehension. The Directed Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA) is a comprehension strategy that guides students in asking questions about a text, making predictions, and then reading to confirm or refute their predictions. The DRTA process encourages students to be active and thoughtful readers, enhancing their comprehension. D = DIRECT. Teachers direct and activate students' thinking prior to reading a passage by scanning the title, chapter headings, illustrations, and other materials. Teachers should use open-ended questions to direct students as they make predictions about the content or perspective of the text (e.g., "Given this title, what do you think the passage will be about?"). R = READING. Students read up to the first pre-selected stopping point. The teacher then prompts the students with questions about specific information and asks them to evaluate their predictions and refine them if necessary. This process should be continued until students have read each section of the passage. T = THINKING. At the end of each section, students go back through the text and think about their predictions. Students should verify or modify their predictions by finding supporting statements in the text. The teacher asks questions such as: What do you think about your predictions now? What did you find in the text to prove your predictions? What did you we read in the text that made you change your predictions?

Generalization approach

A generalization is a judgment. For a generalization to be valid, it must be based on evidence. Generalizations are not guesses. Valid generalizations often use words such as many, often, and some. Rain falls in many southern states in spring. Generalizations that are not valid often make statements that are too broad and use words such as all, always, every, and never. Example: Every student has read Tom Sawyer.

Association

A multisensory, phonics-based method which is highly intensive, incremental and systematic in its design, enabling seriously communication impaired children to acquire reading, writing, and oral language skills simultaneously. Associative learning is the acquisition of meanings through the observation of the co-occurence of the words and an example of their meaning.

Acrostics

A series of lines or verses in which the first, last, or other particular letters when taken in order spell out a word, phrase, etc.

Graphic Organizers

A series of visual charts and tools used to represent and organize a student's knowledge or ideas. Graphic organizers are often used as part of the writing process to help students map out ideas, plots, character details and settings before beginning to write. As part of the reading process, graphic organizers can help a student comprehend what he has read and make comparisons to other pieces of writing. Graphic organizers can be used to: sequence events, analyze cause and effect, compare and contrast and develop concepts in detail. Examples of: Venn diagram, story web, K-W-L (Know, Want to Know, Learned) charts, storyboards, word webs, flow charts, cause-and-effect diagrams

Directed Reading Activity

A strategy that provides students with instructional support before, during, and after reading. The teacher takes an active role as he or she prepares students to read the text by preteaching important vocabulary, eliciting prior knowledge, teaching students how to use a specific reading skill, and providing a purpose for reading. During reading, the teacher asks individual students questions about the text to monitor their comprehension. After reading, the teacher engages students in a discussion focusing on the purpose for reading, and follow-up activities that focus on the content of the text and the specific skill that students learned to use. DRA serves several purposes: Teaches word identification skills. Elicits students' prior knowledge of the topic of the text. Teaches specific reading skills. Sets a purpose for reading. Encourages students to monitor their comprehension while they are reading. How to Use DRA Choose a text. This strategy is intended to be used with expository texts. Select vocabulary words from the text to be pretaught. The words you choose should be critical to comprehension of the passage and unfamiliar to most, if not all students. Vocabulary should be taught in context. Write the words on the board in sentences taken directly from the text. As a class, discuss what the words might mean based on the context, structure (e.g., prefixes, roots, or suffixes), and/or sound (i.e., deciding if the word sounds like another familiar word) of the word. Elicit prior knowledge on the topic of the text. Ask students, "What do you already know about _______?" or "What experiences do you have with ________?" Teach students a skill that will help them comprehend the text. The skill you choose will depend on the text. For example, if the text your students will be reading compares two different things, you might focus on the skill of compare/contrast. If the text is an editorial, you might talk about how to identify fact from the author's opinion. Give students a concrete purpose for reading. For example, "Read pages 283-287 to find out what a tide pool is." Have students read silently. Be available for questions as students read. Walk around the room asking individual students comprehension questions. After students have finished reading, ask the purpose-setting statement as a question. For example, ask, "What is a tide pool?" Encourage a discussion that grows from students' comments and questions. Engage students in follow-up activities. These activities should be designed to reinforce both the content of the text and the skill that students learned. Activities might include writing activities, further reading, art projects, group mapping activities, etc.

Frayer model

A strategy that uses a graphic organizer for vocabulary building. This technique requires students to (1) define the target vocabulary words or concepts, and (2) apply this information by generating examples and non-examples. This information is placed on a chart that is divided into four sections to provide a visual representation for students. Benefits This instructional strategy promotes critical thinking and helps students to identify and understand unfamiliar vocabulary. The Frayer Model can be used with the entire class, small groups, or for individual work. The Frayer Model draws on a student's prior knowledge to build connections among new concepts and creates a visual reference by which students learn to compare attributes and examples. Create and use the strategy Pre-select a list of key vocabulary from a reading selection. The Frayer Model should be explained and a graphic organizer provided to each student. Then direct students to complete the template individually, in small groups or as a whole class. Model the type and quality of desired answers for the specific concept. -Review vocabulary words or concept list with the class before students read the selection. -Have students read the assigned text and carefully define the target concepts. Have students complete the four-square chart for each concept. -Ask the students to share their conclusions with the entire class. These presentations may be used to review the entire list of new vocabulary or concepts.

Morphemic analysis

A strategy used to determine or infer the meanings of words by examining their meaningful parts (prefixes, suffixes, roots, etc). root word. A root word is the base of a word after all affixes are removed.

Generative knowledge

A student can use the word appropriately in speaking or writing. Nagy and Scott say, "Knowing a word means being able to do things with it...Knowing a word is more like being able to use a tool than it is like being able to state a fact."

Cloze

A test of reading comprehension that involves having the person being tested supply words which have been systematically deleted from a text

After-reading techniques

After reading: Evaluate comprehension and strategy use Evaluate comprehension in a particular task or area Evaluate overall progress in reading and in particular types of reading tasks Decide if the strategies used were appropriate for the purpose and for the task Modify strategies if necessary

Variables of reading to learn and remember

Age, ability, level, prior knowledge, learning conditions, etc.

Acronym

An acronym is an abbreviation used as a word which is formed from the initial components in a phrase or a word. Usually these components are individual letters (as in NATO or laser) or parts of words or names.

Affix

An additional element placed at the beginning or end of a root, stem, or word, or in the body of a word, to modify its meaning.

Analogy strategy

An alternative reading strategy to phonics that has students break down words and find words they can relate to through the use of analogies.

Polysyllabic words

Any word containing more than one syllable.

Schema

Basically a file in the brain that stores specific information, of the same or relating topic. This is also a learning theory by Piaget.

Collaborative Approaches (to reading)

Before Reading Preview a. Brainstorm: What do we already know about the topic? b. Predict: What do we think we will learn about the topic when we read the passage? R E A D (the first paragraph or section) During Reading Click and Clunk a. Were there any parts that were hard to understand (clunks)? b. How can we fix the clunks? Use fix-up strategies. (1) Reread the sentence and look for key ideas to help you understand the word. (2) Reread the sentence with the clunk and the sentences before or after the clunk looking for clues. (3) Look for a prefix or suffix in the word. (4) Break the word apart and look for smaller words. Get the Gist a. What is the most important person, place, or thing? b. What is the most important idea about the person, place, or thing? R E A D (Do Steps 2 and 3 again, with all the paragraphs or sections in the passage.) After Reading Wrap Up a. Ask questions: What questions would show we understand the most important information? What are the answers to those questions?

Characteristics of good readers

Before Reading: 1. "Activate" their background knowledge on the subject. 2. Question and wonder. 3. Know their purpose for reading. 4. Look for the structure of the piece of reading. 5. Believe they are in control of the reading process During Reading: 1. Give their complete attention to the reading task. 2. Keep a constant check on their comprehension of the reading material. 3. Stop to use a "figure-it-out" strategy when they do not understand what they read. 4. Know that they can make sense of it eventually with use of strategies. 5. Look for important ideas and see how details relate to the whole. 6. Visualize, "Go to the movies in their head." 7. Make inferences and connections. 8. Accept the challenge of being frustrated or confused and deal with it. 9. Realize that the problem may be the way the author wrote rather than the reader's inability to understand. After Reading: 1. Decide if they achieved their goal for making meaning from reading. 2. Evaluate their comprehension. 3. Summarize what they read. 4. Seek additional information if curious to know more. 5. Think through the information and decide whether it was useful or not.

Before-reading techniques

Before reading: Plan for the reading task Set a purpose or decide in advance what to read for Decide if more linguistic or background knowledge is needed

Metacognative awareness

Being aware of how you think. In the ELT classroom, it means being aware of how you learn. Developing metacognitive awareness is an important part of helping learners become more effective and, importantly, more autonomous. If learners are conscious of how they learn then they can identify the most effective ways of doing so. Example The teacher asks the learners to keep a diary of their classes in which they can note what they liked and didn't like and why. They then discuss their ideas and develop individual and class action plans. In the classroom One of the most effective and easiest ways to develop metacognitive awareness is simply talking with learners about how they do things in the classroom, such as recording new words, reading a text, and laying out a page in their notebooks.

Summary

Brief account of what happened.

Elaboration Strategies

Can mean two things: Elaboration as an additional processing of the text, by the reader, which may increase comprehension. It involves forming connections between the text and the reader's background knowledge of the subject. Making inferences, picturing images and asking questions are all types of elaboration strategies K-W-L as an elaboration strategy, which connects background knowledge to the topic to be addressed. K-W-L is an acronym for the three steps of the procedure: describing what we Know, what we Want to know, and what we Learned. The first two steps are completed before the project has begun, to assess background information, and the third step is completed afterward to make the connections.

Expository text structure

Clear and focused language. Factual.

Transactional Strategy Instruction

Combines whole language instruction and word attach strategies. Examples are making predictions, asking questions, summarizing as you go, etc.

Concepts About Print

Concepts of print involve a student's understanding of how different forms of print are read. These include the basics of the English language that we read from top to bottom and left to right. It is the basis of literacy. Ex: Book Awareness, Print Awareness, and Alphabetic Principals

Contextual-conceptual knowledge

Contextual-conceptual knowledge means that a student understands the core concept that the word represents and how that concept is changed in different contexts. Conceptual knowledge can vary in depth. Example (using the word monitor): A monitor in the lobby of an apartment building and a monitor worn by a heart patient have something in common, but are still different.

Think/Pair/Share Strategy

Cooperative learning strategy. Students think individually, pair up to think together, then share with the class.

Circle of knowledge

Designed to ensure effective discussion through high levels of participation, high levels of focus and high levels of thinking among students. It is used to develop evidence to support arguments, develop explanations and describe relationships between and among key ideas. WHEN TO USE IT: • to present or review information • to build bridges between prior knowledge/experience and the content of the lesson • to synthesize ideas • to generate new questions about what is being learned QSPACE: -Question: Pose a question that students understand. -Silence: Wait time. 3-5 seconds. -Probe: Make student 'think about their thinking.' -Accept: Acknowledge every response without affirming or correcting too often. -Clarify: Ask students to restate their and other students ideas. -Elaborate: Ask 'What if?' questions.

Mnemonics

Devices to help us remember (aide memoire or memory aide). They come in many varieties and flavours, and can aid memorisation of many types of information.

Story Grammar

Elemnents or parts of a story or selection.

Steps for Teaching Contextual Analysis

Explain why they are learning strategy, model, guided practice, independent practice, provide student with new text, have students share their analysis.

Glossing

Focuses attention on a piece of writing in a way that supports students' discovery and articulation of the logic and assumptions un- derpinning the organization of a text. Glossing asks students to work through a single paragraph or section of text at a time, noting not only what that paragraph or section says but also how it functions within the larger piece of writing. Although we use this activity in nearly all of our courses, adapting it to our specific pedagogical goals within various courses, as well as our students' goals for reading and writing, in this chapter we focus on our use of glossing within an advanced composition course at our institution.

Direct explanation

Focuses on the teacher's ability to explain explicitly the reasoning and mental processes involved in successful reading comprehension. Rather than teach specific strategies, teachers help students - to view reading as a problem-solving task that necessitates the use of strategic thinking, and - to learn to think strategically about solving comprehension problems. For example, teachers are taught that they could teach students the skill of finding the main idea by casting it as a problem-solving task and reasoning about it strategically.

Imaging

Good readers construct mental images as they read a text. By using prior knowledge and background experiences, readers connect the author's writing with a personal picture. Through guided visualization, students learn how to create mental pictures as they read.

Story Map

Graphic organizer to help students follow story. Includes characters, plot, problem, setting, and solution.

Ways to prepare students for reading in content areas

Have students create questions prior to reading, teach them about features of book (ex: comprehension checks), introduce key terms prior to reading, give students big ideas to focus on, etc.

Three-Step Interview Strategy

In the first two steps of this cooperative learning structure, students interact in pairs, interviewing each other about a topic. Then, in the third step, students take turns sharing what they have learned from their partners with the rest of their cooperative learning group

Directed Listening-Thinking Activity (DL-TA)

It is used with early childhood students or students who are not yet successful independent readers. Teachers use this strategy to establish a purpose for reading with their students. With the use of this strategy students can become engaged in a text that they could not otherwise read on their own. Students are prepared to listen to a story that will be read by their teacher by being given specific information that they are to focus on as they listen. The strategy utilizes pre-reading, reading, and post-reading questions and discussions. Teachers use this strategy in an attempt to build on the knowledge that students already know and apply it to new information and situations. Students are provided with a framework to organize and recall information from storybooks. The directed reading and thinking activity is a very similar strategy that can be applied once this strategy is mastered and students become more advanced, independent readers.

Jigsaw Strategy

Jigsaw is a cooperative learning strategy that enables each student of a "home" group to specialize in one aspect of a topic (for example, one group studies habitats of rainforest animals, another group studies predators of rainforest animals). Students meet with members from other groups who are assigned the same aspect, and after mastering the material, return to the "home" group and teach the material to their group members. With this strategy, each student in the "home" group serves as a piece of the topic's puzzle and when they work together as a whole, they create the complete jigsaw puzzle.

KWL Techniques

K-W-L charts are graphic organizers that help students organize information before, during and after a unit or a lesson. They can be used to engage students in a new topic, activate prior knowledge, share unit objectives, and monitor learning. Step one: Make K-W-L charts Ask students to create three columns on a sheet of paper: Column 1: What do you Know about the topic? Column 2: What do you Want to know? Column 3: What did you Learn? Or, you can distribute a blank K-W-L chart that you have designed. Step two: Complete column 1 Have students respond to the first prompt in Column 1: What do you know about this topic? Students can do this individually or in small groups. Often teachers create a master list of all students' responses. One question that often emerges for teachers is how to address misconceptions students' share. Sometimes it is appropriate to correct false information at this point in the process. Other times, you might want to leave the misconceptions so that students can correct them on their own as they learn new material. Step three: Complete column 2 Have students respond to the prompt in Column 2: What do you want to know about this topic? Some students may not know where to begin if they don't have much background knowledge on the topic. Therefore, it can be helpful to put the six questions of journalism on the board as prompts (Who? What? Where? When? Why? How?). We suggest that students' questions are used to direct the course of study. As students' share what they want to learn, this step provides an opportunity for teachers to present what they hope students will learn in the unit. Step four: Complete column 3 and review columns 1 and 2 Throughout the unit, students can review their K-W-L charts by adding to column 3: What did you learn? Some teachers have students add to their charts at the end of each lesson, while others have students add to their charts at the end of the week or the end of the unit. As students record what they have learned, they can review the questions in column 2, checking off any questions that the can now answer. They can also add new questions. Students should also review column one so they can identify any misconceptions they may have held before beginning the unit.

Retelling

More in depth than summarizing. (Setting, characters, problem, beginning, middle, end)

Inferences

Observations occur when we can see something happening. In contrast, inferences are what we figure out based on an experience. Helping students understand when information is implied, or not directly stated, will improve their skill in drawing conclusions and making inferences. These skills will be needed for all sorts of school assignments, including reading, science and social studies. Inferential thinking is a complex skill that will develop over time and with experience.

Narrative text structure

Plot, theme, characters, events, and how they relate to each other.

Preparational Comprehension Strategies

Processes that readers use to prepare themselves to construct meaning. Strategies include previewing, activating prior knowledge, predicting, and setting purposes or goals for reading.

Principles of Teaching Vocabulary

Promote meaningful talk, teach root words/prefixes/sufffixes, use words in various ways, make connections, and have students use it in their writing.

Questioning strategies and skills

Questioning allows reader to engage with text. You should question before, during, and after. Helps activate background knowledge.

Retelling

Readers have two jobs. One is to figure out the words and the other is to think about what they are reading. Retelling is a strategy readers use to think about what they are reading. When we retell a story, we tell the important parts, in the right order. This helps us to understand the story better and remember it longer. Good readers stop and retell throughout the text to help them understand the story.

Accountable talk

Refers to talk that is meaningful, respectful, and mutually beneficial to both speaker and listener. Accountable talk stimulates higher-order thinking—helping students to learn, reflect on their learning, and communicate their knowledge and understanding.

Strategies for Teaching Key Words

Repetition, explicit instruction, using it in multiple ways, etc.

Various vocabulary-building devices

Semantic maps, explicit teaching, morpheme/contextual/phonemic analysis, and vocabulary games.

Frames

Similar to story maps, story frames are visual representations that focus students' attention on the structure of a story and on how the content of the story fits its structure. Students use story frames as a way to activate their background knowledge of the elements of story structure and thus to organize and learn new information from a story. Simple story frames require students to provide basic information about the sequence of events in a story: The problem in the story is ______. This is a problem because ______. The problem is solved when ______. In the end ______. More complex frames might involve having students supply more detailed information by summarizing sequences of actions or events, or providing factual information to explain problems or motivations. The procedure encourages students to interact with each other, asking questions, seeking clarifications, and sharing evaluations. Again, as with story maps, the procedure can be simplified for use with younger students — it has been used successfully with grade-one students *— or made more sophisticated for use with older students. And again, as with the other procedures that have been described, the procedure is introduced through explicit instruction, with the teacher first explaining why story frames are useful, then modeling when and where to use them, guiding students through practice opportunities, and providing corrective feedback along the way.

Literature circles

Small groups of students gather together to discuss a piece of literature in depth. The discussion is guided by students' response to what they have read. You may hear talk about events and characters in the book, the author's craft, or personal experiences related to the story. Literature circles provide a way for students to engage in critical thinking and reflection as they read, discuss, and respond to books. Collaboration is at the heart of this approach. Students reshape and add onto their understanding as they construct meaning with other readers. Finally, literature circles guide students to deeper understanding of what they read through structured discussion and extended written and artistic response.

Associative-definitional knowledge

Stage of word knowledge Means that a student can make an association between a word and a definition. Example (using the word monitor): A monitor is a device used to check or control.

Types of graphic organizers

Story map, web, KWL, venn diagram, ice cream cone, multi column notes, flow chart, timeline, etc.

Dictionary skills

Student's ability utilize a dictionary to find, define, and spell new words.

Syllabic Analysis

Students break down words into syllables to decode. They use what they already know to fill in the blanks.

Pattern Approach to Spelling

Students go beyond single or paired letters, and look for known patterns within words.

Pronounceable word parts

Students use words or chunks they know, to read new words.

SQ3R (or SQ4R as it is now called)

Survey, question, read, recite, relate, and review. These six steps can help you learn and remember what you read more effectively.

Suffix

Syllable added to end of word to change the meaning.

Prefix

Syllable added to the beginning of a word to change its meaning.

Think-Aloud

Teachers verbalize aloud while reading a selection orally. Their verbalizations include describing things they're doing as they read to monitor their comprehension. Helps students learn to monitor their thinking as they read an assigned passage. Students are directed by a series of questions which they think about and answer aloud while reading. This process reveals how much they understand a text. As students become more adept at this technique they learn to generate their own questions to guide comprehension.

Monitoring

The ability of a reader to be aware, while reading, whether a text is making sense or not.

Comprehension

The ability to read text, process it and understand its meaning. An individual's ability to comprehend text is influenced by their traits and skills, one of which is the ability to make inferences.

Association Method

The following are the underlying principles of the Association Method: receptive work follows expressive; teach one small element at a time; encourage success; build on previously mastered material; written form accompanies all that is taught; modification of temporal rate; all spoken items are associated with a visual symbol; complete recall is expected without teacher prompting; structure, repetition and sameness are considered in the childs environment; with all new material, children are expected to say, read, lip-read, listen and write.

Situation Model

The mental model of the text that is read. Includes, decoding of words, extraction of meaning, merging topics/ideas to form a logical structure, what is gained from the text.

Story Schema

The process in which you break apart a story into different sections. Helps in recalling information.

Root

The root of a word is the main word, without any added affixes

Morpheme

The smallest grammatical unit in a language. In other words, it is the smallest meaningful unit of a language. The field of study dedicated to morphemes is called morphology.

Types of Context Clues

The word may be directly defined in the text, there may be an antonym/synonym stated, inference.

Incidental learning

Thought to take place when a learner's attention is focused on meaning or message, rather than focusing directly on the form(s) used, and has been described a 'by-product of any language learning activity. Incidental learning primarily occurs through reading and listening and is sometimes referred to as 'learning from context, although it is also thought to occur as a (by) product of output and interaction, while involved in, or attempting, fluent conversation or the negotiation of meaning. Incidental learning is thought to take place when a learner's attention is focused on meaning or message, rather than focusing directly on the form(s) used, and has been described a 'by-product of any language learning activity. Incidental learning primarily occurs through reading and listening and is sometimes referred to as 'learning from context, although it is also thought to occur as a (by) product of output and interaction, while involved in, or attempting, fluent conversation or the negotiation of meaning.

Multisyllabic word patterns

Uses the six different types of syllables to teach students to read. closed: ends in a consonant (rabbit) open: ends in a vowel (tiger) r-controlled: Vowel is followed by a controlling r (bird) vowel teams: two vowels working together, digraphs. (boat) vowel-silent e consonant-le: consonant followed by le (little)

Context Strategy

Very similar to context clues. Based on the story that you are reading you can look at the setting, characters, and previous knowledge students can figure out what certain words you may not know mean.

Round Table Strategy

When you pick a topic (ex: synonyms), write the topic at the top of a paper, then pass a piece of paper around. Each student adds one word/phrase then passes the paper to the next student.

Organization

Writers should impose an order on their presentation of ideas based on the type of text they are writing.