Content Area Reading

Presented byJoDee Dotson & Karin Crowder,

Literacy CoachesJohnson City Schoolsdotsonj@jcschools.org

crowderk@jcschools.org

Content Area Reading: Struggles and Strategies

Students struggle with content area reading because:

•they have trouble understanding an author’s ideas;

•they lack the ability to mentally organize ideas as they read;

•they lack experience with the topic; and

•they are unsure about how to make connections between what is read and the outside world.

As a result:

•content area reading is labeled by students as “too hard” and “boring,”

•teachers often choose to tell the class what they need to know rather than have the class read the content, and

•teachers rely solely on other media (i.e. video), instead of print material, to teach the content.

Thus, students lack the ability to read effectively in our highly literate society.

In this workshop we will address the following questions in relation to

content area reading:

• What are some specific skills or knowledge students need in order to read effectively?

• What strategies might I use with my students to help them become more effective readers and independent learners?

What are some specific skills or knowledge students need in order to

read effectively? • Text Features

• Background knowledge

• Motivation

• Learning Environment

• Independent Reading Strategies

• Independent Comprehension Strategies

Text Features

Print Features

font bullets italicsbold titles labelscolored print captions headingssubheadings

Graphic Aids

diagrams charts sketchestables graphs overlaysfigures timelines mapscross-sections

Text Features (cont.)Organizational Aids

table of contents indexglossary prefacepronunciation guide appendix

Illustrations

colored photographs colored drawingsacrylic, watercolor, oil paintings black and white photosblack and white drawings labeled drawingsenlarged photographs

Activities that support text feature instruction

• Classroom Newspaper/Textbook Guess the Covered Feature

• Highlighting Structural Signal Words

• Be a Caption Writer

• Newspaper/Textbook Match

• Feature Scavenger Hunt

What strategies might I use with my students to help them become more effective readers and independent

learners?

Before reading:– List-Group-Label -”Post-It” Vocabulary– Rivet -Vocabulary Webs– Anticipation Guide -Vocabulary Anticipation– KWL Charts -Vocabulary Pop-Up– SQ3R -Text Walk– Word Sorts

List-Group-Label

Purpose:• Build background

knowledge• Review words, concepts,

& ideas• Assessment of prior

knowledge• Assessment of

misconceptions

Strategy:• Students list all words,

phrases, names associated with topic independently

• Combine students into groups

• Combine individual lists into a group list

• Categorize words on group list

• Label categories

Word SortsPurpose:• Look for categories and relationships

between words/concepts in content reading

• Explanation of why words go together• Assist students in making connections

between their understandings and the text

• Assessment of prior knowledge• Make predictions regarding themes• Ask/Answer questions prior to

exploring content in depth

Strategy:• Teacher list all words, phrases, names

associated with content area text• Combine students into groups• Provide students with a copy of words

from text• Students sort words • Students develop relationships

between words• Label categories• Groups share relationships and

categories with whole group• Students make predictions about the

text the words have come from (expository or narrative, content, etc.)

• Read selected text• Revisit word sort and make changes

accordingly• Add words• Discuss changes

What strategies might I use with my students to help them become

more effective readers and independent learners?

During Reading

– 2/3 Column Notes --Post-It Conversations– Making connections --Summarize and Re-write– Literature Circles --Word

Mapping/Questioning– Fleshing out a character --Quick Write– Problem analysis --DRTA– Graphic Organizers --ERT– Annotations

2/3 Column Notes

Purpose:• Condense student

thinking• Synthesize student

thinking • Make connections

between reading and world

• Mentally organizes thinking

• Forces student to read “deeper”

Strategy:• Students divide paper

into 2 or 3 sections• Read and complete as

directed by teacher2 column:Quote In my own wordsMain Idea DetailsConclusion DetailsProblem Solution

3 column:Main Idea Details ResponseProblem Solution Alternative

SolutionQuote Gist Thoughts

AnnotationsPurpose:• Condense student thinking• Synthesize student thinking • Make connections between

reading and world• Mentally organizes thinking• Forces student to read

“deeper”

Strategy:• Student reads a selected

text• While reading student

underlines important information and makes notes in margins of text or on sticky notes placed beside text, putting text in own words

• Use annotations written in margins to synthesize and summarize text

• Write synthesis and/or personal response to text

What strategies might I use with my students to help them become

more effective readers and independent learners?

• After reading– Text Reformulation - ABC Boxes

– Expert Project - Sketch to Stretch

– Wax Musuem - Save the Last Word for Me

– Concept Spinner - 4 X 4

– Exit Slip - It Says-I Say-And So

Text Reformulation

Purpose:• To synthesize and mentally organize

learning• Forces the student to identify main

idea, cause and effect relationships, and themes

• Forces the student to sequence, generalize, summarize and make inferences

• Stretches critical thinking• Student must analyze and evaluate not

only the text but also the writing they are creating about the text

• Student makes connections from expository text structures to a more familiar narrative

Strategy:• Introduce students to the types of text

they can use as patterns when reformulating a text, such as repetitive book structure, ABC book structure, poem, reader’s theater, or narrative.

• Model several types of reformulation for students.

• Decide whether the teacher chooses or lets the student(s) choose the type of reformulation.

• Students reformulate their expository text into the new text structure

• Students share their reformulation with the class.

Exit Slip

Purpose:• Gives feedback about learning• Assesses learning• Review concepts• Synthesizes learning• Reflection on thinking/learning• Guides future learning

Strategy:Short prompt given to student to focus

thinking/writing• Write about something new you

learned today.• What made learning easy/hard for you

today?• What questions were you left with at

the end of class?• How did what we learn today connect

to what we did yesterday?• How will you/I know when you have

mastered this concept?• What new questions do you have?• What predictions do you have for the

reading you will do after this?• List three to five important things to

remember about this reading/writing/learning strategy.

Reading Reflections

“Reading instruction has been the traditional interest of the elementary school, the assumption being that normal students in normal programs SHOULD enter subject matter classrooms knowing how to read. If reading is defined in terms of elementary tasks, e.g. basic decoding skills, the assumption is reasonable. In contrast, the assumption is pure fantasy if reading is defined in terms of subject matter tasks, e.g. independent reading assignments, required note taking in class, and vastly increased dependence upon textbooks with varied and complex organizational patterns. It does not make sense to assume that students will automatically modify elementary reading skills to suit these subject matter reading demands.”

John Readence, Thomas Bean, and R. Scott BaldwinContent Area Literacy: An Integrated Approach, 1995