READING

DR. HUSNIAH SAHAMIDFACULTY OF EDUCATIONAL STUDIES

UNIVERRSITI PUTRA MALAYSIA

What is reading?

Reading• What do people do when they read?• Use previous knowledge, experience, of topic ?- when trying to understand the meaning of a

passage?- Only depend on information in text/

Model of Reading

Top down: reader brings- Prior knowledge , experiences- predicts, guesses etc- Confirmation of prediction, guesses

Models of Reading

• Bottom up:• Reader :• Reads words, sentences,• Looks at organisation of text• Knowledge of vocabulary ,syntax, - to construct meaning of text

Interesting exercise

• Read the paragraph in the following slide.• Try and figure out what the paragraph is

about.• Make a note of the startegies that you used to

help you in your task

TOP DOWN: Experience, prior knowledge

comprehension

BOTTOM UP : Words Sentences

Grammar Text

What is this writer talking about?

A newspaper is better than a magazine. A seashore is a better place than a street. At first it is better to run than to walk. You may have to try several times. It takes skill, but it is easy to learn. Even young children can enjoy it. Once successful, complications are minimal. Birds seldom get too close. Rain, however, soaks in very fast. Too many people doing the same thing can also cause problems. One needs a lot of room. If there are complications, it can be very peaceful. A rock will serve as an anchor. If things break loose, however, you will not get a second chance

• Topic of passage: Flying a kite!• Importance of activating prior knowledge

PRELIMINARIES

When selecting a passage:• Making a decision• Identifying of text• Recognizing level of students • Recognising proficiency of students• Interests• Recognising purpose

Purpose of Reading

Recognizing purpose - help students select reading strategies.• get the main idea? • obtain specific information? • understand most /or all of message? • enjoy a story?

Instructional purpose

• What is the Objective?• practicing / reviewing specific grammatical

constructions,• introducing new vocabulary,• familiarize with structure of certain type of

text. (narrative, descriptive essays?, report, poem etc)

Reading Activity

3 stages:

• Pre-reading, • While-reading, • Post-reading activities

Texts: Level of difficulty

• How is the information organized? • Does the: - story line, - narrative, - instruction conform to familiar expectations?

Selecting Texts

• events presented in natural chronological order ?

• have an informative title? • present the information following an obvious

organization? First - main ideas, Second - details and examples

easier to follow.

Familiarity

• How familiar are students with topic?

WHY?• misapplication of background knowledge • - eg: cultural differences • can create major comprehension difficulties.

Redundancy

• Does text contain redundancy?

WHY? - lower levels of proficiency, (LP)• short, simple messages easier to process ( HP students benefit from natural redundancy

of authentic language)

Visual support

• visual support to aid in reading comprehension?

eg. photographs, maps, and diagrams?WHY• help students preview content of text• guess meanings of unknown words• AND check comprehension while reading.

Pre-reading activities

• important at lower levels of language proficiency

• when more proficient at using reading strategies

• T can reduce amount of guided pre-reading • allow students to do activities themselves.

PRE READING ACTIVITIES

What are Pre reading activities

• prepare students before they read • considerable effect on understanding • enjoyment of what they read

Why pre-reading activities?

• need a reason/purpose to read. • activating prior knowledge • Esp: learner who does not feel completely

confident of his / her ability to read

Purpose of Pre-Reading Activities:

• Motivate, set purposes for reading• Activate, building background knowledge• Relate reading to students’ lives• Pre-teach vocabulary, concepts• direction setting

Text type

• Discuss the text type • Example: • If it is a newspaper article• Spend time discussing facts and opinions• If Magazine…

Predicting

Different types of predicting activities• Predict based on the title,• later confirming students’ their guesses • during the while stages of reading.

Predicting

what the text is about according to• external text features: • the picture, • the title in bold, • the subtitle, • the type of the text.

Predicting

• Read first line of beginning paragraph • and try to predict • a title or theme.

Brainstorm

• The Questions: When-Where-Who? What Happens? Why?

• Ask students to relate the phenomenon to their personal lives,

• provide examples • activate personal knowledge

KWL graphic organiser

• Students fill in column of :• what they "KNOW" • then ask about "What they "WANT" to know• they fill in what they LEARNED• after they have read the text.

EXAMPLE

• Activating prior knowledge on: News Consumption Habits • class discussion / group work.

• Sample beginning questions: “How do you get the news - from radio, TV,

newspaper, Internet? “

KWL Organiser

• K-W-L is the creation of Donna Ogle• 3-column chart • Before, During, and After components of

reading a text selection.

• http://www.readingquest.org/strat/kwl.html

KWL Organiser

• K stands for KnowThis is the prior knowledge activation question.

• W stands for Will or WantWhat do I think I will learn about this topic?What do I want to know about this topic?

• L stands for LearnedWhat have I learned about this topic?

KWhat do I already

know?

WWhat do I think I will

learn

LWhat have I learnt

During Pre-reading • may serve as preparation : • assess students' background knowledge: - topic, linguistic content of text • give students background knowledge • or activate existing knowledge students

possess • necessary for comprehension of text,

During pre-reading

• Clarify any cultural information which may be necessary to comprehend the passage

• Make students aware of the type of text they will be reading and the purpose(s) for reading

• Provide opportunities for group or collaborative work and for class discussion activities

Sample pre-reading activities

• Using the title, subtitles, and divisions within the text to predict content and organization or sequence of information

• Looking at pictures, maps, diagrams, or graphs and their captions

• Talking about the author's background, writing style, and usual topics

• Skimming to find the theme or main idea and eliciting related prior knowledge

• Reviewing vocabulary or grammatical structures • Reading over the comprehension questions to focus

attention on finding that information while reading • Constructing semantic webs (a graphic arrangement

of concepts or words showing how they are related) • Doing guided practice with guessing meaning from

context or checking comprehension while reading

WHILE READING ACTIVITIES

Match while-reading activities to purpose for reading

• students check comprehension as they read. • purpose for reading determines• appropriate type, level of comprehension.

specific information

• When reading for specific information• students need to ask themselves, • have I obtained the information I was looking

for?

pleasure/literature-based

• students need to ask themselves• Do I understand the story line?• Do I understand sequence of ideas?

intensive reading

• When reading for thorough understanding (intensive reading),

• students need to ask themselves, • Do I understand each main idea/central theme

and how the author supports it? • Does what I'm reading agree with my

predictions, and, if not, how does it differ?

check comprehension • Stop at end of each section to review • check students predictions,• Restate main idea • and summarize the section

check comprehension

• Use comprehension questions • as guides to the text,• stopping to answer them as they read

Rosenblatt (1978, 1991) aesthetic and efferent

• identified two stances• readers take while reading a text• depending on their purposes for reading: • aesthetic and efferent

aesthetic stance • in reading a story, poem, or play, • attention shifts inward • centers on what is being created during the

actual reading: • personal feelings, ideas, and attitudes.

efferent stance

• readers’ attention narrows • build up meanings ,ideas to be retained. • Rosenblatt : the reader, rather than the text,

dictates stance• any text can be read either way • when reading any one text,• readers shift along a continuum from the

aesthetic to efferent stance.

• Pantomime a scene you choose or the class calls out to you while up there.

• Dramatic monologue for a character in a scene: what are they thinking/feeling at that moment--why?

• Dramatic monologue for a character while they are out of the book: where are they? why? thinking?

• Business Card Book: write the story in the most compelling way you can on paper the size of a business card.

• Collage: create an individual or class collage around themes or characters in the book. Haiku/Limerick: create one about a character.

• Cliffs Notes: have each student take a chapter and, using Cliffs' format, create their own.

• Roundtable: give students a chance to talk about what intrigues, bothers, confuses them about the book.

• Silent Roundtable: the only rule is the teacher cannot say anything during the period allotted for class discussion of book.

• Silent Conversation: a student writes about a story on paper; then passes it to another who responds to what they said; each subsequent respondent "talks" to/about all those before.

• Fishbowl: impromptu or scheduled, 2-4 students sit in middle of circle and talk about a text; the class makes observations about the conversation then rotate into the circle.

• Make Your Own Test: have students create their own test or essay questions about the text; this allows them to simultaneously think about the story and prepare for the test on it.

• Recasting the Text: students rewrite a poem as a story, a short story as a poem or play. All rewrites should then be read and discussed so as to understand how the different genre work.

• Debates: students reading controversial texts or novels with debatable subjects such as 1984 should debate the issues.

• Literature Circles: students gather in groups to discuss the text and then report out to the class for full-class discussion.

http://www.englishcompanion.com/assignments/reading/103readingactivities.htm

• Postcard: write to a friend about this book; to the author; to a character in the book; write as if you were the character or author and write to yourself.

• Mapmaker: draw a map of the book's setting• Moviemaker: write a one page "pitch" to a

producer explaining why the story would or would not make a great movie.

• Trailer: movie previews always offer a quick sequence of the best moments that make us want to watch it; storyboard or narrate the scenes for your trailer. Focus on verbs.

• Billboard: as in the movies, take what seems the most compelling image(s) and create an ad.

• Adjective-itis: pick five adjectives for the book or character(s), and explain how they apply.