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Classroom Strategies

Directed Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA)

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The Directed Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA) is a comprehension strategy that guides students inasking questions about a text, making predictions, and then reading to confirm or refute theirpredictions. The DRTA process encourages students to be active and thoughtful readers, enhancingtheir comprehension.

Share your examples!

Why use directed reading thinking activity?

It encourages students to be active andthoughtful readers.

It activates students' prior knowledge.

It teaches students to monitor their understanding of the text as they're reading.

It helps strengthen reading and critical thinking skills.

How to use directed reading thinking activity

Teachers should follow the steps below when creating a DRTA.

1. Determine the text to be used and pre-select points for students to pause during the readingprocess.2. Introduce the text, the purpose of the DRTA, and provide examples of how to makepredictions.

Note: Be aware of the reading levels of each student, and be prepared to provide appropriatequestions, prompts, and support as needed.

3. Use the following outline to guide the procedure:

D = DIRECT. Teachers direct and activate students' thinking prior to reading a passage byscanning 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 ofthe 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 theirpredictions and refine them if necessary. This process should be continued until students have readeach section of the passage.

T = THINKING. At the end of each section, students go back through the text and think abouttheir predictions. Students should verify or modify their predictions by finding supportingstatements in the text. The teacher asks questions such as:

o What do you think about your predictions now?

o What did you find in the text to prove your predictions?

o What did you we read in the text that made you change your predictions?

How to Use the Directed Reading-Thinking Activity to Enhance ReadingComprehension

The Directed Reading-Thinking Activity is a reading comprehension technique that can be used with

any age group, but is most commonly used with elementary students. This approach works with both

http://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/drta#swaphttp://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/drta#swap

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picture books and chapter books, and can be done with individual students, small groups or the

whole class.

Since it involves predicting what will happen next, DR-TA must be used with a story that is

unfamiliar to the students. However, students should have some background knowledge. For

example, if the book takes place during a certain period in history, such as the Gold Rush or ancient

Rome, it would be helpful if students knew something about the era. The teacher needs to prepare

for the activity ahead of time by reading the book and deciding in advance where the stopping points

will be for each section.

The DR-TA procedure involves having students make predictions about what is going to happen next

in the story. They will then read up to a designated stopping point, and determine whether or not

their predictions were correct based on what they have read. The DR-TA strategy is done in several

steps.

1. Prepare the students for reading by introducing the book or chapter. Ask students to predict what

they think the story will be about based on the picture on the cover and title of the book if it is a

picture book, or title of the first chapter and any illustrations if it is a chapter book. Write down

students' predictions on the board or overhead. Ask them to explain why they think these things will

happen. Students can also write down their predictions in a reading journal. Make sure all students

are engaged. If they do not all have a chance to suggest a prediction, you can have the class vote on

which predictions they prefer so that everyone has a chance to be involved.

2. Either read aloud or have students read silently up to a certain designated stopping point in thebook.

3. After reading, lead a discussion in which students will evaluate their predictions as to whether they

were correct or not. They should justify their answers by citing specific examples from the reading to

confirm or disprove the predictions. Ask students why they think the things happened as they did.

4. Repeat the predicting process for the next section of text. Guide students by asking questions

about what they think will happen next, and why.

5. Repeat the discussion process after each section. Continue to ask students to justify theirreasoning with examples.

Older students can be divided into small groups for the prediction and discussion steps, and write

down their predictions and justifications for each section.

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Sources:

Tompkins, Gail.Literacy for the 21st Century, 3rd Edition. Pearson Education, 2003.

http://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/drta

c- Directed Reading-Thinking Activity (DRTA)

Developed by Stauffer, the DRTA is a group comprehension activity that features

prediction of the story events prior to reading, reading to prove or modify predictions,

and the use of divergent thinking.

A. Group DRTA using fiction:

1. Show or read the title, first illustrations, or opening part of the story. Ask

questions like "What might this story be about?" or "What might happen in this

story?" to elicit first predictions. Accept each one noncommittally and jot it on theboard. When you have two or more different ideas, review them and have students

read silently read to the first stopping point (selected beforehand) to see if any of the

predictions are confirmed.

2. While reading, help students with difficult words. At the stopping point, have

the students turn over their books or close them and not read ahead.

3. Ask volunteers to summarize the selection just read and point out predictions

that no longer seem probable; erase them or change them on the board as students

suggest new ideas. Be noncommittal in your responses using expressions like

"possible" or "likely". Elicit predictions about events in the next section and press for

justification or predictions. Read the new selection with the new predictions in mind.4. Predict, read, and prove to the end of the selection.

5. At the end ask volunteers to summarize the whole story, put events in order,

discuss the characters' motives and feelings, and review the ways the group used story

information to make predictions. Add any additional comprehension questions or

follow-up activities.

B. Nonfiction Material:

1. Prepare your prereading questions beforehand by determining what types of

information the passage contains and how it is organized. Develop a set of generalquestions that will help children determine what they already know (or think they

know) about the topic. If you were going to read about the building of the first

transcontinental railroad, you might begin by asking:

What do you think was special about the Union Pacific railway?

Where did it begin? Where did it end?

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How long do you think it was?

How long do you think it took to complete?

What might the Golden Spike be? Why do you think it was important?

What problems do you think the railway builders encountered?

In what ways might the railway have changed the area in which it was built?

2. Have the class quickly scan the material or look at illustrations and headings,

your choice. Pose your prereading questions, encouraging the students to disagree

with one another and provide as much specific detail as they can. Jot their guesses on

the board, accepting all non-committally. Read silently watching for information they

had predicted.

3. After reading have volunteers point out confirmed predictions, modify those that

were not confirmed and add new information not predicted. Ask more comprehension

questions or follow-up activities.

Benefits:

Students themselves set reading purposes by making predictions and reading to

prove or refute them.

They generally read more actively and enthusiastically because they are more

interested in finding out what happened.

They often remember more information, even after much time has passed. One

reason for this accomplishment may be their increased curiosity.

d- Experience-Text-Relationship method (ETR)

A teaching procedure of advance speculative organization on the teacher's part, who

selects texts in relation to what he thinks may interest his group of learners.

The basic element of the ETR method is discussion of a text and topics related to the

text, especially students' own experiences.

Teachers conduct discussion of stories in three phases:

First, they guide students to activate what they know that will help them understand

what they read, make predictions, and set purposes. This is the Experience phase.

Next, they read the story with the students, stopping at appropriate points to discuss

the story, determine whether their predictions were confirmed, and so on. This is

the Textphase.

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After they have finished the story, teachers guide students to relate ideas from a text to

their own experiences. This is theRelationship phase.

Teachers facilitate comprehension, model processes, and may coach students as they

engage in reading and comprehension activities