Before a student can even begin to understand how to read expository content within a text book, they must first begin to read meaningfully and they reasons behind why they read. Reading is not just for entertainment, it is also used to acquire information. Reading any form of text opens its audience, the reader, to the world without them having to buy a plane ticket or putting them in dangerous situations to gain firsthand experience (content within storybooks or novels). Reading opens one’s “cognitive eye”. Once a tolerance for reading is achieved, students can gather information from every text that they read, whether fact or fiction. Reading in content area is basically about “students interacting with text before, during, and after reading.” When presented with a topic, students “draw on their prior knowledge, set a purpose, and anticipate questions ... use word identification strategies (e.g., structural analysis, syllabication) to decode unfamiliar multisyllabic words and context clues to figure out the meaning of technical terms. They read between the lines to make inferences” then “reflect, synthesize ideas across sources, and make further interpretations.” There are several strategies that can be implemented for improving students’ content area reading. It is possible for teachers to help students by previewing the focus of work prior to the assignment of independent reading. The context and background schema of new material become a lot easier for students to retain by implementing this strategy. By engaging students in a group discussion about what they already know about the topic, it is possible that the students may learn from one another. The use of anchor charts citing students’ prior knowledge and questions ... ... middle of paper ... ...ved December 28, 2009, from Reading Strategies: Scaffolding Students' Interaction with Test: http://www.greece.k12.ny.us/instruction/ela/6-12/Reading/Reading%20Strategies/interactivenotebook.htm Greece Central School District. (n.d.). Sociogram. Retrieved December 28, 2009, from Reading Strategies: Scaffolding Students' Interactoin with Text: http://www.greece.k12.ny.us/instruction/ela/6-12/Reading/Reading%20Strategies/sociograms.htm Lemon, D. (2004, January). Strategies for Teaching Reading Across the Content Areas. Retrieved December 28, 2009, from http://uncw.edu/ed/ncteach/documents/ReadAcross.pdf Williams, M. (n.d.). ESL Strategies for Content Area Reading: Making Science and Social Studies Texts Comprehensible for ELLs. Language Study. Retrieved December 28, 2009, from http://languagestudy.suite101.com/article.cfm/esl_strategies_for_content_area_reading
Through these resources, activities, and strategies, students are able to make progress into distinguishing the main idea and supporting details in reading texts. Through this they are also able to organize thoughts to develop a topic sentence and moreover use supporting facts and details. Many of the resources and activities done in this lesson allowed the students to think for themselves and make educated guesses based on the information given. Moreover they were allowed multiple opportunities to share with one another about heir thought
Fountas, I., C., & Pinnel, G. S., (2009). When readers struggle: Teaching that works. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
...t comprehension, it is important to analyze and view all aspects of the text, this will ensure the education you’re receiving, as well as the personal ties you make while reading.
Vacca, Richard T., Vacca, Jo Anna L., and Mraz, Maryann (2011). Content Area Reading: Literacy and Learning Across the Curriculum(10th Edition). Boston: Pearson.
Reading is not just reading words on a paper. It is a process that uses many resources in the brain and the use of strategies. Teachers have to use all six areas of reading to help students learn how to read, what strategies to use when reading, how to interpret a text and many more. Reading is a complex process and this paper will describe the six areas of reading.
Avalos, M.A., Plasencia, A., Chavez, C. & Rascon, J. (2007). Modified guided reading: Gateway to English as a second language and literacy learning. The Reading Teacher, 61(4), 318-329.
Reading comprehension may be the most important skill for any student to acquire and is therefore an area of particular interest to educators. Without adequate comprehension skills, students are limited in their reading, analytical and occupational abilities. To many, including the student’s themselves, comprehension or “good reading” skills begin and end with simple decoding. It is thought that if students can ‘read’ and define the vocabulary they are reading, then they also comprehend what is read. True comprehension goes far beyond decoding, however. True comprehension requires visualization of a text, predicting events in the text, making inferences about the text and clarifying what is not understood about the text in order to lead to higher level thought processes such as personally connecting with the text. Reluctant, beginning or low-skilled readers often do not have the ability to visualize, predict, inference or clarify what they are reading and so they do not truly comprehend what the text is or what it means. Too often, these readers do not understand that “good readers” go through a series of mental processes in order to comprehend the text in ways which the low-level readers never even imagined. As educators, it is our job to show reluctant, beginning or low-skilled readers what these processes are and how they work in an attempt to boost the self-confidence and independence of these readers. One excellent way to set about this is through a strategy called a “Think Aloud”.
Topic importance. The importance of the study is to find ways to help students become successful expository readers. Comprehension of expository text is important for the academic success and independent learning of students. Students need essential expository reading strategies to comprehend the science text book. Students will need strategies to be successful throughout school. This research will investigate the effectiveness of text feature walks, using QAT strategy, and completing KWL charts in the comprehension of the science textbook.
In class, we have been focusing on the explanation of what Literacy III: Research and Pedagogy in Content Area Literacy actually means. Content Area Literacy is defined by as “the ability to use reading and writing for the acquisition of new content in a given discipline” (McKenna and Robinson 1990). Because of the explanation of the class, I feel as if I am learning about the background and deepening my knowledge and understanding of the class as a whole. Content Area Literacy gives each subject areas a reason to include reading strategies in those lessons. These subject areas include mathematics, science, history, and English (Hodges 2015). When you can include reading strategies in these lessons, you are expanding student’s horizons and giving them multiple exposures. I think that this is extremely beneficial in the all classrooms. As for the negatives on Content Area Literacy, it should be noted that teachers should not only focus on reading during the other subject areas. Teachers need to have a medial balance between the content area and the literacy strategies
While I believe every child is a reader, I do not believe every child will be enthralled with reading all the time. All students have the capability to read and enjoy reading, but just like any other hobby, interest will vary from student to student. The students in my classroom will be encouraged in their reading, be provided with choice, taught how books can take you into another world but, my students will not be forced to read. This paper will illustrate my philosophy of reading through the theories I relate to, the way I want to implement reading and writing curriculum, and the methods I will use motivate my students to read and help them become literate.
Vacca, R. T., Vacca, J. L., & Mraz, M. (2011). Content area reading: Literacy and learning
This article discusses the increased informational text learning requirements as outlined in the Common Core standards and provides reading strategies to increase student comprehension levels in nonfiction reading. The author notes how reading strategies for informational text comprehension differ from those taught for the fiction genre and finds that the use of informational books within a guided reading program assists primary grade students in becoming more successful readers. She gives specific strategies for teaching informational text comprehension, including question generation, picture cues, text structure analysis, use of background knowledge, and think-alouds. The author analyzed research studies that concluded that students do not prefer fiction over non fiction texts, therefore if students are offered more selection and choice when reading informational texts, and are taught how to comprehend them using proven and specific strategies, they will develop enjoyment for the genre.
The authors of Content Area Reading and Literacy maintain that, prior knowledge influences comprehension more than other parts of texts such as images symbols, and students must be given an opportunity to connect with what they already know and new information they are learning. ( 141) As I continue in the classroom student teaching, and one day in my own classroom, I intend to remember the importance of prior knowledge by adapting all of my lessons to fit the needs of diverse readers by activating their background knowledge, so that they can make connections to new
Many students have a hard time when it comes to reading. There are many reading inventions that can help students out. Reading inventions are strategies that help students who are having trouble reading. The interventions are techniques that can be used to assist in one on ones with students or working in small groups to help students become a better reader. Hannah is a student who seems to be struggling with many independent reading assignments. There can be many reasons that Hannah is struggling with the independent reading assignments. One of the reasons that Hannah can be struggling with is reading comprehension while she is reading on her on. Reading comprehension is when students are able to read something, they are able to process it and they are able to understand what the text is saying. According to article Evidence-based early reading practices within a response to intervention system, it was mentioned that research strategies that can use to help reading comprehension can include of activating the student’s background knowledge of the text, the teacher can have questions that the student answer while reading the text, having students draw conclusions from the text, having
In this information–driven age, preparing students to read a variety of texts with complete understanding should likely be one of our educational system’s highest priorities. Understanding is more than just the ability to produce information on demand (knowledge) or the ability to perform learned routines (skills). “Understanding is the ability to think and act flexibly with what one knows.” (Active Learning Practice for Schools, n. d.) A review of the literature in the area of reading comprehension of elementary-age students shows two principle areas of focus. There is a body of literature that examines the development of proficient vs. struggling comprehenders and another body of literature that compares methodologies for teaching reading comprehension.