Fictional Text ' Map A Comprehension Strategy That Helps Students Organize Their Thoughts While Reading

As a result of the meta analysis, it was discovered that “Writing about a text proved to be better than just reading it, reading and rereading it, reading and studying it, reading and discussing it, and receiving reading instruction” (Writing to Read, Graham & Hebert, 2010, p.14). With an Average Weighted

To be an active reader is to be able to express yourself in the book one reads. Mortimer J. Adler argues in his article, “How to Mark a Book”, that to be an active reader, the reader needs to actually write in their book; but also to fully claim ownership of their book. According to Adler, there are plenty of ways one can mark in a book; underlining, vertical lines at the margin, asterisk, numbers in the margin, circling or highlighting, writing in the margin at the bottom or top, etc. One does not initially understand what they are reading, until they feel like they are having a conversation with the author. Adler emphasizes marking in a book keeps the reader mentally awake, helps their thoughts become more alive, and also remember later what

A Transactional Reader Response is described by Lois Tyson as the “[f]eelings, associations, and memories occur as we read, and those responses influence the way in which we make sense of the text as we move through it” (173). My past experiences made me able to relate to

To assist students to “read with purpose and anticipation,” Vacca et al. (2014, p. 173) suggests, in their book Content Area Reading: Literacy and Learning Across the Curriculum, that teachers need to “create an instructional context” that activates their students’ “prior knowledge” and helps them to become interested in a lesson. Throughout chapter six, “Activating Prior Knowledge and Interest,” Vacca et al. (2014, pp. 172-173) explain instructional strategies that can lead students to “read with purpose and anticipation.” This chapter presents the reader with a plethora of instructional strategies and means for applying them, along with example for real educators. As I journeyed through this chapter, I discovered many instructional strategies,

Research has shown how these engagement activities help students clarify new ideas and relate them back to the text. In addition, thinking aloud can help students increase the production of self-explanations and facilitate revision in the reader’s mind when they conflicted with the textual information presented (Lucero & Montanero, 2012).

Why do pre-reading strategies that activate prior knowledge and raise interest in the subject prepare students to approach text reading in a critical frame of mind?

Grouping ELL students with “peer-buddies” or students appointed to assist the ELL student can give the ELL student more opportunities for using conversational English, allow them to receive minor assistance without interrupting the teacher, and give

315-317) was used throughout the lesson in order to give the students an example of how to use the strategies that were taught. Before children would work on assignments alone, the teacher would model exactly what is expected of them, and keep examples of what was modeled during the lesson so the students could look back to it if they need to. Read-alouds (Cooper, 2015, p. 37) were used in this lesson to really help children to focus on certain topics of the text. “Sometimes the best way to help children understand a particular piece of text is to read it aloud to them and discuss it with them” (Cooper, 2015, p. 37). Think-alouds (Cooper, 2015, p. 30) were incorporated into this lesson when trying to explain how to use the strategy of character mapping. Think-alouds are a great way to explain to students how to use a specific skill or strategy so that they can have a better time comprehending it. Semantic maps (Cooper, 2015, p.83) were used in this lesson for brainstorming ideas from the text to later reference when making illustrations and creating short responses to the text. This strategy is also a great tool for second-language-learners because it helps to narrow down the specific parts in the text to help create more details of the topic being taught. Cooperative “popcorn” sequencing(Annenburg Learner, 2015) was used in the lesson to allow a variety of students to participate in the

An important initiative within "i-Read" system is the development of a set of reading skills with the purpose of enhancing the online reading experience and improving the level of readers' critical engagement with their reading contents. The critical engagement is the product of an "active reading" strategy that, in its ideal form, integrates the critical, interpretive, and creative aspects of information use which refers to reading that is accompanied by observable activity in the form of annotation.

In high school, we would skim, read, annotate, and then discuss what we read in class. Applying the steps described in the reading process handout, I have been able to comprehend this essay in a more impactful way.

However, the second method being discussed in this paper, the whole language approach, focuses much of its attention on making sure the student understands and enjoys what he or she is reading. Whole language instruction occurs when a student acquires language rather than learning it through direct instruction (Brooks 35-36). This method is more child centered than teacher dominated, because the objective is for the student to learn how to read through talking and doing rather than through passive listening. Unlike phonics, whole language uses a variety of ways to give students the opportunity to interact with the text they are reading. Questioning, discussing, problem-solving, listening, writing, drawing, and dramatizing are among the ways students interact with text. Students are also encouraged to implement simple strategies while reading such as: reading the sentence and guessing what word will come next, looking at the picture on the page to help figure out the sentence, and also rereading the sentence for clarification. This method also does a good job in allowing the students to engage in text at their own speed and often in their own ways (36).

The read/write learner is advised to: develop lists, make outlines, obtain study guides, take notes, and write words to the notes several times. It is also recommended to read notes silently, rewrite and paraphrase ideas into other words. Converting graphs, charts, and diagrams into worded statements help the student with a strong read/write preference to understand the meanings contained in the visual material. Meaning is found in words; therefore the student with a read/write learning preference should search for words that describe the meaning of a concept by breaking the concept into textual points. (Fleming, n.d.).

However, my progress as a reader has significantly improved and changed during this semester. First, I learned to improve my critical reading skills through the in-class reading assignments. My professor provided very useful help in assigning us the first reading response question: “Summarize the main ideas of the reading assignment. What questions do you have?” I think that a combination of being able to understand, summarize what the text says as well as interpret its meanings is a helpful approach one can apply to better his or her critical reading skills. Therefore, I have applied this approach to any reading I had for this class and I am still using it for other classes as well. Secondly, I changed my reading habit after the third essay in which I chose a research topic in my discipline to write about. While doing the research, I noticed that I was also encouraged to become familiar with many different subjects in my discipline. The essay assignment was to pick a topic that I am personally interested in writing about. Coincidently, this was also one of the goals that I listed on the first class writing “read articles and

Adomat (2012) conducted research on the connection between drama-based reading instruction and reading comprehension. Adomat (2012) provided small group reading instruction that utilized drama techniques such as hotseating, role-playing and tableaux. Hotseating involves a student or students assuming the role of a character, and respond to questions by their classmates. This allows students to analyze characters, infer, elaborate and think quickly on their feet. When students role-play they are in pairs and take turns playing different characters. Lastly, in tableaux after reading a book as a whole group the students had to determine the most important parts and create visuals with their body. At the end of the year, the students took a reading assessment,

The best way to help struggling readers with comprehension is to directly teach them comprehension strategies and build up their comprehension through environments that support literacy. It is essential to empower students with these strategies to enable them to become active, deliberate readers. The teaching of comprehension strategies