Ready to Read
Video
Before Reading
Before your learners tackle a text, they should be comfortable with the content of the reading, familiar with the vocabulary, and have working knowledge the topic. Once they are able to talk about the text using new vocabulary, and have a discussion about events or issues in the text, they are ready to read.
Small Group Instruction
In the Bridge program, at the beginning of term, we assess the reading level of the students and group them accordingly. In small groups with the instructor, the learners preview the text together, discuss any pictures and/or captions, and then read the text silently. While one group is working with the instructor, the other group has an activity to complete.
Reading
We always encourage the learners to read the text at least twice. All learners have a highlighter and are encouraged to highlight any unfamiliar vocabulary, or confusing sections of the text. After we have discussed the reading again, we take turns reading in the small group. The instructor follows along and makes notes on the learners’ reading and fluency. We take note of whether learners pause at punctuation, self-correct, reread for better understanding and sound out words. Often we will also highlight parts of the text learners found interesting, or information they learned while reading.
Post Reading
Reading comprehension assessment can take many forms. Comprehension questions work well to give learners feedback on their comprehension. In our class, we encourage learners to answer questions using their own words as much as possible. We also have vocabulary activities to further develop the use of the new words. Learners can also do a retelling of the text, either orally or written. The instructor can support the retelling by offering prompts and asking guiding questions. Learners may also demonstrate their understanding with a skit or short dramatic retelling of the text. This works well for low-level literacy learners and allows them to show their understanding in an engaging way.
Reading should be an integral part of your literacy classroom, with vocabulary, writing and spelling activities related to the reading. In making reading engaging and accessible, learners will hopefully develop a stronger connection with the text and reading in general.
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post-reading activities and highlighters
Excellent post, Maureen! I am always looking for new kinds of post-reading activities. One that I regularly do is a variation on a T/F exercise, where the possible responses are 'yes' 'no' or 'maybe'; I find this activity helps me to gauge the inference skills of the learners. I also like to make sentence strips of the events in a story and have the learners put them in order. (For the stronger learners, I might chop the sentences in half so that they have to match the sentence parts before ordering them.)
I also like everyone's highlighter ideas. My learners struggle with remembering the 's' in 3PS, so I often have them go through a text and highlight all of the verbs that end in 's'. This also reinforces their understanding of lexical categories, in that they must avoid highlighting plural nouns.
I liked the idea of using a
I liked the idea of using a "skit" as a post-reading re-telling activity. I've also used skits and other physical actions as a pre-reading and reading tools in my Phase 1 class as well. Before introducing any written text, I first act out the story as I tell it orally several times. I then have several students come up and be the actors as I tell the story several more times. Later, students can become the oral story tellers as their classmates tell the story. Attaching physical motions to the oral pre-telling of the story gives the students a kinaesthetic aid to learning the oral vocabulary. Later, during the first reading of the story, the students "act out" the action verbs as we read through it line by line. I've found that learners then transfer these physical actions to their reading of these verbs in both that story and in new contexts as well. This gives the students both an oral and kinaesthetic anchor to hang their reading on. Most of my students have a kinaesthetic learning style and have learned in the past through modelled "doing". Having a physical motion to help them while reading puts this strength into play for literacy development.
anchor
Shelley, I love your line, "it gives the students both oral and kinesthetic anchor to hang their reading on". What a beautiful sentiment! Your activities are amazing and sound like a powerful way for students to make a connection their reading. Thanks for sharing!
Maureen Stewart
Bridge Program
Bow Valley College
mstewart@bowvalleycollege.ca
@MaureenCalgary
Post Reading
I especially like your ideas on post reading exercises. I think it's a very import part of reading that can often get overlooked as we move on to our next task. As you mentioned in a previous post, selecting material that is of interest to the learners is essential. We are currently doing a Martin Luther King biography in our class which has sparked great discussions, debates and written responses. Also, many students have been requesting further reading and have been taking out books from the library related to the subject.
MLK
I agree Don, it's easy to overlook the post reading exercises, especially when we're trying to cover so much material in a short time. It's great you found a text your learners can engage with. It's always nice to find something that will spark a discussion or debate. We had a similar situation when we read a version of Alive I had adapted. The learners loved it and felt so proud of themselves for reading a long text.
Maureen Stewart
Bridge Program
Bow Valley College
mstewart@bowvalleycollege.ca
@MaureenCalgary
Highlighters are great
Thanks for the post. I find these very useful. I use highlighters in reading as well, but to identify the parts of speach.
highlighter fun
That's a great idea, Nicole! We only learn nouns, verbs and adjectives, but that would be a great activity for us to try. Thanks!
Maureen Stewart
Bridge Program
Bow Valley College
mstewart@bowvalleycollege.ca
@MaureenCalgary
Highlighters
I use highlighters so that the students can identify important words in a text which will have significance in their lives. We frequently talk about the weather (after all, we live in Canada, eh?), so words like "cold," "warm," and "wind" might be important. As well, when we do our daily writing on the board, I use the LCD and highlight one word per sentence (frequently it is a word I have highlighted in a previous writing). These are printed out every day and hung on the wall. When I have enough, I take them all down and print a booklet from them for the students. These are kept in their binders (they're hole-punched) and used as readers.
word books
That's a great idea, Simon! You have some amazing activities in your class that are so learner centred and that use familiar vocabulary.
Do you make a story out of the words or is it more like a vocabulary list?
Maureen Stewart
Bridge Program
Bow Valley College
mstewart@bowvalleycollege.ca
@MaureenCalgary