Definitions
Narrative Text: Telling of a story, chronologically
Expository Text: Aims to explain
ex) Encyclopedia, Social Studies textbooks, informational books
CLOZE: Short for "closure"; A reading comprehension activity where words are omitted from a passage and students are required to fill in the blanks
Narrative Text: Telling of a story, chronologically
Expository Text: Aims to explain
ex) Encyclopedia, Social Studies textbooks, informational books
CLOZE: Short for "closure"; A reading comprehension activity where words are omitted from a passage and students are required to fill in the blanks
Expository Text Structures
Cause and Effect:
Comparison: Compare between two or more people, events, or phenomena
Sequence: Chronological order
Description: Lists characteristics
Cause and Effect:
- Science: Cause/effect with phenomena
- Soc. Science: Explaining a historical event
Comparison: Compare between two or more people, events, or phenomena
Sequence: Chronological order
Description: Lists characteristics
How to Assess Content-Area Literacy
CLOZE:
Excellent to see if a student can read a grade level social studies or science textbook (Hard to use for students first grade level or lower)
They are given several paragraphs with words omitted. Students fill in the blanks with the missing words that the teacher provides:
Using Text Structures:
Use a slate and students fill in the missing parts.
Ex) Venn Diagram
Multilevel Questions:
Follow the QAR for social studies and science to answer those different types of questions.
Teacher Observation:
Take informal assessment of how students read materials (if they're struggling or not), find information, and answer questions.
Readability of Text
Through IRI (Informal Reading Inventories), tell how a book will fit a child's reading ability
Readability formulas include:
CLOZE:
Excellent to see if a student can read a grade level social studies or science textbook (Hard to use for students first grade level or lower)
They are given several paragraphs with words omitted. Students fill in the blanks with the missing words that the teacher provides:
- Independent Reading Level: Student scores 60% or more: Excellent!
- Instructional Reading Level: Student scores 40-50%: This is okay.
- Frustration Reading Level: Student scores lower than 40%: Need assistance (easy books, charts, peer tutors)
Using Text Structures:
Use a slate and students fill in the missing parts.
Ex) Venn Diagram
Multilevel Questions:
Follow the QAR for social studies and science to answer those different types of questions.
Teacher Observation:
Take informal assessment of how students read materials (if they're struggling or not), find information, and answer questions.
Readability of Text
Through IRI (Informal Reading Inventories), tell how a book will fit a child's reading ability
Readability formulas include:
- Fry Readability Graph: Average number of sentences and syllables per 100 words
- Raygor Readability Estimate: Average number of sentences and letters per 100 words
Teaching Content-Area Literacy
Improving Comprehension of Content-Area Textbooks:
1. Before Students Read: Linking What's Been Learned Previously
Activate background knowledge: KWL and PreP
2. Before Students Read: Previewing with a Graphic Organizer
It outlines the chapter
If you don't want to use a graphic organizer, you can use a summary chart (Lists of sentences that preview the chapter)
Ex) Summary Chart:
Student Independent Reading
Assessing Independent Reading: Find right books for students
Interest Inventory: Surveys books students will like
Individual Conferences: Student brings journal, teacher reviews
3. While and After Students Read: Focusing Student Attention with Study Guides
Study guides are completed while students are reading. They are based on the structure of the text being read and use key questions in text.
Learning Logs: A journal students use to record ideas and plans for projects.
Data Retrieval Charts: Record information in an outline given by teacher.
4. Specialized Reading Experiences: Skimming, Scanning, In-Depth
Skimming:
Fast reading of text for preview or review. Look for key words and important sentences.
Model Skimming: Highlight key words and sentences to class.
Scanning:
Rapid reading to find information
In-Depth Reading: SQR3 (old technique):
Improving Comprehension of Content-Area Textbooks:
1. Before Students Read: Linking What's Been Learned Previously
Activate background knowledge: KWL and PreP
2. Before Students Read: Previewing with a Graphic Organizer
It outlines the chapter
If you don't want to use a graphic organizer, you can use a summary chart (Lists of sentences that preview the chapter)
Ex) Summary Chart:
Student Independent Reading
Assessing Independent Reading: Find right books for students
Interest Inventory: Surveys books students will like
Individual Conferences: Student brings journal, teacher reviews
3. While and After Students Read: Focusing Student Attention with Study Guides
Study guides are completed while students are reading. They are based on the structure of the text being read and use key questions in text.
Learning Logs: A journal students use to record ideas and plans for projects.
Data Retrieval Charts: Record information in an outline given by teacher.
4. Specialized Reading Experiences: Skimming, Scanning, In-Depth
Skimming:
Fast reading of text for preview or review. Look for key words and important sentences.
Model Skimming: Highlight key words and sentences to class.
Scanning:
Rapid reading to find information
In-Depth Reading: SQR3 (old technique):
- Survey the chapter and look at title and bold fonts
- Write two questions about the chapter they'll answer
- Read and look to answer those questions
- Review what they learned
Study Skills
Encyclopedias
Lessons on the Organization of an Encyclopedia: Alphabetical ordering, organization by topics
Lessons on How to Use the Index, Guide Words, and Cross-References: How to find information quickly
Alternatives to Note-Taking
How to Scan for Specific Information
Encyclopedias
Lessons on the Organization of an Encyclopedia: Alphabetical ordering, organization by topics
Lessons on How to Use the Index, Guide Words, and Cross-References: How to find information quickly
Alternatives to Note-Taking
How to Scan for Specific Information
- Alternatives to Note-Taking
- Information Charts (contains):
- Student's name
- Student's research topic
- "What I already know"
- Bibliographic information
- New questions
33. Mr. Piper is a fourth-grade teacher. He wants to increase the meaning vocabularies of his students. In addition to teaching his fourth-grade students the meanings of difficult words they will read in their basal readers, social studies textbooks, and science textbooks, Mr. Piper should also:
a. Begin to use a direct and explicit approach to phonics.
b. Be sure that each student completes at least one workbook page a week.
c. Do what is necessary to increase both the amount of time his students read and the types of books they read.
d. Assess all his students for their ability to distinguish simple, compound, and complex sentences.
34. A fifth-grade student is having difficulty with tasks requiring a search for information in a hard-copy encyclopedia. This student knows to find the correct volume for the information she needs, and she knows how to quickly locate the entry she is looking for. Her teacher notices, however, that she reads every word in the entry even when she only needs a single item of information. Her teacher should:
a. Require the student to only use online information sources because the hard-copy encyclopedia format will be obsolete in the near future.
b. Teach the student to read faster by just reading nouns.
c. Teach the student to use the reading strategy of generating questions; before reading the entry, the student should decide on three questions that will be answered while reading; then the student reads selectively to only answer those questions.
d. Model and explicitly teach how to read for different purposes, especially how to scan for specific information.
35. Mr. Joe is concerned about the difficulty many of his students have reading their fourth-grade social studies textbooks. He should:
a. Thoroughly assess the phonemic awareness of each student having difficulty.
b. Teach a series of lessons on how to use the structure of expository text to improve comprehension.
c. Teach several word identification strategies including phonics, sight words, and morphemic analysis.
d. Realize the importance of narrative text structures and use those structures to help improve comprehension.
36. Mr. Reigns has used graphic organizers to provide students a preview of what they will be asked to read in social studies textbooks. They don't seem to be working. This could be because:
a. Each organizer consists of only three to five words.
b. He has used the structure of the text to develop graphic organizers.
c. He presents the graphic organizers to his students before they read.
d. Each organizer is a chart summarizing what content the children learn when they read.
a. Begin to use a direct and explicit approach to phonics.
b. Be sure that each student completes at least one workbook page a week.
c. Do what is necessary to increase both the amount of time his students read and the types of books they read.
d. Assess all his students for their ability to distinguish simple, compound, and complex sentences.
34. A fifth-grade student is having difficulty with tasks requiring a search for information in a hard-copy encyclopedia. This student knows to find the correct volume for the information she needs, and she knows how to quickly locate the entry she is looking for. Her teacher notices, however, that she reads every word in the entry even when she only needs a single item of information. Her teacher should:
a. Require the student to only use online information sources because the hard-copy encyclopedia format will be obsolete in the near future.
b. Teach the student to read faster by just reading nouns.
c. Teach the student to use the reading strategy of generating questions; before reading the entry, the student should decide on three questions that will be answered while reading; then the student reads selectively to only answer those questions.
d. Model and explicitly teach how to read for different purposes, especially how to scan for specific information.
35. Mr. Joe is concerned about the difficulty many of his students have reading their fourth-grade social studies textbooks. He should:
a. Thoroughly assess the phonemic awareness of each student having difficulty.
b. Teach a series of lessons on how to use the structure of expository text to improve comprehension.
c. Teach several word identification strategies including phonics, sight words, and morphemic analysis.
d. Realize the importance of narrative text structures and use those structures to help improve comprehension.
36. Mr. Reigns has used graphic organizers to provide students a preview of what they will be asked to read in social studies textbooks. They don't seem to be working. This could be because:
a. Each organizer consists of only three to five words.
b. He has used the structure of the text to develop graphic organizers.
c. He presents the graphic organizers to his students before they read.
d. Each organizer is a chart summarizing what content the children learn when they read.