Joey WisemanSocial Studies Coordinator

Office of InstructionWVDE

SEE THINK WONDER

What do you think good readers do when they read?

What do you think most students do when they read?

How can secondary teachers be expected to teach reading when they have so much content to cover?

How many times have you heard teachers say if students cannot read well by fifth or sixth grade then it is too late?

Chris Tovani became a good reader in her thirties. She is the author of the book “I Read It, but I Don’t Get It: Comprehension Strategies for Adolescent Readers”.

Many students are afraid to admit they cannot read.

They are participating in fake reading – pretending to understand what they are reading

They do not know how to decipher what they are reading to help them understand the content information.

They are faking it.

Struggling readers: Rarely finish a book Do not understand their text book reading

assignments Do not experience the fun of escaping into a

good story for pleasure Feel defeated by test scores Are embarrassed by the group they are

assigned to and the label they are given Perceive reading as drudgery and therefore

procrastinate when faced with it. See no purpose or pleasure in reading

Recall a book that had an impact on your life It may be positive or negative impact It may be from childhood Maybe you read it last year How did it impact your life, decisions, the way

you read and write today, etc.?

Reading is a complex process, therefore it requires a complex answer

Large amounts of material are covered in middle and high school

Students who have not been shown how to develop their reading skills are left behind

Some students can read, but choose not to – content is not made relevant to them

Others cannot read and so give up

Content area teachers do not feel equipped to teach reading.

Depth of information to teach seems endless

Expectation to “cover” material and standards is high

When would they have time to teach reading?

When would they have time to learn to teach reading?

By the time they reach middle and high school, students are expected to be able to read. They are expected to: Know how to read Read large volumes of text in shorter amounts

of time Read faster Gain information by reading alone Read and understand increasingly difficult

material.

Avoid pressure to “cover” content. Help students “uncover” the content themselves.

Do not “feed” the information to your students.

Do not reduce the opportunities your students have to read because they are having difficulty

Do teach them the strategies they need to help them read

Do assign interesting text. Do have confidence in your ability to teach

them to read

Why do you read what you read? Your purpose effects everything about

what you are reading. What is remembered What is skipped Strategy you use to comprehend new

meaning

When you read without purpose: You cannot stay focused You may not care about the topic You do not relate to the information You read through the words so you can be

finished You become bored very quickly

Students rely on the teacher to tell them the purpose for their reading Test on Friday Complete the questions Write an essay when reading is finished Students have no real purpose of their own

and these three are too general to be helpful Students need to learn how to establish

purpose

Make invisible mental processes visible Think out loud to take the mystery out of

comprehension and make it more concrete

Show students how to engage in mental processes before, during and after reading

Demonstrate out loud the comprehension strategies that you are using to construct meaning in the reading assignment.

When you are using these strategies and practicing them with your students, do not “add-on” anything that is not part of the course.

Use the actual course material that you are requiring them to read, whether supplementary, primary, or text.

Help them uncover the meaning of material they need to read.

They will feel less isolated and more comfortable

Narrative tells a personal or fictional experience or tells

a story based on a real or imagined event. Expository

conveys information or explains what is difficult to understand.

Persuasive attempts to convince the reader to accept a

particular point of view or to take a specific action

Our choice for today Why Not Narrative or Expository?

Persuasive thought requires creativity, critical thinking and problem solving skills – 21st Century skills needed by every citizen.

Start with your students’ natural talent of persuasion

We all learn by doing, and they have been doing this since they were born – in one way or another.

Are you good at persuasion?

Freewrite – 6 minutes Experience with persuasion

Debrief Methods

Generalizations Observing, persuading, nagging

Rules of persuasion Comparison

Share an example Reasonable vs. Unreasonable Methods Bullying, Bribing, Badgering or Blackmail

Unreasonable Debriefing

Patterns for success What works on paper?

Practice Start a persuasive list about an historical event or

decision you are covering in class Have students persuade an audience that a

particular change would yield a different outcome in the event, then have them describe how to go about making the change and what the outcome would be.