Strategies

A Reference You Can Use for Lesson Plans

Many of these strategies are from: Sturtevant, E.G., and Linek, W.M. Content Literacy: An Inquiry-based Case Approach. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill Prentice-Hall, 2004

Purpose

This slide series is a collection of strategies you can use to help students get the most out of the reading you ask them to do.

Across the range of strategies are ones appropriate for younger students as well as ones appropriate for advanced students.

At the end of this slide show, you will be asked to reflect on these strategies.

Brainstorming

Pre-reading strategy. Activates students’ schema.

Can be part of KWL and other pre-reading activities. KWL is explained elsewhere in this slide show.

Ask students respond to a question such as, “What do you think of when I say…?”

Write down their answers on the board or on an overhead.

Categorization and Word Maps

Select key vocabulary words or technical terms.

Show relationships of words through maps.

Discuss levels of categories.

Have students fill in the word map individually or in pairs.

Students can share their maps in small groups or with the whole class.

Maps can be the basis for class discussion.

Superordinate Level

Coordinate Level

Subordinate Level

Woodwinds

Sax Flute

Soprano Alto Tenor

Students can sort vocabulary into categories you develop or ones they develop themselves.

Discussion Web

This is a post-reading activity and assumes you have done pre-reading and during reading activities that help students to gain meaning from the text.

Have students work in pairs to discuss/defend their points of view on the discussion question (see example). They write their reasons under the appropriate column (yes/no). Students need to take turns and give each other time.

Have pairs combine to create groups of four. The groups discuss their thinking and move toward a conclusion most agree with (keeping in mind not everyone has to agree).

Have each group decide which three reasons best support their conclusion. Each group selects a spokesperson to present to the whole class.

Students can write their individual perspectives and provide reasons for their own conclusions.

Is Rap “good” music?

Yes No

Conclusion

See how this activity forms the basis for critical thinking as well as expository writing (a critical skill for college-bound high school students)? The question becomes the thesis statement. The “yes” column becomes the support for the thesis and the “no” column becomes information that must be refuted in order to support the thesis.

Double Entry Journals

Students divide a piece of paper in two from top to bottom.

In left hand column, they summarize key ideas from what they have been reading.

In the right hand column, they write what these ideas mean to them personally. It might be thoughts or questions.

You might have to provide more support for younger students—you can give them a hint about some of the key ideas.

When you first use this, you will need to model it by doing a think-aloud. Use an overhead, demonstrate summarizing an idea, then as you write your own response or question, say out loud what you want students to be thinking about when they are doing this task.

The ability to summarize is a great skill for students to develop.

Students need to be able to connect their own experiences to texts.

Both younger children and children who struggle may need some scaffolding on the summarizing part—you could provide this part of the entry for them and then ask them to write their own reactions.

Think alouds are a great way to teach any skill, including music. Think alouds provide a model of what students should think about when they face a particular task.

What the author says: My response:

Do you see how this page is an example of the double entry journal?

DR-TA (Directed Reading-Thinking Activity) for narrative Have students predict what the story will be

about from the title or illustrations. Encourage multiple predictions and write them down.

Ask the students who predicted, “Why do you think so?” Probe for background knowledge and experiences.

Have students read to a logical stopping point that you have chosen. They should mask the remaining text with a piece of paper.

Ask, “What do you think will happen now? Why?” Have them verify their reasoning with information from the text. Write down new predictions and ask students to eliminate the old predictions that are no longer applicable.

Repeat this process until you get to the last stopping point. Then ask, “How do you think the story will end? Why?”

Have students read to the end and ask, “Why did the story end this way? How would you have ended the story?”

STOP

Title and/or illustration at the beginning of text.

Introduction to characters, setting, and/or initial event

Main character’s initial response to the event.

Attempts to solve a problem or achieve a goal

Consequence or outcome of attempt.

Main character’s reaction to consequence or outcome

STOP

STOP

STOP

STOP

Logical stopping points in a story

DR-TA (Directed Reading-Thinking Activity) for non-fiction

Set the purpose for reading by having students predict what information the author will present based ona title, subheading, chart, graph, map, etc. Record their hypotheses on the board and ask, “Why do you think so?” Probe for background knowledge and information from prior learning.

Probe to assess whether students have an adequate knowledge base or if misconceptions and a lack of a knowledge base will hinder comprehension of the text. If probing reveals difficulties, discuss prior learning, clarify concepts, and review technical terms to help students create logical theories. Be aware that this should not be an interrogation that shuts down student risk-taking. Rather, it should be an open-ended discussion that encourages student inquiry, discussion, and development of alternative hypotheses.

Have students read silently to a logical, predetermined stopping point to see if their hypotheses are correct. Predetermine the stopping points based on the concept/concepts you are attempting to cover and the nature of the text. For example, you may have several paragraphs focused on one concept and only one stopping point at the end of the passage. Or you may have multiple stopping points if the main concept includes several ideas or constructs. If you have multiple stopping points, have students mask the text beyond the stopping point with a piece of paper.

As the majority of students come to the stopping point, conduct whole class or small group discussions in which students accept, reject, or modify the previously posed hypotheses, providing support from the text. If small group discussion is used, have each group appoint a recorder to share the group’s thinking with the whole class. Remember to use open-ended questions, such as, “how do you know?” and “Why do you think so?” Always have students provide supporting information from the text, and if the class agrees, modify the hypotheses on the board.

For kids who read more quickly—have themjot their ideas down on the blank paper they are using to mask the remaining text.

INSERT (Interactive Notation System to Effective Reading and Thinking) This is a collection of symbols students can insert into a text they are

reading, which they can use later on when they think about and discuss the text.

You can have students write in the text, use sticky notes, or write on a separate page, noting page number.

INSERT Reminder:

I agree = That’s new = + I wonder = ?I disagree = x That’s important = ! I don’t understand = ??

KWL Strategy This is a three-step strategy which

both guides and motivates students in their reading.

K=what I KNOW W=WHAT I want to learn L=what I LEARNED Before reading a text, fill out the K and

W parts of the chart. Extend students’ thinking by asking

how they know what they know. Organize their ideas into categories of

knowledge. Help them identify areas where they

have no information or areas of controversy.

After they read, students should record their findings on their copies of the KWL.

During class discussion, record what they learned on the master KWL.

Guide students to other sources of information for questions that remain unanswered.

Younger students will need additional support for doing this. They may not be able to think in terms of categories of information (an abstract task—keep in mind Piaget).

Use a think aloud process to demonstrate how to think in terms of categories of information.

Evaluate the text. Should you have students read the whole text before holding the “L” part of the discussion or should you break the text in chunks and hold discussions throughout their reading?

The KWL is a great way to assess where the students are in relation to a topic. This information will help you to build an effective bridge to where you want them to be.

The next slide is a musical example of a KWL.

KWL exampleK-What we KNOW W-what we WANT to find out

or need to learnL-what we LEARNED and still want to learn

Categories of information we expect to use:

Text: Kofi Agawu’s Playing the Signexcerpt in “Assessing Readability”

Music is meaningful

Music of the Classical period has particular characteristics

How can we articulate whatand how music means? People in the past used

ideas from rhetoric to describe music.

How else can we describemusic?

Linguistics and language structuresMusic theory

This is my guess as to how aKWL would look if we were tohold a class discussion of this text.

LINK (List, Inquire, Note, Know) Pre-reading strategy similar to

brainstorming. Purpose is to make links between what

students know and what they are learning.

Write the topic or key term on the board or overhead. The term should be familiar enough so that it will trigger responses among all students. Give students 3 minutes to LIST all associations they make with the key term. The purpose of this step is to have students make as many connections from their prior knowledge to the topic as possible.

Call on all students one at a time to share a unique response. The teacher or a scribe writes these responses on the board or overhead. Allow students to offer more ideas if time permits. The purpose of this step is to maximize student participation.

After all responses are given, the teacher should invite the class to INQUIRE about individual students’ associations. The teacher facilitates but does not answer questions, because the students are the ones who are clarifying their connections and elaborating on their understandings. The teacher records student questions for future reference. The purpose of this step is to have students share, clarify, and elaborate their understandings so that they discover errors, engage in controversy, and identify questions while bringing prior awareness to the surface.

After the inquiring is complete and all questions have been recorded, erase the responses or turn off the overhead. Tell students to NOTE everything they KNOW in one minute in response to the same cue. At the end of one minute, have the students reflect on the differences between their initial list and their new list. The purpose of this step is to identify connections they didn’t initially make, validate what they do know, and set purposes for reading.

Post-Graphic Organizer Students preview the selection to

determine the topic, structure, and main ideas.

Students read the selection silently to gather information for the group’s graphic organizer.

The group meets to discuss and create the post-graphic organizer based on the information each member has gathered. Each group prepares a large model (e.g., on chart paper) that will be shared by the class.

Each group presents their model to the class.

After all models have been presented, have students reflect on how they might change their model to better depict the structure of what they learned.

For younger students or students not used to creating graphic organizers, consider sharing graphic organizers designed to reflect expository text structure (some will be demonstrated in later slides). Then create a post-graphic organizer with the whole class, using a combination of think aloud and student input to model the construction process. You may have to repeat this process several times, gradually releasing responsibility for the construction to the students in order to scaffold them into independent group work.

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Some possible graphic organizers

Web

Text being webbed: “Folk Music” in The New Harvard Dictionary of Music

Folk Music

Cultural Characteristics

Oral transmission

Functional

Style

Strophic and other forms

Monophonicor harmonic

Mostly usesDiatonic system

Rhythmic features varySinging styles vary

Do you see how you can take the information in such a text and summarize it visually?

Etc….For younger children,you can provide the basicgraphic and have them fill it in.

Timeline

Middle Ages500-1430

Renaissance 1430-1600

Baroque 1600-1750

Classical1750-1820

Romantic1820-1910

If you don’t like the dates, blame my Harvard Dictionary.You can use a timeline for general music history as wellas dates in the life of a single composer. You can bring the timeline to the present to include children’s own lives so theycan see exactly how long ago something happened.

Cycles Plan

TeachAssess

Play/listenAssess

Practice

Procedures

1. Remove old string.2. Clean peg with dry rag.3. Apply peg dope.4. Put ball end of string in tailpiece or tuner.5. Place straight end in peg hole.6. Wind string so windings go toward

pegbox side.7. Tune to pitch.

This would be SO much better with illustrations…

Venn DiagramCajun Music Bluegrass

Folk

Oral tradition

Fiddle, guitar,bass

Accordian, p’tit fer

French

Primarily dance music

InfluencedCountry music

Banjo, mandolin, dobro

English

Sketch to Stretch

Students read the text. Instruct students to draw a sketch of

the picture they see in their minds when they think about the information presented in the story. Remind students that there is not a “right” or “wrong” picture because there are many ways of depicting meaning.

If all students have been reading the same text, they should divide into groups of four or five after completing their sketches. Each person shows his or her sketch to the others in the group. Group members have a chance to express what they think the artist/student is trying to say.

After all the group members have had the opportunity to indicate what they think the drawing represents, the artist/student gets the last word.

Each group shares with the whole group by collaborating and constructing a group sketch after sharing, choosing one sketch from the group to share, or sharing all the sketches if time permits.

Sketches may be put on an overhead projector or displayed on poster board.

You can also use this with text that you have read aloud to students.

Think-Pair-Share

Students form groups of two. The teacher provides a prompt

before or after reading. Students individually brainstorm

their ideas on half sheets of paper.

Students share their ideas with their partner.

The teacher circulates to listen to partner discussions and targets one or two sets of partners to share with the entire group.

During reading—form groups of two. Students read a portion of text

silently (usually a paragraph or two). When both have finished reading,

one student serves as listener. Reteller explains what was read

while listener interrupts only for clarification.

When reteller is finished, the listener points out ideas summarized incorrectly and adds ideas left out. The pair then words together to clarify and elaborate upon their understanding.

Change roles and begin on the next portion of text.

Your Own Questions

A before-, during-, and after- reading strategy.

Have students preview the material by looking at the major headings, subheadings, figures, and tables in the text.

Ask students to write several questions that they think will be answered when they read the text.

Discuss several of the student-generated questions and list them on the board.

After reading, have students discuss which questions were answered, which questions were not answered, why some questions were not answered, and where students might look to find answers to their questions that were not addressed in the text.

You can read a few paragraphs from the beginning of the text aloud or have students read the first few paragraphs silently as a way of previewing the text (especially with narrative).

Your ideas

Which of these strategies do you think would be useable in your classroom?

If you want to address all types of learners, what kinds of things can you do with reading?