To comprehend accurately…3 things
decode what is read
connect what they read to what they already know
think on a deeper level about what was read
Types of annotating-3
Illustrated Annotations- Use images to increase the reader’s comprehension and understanding of the text. Students design illustrations or symbols to represent elements of literature that focus on the learning target
Collaborative Annotations- Shared annotations by multiple students. Students annotate the exact text and then review and analyze each other’s annotation to gain insight and ideas, find similarities, or ask questions.
Personalizing Annotation- A way to differentiate for different students.
Measuring text complexity-3
Qualitative Data is data that is in the actual language and words of the text. Qualitative data cannot be measured by a computer.
Quantitative Data is data that can be counted with numbers and quantity. This includes sentence length, the number of words or syllables, and word frequency.
Reader & Task is the last part of text complexity. Who will be reading the text? What background knowledge do they have? What language do they speak? Next, what task is the reader being asked to do with the text?
Ways to Teach Students to Self-Select Texts-2 things
The Goldilocks Strategy- The categories for reading are: Too Hard, Just Right, and Too Easy. Readers answer questions in each category to see if the book is a right fit. A “yes” answer in the category means the book likely fits there.
The Five-Finger Strategy- This strategy is also good for early and emergent readers. The student reads the first 100 words of a book and holds up one finger for each word that is not understood.
Teaching Genres
Teaching genres help turn students into well-rounded readers. Children tend to choose one genre and stick with that genre. Teachers must introduce new and different genres throughout the year to build a child’s experiences and develop thinking skills.
Teaching different genres adds value to a child’s growth by introducing them to new concepts, teaching them about the world, creating visual appeal and different feelings, and teaching history and information about significant people.
Reading aloud
Reading aloud builds foundational reading skills, introduces vocabulary, and presents a model of fluent and expressive reading. It is one of the most important things that parents and teachers can do at any age. Reading aloud confirms the rewards of reading and develops the listener’s interest in books.
2 main factors that affect comprehension
Two main factors can affect the type of necessary text comprehension strategies; the type of text and the point in the reading process.
Questioning
The way teachers ask questions in any subject can create a deeper understanding of students and help draw students into the learning process. The purpose of asking questions is to help the teacher gauge how the students are learning, to give students opportunities to talk and articulate their thoughts, to provide students with a challenge, to help improve social skills, to provide students time to ask their questions (which can lead to deeper discussions) and lead students to question their learning.
Bloom’s Taxonomy
Dr. Benjamin Bloom created Bloom’s Taxonomy which promotes higher levels of thinking by organizing learning into six categories: remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, and create. Bloom’s Taxonomy gives teachers a proper language for learning.
Bloom’s Taxonomy lowest to highest level of thinking-6
lowest: remembering
understanding
applying
analyzing
evaluating
creating
Bloom’s Taxonomy explains the process of learning: 4 things
Before a student can understand a concept, they must remember it.
To apply a concept a student must first understand it.
To evaluate a process, a student must have analyzed it.
To create an accurate conclusion, a student must have completed a thorough evaluation.
