*** Note: This Area is Under Construction for the Semester! ***
What are the complexities involved in reading, both traditional and multimodal texts?
This questions asks us to consider what makes a reader, a reader. With all the media that we consume, one could say that the ability to identify words on a page makes us a reader. In the very plainest sense, this is true; however, I think that what makes a proficient reader comes down to an individual's comprehension abilities. A reader can use clues from the text (oral, print or visual) to understand, comprehend and make meaning. A reader is analytical, critical and adaptive to the texts they encounter. A good reader gathers cues from exemplary texts to inform and improve his or her own writing.
In a recent class discussion in my Curriculum and Instruction For Language Arts Majors course, we dissected the practice of reading and boiled it down to 9 different strategies:
I wrote a blog post forcing myself to examine my own reading practice as an illuminating insight into teaching reading. It demonstrates the three stages of writing (Entering, Exploring, and Extending), and proves as a useful experience for all teachers of literacy!
In a very informative video, Nell Duke's research explains the significance of such strategies:
In a recent class discussion in my Curriculum and Instruction For Language Arts Majors course, we dissected the practice of reading and boiled it down to 9 different strategies:
- Monitor + Fix Up
- Question
- Summarize
- Connect
- Infer
- Evaluate
- Synthesize
- Predict
- Visualize
I wrote a blog post forcing myself to examine my own reading practice as an illuminating insight into teaching reading. It demonstrates the three stages of writing (Entering, Exploring, and Extending), and proves as a useful experience for all teachers of literacy!
In a very informative video, Nell Duke's research explains the significance of such strategies:
A Google search for "comprehension strategies" may turn up lesser or fewer strategies. What is important here is approaching reading in such a way that hits all points on Bloom's Revised Taxonomy of Learning. It is from reading habits which incorporate all these strategies that readers build meaningful appreciations, understandings and considerations. As a language arts major, these strategies have more or less become part of a natural approach to reading. As an educator, these are skills we need to remind ourselves of so we can teach our students.
In her article "Many Spaces: Some Limitations of Single Readings," Margaret Mackey examines the consequences of not employing close reading, or comprehension strategies, while reading. She describes her experience reading Margaret Mahy's Dangerous Spaces, which she ultimately read three times. The first time, Mackey quickly read the book in a single sitting. Six months later, she could hardly recall what it was she had read, with the exception of a few scattered images which she wasn't even sure represented a truthful recollection of the book. During her second read, she slowed down a little, pausing briefly to scribble a note to herself on a small Post-It. While this practice got her thinking in a little more detail about Dangerous Spaces, trying to retrace her thoughts through the word or two she scribbled on each Post-It note didn't prove to be enough. On her final read through, she slowed right down, looking for patterns within and between chapters. At this point, one might have suspected that the third read returned the greatest results; however, Mackey argued that the three readings combined ultimately contributed more to her understanding of the book than any one reading could on its own. The lesson to be taken from this of course, is that a good reader reviews the text more than once.
It follows from an understanding of these comprehension strategies that an individual be literate in knowing when and how to use each one. For example, in reading a fiction text, strategies that might be more helpful in finding meaning may be to connect, infer and visualize; however, effective strategies for reading a non-fiction text might be to question, summarize and evaluate.
The principal of the school where I did my first practicum semester recently shared the following resource for helping students with comprehension. It includes an infographic for both students and teachers! The first is the infographic for students. They are encouraged to read like detectives to find meaning in the text. The following teacher's infographic includes some important questions and pointers to provide your students when they are practicing their close reading and comprehension skills. These posters are available for free download here and here.
In her article "Many Spaces: Some Limitations of Single Readings," Margaret Mackey examines the consequences of not employing close reading, or comprehension strategies, while reading. She describes her experience reading Margaret Mahy's Dangerous Spaces, which she ultimately read three times. The first time, Mackey quickly read the book in a single sitting. Six months later, she could hardly recall what it was she had read, with the exception of a few scattered images which she wasn't even sure represented a truthful recollection of the book. During her second read, she slowed down a little, pausing briefly to scribble a note to herself on a small Post-It. While this practice got her thinking in a little more detail about Dangerous Spaces, trying to retrace her thoughts through the word or two she scribbled on each Post-It note didn't prove to be enough. On her final read through, she slowed right down, looking for patterns within and between chapters. At this point, one might have suspected that the third read returned the greatest results; however, Mackey argued that the three readings combined ultimately contributed more to her understanding of the book than any one reading could on its own. The lesson to be taken from this of course, is that a good reader reviews the text more than once.
It follows from an understanding of these comprehension strategies that an individual be literate in knowing when and how to use each one. For example, in reading a fiction text, strategies that might be more helpful in finding meaning may be to connect, infer and visualize; however, effective strategies for reading a non-fiction text might be to question, summarize and evaluate.
The principal of the school where I did my first practicum semester recently shared the following resource for helping students with comprehension. It includes an infographic for both students and teachers! The first is the infographic for students. They are encouraged to read like detectives to find meaning in the text. The following teacher's infographic includes some important questions and pointers to provide your students when they are practicing their close reading and comprehension skills. These posters are available for free download here and here.
I want to take some time now to talk about the internet. It started out as this tiny little web which could access large amounts of information relatively quickly. It sprouted and grew incredibly quickly to fit in hobbies, news, and social relationships. I think that this last part, social relationships, introduced a dynamic to the internet that no one was quite prepared for, and now no one is quite sure how to navigate. To me, a complexity in 21st century literacy is this problem right here.
In school, teachers are expected to teach the hidden curriculum. But now, the hidden curriculum has extended beyond our realm. Countries are only now considering how to address issues of bullying and abuse that take place over this vast virtual world. Teachers are now responsible for dealing with all the different kinds of hurt and abuse that arise because of the anonymity the internet provides. We don't know the hidden curriculum for cyberspace, and neither do our students, but something must change, and it must change quickly. This is because we never should have had incidences like poor Amanda Todd's death, nor should these things still be happening. We need to teach the social literacies that come with having a life on the internet, and we need the resources to do it. This involves being able to read the situation and understand the complexities that come with accessing and adding to this new medium.
Having recently finished a Canada Reads - esque project, check out some of my blog posts about what a reader does (here, here, here, and here).
In school, teachers are expected to teach the hidden curriculum. But now, the hidden curriculum has extended beyond our realm. Countries are only now considering how to address issues of bullying and abuse that take place over this vast virtual world. Teachers are now responsible for dealing with all the different kinds of hurt and abuse that arise because of the anonymity the internet provides. We don't know the hidden curriculum for cyberspace, and neither do our students, but something must change, and it must change quickly. This is because we never should have had incidences like poor Amanda Todd's death, nor should these things still be happening. We need to teach the social literacies that come with having a life on the internet, and we need the resources to do it. This involves being able to read the situation and understand the complexities that come with accessing and adding to this new medium.
Having recently finished a Canada Reads - esque project, check out some of my blog posts about what a reader does (here, here, here, and here).
Resources Consulted
Close Reading Classroom Poster. (n.d.). We Are Teachers. Retrieved January 23, 2014, from http://www.weareteachers.com/hot-topics/topics-in-education/understanding-close-reading-download-our-poster-now.
Mackey, M. (1993). Many Spaces: Some Limitations of Single Readings. Children's Literature in Education, 24 (3), 147-163.
TurnaroundSupport (2013, January 14). Dr. Nell Duke explaining what good readers do. Retrieved January 23, 2014 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgSRH0EYvhU.
Understanding Close Reading. (n.d.). We Are Teachers. Retrieved January 23, 2014, from http://www.weareteachers.com/hot-topics/topics-in-education/understanding-close-reading-download-our-infographic-now#.
Mackey, M. (1993). Many Spaces: Some Limitations of Single Readings. Children's Literature in Education, 24 (3), 147-163.
TurnaroundSupport (2013, January 14). Dr. Nell Duke explaining what good readers do. Retrieved January 23, 2014 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgSRH0EYvhU.
Understanding Close Reading. (n.d.). We Are Teachers. Retrieved January 23, 2014, from http://www.weareteachers.com/hot-topics/topics-in-education/understanding-close-reading-download-our-infographic-now#.