Teaching Pre-Reading

STANDARD 4: STRUCTURED LITERACY INSTRUCTION

Substandard F: Listening and Reading Comprehension

4F.1 Know/apply in practice considerations for factors that contribute to deep comprehension.

4F.2 Know/apply in practice considerations for instructional routines appropriate for each major genre: informational text, narrative text, and argumentation.

4F.4 Know/apply in practice considerations for the use of explicit comprehension strategy instruction, as supported by research.

International Dyslexia Association Standards Addressed:

1.2 Reading Informational Text

Students read, understand, and respond to informational text—with an emphasis on comprehension, vocabulary acquisition, and

making connections among ideas and between texts with a focus on textual evidence.

1.3 Reading Literature

Students read and respond to works of literature—with emphasis on comprehension, vocabulary acquisition, and making

connections among ideas and between texts with focus on textual evidence.

PA Core Standards Addressed:

• What are they?

• Why are they important?

Research

• Increases comprehension
• Improves motivation
• Improves attitude toward reading
• Improves self-confidence

Reader Contributions to Comprehension

One thing is: Prior Knowledge

Background

Attention

Personal Motivation/Connections

Reader

Contributions

Schema Theory

Our framework which help us understand the world.

If we don't have the correct schema, comprehension is limited.

The Study!

(or why you should teach pre-reading)

http://www.cogsci.umn.edu/docs/pdfs/Bransford1972-JVLVB.pdf

Here it is!

Activity!

The procedure is actually quite simple. First you arrange things into different groups… Of course, one pile may be sufficient depending on how much there is to do. If you have to go somewhere else due to lack of facilities that is the next step, otherwise you are pretty well set. It is important not to overdo any particular endeavor. That is, it is better to do too few things at once than too many. In the short run this may not seem important, but complications from doing too many can easily arise. A mistake can be expensive as well… At first the whole procedure will seem complicated. Soon, however, it will become just another facet of life. It is difficult to foresee any end to the necessity for this task in the immediate future, but then one never can tell. After the procedure is completed, one arranges the materials into different groups again. Then they can be put into their appropriate places. Eventually they will be used once more and the whole cycle will have to be repeated. However, that is part of life.

Attention allocation is everything in learning!

Prior knowledge is closely connected to attention allocation!

Set a Purpose for Reading

"Attention Allocation"

Second read:

GROUP 1: You are a real estate agent. Highlight important details that would help you sell the house.

First read:

Highlight important details from the passage

Second read:

GROUP 2: You are a burglar. Highlight important details that would help you steal things from the house.

Find someone who read the opposite of why you did.

Guess for what they read.

What happened when you read for a purpose?

How was it different than when you read and highlighted what was important?

Which one was more interesting during reading?

Which increased your comprehension?

Q-F-D

If we don't help students pull out essential information by giving them a purpose for their reading, they will often get lost in the extraneous details. When we share a clear instructional purpose, we give our students a lens through which to read the piece.

From: Do I Really Need to Teach Reading?