Reading Across the Curriculum

Why Is Reading Important in the Content Areas? One concern teachers express is that students do not have the skills to read and comprehend content-based text. Therefore, content area teachers need to be skilled in content-based reading strategies (Billmeyer, 1996). Skills needed depend on the content and text. Content teachers are best qualified to help students comprehend the material presented by developing prior knowledge related to the topic. If all teachers provide reading opportunities for students, students will be better prepared to meet identified standards in all areas. Background knowledge and content provide an essential link between what students understand and what they read (Anthony and Raphael, 1989).

What Can All Teachers Do to Help Readers? Reading Instruction - Design lessons using a before, during, and after format in which reading is a significant component. Respond to Reading - Have students respond to stance questions in writing, providing support from the text. Develop Vocabulary - Aid understanding of content terms through context clues, word structure, and semantic features. Questions-Answers-Relationships (QAR) - Help students to understand how to develop responses to questions and provide textual support. Use a Reader's Checklist - Articulate strategies for reading that students can refer to before, during, and after reading.

Think Aloud - Model mental processes that expert readers use as they read. Anticipation Guide - Give students a series of questions to generate interest in the topic. SQ3R - Survey, Question, Read, Recite, and Review. Reciprocal Teaching - Summarize, question, clarify, and predict content and meaning. K-W-L - Explore what students know before and what they want to know before and during reading; review what they learned after reading. Expository Text Structure - Teach the fundamental differences between expository and narrative materials. Develop Prior Knowledge - Develop unfamiliar concepts, experiences, and vocabulary prior to reading. Remember - Provide many reading opportunities related to the content!

Knowledge Rating Word Never heard of it Have heard of it Can Define it Definition cat X A four legged animal that meows: a house pet dog                                                                 

Before, During, and After Reading Strategies The reading process involves three phases: Before Reading, During Reading, and After Reading. This basic model can be used whether students are reading expository or narrative text. Before Reading: Identify what you know about the topic. List specific ideas. Write specific questions which you would like answered. Make specific predictions about what you think you will learn. Preview the selection with attention to bold print, captions, and graphics. During Reading: Generate mental pictures about what you are reading. Summarize what you have just read. Try to answer the questions you asked. Alter your predictions. Identify items or facts which are confusing. Reread to try and clear up confusions. After Reading: Create a final summary of what you have learned. State how you can use the information you have learned. Revisit text for clarification. Respond to questions.

SQ3R SQ3R is a five-step study plan to help students construct meaning while reading. It uses the elements of questioning, predicting, setting a purpose for reading, and monitoring for confusion. SQ3R includes the following steps: 1. Survey Think about the title: “What do I know?” “What do I want to know?” Glance over headings and first sentences in paragraphs. Look at illustrations and graphic aids. Read the first paragraph. Read the last paragraph or summary. 2. Question Turn the title into a question. Write down any questions that some to mind during the survey. Turn headings into questions. Turn subheadings, illustrations, and graphic aids into questions. Write down unfamiliar vocabulary words and determine their meaning.

SQ3R cont… 3. Read Actively Read to search for answers to questions. Respond to questions and use context clues for unfamiliar words. React to unclear passages, confusing terms, and questionable statements by generating additional questions. 4. Recite Look away from the answers and the book to recall what was read. Recite answers to questions aloud or in writing. Reread text for unanswered questions. 5. Review Answer the major purpose question. Look over answers and all parts of the chapter to organize information. Summarize the information learned by drawing flow charts, writing a summary, participating in a group discussion, or by studying for a test.

Reciprocal Teaching Reciprocal teaching is a technique that actively engages both teacher and students in the use of prior knowledge. • Summarizing - After students have silently or orally read a short section of a passage, a single student acting as teacher (i.e., the student leader summarizes what has been read. Other students, with guidance from the teacher, may add to the summary. If students have difficulty summarizing, the teacher might point out clues (e.g., important items or obvious topic sentences) that aid in the construction of good summaries.

Reciprocal Teaching cont… • Questioning - The student leader asks some questions to which the class responds. The questions are designed to help students identify important information in the passage.

Reciprocal Teaching cont… • Clarifying - Next, the student leader tries to clarify confusing points in the passage. He might point these out or ask other students to point them out. For example, the student leader might say, “The part about why the dog ran into the car was confusing to me. Can anyone explain this?” Or, the student leader might ask other students to ask clarification questions. The group then attempts to clear up the confusing parts. This might involve rereading parts of the passage.

Reciprocal Teaching cont… • Predicting - The student leader asks for predictions about what will happen in the next segment of the text. The leader can write the predictions on the blackboard or on an overhead, or all students can write them down in their notebooks. Keeping those predictions in mind, the class then silently or orally reads the text. Then a new student is selected to be the teacher (i.e., the student leader), and the process begins again. During each successive summarizing stage, the student leader addresses the predictions that were made.

A Self-Evaluation Checklist for Teaching Reading in the Content Areas Beginning of the Lesson - - Do you: state clearly what strategy is to be learned? show when and where the strategy is applicable to real reading? list the sequence of steps in the strategy? model the mental process for applying the strategy? think out loud as technique for modeling? make clear that there may be alternative strategies?

Middle of the Lesson - - Do you: have an adequate number of suitable examples? restate the goal throughout the lesson? use techniques to focus students' attention on the features of the mental processing? gradually ask students to do more and more of the processing without any help?   respond with assistance when students' misconceptions or restructuring lead to confusion? reward students for awareness of the process rather than right answers? give each student an opportunity to verbalize the entire strategy? make frequent reference to the mental processing being employed?

Close of the Lesson - - Do you: have students summarize the lesson? show when and where the strategy is applicable in real reading? provide or allow alternative strategies when appropriate? provide for student practice? guide students in using the strategy when reading real text (in the basal, the content-area text, etc.)?