1. But I’m Not a Reading Teacher
Section 1

2. Learning and Reading
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3. We learn in layers over time
We learn by connecting new knowledge to “old,” existing knowledge.
Use paint layers on wood as an analogy – first coat (layer) must be soaked up by the wood, before more coats can be accepted
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4. We learn in patterns Graphic Organizers Text Forms Patterns Narrative
Descriptive
Classification
Cause and Effect
Comparison-contrast
Definition
Exemplification
Process Analysis
The brain needs order to process and use information – Using graphic organizers makes sense of text and turns it into a pattern. Used along with graphic organizers, the text itself forms patterns.
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5. We learn through our senses
Information taken in using more than one sense becomes memorable
Read aloud
Use of visuals
Use of color-coding
Visualize while reading – draw pictures, graphic organizers
Ask questions during reading
Read without noise and distractions
Create sensory input whenever possible, encourage the imagining of sensory input during reading, limit extraneous sensory input during reading.
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6. We learn through socialization
Socialization is a powerful, authentic learning force.
Set up reading partnerships
where readers question
each other to achieve
reading comprehension.
Making meaning out of reading does not have to be a solitary process. Forming reading partnerships allows students to mesh minds and fill in the gaps in understanding. It’s also a great motivator – someone is depending on them to read help him/her understand.
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7. We learn through prompts, cues, and association.
Organizing reading into chunks or clusters allows a reader to hold more information in his/her short-term memory, and later in his/her long-term memory.
Encourage readers to associate what they are trying to learn with something they already know.
Instill the habit of reading phrases as units of meaning, rather than single words
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8. Learning is natural. Reading is artificial.
Understand the abstract nature of reading and then make the reading experience more concrete.
Visualization is key to learning from text.
Model it - Read text aloud to students and explain to them what you are visualizing as you read.
When you read the word “apple” you are seeing ink, not an apple. You must visualize the apple.
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9. Learning is habitual
The more we practice a process, the more its steps become automatic.
Consistence and persistence in teaching reading strategies will pay off!
Students will need guided practice and monitored opportunities to use the reading strategies.
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10. Learning is cumulative
Any type of reading is good reading if it contributes to the reader’s knowledge base and increases the reader’s stamina for reading.
Learning is like investment capital: the more learning (wealth) you have, the more you can use that knowledge (wealth) to create more.
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11. Problem-solvers connect the dots
Problem-solvers make meaning by putting together what they already know with new information.
We must remember that students need a lot of “dots” to make sense of the world.
Dots are created through education, experience, culture activities, and social interactions.
We are responsible for helping our students create their dots
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12. Anatomy of a Definition of Reading
“Reading is a complex, purposeful, social and cognitive process in which readers simultaneously use their knowledge of spoken and written language, their knowledge of the topic of the text, and their knowledge of their culture to construct meaning. Reading is not a technical skill acquired once and for all in the primary grades, but rather a developmental process. A reader’s competence continues to grow through engagement with various types of texts and wide reading for various purposes over a lifetime” (NCTE, 2006).
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13. Comprehension results from multiple paths
Complex Process
Comprehension results from multiple paths
to the brain. The process of comprehending
results from the reader’s
Emotions
Cognition
Motivation
Ambient physical conditions (lighting, noise, visuals, comfort)
Experience
Let’s focus on some key terms in our definition of reading. First let’s discuss why reading is a complex process.
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14. Purposeful Process
The reader must know what to look for and employ the appropriate strategies to understand. It’s like hunting; a hunter applies different methods dependent upon what he/she is hunting.
Next, let’s discuss what makes reading a purposeful process.
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15. Social Process
Reading is a process in which the author is speaking to the reader. Students tend to be disconnected from the author. Think about how students depersonalize the writer, referring to the writer as “they.” Their use of the vague, nameless “they” reveals the utter lack of human connection that is supposed to happen between writer and reader.
What makes reading a social process?
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16. Cognitive Process
Reading comprehension is decoding as a means of coming to know. We come to know when we add new information to existing information
How is reading a cognitive process?
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17. Key Principles of Reading Comprehension
Students need to be taught strategies and given time to develop the skills they need to gain knowledge.
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18. Strategy, Skill, and Knowledge
Strategy – a way to build skills
Skill – skills lead to
Knowledge
If a reader has to stop and think in order to gain meaning from text containing unfamiliar words, the ability to gain meaning is a strategy. Once the strategy is so internalized that it can be applied unconsciously, it is considered a skill. Students need processing time to develop as readers and obtain knowledge from text.
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19. Cueing Systems
Graphophonic – basic decoding Semantic – hints that are given to you by the words in the sentence you already know Syntactic – hints that the sentences are giving you by presenting the words in a certain order
These are terms familiar to elementary school teachers, but they’re somewhat foreign to us.
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20. But, I’m Not a Reading Teacher
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21. Your students’ development in your subject is related to their development as readers in your subject.
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22. If your students are poor readers, you’ll find yourself having to do the work for them rather than having them able to make meaning for themselves.
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23. You do not have to teach phonics, but you do have to teach terminology
You do not have to teach phonics, but you do have to teach terminology. Teach words in clusters. Point out how complex words share similar components: prefix, root, suffix.
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24. What do I get out of this?
Research supports the assertion that the more your students read in your subject area, the smarter they will become in its language and the better they can understand its concepts.
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