enhancing readability

USING THE COLA STRATEGY

DR. KATHY ROTTERASSISTANT PROFESSOR, THE COLLEGE OF

NEW JERSEYROTTER@TCNJ.EDU

Enhancing Readability

1.WRITING ON BOARD2.HANDOUTS3.TESTS4.STUDY GUIDES5.LAB GUIDES6.BULLETIN BOARDS

What types of things do you make that kids read?

Where did it come from?

COLA

ContrastOrientationLetteringArtwork

What color do you prefer?Can you read this well? How about this?Or this?Or this?

Changing colors

Without contrast the lines are pushed together in a manner that makes it very hard to read the material put on the page. Without space, there is very little contrast. Space around the words makes them easier to read.

With space, it is easier to read the information you need!

Even the space between letters can effect the speed of your reading.

A condensed font is harder to read.

A spread out font can slow you down as well.

When underlining you must be careful as the shape of the words can be shaped by the line. You must also be careful of use of bold in that it draws so much attention to itself!

Without clear borders it is very hard to read info. Borders help contain the eye and make reading easier. Borders also help students with reading difficulties locate the info they need to finish their work.

Contrast

Black on white is best contrastPlenty of white spaceColor is in clear contrast – yellow is

the enemy!Underlining issuesBold issuesClear crisp borders

Read this please!

tomato

bother apple

somebody running

Orientation

All info moves top to bottom, left to right

Important info is at top left position

Materials aligned leftClear visual path

A font can be very interesting to see but not as much fun to read.

Cursive writing is especially hard for students to read. By age twelve, most people have evolved into their own unique handwriting which is a combination of cursive and print, making their handwriting even hard to read than this.

a, a, a, a, ap, b, d, qelephant vs. ELEPHANT

I really hate it when a teacher uses an overhead that is too small to read from the back of the class.

If you copy a page onto an overhead, it will be too small to read.

Italics impact reading speed.You read faster without them!

Changing fonts midway slows reading.

Lettering

Printed, never cursiveFont choiceOne fontBig enough to read at viewing distance

Use upper and lower case, not all caps

Avoid italics

Artwork

Used to support infoNot just to be pretty!Not too busy or distractingPictures easy to recognize

Why crowd everything into one corner and leave the rest of the page blank?

If I care about having my pupils read what I write, I need to make the right things bigger!

Use of Space

Info makes good use of space available

No crowding of infoKey points are biggest

General good ideas!

Print at all times!Put boxes around key info you want students

to find.Watch matching questions as they require

diagonal tracking skills.Visuals have real power, use them wisely!

Cutting the reading demand

Simplify directions Not: Please read the following questions

and consider the best possible answer. Mark the correct answer with an “X”.

Yes: Mark the answer with an “X”.Allow bulleted answers when possibleHighlight key info for those who can’t.

Don’t give compound directions. Use bullets. Not: Underline the two main ideas in the

story then put a check over the one you think is most important.

Yes: Underling the two main ideas. Put a check over the one you think is

most important.

Oh and just one more thing!

Having pupils copy info from board or overhead.

Many of them can’t.

Do you want to measure knowledge of the subject, or ability to copy?

Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.

Albert Einstein