Secondary School Reading

How reading expectations changein the secondary grades

What there’s more of: What there’s less of:

Domain-specific reading instruction

Abstract words

Latinate words (prefix, stem, suffix)

Long and complex sentences

More independent, informational text expected

Pronoun-referent confusion

Tables, charts, maps, flow charts

Expectation of prior knowledge

Skimming Scanning Close Reading

Getting a quick overview Searching for specific information

Reading for details and inferences; re-reading isexpected; consultation ofoutside sources may benecessary; text may havemultiple interpretations

Consider the reading expectations your students. To what extent do they do these three kinds of reading?

For what purposes? How are they assessed? Do they understand the demands ofdifferent reading experiences? Do they need support? If so, where can they get it?

High interest resource books; writing a few facts for the post card

Background on a novel; Internet source

Previewing next chapter Headings Time lines Pictures Maps Charts

Getting idea about a genre

Directions

Poetry

Primary docs: Diaries maps speeches Supreme Courtj Dec

SummarizeAnalyze

Describe Discuss

Writing

Reading

Reading

Reading

Reading WritingWriting

Writing

What happens in the story/event

Main idea

ShortTime wordsBeginning or end of textFew modifiersFewer dates, facts, figures

Take it apart; look at the parts; put it back together; show how the whole is created by the parts

CommentaryMovie reviewsBook reviewsExplanation of politcal cartoon

Describe the life of a serfDescribe features ofDescribe characterDescribe setting

Experiencial accountsLiterature

Defend or refutePosition papersExpound uponPersonal reflectionPros and consCause and effect

EditorialsLiterary commentary

Kinds of Reading in Academic Classes: What? When? Why? How?

What? When?Prior to lesson, during class, to do hw…

Why? Orientation to topic, resource to do a project, review…

How? Independently, with partner(s), with teacher…Skim, Scan, Read Closely

Textbook

Handouts

Internet

Pursuit of independent interests

Other

Cornell Notes (aka: 3 column notes)

Learn to create meaning from text:

Formulate a questionthat you think the text answers:

Write phrases thathelp to answer the question.

Formulate sentences that answer the question.

Let t

ime

elap

se.

Readability of Your Major Text

• Select a page of your text. Read it, timing yourself carefully. Establish your speed.

• Write five basic comprehension questions.

Readability of Your Major Text

Write five basic comprehension questions.

Readability of Your Major Text

1. Have students read the page, timing themselves carefully.

2. Students answer the 5 questions.

3. Following the timed reading and the 5 questions, students write words from the text that they didn’t understand.

Assessing Readability

Read significantly slower than you do

More than two comprehension errors

Five or more unknown words

Read at your pace, orslightly slower

One or two comprehension errors

Fewer than five unknown words Read at your pace

or faster

No comprehension \ errors

One or two unknown words

Reading Supports/Enrichments

SupportNeeded

Enrichment recommended

Supports

• Provide more visuals

• Provide pre-reading expectations (overview)

Supports

• Provide guiding questions

Supports

• Establish a purpose for reading

Supports• Pronounce unfamiliar

words

Scaffolding Strategies: ELA

• Offer abridgements• Offer reading guides (Cliffs, Spark, BookRags)• Offer low-level “translations”• Audio version• Reading only selected parts• Shakespeare Made Easy, et.al.• Movie Version• Graphic Novels: Illustrated Classics

Strategies

Double-Entry JournalsAka dialectical journal:

Literal Level: What is happening?

•Reminds me of…•I don’t’ understand…•Predictions•Questions•Words that I want•Phrases that I like

“Brain Prints”

Strategies: What would you have to do to comprehend this text (explain it

to someone else): Mark the text: delineate itemsConversationVisual organizer: 1. Self-designed 2. Teacher-designedComposed one-sentence summaries, paragraph by paragraph Mental or writtenParaphrase, simplify (summarize); outline RereadRelate the new to the known; identify the known (activating prior knowledge)Color code key words & definitionsPicture

Reading the Busy Page

Supportive Information

Nice to Know

Essential Information

Strategies

Think of reading as a process:

Before

During

After

Strategies

Think of reading as a process:

Before:

Preview: Establish expectations Meet new words Extract main ideas

Strategies

Think of reading as a process:

Before:

Activate Prior Knowledge:

•Knowledge through facts•Knowledge through experience•Knowledge through imagination

Strategies

Think of reading as a process:

Before:

Establish a purpose for reading:

What am I looking for?

Establish a Purpose for Reading“Mathematics, Language, and Culture”

Purpose:

…because youare interested inhelping yourELL students

Purpose:

…because you are studying for your content area specialization test

Purpose:

…because a colleague saidyou would be interested in it

Establish a Purpose for ReadingWhat am I looking for?

Diversion, escape, enjoyment

Answer to a question

Affirmation of a belief

Challenge to a belief

Directions

Inspiration

Emotional connnection

Facts and information

Strategies

Think of reading as a process:

During:

Monitor for comprehension and adjust pace and focus

Reread unclear part Seek outside help Establish a better “base coat” of prior knowledge (scaffolding)

Strategies

Think of reading as a process:

During:

Make meaning happen:

Visualize Mark text

Sub-summarize Generate questions

Two Voices

• The reading-the-words voice• The processing voice:

– Do I understand this?– What is my purpose?– What is the pattern?– What does this remind me of?– If I don’t understand, what do I need to do?

Strategies

Think of reading as a process:

During:

Make meaning happen:

Make connections: To other readings To self To world

Strategies

Think of reading as a process:

During:

Make meaning happen:

Find the pattern

The Importance of PatternsCommon Patterns in Text:• Narration and description

• Classification• Definition• Example • Cause and Effect • Comparison and contrast

• Sequence; Process Analysis

Text Patternsdes

criptio

n

narr

ativ

eProcessanalysis

definition

classification

example

Cause & effect

comparison

&

contrast

Supporting Reading in Sec. Classes

Encourage students to find patternsModel your thinking as a readerEstablish reading expectationsEncourage marking text Encourage “reading talk” (socialization)

Mini-Lessons to Improve Reading10-15 Minutes

Purpose: to integrate skills teaching with content teaching “Teaching kids how to be smart.”

Procedure: 1. Write the name of the mini-lesson on

the board 2. Inform the students of its purpose 3. Spend no more than 5 minutes explaining the concept 4. Give 5-10 minutes of reading practice

5. Re-state the purpose

Mini-Lessons

• “Window Shopping”• “Word Previews”• “What Am I Looking For”

Mini-Lesson #1 “Window Shopping”

Purpose: To establish main ideas before reading a chapter

Procedure: Take 5-10 minutes in class having students page through the reading, noting all pictures, headings, graphics, other special visuals.

Ask them to jot down what they remember, what they expect to find out from this segment.

BEFORE

Mini-Lesson #2 “Word Previews”

Purpose: To establish background knowledge about new words in the text

Procedure: Ask students to send up words in the upcoming reading that they “want to know more about” : 1. Words I think I’ve heard before 2. Words I have not heard before

Select the most important words only.

Consider phrases as well as single words.

BEFORE

Mini-Lesson #3 “What Am I Looking For?”

BEFORE

Purpose: To establish a purpose for reading

Procedure: Have students preview the text and write a few questions that they think the text will answer.

Mini-Lesson #4 “Think-Aloud”

DURING

Purpose: To show students how skillful readers makemeaning from text

Procedure: Spend no more than 10 minutes reading aloud, stopping to explain what you are thinking as you read.

Mini-Lesson #5 “I Can Relate”

DURING

Purpose: To embed new learning into existing knowledge

Procedure: Help students make connections between what they are asked to read and themselves and the world: Text-text: How is this like other readings? Text-self: How is this like me and my world? Text-world: How is this like the larger world?

Mini-Lesson #5 “I Can Relate”

DURING

When I lose comprehension, I say: How is this like me, my world, the larger world?

What do I already know that is like this?

Where does this fit into the “closet” of information in my own brain?

What does this remind me of?

Mini-Lesson #6 Three Kinds of Reading:

Purpose: To teach students to read for an overview (skim), read to find specific information (scan), read for detail and implication (reading closely)

Procedure: For a given segment of text, practice the three kinds of reading: skim, scan, read closely

Mini-Lesson #7 “Reading is Seeing”

Purpose: To make meaning through visualization

Procedure: Have students consciously visualize the concrete images that come to mind as they read. After reading, have them draw and discuss their mental pictures.

DURING

Meaning-Making Activity #1 “Interim Open Book Tests”

Purpose: To teach the skill of locating key information

Procedure: Prior to a major test, give a timed open-book test.

After the open book test, discuss with students the strategies that they used to locate the information.

AFTER

Meaning-Making Activity #2 “Student-Created Tests”

Purpose: To connect students to main ideas

Procedure: Have students work in pairs to create a test. Pairs exchange with other pairs to take each other’s tests.

AFTER

Meaning-Making Activity #3 “Student-Created Crib Cards”

Purpose: To connect students to main ideas; to reward preparation; to be a window on student thinking about testing

Procedure: Allow students to bring an index card with handwritten information that they can use on a test; collect the index cards

AFTER

Building Background Knowledge

Four Indirect Ways to Build Background Knowledge

Multiple exposures to targeted information

Both linguistic and non-linguistic manipulation of information

Vocabulary development: explicit and implicit instruction

Virtual experiences

Virtual Experiences That Build Background Knowledge

• Reading• Social interaction• Educational TV, movies• Websites

SSR (Sustained Silent Reading)

20 minute sessionsTwice- three times weeklyMore than one yearStudent choiceNo formal accountabilityWide choice of reading materials

Participatory Handout 14

Learning Through Social Communication

What opportunities do students have to use subject area language by speaking and listening to each other?

Problem-solving

Role playing

Presentations

Special projects…..

Vocabulary Instruction: WHY?

Ability to make generalities and distinctions

Self-Esteem;Sense of accomplishment

Increases capacity to learn

Credibility; “membership card”

Broadens the world

Allow us to have complete ideas;Allow us to make sense to ourselves

Vocabulary: This WeekPrologueFascismContainmentCircumlocutionLine of demarcationExcommunicationOmniscientCounteraccusationAllied powersLoquacious

Why?

The best way to advance a phenomenon or idea is to name it.

Albert Einstein

Vocabulary level has the highest correlation of all other factors with every aspect of intelligence.

Three Kinds of Vocabulary

Generic Academic Words

Specialized Terminology

Embellishments

Three Kinds of Vocabulary

Generic Academic Words

High frequency in academic discourseLow frequency in students’ conversation

Three Kinds of Vocabulary

Generic Academic Words

High frequency in academic discourseLow frequency in students’ conversation

Analyze, analytical, analysisDetermine, determinationEstablish, establishmentGenerate, generationRevise, revisionOrganize, organizationPersuade, persuasion, persuasive…

Three Kinds of Vocabulary

Generic Academic Words

High frequency in academic discourseLow frequency in students’ conversation

ReasonEvidenceSupportRefer, referenceSpecify, specific…

Three Kinds of VocabularySpecialized Terminology

Domain-specific words that would be in a glossary, on a test, etc.

Manifest destinyConstitutionChecks and balancesAmendmentState’s rights

Three Kinds of VocabularyEmbellishments

Elevated adjectivesElevated nouns

ImpressiveSignificantSubversiveCharismatic…

Three Kinds of Vocabulary

Seventh Grade: World War II:

I. Generic Academic Words:

Infer, inferenceImply, implicationInterpret, interpretationAnalyze, analysisStrategy, strategic

II. Domain Specific:

fascismappeasementblitzkriegannexationgenocideNon-aggression pact

III. Embellishments:

MilitaristicGlobalExtensiveReversalIsolation, isolationist

Target Word:

Notional Set: Other words that go with this topic

Morphological Set: The other forms that this word can take by using suffixes and prefixes

Lexical Set: Synonyms

Grammatical Set: The way in which this word is used in a sentence; the words that may surround it:

The convergence of…

Connotative SetPositive, Negative, or NeutralTechnical/Scholarly or Conversational/InformalMetaphorical or Literal

Dimensions of Word Knowledge

Convergence

divergence, points, simultaneous coincidence, coming together…

converge, converging converged, convergent

Etymological Set: Root; combining forms

Con: with

intersection, convention, meeting

Extended Word Map

Absolutism:The state of having complete

rule by a monarch in 17th-18thC Eur

Notional Set: power, exclusive control, anarchy, ruler, monarchy, despot, king, queen

Morph SetAbsoluteAbsolutelyAbsolutionAbsolveAbsolutist

Lexical Set: despotism monarchy

Ety:Ab: away fromSol: one

Participatory Handout 9

Constructed Response #1

Learn to write a competent definition:

Pitfall: _____is when…

Step 1: Place the target word in a category: Photosynthesis is the process of…

Step 2: Then, distinguish the target word from other members of that category:

Photosynthesis is the process by which green plants transform light into chemical. Most forms of photosynthesis release oxygen as a by product.

Step 3: Add prepositional phrases for detail

Step 4: Add another sentence giving further information.

Vocabulary Connections I

word

math/science meaning

conversational meaning:

Visual: math/science sentence:

conversational sentence:

Participatory Handout 4

Vocabulary Connections I

word

math/science meaning

conversational meaning:

Visual: math/science sentence:

conversational sentence:

Examples: function, property, reaction, origin,tangent, variable, solve, mean, graphic,base, extreme, factor,fact, imaginary, rational,Irrational, determinepower, prime, product, multiple, operation, radical, remainder,range, regular, proof,difference, cell, value,area, cube, root, plot,complementary, common,depression, digit, operation,frequency…

Math Social Studies

English Science

Culture

Diffusion

MATH

SCIENCE

SOCIAL STUDIES

ENGLISH

OrientationFunctionCulturePropertyValueWorkEnergyPowerMomentumUnionArgumentBlockDifferenceRealmDomain

orientation

Orient, oriented, disoriented

The orientation of the Y axis…

Position, direction

The orientation of theEarth’s axis.

The relative position

TThe explorationOf the Orient.

Asia

The orientationOf an argument

Perspective, point of view

Tree Maps of Latin Roots

-port (carry)

-ject (throw)

-tract (draw)

-rupt (break)

-tain (hold)

deportsupportexportimportreporttransportportableimportantport

abjectsubjectrejectejecttrajectoryprojectdejectionadjective

abstractattractattractprotractedretracttractorintractabledistract

abruptinterruptdisrupteruptcorruptrupture

containdetainobtainattainretainmaintain

Morphology Chart

Noun Verb Adjective Adverb

excommunicationThe Excommunicated

excommunicatingExcommunicatedExcommunicatesexcommunicate

The excommunicated members of the group

Morphology ChartNoun:The…

Verb:I…S/heS/he…yesterdayIs…Has…

AdjectiveWhich one? What kind?How many?The___truck

AdverbWhere? When?Why? To what extent? In what manner?

IntentintentsIntention Intentions

IntendIntendsIntendingIntended

IntentIntensiveIntendedintending

intently

Morphology ChartNoun:The…

VerbI…S/he…S/he…yesterdayIs…Has…

AdjectiveWhich one? What kind?How many?The ___truck

AdverbWhere? When?Why? To what extent? In what manner?

SubtractionSubtractionsSubtracting

SubtractSubtractsSubtractingSubtracted

SubtractedSubtracting

Morphology ChartNoun:The…

VerbI…S/he…S/he…yesterdayIs…Has…

AdjectiveWhich one? What kind?How many?The ___truck

AdverbWhere? When?Why? To what extent? In what manner?

SongSongsSinging

SingSingsSingingSangSung

SingingSung

Morphology ChartNoun:The…

VerbI…S/he…S/he…yesterdayIs…Has…

AdjectiveWhich one? What kind?How many?The ___truck

AdverbWhere? When?Why? To what extent? In what manner?

Obscurity ObscureObscuresObscuredObscuring

Obscure Obscurely