A blog where teachers can learn about reading comprehension theories and find resources for teaching reading comprehension in primary schools. To learn about about reading comprehension theories, click on the links below. For resources, stay on the homepage and scroll down. To return to the homepage and access resources I have shared, click on the cover photo or my avatar. Feel free to share your thoughts and comments on my posts.
Resource ideas for text-analyst role of the Four Resource Model
Luke and Freebody (1990) describe the text analyst role as understanding the purposes of different written, spoken and visual texts for different cultural and social functions is the text analyst. For example:
develops an awareness of how both the cultural context and the author’s purpose shape the nature of texts, eg political cartoons, editorials, letters to the editor and news reports (TV, radio and print) may all deal with the same subject matter but have vastly different purposes
develops a creative response based on knowledge of how texts are used to convey meaning
A good activity for students is the ‘four corners debate’. This activity would suit grade 5 and 6 students:
Four corners debate
Students engage in an exchange of ideas in response to a text read, elaborating and justifying their responses to the text.
the teacher develops a controversial statement/question from curriculum texts
students adopt one of four positions: strongly agree, agree, disagree, strongly disagree
students move to the designated corner of the room in support of the position they have adopted
they develop arguments to support stance
students write a reaction to the position they adopted.
A fun way to incorporate Bloom’s Taxonomy into the classroom is through the use of question cards or task cards like the sample set above.
The cards have points with the higher-order thinking skills giving the students more points than the lower-order thinking.
Cards can be used individually, in pairs, small groups or as a whole class activity.
The cards give students the freedom to choose their own activity while ensuring all of the skills are covered.It can be a useful way to differentiate learning among students.
You can download these ‘question cards’ here: http://www.twinkl.co.uk/resource/t2-e-962-blooms-taxonomy-questions-for-reading
Vocabulary is Fun! Just ask our visitors. Whether you're learning or teaching analogies, antonyms and synonyms, compound words, figurative language, homophones, parts of speech, root words, prefixes and suffixes or contractions to your English speakers or your ESL students, Vocabulary *is* fun!
According to Pressley (2001) building a strong vocabulary is an important part of improving reading comprehension. Therefore, the above site is an excellent way to encourage students to build their vocabulary knowledge through fun online games.
Think-alouds have been described as "eavesdropping on someone's thinking." With this strategy, teachers verbalize aloud while reading a selection orally. Their verbalizations include describing things they're doing as they read to monitor their comprehension. The purpose of the think-aloud strategy is to model for students how skilled readers construct meaning from a text.
Duke and Pearson (2002) suggest that there are six individual comprehension strategies that research has suggested are of benefit to students. One of these is think-aloud. To learn more about what think-alouds are, please click on the link above.
Here you will find information and practical resources for think-alouds. You may even like to watch sample videos to get a better understanding of how to include them in your classroom.
Creating a Word Splash provides a useful framework for eliciting students’ prior knowledge before reading.
A word splash not only helps students demonstrate prior knowledge before reading, but encourages them to achieve the role of ‘code breaker’ under Luke and Freebody’s (1990) Four Resource Model.
It also
- encourages and develops prediction skills
- sets the scene
- is designed to develop a sense of discovery explores connections and speculates on possibilities
- focuses in on topic or issue
- is a useful tool for group/pair sharing can be designed to support less capable students
You can find more information and directions on how to create a word splash by clicking on the link I have shared.
You may also like to use these sites to create your students’ word splash or word cloud online:
Building a ‘schema tree’ is a pre-reading strategy that helps students build background knowledge an establish what students already know about a topic.
It follows the idea that in order for students to begin developing effective comprehension skills, it is a vital prerequisite that students have strong semantic knowledge (Winch 2010).
Here is a short video which demonstrates the ‘schema tree’ activity.
Unfortunately, just being able to decode text doesn't meant that your students are getting the whole picture. As I teacher, I am constantly evaluating my
Freebody and Luke (1990) believe that effective readers need to use four roles to comprehend a text. These are code breaker, text participants, text user, and text analyst.
The link above provides some practical ways for teachers to implement the Four Resources Model. It will provide you, the teacher, with ideas and activities based on Luke and Freebody’s (1990) work.
HOW TO USE THE FOUR RESOURCES MODEL IN THE EARLY YEARS CLASSROOM
SKILLS BUILT TOGETHER
The four roles – code breaker, text participant, text user and text analyst – are not learnt sequentially. Even from a young age, students should thinking about how texts are used and why they are written. This takes place along phonics instructions, sight words and other early reading strategies. It may not be appropriate to ask students to write an essay comparing and contrasting two text, but it is certainly possible to discuss these features after modeled, shared or guided reading.
USE ‘REAL’ TEXTS
Books for early readers are usually written in a way that is not conducive to natural reading. Use quality literature over many reading sessions, rather than awkwardly written texts. Texts may include a repetitive refrain to assist early readers. Your phonics and sight word program can come from these texts (code breaker). ‘Real’ texts also include everyday texts, such as recipes, advertisements, take away menu and newspapers. These provide a rich source of discussion.
WHOLE-PART-WHOLE
The whole-part-whole strategy is routine that can be used to introduce students to reading ‘real’ texts.
Whole: Before the first reading, the teacher will activate prior knowledge by discussing what is on the front cover and have students relate their text-to-self connections. Predictions are made about what the story might be about and what indicates this on the cover. The teacher will model reading the story. Some students may pick up on repetitive refrains.
Part: The story may be read multiple times, with the students familiarity with the text increasing. The text will be deconstructed to enable students to explore the Four Resources Model roles. Some examples of text deconstructions activities include:
Select a sound included in the text. Make a list of the words that have that sound in the book. What other words can you think of that have that sound? Words can be sorted into a chart that has the focus sound at the beginning, middle, and end. (Code breaker)
Use new vocabulary encountered in the text in a new way. (Text participant)
Retell the story using puppets or as a skit. (Text user)
Whole: Students come back to the initial text and read it along with the teacher. The students and teacher could then write a new take on the text as a joint construction. The students share the ideas and the teacher writes it. They could write a new story from a different point of view, with different character, a different setting or alternate ending (Text analyst).
SHARED READING
In shared reading, the text is available for all students to read. This could take the form of a big book or multiple copies of the text for students. The teacher will have students activate prior knowledge and make predictions using the front cover. The teacher, with limited interruptions to facilitate comprehension of the whole text, will read the book through once.
On subsequent readings, the teacher will read the book and focus on literary devices (characters, plot, setting), linguistic features (grammar and vocabulary) and codes (graphophonic knowledge, spelling and punctuation). Some strategies include:
Cloze activates – Individual words are hidden using post it notes. Students predict the word. Peel off individual letter to narrow down the possibilities.
Questioning – Which word had an “aw” sound (code breaker)? What did the gingerbread man runaway (text participant)? Why did the author write this newspaper article (text user)? How would the text be different if it took place in the country (text analyst)?
Character diary – Write the diary of the main character at a particular point in the story.
