By differentiating reading choices and inviting students to discuss diverse texts using student-led conversations, you can heighten their ability to analyze texts and hone their critical thinking skill. Reading expert Laura Robb discusses set-up and assessment.
Many students over-annotate text to the point where they are noticing everything but not determining what’s MOST important. Literacy expert Sarah Tantillo shares tested strategies to help students detect “the purpose of reading,” including her What’s Important Organizer.
ELA co-teaching team Rachel Wysocki Kent & Genevieve Federick share a successful independent reading strategy they designed around a challenging group goal (read 500 books) and a teen-friendly focus question: “What does it mean to be a young person in 2015?”
ELA teacher Amber Chandler is in a quandary. She wants to give her students time each week to “read for enjoyment” but knows the research on Sustained Silent Reading reveals little impact on fluency. Can she bridge these muddied waters? All ideas welcomed!
When reading strategies include a series of actionable steps, students can follow them as they learn to master skills. Using the teaching of tying shoes as an analogy, literacy expert Jennifer Serravallo offers examples of the kinds of supports teachers can offer learners as they travel the path to automaticity.
Articles / Reading / Reading Responses
by MiddleWeb · Published 07/12/2015 · Last modified 05/30/2023
You’ve taught students to read closely, to annotate, to discuss – now what? Teacher/writer Marilyn Pryle shares five reader-response activities she uses to help students interact with texts in creative ways, inviting higher levels of thinking & understanding.
Plan now for summer reading assignments with the Character Analysis Organizers developed by Sarah Tantillo. Students evaluate two main characters in a selected book by answering questions and then developing paragraphs. More reading, less torture, and a place to start in the fall.
While we want students to fall in love with reading through text choices that excite them, says literacy consultant Sarah Tantillo, teachers must also address challenging skills and content and make sure students grow their background knowledge base. Tantillo shares ideas about finding the balance.
Standards-driven reading lessons often force students to “take” rather than “make” meaning from complex texts, says educator Dorothy Barnhouse. To deepen understanding, she recommends letting students first “notice” and think about the textual layers.
Former middle grades teacher Daniel Fountenberry says his experiences struggling to organize group reading sessions among students with varied reading skills led him to develop adaptive technology that tailors the “same” book to different readers.
