Pre-Reading Strategies



Pre-Reading Strategies

According to Kylene Beers, author of When Kids Can’t Read: What Teachers Can Do, one of the biggest challenges we face in teaching reading is how to “get [students] thinking about the selection and about how they will read the selection before they begin the text.”

|Competent Readers… |So Competent Teachers… |Using These Tools… |

|Bring a wealth of background knowledge to|Determine background knowledge needed to fully |Anticipation Guides |

|reading which promotes comprehension and |understand the passage |Likert Scales |

|allows them to make connections between |Directly teach critical background knowledge |K-W-L Chart |

|the text, their past experiences, and |Activates reader’s background knowledge |Directed Reading/Thinking |

|previous knowledge | |Probable Passage |

|Preview reading and attend to the |Guide readers in previewing the chapter and |Chapter Previewing |

|introduction, headings, subheadings, |formulating a topical outline using text elements | |

|graphics, summary, and questions to |(title, headings, etc) | |

|discover topics to be covered, important |Guide readers in previewing by examining the visual | |

|information, and text organization. |representations and graphics in the selection | |

| |Provides opportunities for readers to preview the | |

| |selection independently, with a partner, or a team | |

|Establish a purpose(s) for reading |Suggest reading purposes to readers |Anticipation Guides |

| |Guide students in determining and recording purposes |K-W-L |

| |Creates opportunities for readers to communicate |Directed Reading/Thinking |

| |reading purposes to partners or team members | |

Anticipation Guides

What Are They? Anticipation Guides contain a set of generalizations related

to the theme of a selection. Students decide if they agree or disagree with each statement in the guide.

What Do They Do? Activate students’ prior knowledge, encourage them to make personal connections to what they will be reading, allow them to predict what the selection will be about, and give them a chance to become an active participant with the text before they begin reading.

How Do I Use It? Step 1: Write the Guide.

o Look for big ideas or themes of the text to be read.

o Make general and controversial statements that will inspire debate or interest about the big ideas or themes. These statements don’t have clear-cut answers.

o Students should mark each statement as one with which they agree or disagree (this is about their beliefs, not if they are right or wrong)

o If using the Likert Scales format, students place an X on the continuum to indicate their level of agreement or disagreement.

Step 2: Introduce the Strategy to Students.

o Model how to do one with them, emphasizing that they are not guessing the correct answer, but instead exploring their thoughts.

Step 3: Use and Revisit Anticipation Guides Before, During,

and After Reading.

o Before Reading: Students complete an Anticipation Guide that addresses issues in the selection. Write about responses or share with partner, team, or whole-class discussion

o During Reading: Students keep the guide close and make notes about issues and thoughts brought up by the text.

o After Reading: Students revisit their initial responses and see how their responses changed (was their initial position strengthened or called into doubt by the reading?).

Anticipation Guides lend themselves to classroom discussion

and kinesthetic movement activities.

An example from Anita Archer

Anticipation Guide Example: World Religions Course

Selection Title: Page #s:

Directions: In the column labeled “Me,” place a check mark next to any statement with which you agree. During and after reading the text, compare your opinions on these statements with information contained in the text and place a check mark next to any statement that is supported by the text.

|Me |Text |Statements |

| | |Mohammed, the prophet of Islam, was born more than 500 years after Jesus. |

| | |Mohammed believed that there was only one god, Allah. |

| | |Mohammed destroyed the idols that were in the temple in Mecca. |

| | |The word Islam means “remission.” Mohammed told his followers that they should seek remission of their sins. |

| | |Mohammed, like Jesus, is worshipped by his followers as a god. |

| | |Five times a day, Muslims face the holy city of Medina and pray. |

| | |Islam teaches concern for the poor. |

| | |It takes many years to become a clergy member in the Islam faith. Few people reach this level. |

| | |The Koran, the Muslim’s holy book, is written in the original Greek language of Mohammed. |

Anticipation Guide

Selection Title: Page #s:

Directions: In the column labeled “Me,” place a check mark next to any statement with which you agree. During and after reading the text, compare your opinions on these statements with information contained in the text and place a check mark next to any statement that is supported by the text.

|Me |Text |Statements |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

An example, using a slightly different format

Anticipation Guide: To Kill a Mockingbird

Selection Title: Page #s:

Directions: Below are several statements about the major themes and big ideas our next course reading will present. Please respond to the following questions by circling “agree” or “disagree” next to each statement (there is no right or wrong answer).

Agree Disagree All men are created equal.

Agree Disagree Girls should act like girls.

Agree Disagree It’s ok to be different.

Agree Disagree Nobody is all bad or all good.

Agree Disagree Some words are so offensive that they should never

be spoken or written.

Agree Disagree Under our justice system, all citizens are treated fairly

in our courts of law.

Agree Disagree The old adage, “Sticks and stones may break my

bones, but words will never hurt you,” is true.

Agree Disagree Speaking standard grammar proves that a person is

smart.

Agree Disagree Heroes are born, not made.

Agree Disagree No one is above the law.

Agree Disagree Education is the great equalizer.

Agree Disagree When the law does not succeed in punishing

criminals, citizens should do so.

Pick three of these topics that you feel strongly about and write your rationale for holding these opinions on the back of this paper. Be ready to discuss your opinions with the class.

Anticipation Guide

Selection Title: Page #s:

Directions: Below are several statements about the major themes and big ideas our next course reading will present. Please respond to the following questions by circling “agree” or “disagree” next to each statement (there is no right or wrong answer).

Agree Disagree 1.

Agree Disagree 2.

Agree Disagree 3.

Agree Disagree 4.

Agree Disagree 5.

Agree Disagree 6.

Agree Disagree 7.

Agree Disagree 8.

Pick of these topics that you feel strongly about and write your rationale for holding these opinions on the back of this paper. Be ready to discuss your opinions with the class.

A Likert Scale example

Likert Scale: Secondary Reading

Selection Title: Page #s:

Directions: Below are several statements about the major themes and big ideas our next course reading will present. Please respond to the following questions by placing an X on the continuum that best represents your opinion on the statement.

1. Teaching reading is as important as teaching content area information.

2. The responsibility for the teaching of reading should lie with elementary educators.

3. I have enough knowledge of reading strategies to effectively use them with students.

4. I already incorporate before, during, and after-reading strategies in my classes.

5. The opinions of high school students toward reading are so engrained that we as secondary teachers can do little to change them.

Likert Scale Pre-Reading

Selection Title: Page #s:

Directions: Below are several statements about the major themes and big ideas our next course reading will present. Please respond to the following questions by placing an X on the continuum that best represents your opinion on the statement.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

K-W-L Charts and Directed Reading/Thinking

What Are They? K-W-L Charts and Directed Reading/Thinking Activities provide a framework that helps readers access their knowledge about a topic before they read, consider what they want to learn (their purpose), and then record what they have learned once they have finished reading

What Do They Do? Allow them to evaluate what they already know (or think they know about a topic), determine what they want to learn, predict what the reading will be about, and then state what new information they received from the reading.

How Do I Use It? Step 1: Decide on the Topic for the K-W-L or Directed Reading/Thinking

o Use with nonfiction and informational texts is easy as the topic is clear

o With fiction, think about theme or topic of the selection

Step 2: Decide How to Record that Information

o K-W-L Charts and Directed Reading/Thinking Activities can be done on chart paper, transparencies, computers, or blank papers

o Can be done as a whole class, teams, partners, or individuals (though group sharing is important)

Step 3: Ask Students What They Know about a Topic

o Have students list what they know in the “K” column.

o Next, in the “W” column, have students list what they want to know (or what their teacher would want them to know) about the topic. These questions give them purpose for reading. These questions should be connected to what they already know.

Step 4: Have Students Group Responses in Categories

o Allow students to sort their responses into groups that have a common theme or thread.

Step 5: Allow Student Reflection on What They Learned

K-W-L Chart

Selection Title/Topic: Page #s:

|K |W |L |

|What I Know |What I Want to Learn |What I Learned |

| | | |

Directed Reading/Thinking Activity

Selection Title/Topic: Page #s:

|What I Know I Know: |

|What I Think I Know: |

|What I Think I’ll Learn: |

|What I Know I Learned: |

Probable Passages

What Are They? Probable Passages has the teacher picking out key words from a passage. Given these words, students take what they know about story structure and arrange these words according to their probable function in the story and write a prediction, called a “Gist Statement,” about what they think will happen in the selection.

What Do They Do? Allow dependent readers a forum to predict what might happen in the reading, activate prior knowledge about a topic, see casual relationships, make inferences, and form images about a text. Force students to think about characters, setting, conflict, resolution, and vocabulary before reading a story.

How Do I Use It? Step 1: Choose 8 to 14 Key Words.

o Read the story before lesson and pick out words that would logically fill the worksheet boxes (some may be obvious, but some should encourage multiple answers).

o Pick unknown words and terms that can be learned by students in context of the reading.

Step 2: Model the Strategy.

o Provide a model example of the worksheet and Think Aloud the process. Allow students to hear what you are thinking as you sort words into categories and create a summary (gist) statement.

Step 3: After Reading, Return to Predictions and the To Discover Questions

o Look to see if they know any of the Unknown Words; ask how the author would have arranged the words in the boxes.

o Ask students which of the To Discover questions they answered with reading.

Step 4: Have Students Try After Full Teacher Model

This technique works best with narrative and fictional text.

Probable Passage: The Lady, or the Tiger?

Directions: Before we begin reading, place each of the following words into one of the following boxes: characters, setting, problem, outcomes, and unknown words. On the lines below, create a “Gist Statement,” a plausible guess or summary about what the story is going to be about. Finally, at least three “To Discover” questions about what you will need to learn from the reading.

King

Arena

Gladiators

Barbaric

Accused

Doors

Maiden

Tiger

Marriage

Justice

Daughter

Young Man

Affair

Imprisoned

Choice

Gist Statement….

The daughter of a gladiator is in love with a young man who will soon be king. However, the maiden is accused of an affair and has to walk through the doors of the arena and make a choice: to face a tiger or never enter into marriage with her lover. In the end, the maiden chooses not to face the tiger and instead is imprisoned as part of the justice system.

To Discover…

1. Who in the story is having the affair?

2. What does the word

“barbaric” mean?

3. Why are the doors important to the story?

Probable Passage

Directions: Before we begin reading, place each of the following words into one of the following boxes: characters, setting, problem, outcomes, and unknown words. On the lines below, create a “Gist Statement,” a plausible guess or summary about what the story is going to be about. Finally, at least three “To Discover” questions about what you will need to learn from the reading.

Word List:

Gist Statement….

To Discover…

1.

2.

3.

Chapter Previewing

What Is It? Chapter Previewing has students examine some of the common structures of informational text to discover what the reading might be about. Students can use titles, summaries, headings, and subheadings as part of the preview, but they can also use figures, pictures, and illustrations with the captions to preview as well.

What Do They Do? In text-based previewing, students create an outline of the selection by outlining the title, headings, and subheadings. Looking at how the text is organized will allow they to navigate it better and establish a purpose/overview for reading. The previewing that uses figures, tables, and graphics allows students recall what they observe and what these visual elements made them wonder about.

How Do I Use It? Step 1: Model the Process.

o Talk through your chapter preview with the students, having them turn pages as you do, Record information on the overhead.

o Repeat the process with the figures activity worksheet as well.

Step 2: Have Students Create Reading Outline

o Student outlines should contain at least the title, headings, and subheadings of the reading.

o Ask students to predict what they will learn about in their reading; ask where they might look to find specific information.

Step 3: Students Complete Visual Previewing

o Give students a chart to record observations on.

o Have students record not only what they see in each picture, but what questions it brings to mind.

Step 4: Have Students Share Questions and Predictions

Figure Previewing: Fossilization

Directions: to gain some background knowledge for this reading selection, look at each figure/picture/ chart listed below. In the space provided, describe what you see in each of the elements and write at least one “I Wonder” question about each figure.

|Figure |What I Observed |What I Wondered |

|Fig 1-1 |The paleontologist is chipping away at the side of a stone hill looking for|Where does the term paleontologist come from? |

| |fossils in the rock. | |

|Fig 1-2 |There is a series of pictures: |Is the presence of shallow water necessary in |

| |a dead fish in shallow water |forming fossils? |

| |sediment covering the fish | |

| |the sediment becoming rock; part of the fish is preserved | |

|Fig 1-3 |A mountain with petrified tree stumps at the base. The tree stumps have |I wonder how the tree stumps became |

| |been turned to stone. |petrified…and where you could find them. |

|Fig 1-4 |Pictures of fossils showing an ancient animal. I noticed that the fossil |I don’t understand the use of the terms mold |

| |mold is raised and the fossil cast is indented. |and cast. |

|Fig 1-5 |A very old bug fossil is shown. |I don’t understand the term carbon film. |

|Fig 1-6 |Footprints of a dinosaur in desert stone. The dinosaur appears to have had |I wonder what is the name of the dinosaur. |

| |three toes. | |

|Fig 1-7 |Ancient bugs preserved in amber. |What’s amber? |

Figure Previewing

Directions: to gain some background knowledge for this reading selection, look at each figure/picture/ chart listed below. In the space provided, describe what you see in each of the elements and write at least one “I Wonder” question about each figure.

|Figure |What I Observed |What I Wondered |

| | | |

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strongly disagree disagree agree strongly agree

strongly disagree disagree agree strongly agree

strongly disagree disagree agree strongly agree

strongly disagree disagree agree strongly agree

strongly disagree disagree agree strongly agree

strongly disagree disagree agree strongly agree

strongly disagree disagree agree strongly agree

strongly disagree disagree agree strongly agree

strongly disagree disagree agree strongly agree

strongly disagree disagree agree strongly agree

Characters:

King

Gladiators

Maiden

Daughter

Young Man

Tiger

Setting:

Arena

Doors

Problem:

Affair

Choice

Accused

Unknown Words:

Barbaric

Outcomes:

Justice

Marriage

Imprisoned

Characters:

Problem:

Setting:

Outcomes

Unknown Words:

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