Myriad Tips for Reading Instruction

A very informative and practical PD event took place last Friday at the Reading Services Dept. where several of their adjunct faculty members gave presentations full of tips useful in the classroom. Let me give you a sampling of highlights from these reading experts.

• After making us go through a puzzle-solving exercise using this PBS resource to simulate dyslexia, Dr. Kelli Sandman-Hurley led a very lively discussion on understanding dyslexia and other neurological issues that impact reading. The takeaway is to give the students more time to process. In response to the frustration expressed by an audience member over not being trained to help students with similar learning disabilities, one of Sandman-Hurley's colleagues suggested asking the students how they learn best and how we can be the best teacher for them and then adjusting our way of teaching accordingly.
• Covering the topic of reading in social sciences, Dr. Linda Nolte offered these techniques:
  • SQ4R
  • Survey
  • Turning the headings/subheading into questions
  • Textbook scavenger hunt on day one to get students to familiarize themselves with their textbook
  • Take sentences randomly throughout a reading section and have students fill in the blanks to ensure they are reading
  • Use popsicle sticks with student names to randomly check comprehension
  • Teach and grade Cornell notes
  • Use the higher end of Bloom's taxonomy to review
• Shawna Schenk wanted everyone to teach our students to fall in love with their textbooks, saying reading is a process, not just opening a book or doing something quick; it is connecting with reading. Schenk said that the best way to interact with the textbook is right there in the margins, using a pencil or sticky notes and a personalized color-coding system. In addition to a textbook journal for writing study summaries and a vocabulary journal to record and study the words students don't know, Schenk told the audience to give students a different study tool each week to focus on using these tools with an appropriate reading assignment:
• Textbook feature analysis
• Venn Diagram
• Conversational roundtable (to identify four different aspects or perspectives of the topic)
• Judge's notes
• Outline notes
• Interactive notes (with "before," "during," and "after" columns)
• SQ3R chart
• Summary notes
• Time line notes
A specially designed bookmark with general prompts to develop reading skills will help students on two counts: to think about what they read and to replace their fingers as a reading guide on the page, said Schenk. Her beautifully-made PowerPoint talking points are available here for you to download, with her permission.
• As part of the workshop, Erin Feld gave a talk entitled "Reading in Math." Despite the fact that no math faculty were in attendance, one particular technique would help with just about any school subject. The verbal and visual word association helps students retain vocabulary through multiple associations to a word or term under study. Here are the specs:
• Divide a piece of paper into four squares. This can be done by folding the paper twice.
  
• In the top left square, write down the word or term under study.
  
• In the the top right section, record a personal association with the word (e.g. an anecdote, a graphic, etc.).
  
• In the bottom left part, jot down the definition (and, I might add, an example sentence using the word if that helps).
  
• In the bottom right part, record a non-example or non-association (i.e. what the word/term is NOT used for).
Students can utilize both sides of the paper. If they do this often enough, they can three-hole-punch these sheets and assemble a special booklet/binder for themselves to refer to.