Reading is a process - so, let’s teach it that way!
Writing is always framed as a process – from the brainstorming stage to outlining, drafting, revising, editing (soooo much editing!) and finally publishing - writing is a process that’s taught step-by-step from start to finish. Similar to writing, reading is a multi-step endeavour that is essential to literacy instruction… so, why haven’t I been teaching it that way?
In her book That’s a GREAT Answer! (2013), Nancy Boyles encourages teachers to reframe reading as a multi-step process that helps students become successful readers in the same way we frame writing as a multi-step process that helps students become successful writers.
Boyles draws a clear parallel between steps in the writing and reading process in order to help students refine their ideas and thoughts about a reading, before publishing them:
Boyles calls our attention to the gray boxes in the ‘revising’ and ‘editing’ stage of the reading process. These stages are often skipped over in the classroom when it comes to reading, but heavily emphasized when it comes to the writing process. Boyles challenges us to “Notice… the gap we are creating for students when we require them to move immediately from a ‘draft’ reading to publishing their thinking. We’d never ask students to do this as writers, but we ask it of readers all the time” (35). She remarks that “Without the opportunity to revise and edit their thinking, it is amazing that students do as well as they do when they respond to text in writing” (35).
Giving our students the opportunity to revise and deepen their “first-draft” understanding of a text through conversing with their peers, sharing perspectives, fleshing out interpretations, then giving them the chance to refine their response to the text gives students the tools they need to become better readers.
The Take-Five Model is another method proposed by Marjorie Haley and Theresa Austin in their book Content-Based Second Language Teaching and Learning. The model includes pre-reading, reading and post-reading stages and can be used across all subject areas, not just the English classroom! Let’s take a look at the Take-Five Model:
GET READY - As a class, students may “get ready” in many different ways - they may make predictions about the text by skimming the information, title and images. They may also complete anticipation guides, learn key vocabulary and make connections to prior knowledge.
READ - Students read the text in order to understand the purpose and big ideas.
REREAD - Students may engage in a conversation with a partner about the text and reread certain sections of the text to gain a deeper understanding of it. Students may complete graphic organizers or summarize ideas.
RESPOND - Students may now refine their ideas and formulate their response to the text. This may be done orally within their small groups or in the form of a response journal, learning log, etc.
REACT - Refined responses are shared with the class in discussion format and/or in written form.
Reading, like writing, is a process - so, let’s teach it that way!
SOURCES:
Boyles, N. N. (2012). That’s a Great Answer! Teaching Literature-Response Strategies to Elementary, ELL, and Struggling Readers. North Mankato, MN: Capstone Professional.
Haley, M.H., & Austin, T.Y. (2014). Content-Based Second Language Teaching and Learning: An Interactive Approach (2nd ed.). Toronto, ON: Pearson.
