Phonological awareness literacy screening

Directed ReadingThinking Activity (DR-TA)

during reAding

Activity
Pre-K

trAnsitionAl reAders K 13

Objective

Students will think actively and become personally engaged in the reading Students will learn to read silently by supporting them intellectually throughout the text

Background & Framework

Working with a small group of students as they read a short story or selection, the teacher guides students through reading, pausing at pre-established breaks to think, think aloud, and predict. The Direct ReadingThinking Activity (Stauffer, 1969) involves the students in three recurring steps: 1. Predicting 2. Reading 3. Proving The DR-TA may be adapted for use with any selection of text and at the students instructional level. Silent reading should be encouraged.

Materials

Instructional-level text

Key questions of the DR-TA include:

1. What do you predict will happen? 2. Did your predictions pan out? Have you changed your thinking? 3. Can you support what youre thinking by reading a particular section of the text that proves or disproves your predictions? Do not ask specific factual questions Prompt students to think ahead Guide students to find evidence to support or challenge predictions Continued

20102011 by the rector and the Board of visitors of the university of virginia. All rights reserved.

Phonological awareness literacy screening

DR-TA (Continued)
during reAding

Activity
Pre-K

trAnsitionAl reAders K 13

Procedures

Reading material should be at the instructional level. Students should not have read the text previously or read ahead of others in the group as you proceed with the DR-TA. If students finish reading a section ahead of others, have them write down the evidence for or against their original prediction in their notebook while others finish reading. 1. Select and preview the reading material. Determine points where you will pause and prompt students to make or revise predictions. Episodic breaks in the plot line are good stopping points. Making predictions helps students set a purpose for reading, and re-set that purpose as they proceed through the text. 2. Introduce the text selection to a small group of students and activate their background knowledge. Each student should have a copy of or clear access to the text. 3. Students set a purpose for reading. Encourage students to make several different suggestions and then discuss agreement or disagreement with one anothers suggestions. Ask the following types of questions: a. Read the title of the book. (Or, read the chapter title. Or, read the heading for this section, which is often how informational text is organized, with section headings). What do you think this book (or chaper or section) might be about? b. What do you predict might happen in this book? What kinds of things might happen? What do you think we might find out or learn by reading this book (or chapter, or section)? c. Which of your friends predictions do you agree with? How are your predictions different? 4. Students read silently to the pre-established stopping point to check their predictions. Ask students to read silently and to track their reading with their finger. Tell them to simply tap their finger on a word twice if they need help reading or understanding it. Monitor students reading by circulating around the group to provide support with figuring out unfamiliar vocabulary. 5. When students are finished reading the segment, ask students to close their books and record the evidence for or against their predictions in their notebooks (not everyone will do this the slower readers will need time to finish reading). Prompt discussion with questions such as: How did your predictions work out? What do you think now? What made you change your mind? Read to us the part that made you think that, or made you change your mind. 6. Prompt students to find and read aloud particular sentences that serve as evidence of their statements. 7. Set the purpose for continued reading. Ask students, What do you think will happen now? Or, How do you think X will solve the problem? Continued

20102011 by the rector and the Board of visitors of the university of virginia. All rights reserved.

Phonological awareness literacy screening

DR-TA (Continued)
during reAding

Activity
Pre-K

trAnsitionAl reAders K 13

8. Continue the predict-read-prove cycle throughout the text selection. Students predictions will converge near the end of the reading. 9. At the end of the reading, discuss and review with students how and why predictions changed and converged throughout the reading. Revisit sections that misled some students thinking and reread those short sections aloud. Extension: The second phase of a DR-TA could include re-examining the story, re-examining selected words or phrases, pictures or diagrams from the text, clarifying concepts, making observations, and reflecting on elements of the story/text. DR-TA lesson plan adapted from Tierney, Readence & Dishner (2008), based on the strategy introduced by Stauffer (1969).

Supporting research and related reading:

Blachowicz, C. & Ogle, D. (2008). Reading Comprehension: Strategies for Independent Learners. New York: Guilford. Stauffer, R.G. (1969). Directing reading maturity as a cognitive process. New York: Harper Row, 3586. Strickland, K. (2005). Whats After Assessment? Follow-Up Instruction for Phonics, Fluency and Comprehension. Portsmouth: Heinemann. Tierney, R. J., Readence, J. E. (2005). Reading strategies and practices: A compendium (6th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon. Continued

20102011 by the rector and the Board of visitors of the university of virginia. All rights reserved.

Phonological awareness literacy screening

DR-TA (Continued)
during reAding

Activity
Pre-K

trAnsitionAl reAders K 13

DR-TA Examples
Fiction
The following example is based on reading a section of Nelsons Adventurous Day, which is a Guided Reading Level N text. Fenton, C. & Baldassi, D. (2004). Nelsons Adventurous Day. ETA/Cuisenaire, ERA Publications. Help students set a purpose for reading by asking questions such as: Think about what we read yesterday in Chapter 1, No Room To Movewhy was the chapter called that? What was the main problem in that chapter? What do you think might happen in this next chapter, Chapter 2, Time for Some Action? Guide students to arrive at several reasonable responses. There should be no emphasis on who is right or wrong, but instead ask for the reasons behind students thinking and say, Lets read to find out. Prompt students to read the text selection silently as you rotate around the small group to monitor their reading. (Remind students to tap their finger on words they need help with). When students complete the section, ask: How did your predictions work out? What do you think now? What made you change your mind? Find the part that makes you think that. Prompt students to find and read aloud particular sentences that serve as evidence of their statements. Students should find specific text, saying for example: It says he tried again, and finally yes! means that he got the door handle to turn, so I think he is going to get out of the room and run around the rest of the house. Set the purpose for continued reading. Ask students, What do you think will happen now? What do you think Nelson is going to do if he did get out of the room? Continue the predict-read-prove cycle throughout the text selection. Students predictions tend to converge near the end of the reading. For example, all students may predict that Nelson is going to be mischievous, make a mess, cause some kind of trouble, or get in trouble. Discuss and review with students how and why their predictions changed and converged throughout the reading. Continued

20102011 by the rector and the Board of visitors of the university of virginia. All rights reserved.

Phonological awareness literacy screening

DR-TA (Continued)
during reAding

Activity
Pre-K

trAnsitionAl reAders K 13

non-Fiction, inFormAtionAl
The following example is based on reading a section of The Story of Americas Trains, which is a Guided Reading Level T text. Burgan, M. (2003). The Story of Americas Trains. New York: Newbridge Educational ublishing, pp. 18-19. Help students set a purpose for reading by asking questions such as: Think about what we read yesterday in the section about settlers moving to Illinois and places out west beyond the eastern states. Why were they moving and how were they traveling? The next section well read today has the heading The First Transcontinental Railroad. [Note: transcontinental and the prefix trans are good focus words for prereading vocabulary study]. What do you think transcontinental means? What do you predict we will learn from this next section? Guide students to arrive at several reasonable responses. There should be no emphasis on who is right or wrong, but instead say, Thats an interesting thought; lets read to find out. Prompt students to read the text selection silently as you rotate around the small group to monitor their reading. (Remind them to tap their finger on words they need help with). For this particular text selection, before checking predictions, clarify what has just been read, using maps and globes to show how people were traveling across the U.S. and around the peninsula of South America. Then ask: How did your predictions work out? What did you learn? How is it different from or the same as what you predicted? Read to us the part that confirmed your prediction or made you change your mind. Prompt students to find and read aloud particular sentences that serve as evidence of their statements. Students should refer to specific text, saying for example: I thought it was going to tell us about how to build a track but it didnt tell us that exactly, instead it says on page 18 more about where the track was built, that it started in two places and met in the middle of the country, in Utah. I thought this section was going to tell us about how people used trains to move across the U.S. and it did tell us that, that trains were better for moving across the country than going on horses, or sailing all the way around South America. Continued

20102011 by the rector and the Board of visitors of the university of virginia. All rights reserved.

Phonological awareness literacy screening

DR-TA (Continued)
during reAding

Activity
Pre-K

trAnsitionAl reAders K 13

Set the purpose for continued reading. Ask students, What do you think youll find out next? Now that the transcontinental railroad has been built, what do you think will happen or change in the U.S.? How will travel change? How might business and lifestyles change? Continue the predict-read-prove cycle throughout the remaining text. Students predictions tend to converge near the end of the reading. For example, all students may predict that: people will move farther west and travel more in general; people will have greater access to food and goods from other parts of the country; more track will likely be built; people might use horses and carriages and sailboats less. Discuss and review with students how and why predictions changed and converged throughout the reading. Revisit particularly surprising or interesting sections of the text and have students reread that section out loud.

20102011 by the rector and the Board of visitors of the university of virginia. All rights reserved.