Teaching Reading Skills

Reading is a complex topic for the classroom. Because we assume that our students are literate, we might also assume that our students have all the skills that they need to be successful. Unfortunately, that is not the case. College reading differs than personal and professional reading, as well as K12 reading.

We use textbooks and articles to deepen student understanding of key concepts. While you might hope that students are getting all that they are supposed to from their assigned reading, they might also benefit from direct instruction on how to get the most out of their work. 

Reading apprenticeship is a specific approach that develops student skill with reading discipline specific materials. 

 

THE READING APPRENTICESHIP APPROACH

 There are several copies of the book Reading for Understanding in the TLC, available for check out. The following information is a preview of the book's ideas, and I encourage you to follow up with the book itself. 

You can learn more about the approach from the website Links to an external site., where they describe how faculty can "model disciplinary-specific literacy skills, help students build high-level comprehension strategies, engage students in building knowledge by making connections to background knowledge they already have, and provide ample guided, collaborative, and individual practice as an integral part of teaching their subject area curriculum." Essentially, when faculty are aware of their expertise as disciplinary readers, they can provide guidance to student "apprentices." 

The framework Links to an external site. covers four areas that impact a student's ability to understand your assigned reading: cognitive, social, personal, and knowledge-building. 

The four different areas of reading apprenticeship framework

For some general discussions of the approaches and techniques, I suggest: 


THE THINK ALOUD ROUTINE

As defined by Renton Technical College's Michele Lesmeister, think aloud is "the reading of a short chunk of text coupled with the thinking that runs through your mind as you read the text. The text and the thinking are both verbalized.   When teachers show their mental activity while reading, students are on boarded about  what they should also be doing when they read." Covered in pages 101-107 of the book Reading for Understanding, the think aloud routine models metacognitive conversations about ideas, questions, and connections by "thinking out loud" during reading. 

For an example of Think Aloud in action, see the San Jose Adult Literacy Tutoring video:

Think Aloud - Part 1: Introduction Links to an external site.Think Aloud - Part 1: Introduction



TALKING TO THE TEXT

Drawing on Michele Lesmeister's Canvas resources once again, the Talking to the Text (TttT) routine is one that "helps the reader learn how to figure out the meaning of texts based on his or her schema, paying attention to the text, and by focusing on his or her metacognitive processes as the reader reads on to make meaning of the text." Reading for Understanding covers this skill on pages 108-110. Talking to the text (which can be done on paper silently) can help students develop tools helpful for any reading situation. For some suggestions to help you use this approach in the classroom, see Download this file

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 For an example of this process, see these links:

College Success Strategies: Talking To The Text Links to an external site.College Success Strategies: Talking To The Text

PERSONAL READING HISTORY

One additional approach to developing student skills is completing a personal reading history. This exercise emphasizes an individual's experiences with reading as a discipline, building metacognitive awareness of strengths and weaknesses. Covered in pages 78-80 of the book, you can ask students to consider questions like the following: 

  • What reading experiences stand out for you? High points? Low points?
  • Were there times when your reading experience or the materials you were readings made you feel like an insider? Like an outsider?
  • What supported your literacy development? What discouraged it?

Answers to these kinds of question helps student situate previous experiences in their development of their identities as readers. For an additional resource, see Michele Lesmeister’s RTC classroom intro to the assignment:

RA Methods: Personal Reading History Links to an external site.RA Methods: Personal Reading History

I encourage you to use the book and find additional applications to your own classrooms as well. 

 

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Canvas Course: "Reading Apprenticeship at RTC (Renton Technical College" 

West Ed's Reading Apprenticeship Links to an external site. site, including links to professional development