AARI
ADOLESCENT ACCELERATED READING
INITIATIVE
Presentation by:
Cyndi Settecerri
What it is
and
what it isn’t
AARI is NOT a new “trick” to add to your
instructional toolbox
AARI is a PARADIGM shift in reading instruction
and metacognition for teachers as well as
students
EXPOSITORY TEXT
STRUCTURES
working through a text
BEFORE READING
Identifying READER’S AIDS
Help kids concentrate on the content in the book
Teachers plan questions that focus on prereading and help kids work through the text for
answers (unlike our previous prior knowledge
instruction)
REAder’s aids
Look at Table of Contents
What vocabulary is highlighted/italicized/bold?
What are the clues for global structure?
Look at pictures (captions?)
Look at maps/graphs
WORKING THROUGH TEXT
DIRECT GUIDED READING
Responsive teaching - scaffolding with one student
until comprehension makes sense
Inferential questioning - follow student’s response
with another question
QUESTIONING - QAR
(question answer response)
and QtA (question the
author)
Textual analysis through text structures
(:(
Building a reading community
EXAMPLES
(from “All kinds of wheels” text)
Does the picture prove the text?
Does the author give us a clue about which of these
are wheels?
Why would a train need many wheels?
Do all wheels roll on the ground?
Why does an airplane need wheels?
text mapping
after reading - text structure analysis
BEAVERS
RABBITS
Introduct
ion
MOLES
Some
animals
live
undergrou
nd
Some
animals
live in the
water
Animal
Homes
FROGS
Some
animals
live in the
tops of
trees
Conclusi
on
EAGLES
KOALAS
What does research
tell us?
MOST IMPORTANTLY - Authors and readers
communicate through text (focus is ON THE TEXT)
Curriculum theory tells us that more learnable text:
presents important domain content, takes
developmental level of learners into account, presents
lots of examples of the important content
Research suggests these features for comprehensible
text: well organized, pattern is signaled, content
connects the new to the known, text is interesting to
readers
AARI - TEACHING
APPROACH
Variety and range of QUESTIONS
Scaffolding with a student until they GET IT!
Rephrasing and plenty of wait time
Questions BUILT ON each other
Cognitive TENSION is good!
Distinguish between EXTENSION and INFERENCE
QUESTIONS
Bringing the STRATEGY to the surface - making concrete
the THINKING PROCESS
Text structures - graphs
Line
Topical Net
Matrix
Topical Net for
Lions book
baby
lions
habitat
activity
LIONS
reproduct
ion
hunters
protectio
n
groups
Matrix for SPIDERS Book
Color
Tarantulas
Jumping Spiders
Trap-door
Spiders
Size
Biggest of all
NIT
NIT
Hunt / Prey
Kills with sharp fangs
Shed long hairs to poison
their prey
Jumps to sneak up on
insects
Legs used for jumping
Make silk in tunnel
Raises trap door at night
Looks Like
Hairy
Short legs
NIT
TEXt structure - graphs
Main
Idea
Linear String
Falling Dominoes
Text structure - graphs
Supporting Details
Main
Idea
Argument
Hierarchy
HIerarchy for
Animals in Danger book
Animals in
Danger
Mammals
Beluga
Whales
Mountain
Gorillas
Giant
Pandas
African
Elephants
Birds
Hyacinth
Macaws
Snow
Leopards
Spotted
Owls
Bald
Eagles
Reptiles
Insects
Spiders
Turtles
American
Alligators
Komodo
Dragons
Copper
Butterflies
Karner
Blue
Butterflies
Tarantulas
text structure - graphs
Branching Tree
Any structural pattern can be global (the overall structure of a text) or a local sub-structure
(an internal rhetorical within the global structure)
RTI - Tier 3
intensive intervention
focused on closing the gap
4-5 days a week (45 minute sessions)
Assessment through QRI @ beginning, middle and end of 20 weeks
3-5 students in a group
Students are grouped by reading level not grade level
Classroom teacher support is CRUCIAL for transition back to textbooks
Inferential questions (teacher “talks” with these types of questions)
Gradual release of responsibility
Teach text structures - aim for high level of thinking
Walk through the textbook
Look at textbook for the clues to global structure
of the chapters as well as the entire textbook
Look for places in the text where you need to fill
in background knowledge
Identify 2 or 3 major concepts that you would like
your students to study
WHAT PARTS OF THE TEXT WILL I USE TO
ACCOMPLISH THIS??
Questions?????