Welcome Mini-CAST 2016
Wendy Stelly - stellyw@friscoisd.org
Allyson Felps - felpsa@friscoisd.org
Reading Strategies In Science
Paired Reading and Text Coding
Expected Learning Outcomes:
After this training you should…
● understand and be able to apply paired-reading, coding
and previewing strategies across different curriculums.
● realize the ease of incorporating these reading
strategies into daily lessons.
● be willing to try out different reading strategies in your
classroom.
Paired Reading
Students need to be paired based on reading level (a strong reader with a weak reader).
Pairs stand shoulder-to-shoulder, facing opposite directions - one faces the window wall while the
other faces the cabinet wall.
It is important that students are in pairs - if there is an odd number, the teacher can be a partner.
The teacher provides a short paragraph to start with - can work up to a couple of paragraphs, but no
more than two paragraphs - younger grades can start with a couple of sentences.
One Stemscopedia section is about two paragraphs when you copy and paste it into a Word document
- so they can use their consumable Stemscopedia, but only one part at a time - reflection section
works well.
Teacher may need to pronounce difficult vocabulary prior to paired reading.
Model - or have two students model with teacher direction of what to do - while rest of class observes.
Stronger reader reads first - weaker reader listens and codes.
Paired Reading
Passage Selection
The teacher provides a short paragraph to start with - can work up to a couple
of paragraphs, but no more than two paragraphs - younger grades can start
with a couple of sentences.
One Stemscopedia section is about two paragraphs when you copy and paste it
into a Word document - so they can use their consumable Stemscopedia, but
only one part at a time - reflection section works well.
Pairing Students:
Pair a strong reader with a weak reader - can assign partners ahead of time
Pairs stand shoulder-to-shoulder, facing opposite directions
Paired Reading
Reading
Teacher may need to pronounce difficult vocabulary prior to
paired reading.
Model for students what to do - while rest of class observes.
Stronger reader reads first - weaker reader listens and codes; then
switch roles but read the same passage again
The weaker reader will hear words modeled
for them before they read.
Video
Coding
Unknown words get circled & Important words get
underlined
Some words may be circled and underlined.
Once both students have read and coded, they sit down.
Students make a T-Chart to list Unknown and Important Words.
They then talk to their partner and table group about their T-Chart some unknown words will be clarified at this point.
Posters and Post-Its
I like to color code my posters with my post-its
Students partners or table groups will write one word per post-it (using one
color for unknown words and one color for important words)
Students put post-its on the appropriate posters
This is a great formative assessment to do at the beginning of lesson to see
what students know; great at the end of a lesson to see what they have
learned
Unknown words allow the teacher to see non-content words that we may not
have realized students (especially ELL’s and sp.ed students) did not know
This can become the interactive word wall as you refer back to it throughout
Summary
While students are putting their post-its on the posters, I have other students
writing a 1-3 sentence summary of what they just read in their journals.
After everyone is back in their seats, they share their summary with their
shoulder partner, or they share round robin.
The teacher “pops-in” to hear and read what they have written as a formative
assessment.
This a great note-taking skill for writing “the gist.” It also reminds students that
on reading tests a summary question usually has 2-3 sentences for answer
choices, and it is a great cross-curricular note for expository text selections.
Time to Try It
Pass out reading selection (this was copied from Stemscopedia) and have
teachers pair up and try it.
Extensions
Teacher can increase items for students to code such as:
? for things they do not understand.
! or * for things they think are interesting.
The text-coding that is being used in reading can also be
used here.
Do not have students code for more than 4 items because it
becomes overwhelming.
Teacher Concerns
TIME! This will take 20-30 minutes to do the first time. My class took 35
minutes the first time and by their third time they were down to 20 minutes,
so they catch on pretty quickly.
The goal is to get it down to about 10 minutes so it can be used as an
“engagement” and a quick end of lesson formative assessment.
Use a very short paragraph or a few sentences, and have a couple of students
model it before having the entire class do it.
Start with something they are familiar with and then move to a fresh selection.
Be sure to talk through each step along the way.
Use a timer for each section to keep students on task and on time.
Benefits
For Students
Accountability- Everyone is actually reading the selections
Students will have read the selection a minimum of two times, but my
students report reading it 3-5 times, while making their lists and writing
their summary
High engagement
For Teachers
Research Backed
Terri Sessoms - Strategic Reading in the Content Areas - Boosting
Achievement in Grades 7-12
Reading around the Text
● Previewing strategy to help students make connections, identify
difficult vocabulary, and gain interest in a passage.
● Good for longer passages or articles
● Can be done individually, with pairs, small groups, whole class
● Allow students to record their answers in writing- either
independently or as a whole class- before reading the entire text.
● Not all steps will apply to every passage- there may not be
pictures or a graph
Reading Around the Text
Big Picture
Look at pictureswhat ideas are
being presented?
Reading Around the Text
Captions
Look at
captions and
read them
Reading Around the Text
Maps, Charts,
Graphs
Discuss what
information they
are presenting
Reading Around the Text
Titles &
Headings
What is the big
idea?
Reading Around the Text
Read the First
and Last Line of
Each Paragraph
Reading Around the Text
Ask A Question
Give yourself a
purpose to read
the passage or
article
Reading Around the Text- Purpose & Benefits
● Students connect to prior learning on a topic and teacher
gains an idea of prior knowledge through discussion and
questions
● Helps encourage interest in nonfiction texts- students want
to then go read full text to fill in missing information
● Levels the playing field- students who struggle with
fluency, are ELLs or do not like to read aloud can
contribute by reading single sentences, captions or
describing pictures
We Value Your
Feedback!
Session ID: _ _ _
tinyurl.com/dfwminicast16