Additional Reading Strategies
Guided Reading
Teacher provides support for small groups of readers as they learn to use various reading strategies including context clues, letter and sound relationships, word structure.
Please note - Although guided reading has been traditionally associated with primary level, it can be adapted and used successfully at levels. For example, older students may need to learn new strategies to understand how to read an information book in a way that is going to give them access to the information they are seeking.
1. Choose a piece of writing that the students would achieve 90% accuracy
2. Students should be divided into small groups (4-6 students). The younger the students the smaller the groups.
3. Guided reading lessons are to be about 15-20 minutes in duration.
4. Pre-Reading: The teacher establishes a purpose for reading through prediction making, vocabulary introduction, or discussing ideas that will provide the readers with the background knowledge required for the text.
5. Reading: The teacher observes the students as they read the text softly or silently to themselves. The teacher provides guidance and coaching to individuals based on observation by providing prompts, asking questions
6. Post Reading: ask questions to ensure that the text has been comprehended by the readers and praises their efforts. Further, the teacher may observe gaps in their strategy application and address these gaps following the reading in a mini-lesson format.
Adapting the Guided Reading Process
There are many ways to adapt guided reading to meet the needs of specific learners. Levelled reading materials, personalised spelling lists, multilevel literacy groupings, and opportunities for independent projects are just some example
Tips for adapting:
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Vary the level of difficulty each week so that your weaker students have the opportunity to read with greater ease & confidence
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Vary the grouping of students
 encourage re-reading of selections to increase fluency each time selection is read
 use reading partners to challenge the stronger readers
 encourage reading time to provide more practice time
 establish a buddy system for reading
Special Education Support Service, c/o Cork Education Support Centre, The Rectory, Western Road, Cork - Tel: 1850 200 884 - Email: info@sess.ie

Structured Overview
Structured Overview can be a very strong tool for students who are struggling with the content of what they are reading. A subject Structured Overview in teaching reading is a verbal or visual outline of a topic. It can occur at the beginning of a new concept or it may be used to help relate a learned idea to the big picture. It is the process of organising and arranging topics to make them more meaningful for the student
Its purpose is to help students place new ideas in context. Because ideas are simplified, it is easier for students to see “the big picture” and to connect new ideas to information students already understand makes it easier to retain.
How to do Structured Overview i. Verbal - highlight new ideas to be learned in a few simple sentences. Then the relationship between these ideas and the ones the students already know is discussed. This is organising their thoughts pre reading to aid comprehension ii. Visual - Venn diagrams of concepts, semantic maps, semantic organizers, webs, and charts are all methods visual Structured Overview. W hen accompanied by explanation, visual overviews are often very effective at helping student connect ideas and to aid the comprehension of what they are about to read
Explicit Teaching
Explicit teaching involves directing student attention toward specific learning in a highly structured environment. It is teaching that is focused on producing specific learning outcomes.
When a student comes across a word that they have difficulty reading, they employ the techniques that you have explicitly taught them to employ in such a situation. E.g. The student has been taught the sounds of the letters. Break the word down in to small parts (phonemes), sound out the letters, tap out the sound, now put the sounds together.
This teaching involves explanation, demonstration and practise. Students are provided with guidance and structured frameworks. Sounds are taught in a logical order and directed by the teacher.
Another important characteristic of explicit teaching involves modelling skills and modelling thinking. This involves the teacher thinking out loud when working through a word and demonstrating the processes for students. The attention of students is important and listening and observation are keys to success.
Explicit instruction begins with setting the stage for learning , followed by a clear explanation of what to do, followed by modelling of the process followed by multiple opportunities for practice (guiding) until independence is attained. Explicit instruction moves systematically from extensive teacher input and little student responsibility initially — to total student responsibility and minimal teacher involvement at the conclusion of the learning cycle.
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Drill & Practice
As in instructional strategy, Drill & Practice promotes the acquisition of knowledge or skill through repetitive practice. It refers to small tasks such as the memorisation of spelling or vocabulary words. To be meaningful to learners, the skills built through drill-and-practice should become the building blocks for more meaningful learning.
Drill and practice software packages offer structured reinforcement of previously learned words. They should give the student appropriate feedback. Drill and practice packages may use games to increase motivation. Teachers who use computers to provide drill and practice in basic skills promote learning because drill and practice increases student acquisition of basic reading skills. In a typical software package of this type, the student is able to select an appropriate level of difficulty and iis motivated to answer these questions quickly and accurately by the inclusion of a gaming scenario, as well as colourful and animated graphics. Good drill and practice software contains a management system to keep track of student progress.
Compare & Contrast
Compare and Contrast is used to highlight similarities and differences between words when reading. It can also be used directly to teach vocabulary signals, classification, and key characteristics. It can help students identify language cues.
Compare and contrast is a useful method for improving reading skills and listening skills. When students are struggling with finding meaning in either the spoken or written word, a comparison and contrast for specific language tools is a powerful tool. Specific words signal comparative ideas in language. For example in comparison, at the same time or similarly signal sameness and on the other hand, but, nevertheless yet, however, and in contrast show that things are in opposition. Students can be given a list of words and then use them as cues to pull ideas out a passage. This is a decoding tool that can be adapted across grade and subject.
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In indirect instruction, the role of the teacher is one of that of facilitator, supporter, and resource person. The teacher arranges the learning environment, provides opportunity for student involvement and is there as a support
Reading for Meaning
This is a holistic approach to reading, drawing on a variety of reading materials and the students’ own knowledge and environment. The goal here is to develop fluent and proficient readers who are knowledgeable about the reading process. Effective reading instruction should enable students to eventually become self-directed readers who can;
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 construct meaning from various types of print material; recognise that there are different kinds of reading materials and different purposes for reading;
 select strategies appropriate for different reading activitie
 develop a life-long interest and enjoyment in reading a variety of material for different purposes.
A variety of reading materials should be used including;
 signs and labels in student’s environment
 rhymes, chants, songs
 poetry
 wordless picture books/predictable books/cumulative stories
 maps, charts
 novels
 print resources from all subject areas
 notes, messages, letters
 folktales
 myths and legends
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 writing by students and teachers newspapers, magazines, pamphlets
 mysteries
The purpose of using thee type of resources is to stimulate students’ imaginations and ignite their curiosity. To read for meaning, students must simultaneously use clues from all cueing systems and bring knowledge and past experiences to the reading task to construct interpretations and to determine if the print makes sense to them. It is easier for readers to understand print when the content is relevant to their personal experiences. Familiar content and topics convey meaning or clues through the semantic cueing system. When students are comfortable and familiar with the content of a passage, they can predict upcoming text and take greater risks in reading. Research has repeatedly shown that fluent readers risk more guesses when interacting with unfamiliar print than poorer readers. They derive more meaning from passages than readers who frequently need to stop to decode.
Reading experiences that focus on relevant and familiar content, vocabulary and language patterns increase students' chances of constructing meaning and being successful readers. At the elementary level, successful reading experiences reaffirm students' confidence as language users and learners. The holistic approach to the reading process stresses the importance of presenting students with whole and meaningful reading passages. This approach is based on the principle that the readers' understanding of an entire sentence, passage or story facilitates the reading and comprehension of individual words within those passages.
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Concept Formation
Students make connections and see relationships between items of information. This method can help students develop and refine their ability to recall words and their strategi es to decode words and ‘or sounds. It helps students to organise their approach to reading.
In this instructional method, students are provided with knowledge about a word or ahow to sound out the word.. By linking the examples to the new words they are encountering and by explaining their reasoning, the students form their own understanding of the concept.
Concept formation lessons can be highly motivational because students are provided with an opportunity to participate actively in their own learning. In addition, the thinking process involved helps them create new and expanded meaning of the world around them as they organize and manipulate information from other lessons and contexts in new ways.
Cloze Procedure
Cloze procedure is a technique in which words are deleted from a passage according to a word-count formula or various other criteria. The passage is presented to students, who insert words as they read to complete and construct meaning from the text. This procedure can be used as a diagnostic reading assessment technique.
It is used:
 to identify students' knowledge and understanding of the reading process
 to determine which cueing systems readers effectively employ to construct meaning from print
 to assess the extent of students' vocabularies and knowledge of a subject
 to encourage students to monitor for meaning while reading
 to encourage students to think critically and analytically about text and content
How do I do it?
To prepare materials for Cloze exercises, any of the following techniques may be used:
1. Select a self-contained passage of a length appropriate for the level of the students being assessed. Use materials easily read by the students.
2. Leave the first and last sentences and all punctuation intact.
3. Carefully select the words for omission using a word-count formula, such as every fifth word or other criteria. To assess students' knowledge of the topic or their abilities to use semantic cues, delete content words which carry meaning, such as nouns, main verbs, adjectives and adverbs. To assess students' use of syntactic cues, delete some conjunctions, prepositions and auxiliary words.
4. When preparing the final draft of the passage, make all blanks of equal length to avoid including visual clues about the lengths of omitted words.
5. Have the students read the entire passage before they fill in the blanks.
6. Encourage the students to fill each blank if possible.
7. Although there should be no time limit for this exercise, the time necessary for completion should be noted.
8. Suggest that students reread the completed passage
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Experiential Learning
Experiential learning is learner centred and activity oriented. The emphasis in experiential learning is on the process of learning and not on the product.
Experiential learning can be viewed as a cycle consisting of five phases, all of which are necessary:
 experiencing (an activity occurs);
 sharing or publishing (reactions and observations are shared);
 analysing or processing (patterns and dynamics are determined);
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 inferring or generalizing (principles are derived); and, applying (plans are made to use learning in new situations). a) Be an Author - This form of learning is most used when students become an author and create their own book. All of the above steps outlined are employed.
Independent Study
Independent study refers to the range of instructional methods which are purposefully provided to foster the development of individual student initiative, selfreliance, and self-improvement. Independent study can include learning in partnership with another individual or as part of a small group. a)Silent Reading
It's called lots of different things: Drop Everything and Read (DEAR), Sustained Silent Reading (SSR), and Million Minutes to name a few. Regardless of the different names, the intent is the same — to develop fluent readers by providing time during the school day for students to select a book and read quietly b) Learning Logs
Learning logs help students integrate content, process, and personal feelings. Learning logs operate from the stance that students learn from writing rather than writing what they have learned. The common application is to have students make entries in their logs during the last five minutes of class or after each completed week of class.
What is its purpose?
Learning logs are most commonly used in assessing literacy, gauging thier progress re reading and properly understood and used, learning logs become a vehicle for exchange among parents, teachers, and students.
Students write to learn, they learn to recognise their own and good work. It relies on opinion and personal experience. Learning logs are concise, objective factual and impersonal in tone.
The following questions could be used to guide students in making thoughtful entries in their learning logs:
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What did I do in class today?
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What did I learn?
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What did I find interesting?
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What questions do I have about what I learned?
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What was the point of today's lesson?
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What connections did I make to previous ideas of lessons?
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C) Reading Contracts
Learning contracts provide a method of individualising instruction and developing student responsibility. They allow a student to work at their own pace
Learning contracts can be designed so that students function at the academic levels most suitable to them and work with resource materials containing concepts and knowledge that are appropriate to their abilities and experiences. Although this method focuses on the individual, learning contracts also provide an opportunity for students to work in small groups. The teacher may select this approach for some students to support them as they learn to work independently.
When a student is first beginning to use reading contracts, the teacher provides learning objectives, identifies a choice of reading materials, and sets some basic time parameters for the project. As students become more experienced with reading contracts, the teacher may choose to involve them in setting the objectives.
Interactive Instruction
Interactive instruction relies heavily on discussion and sharing. Students can learn from peers and teachers to develop opinions, organise their thoughts and develop rational arguments about what they have read. It also creates and develops an interest in reading. It is particularly effective when introducing a new type of reading material.
The interactive instruction strategy allows for a range of groupings and interactive methods. It is important for the teacher to outline the topic, the amount of discussion time, the composition and size of the groups, and reporting or sharing techniques. Interactive instruction requires the refinement of observation, listening, interpersonal, and intervention skills and abilities by both teacher and students.
Ideas for Interactive Instruction include;
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Peer Partner learning
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Lab Groups
Think Pair Share
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Co Operative Learning
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Tutorial Groups
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Instructional Skills
Instructional skills are the most specific category of teaching behaviours. They are necessary for procedural purposes and for structuring appropriate learning experiences for students.
Explaining and/or Demonstrating
The teacher spends much classroom time explaining or demonstrating the aims of the reading lesson. Some explanations are given to help students acquire or deepen their understanding of a concept, while others help students understand generalisation e.g. a) a cause and effect relationship (for example, to show the effect of adding a vowel –bit, bite b) that an action is governed by a rule or law (for example, to show when to capitalise a noun);
The teacher must select an appropriate definition and appropriate examples.
In the case of Demonstrating, much student learning occurs through observing others. A demonstration provides the link between "knowing about" and "being able to do." Research reveals that demonstrations are most effective when they are accurate, when learners are able to see clearly and understand what is going on, and when brief explanations and discussion occur during the demonstration
Questioning
Among the instructional skills, questioning holds a place of prominence in many classrooms. When questioning is used well:
 a high degree of student participation occurs as questions are widely distributed;
 an appropriate mix of low and high level cognitive questions is used;
 student understanding is increased;
 student thinking is stimulated, directed, and extended;
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 feedback and appropriate reinforcement occur; students' critical thinking abilities are honed; and,
 student creativity is fostered.
Good questions should be carefully planned, clearly stated, and to the point in order to achieve specific objectives. Teacher understanding of questioning technique, wait time, and levels of questions is essential.
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List of Instructional Methods in Alphabetical Order
This list is not exhaustive
Assigned Questions Graphic Organisers
Author’s Chair Guided/Assisted Reading
Balanced Literacy
Book Talks
Brainstorming
Case Studies
Categorising
Guided Reading &
Thinking
Heterogeneous Grouping
Homogeneous Grouping
Independent Research
Instructional Groups
Classroom Conversations
Interdisciplinary approach
Interviewing
Cloze Tests
Computer Assisted Instruction
Literature Circles
Mind Mapping
Concept Formation
Concept Maps
Mini Lessons
Miscue analysis
Co-operative Learning
Demonstrations
Modes Of Reading
Novel Studies
Discussion
Drill and Practice
Games
Public
Speakng/Oratory/Speech writing
Panels
Peer Partner Learning
Picture Word Inductive Model
Probable Passage
Problem Solving through Words
Questioning Levels
Questioning Techniques
RAFT
Read Aloud
Reading for Meaning
Reading Contract
Reading Log
Read and Paraphrase
Read and Respond
Read and Reflect
Readers’ Theatre
Reciprocal Reading
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Reflective Discussion
Research Projects
Response Journal
Running Record
Sociograms in Literature
Story Mapping
Story Telling
Structured Controversy
Structured Over view
Study Groups
Talking Circles
Team Teaching/Modelling of Instruction
Think Alouds
Thinking Strategies
Tutorial Groups
Visual Imaging
Webbing
Webquests
Word Walls