Cathy Ryan
Dr. Schlagal
RE 5100
4/27/10
Question 1:
Upon reflection of the readings that were assigned this semester, the one I would choose
to eliminate is The Effects of Three Instructional Methods on the Reading Comprehension and
Content Acquisition of Novice Readers by Katherine A. Dougherty Stahl. The problem I
encountered with this article is that it was very hard to read. I felt that a lot of the information
that was presented in this reading was thoroughly covered in previous and subsequent readings in
a much clearer, and easier to read prose. I realize the importance of the research that was
presented in this article; however, as an instructor I found while reading this article, its
presentation was extremely lengthy, hard for me to comprehend some of the and retain the
information, and decipher how I would use this informational in a particle manner in my
classroom.
The article attempts to share with its readers the unique cognitive processing
characteristics of the novice reader and suggests that we need additional research that
investigates the developmental appropriate techniques that will help to instruct novice readers.
The study explores 3 instructional methods: Picture Walks, KWL, and Directed Reading
Thinking Activities-DRTA. The article states that Stahl was unable to locate any research that
was successful at evaluating the effectiveness of Picture Walks. The KWL was designed to
activate a student’s prior knowledge of the content being covered, stimulate questions about what
the student wants to learn about the content being covered, and generate new information
obtained about the content. I found it difficult to ascertain whether or not Stahl’s research
supported the use of this method other than a brief mention that it seemed to support a novice
student’s ability to comprehend meaning less than a PW. As stated earlier, I found the verbosity
and the prose of this reading very difficult to comprehend. However, I did agree with the
findings of the DRTA. The article suggested, to the best of my understanding, that the DRTA
did confirmed positive effects on facilitating a student’s reading comprehension. “DRTA
seemed to fall into a category of a meaning-propelled instructional technique that creates a
synergy of fluency and comprehension for novice readers.” (Stahl).
While reading about the research on the DRTA, another technique that I became very
familiar with during my Teachers as Researchers course cane to mind. I did my research on the
effects of Reciprocal Teaching on student comprehension. I have since implemented the RT
methods into my classroom and have had very favorable effects. The techniques of the DRTA
seem to be quite similar in, not all, but in many ways. The governing aspect that is similar is the
importance of discussion while reading a text, and not just to have the discussions before and
after the read.
I suppose it might have been beneficial during this course to have read some articles on
Reciprocal Teaching. I feel the techniques used in RT could be very beneficial in helping novice
readers become more confident in their reading abilities and help to motivate students to want to
read. Motivation to read can factor into a student’s learning – especially a struggling student
who may be anxious about reading. Reciprocal Teaching can help to enhance a student’s
motivation to read by helping the student to be aware of the kinds of things that influence
learning. One article I found to be particularly interesting was Palincsar, A. S., & Brown, A.
(1984). Reciprocal teaching of comprehension-fostering and comprehension monitoring
activities. Cognition and Instruction, 1(2), 117-175.
Question 2:
Upon reflection of the readings we have read during the last part of the term, the reading I
found to be most helpful in acquiring a more concise knowledge of the reading process was
A Directed Reading-Thinking Activity with Fiction/Non-Fiction by Gillet and Temple. This
article supported the research that shows a reader’s understanding and recall of stories is
influenced by their degree of experience reading or being read to. In the DRTA method, prereading activities helps to activate a student’s prior knowledge. The during reading activities
helps to clarify any misconceptions during the read, and gives the students a purpose for reading,
and helps develop their critical reading abilities due to the open end questions facilitated by the
teacher at crucial stopping points – thus, the thinking part of the activity. The open ended
questions that can be answered in a variety of ways helps encourage divergent thinking. This
activity was designed to make students aware of their own interpretive actions during reading.
In other words, the students are taught several strategies to help them before reading, during their
reading, and after reading.
Using DRTA in a heterogeneous group could be a challenge due to the range of reading
levels that may encompass your classroom. One possible solution to this challenge would be to
select two passages on the same topic – one higher-level and one lower-level, and divide the
class into groups to read the text that is most appropriate for their reading level. If your students
are not yet readers, the strategy is referred to as Directed Listening-Thinking Activity (DLTA)
and proceeds the same way, except you read the text to the class. To use DLTA for challenged
readers, have a taped version of the passage available. Listening to text read aloud provides
challenged readers with opportunities to attend to and comprehend material that they would be
unable to read for themselves. Gillet and Temple (1994). “Directed Reading-Thinking Activity.”
TeacherVision.
Reading is the process of constructing meaning from written texts. The reader creates
meaning through the combination of prior knowledge and previous experience, information
available in text, and the stance he or she takes in relationship to the text. Most also see reading
as a decoding process. In addition, reading is a perceptual process. It utilizes perceptual clues
like; size, shape, combinations of letters and sounds, sequencing, and ordering. Furthermore,
reading is a linguistic process. It requires mastery of phoneme-grapheme relationships. The
reader must process each letter in turn, producing the appropriate sounds, and form words.
Because comprehension is a later-developing skill, it can be elusive and not always obvious in
the early grades when decoding is the primary focus. The likelihood that children with reading
deficiencies will have reading comprehension problems is sufficient enough to warrant early
intervention for literacy. Oral language stimulation and phonological intervention alone do not
appear to be enough. DRTA can be used in groups or individually, and can be adapted according
to the students’ level of achievement and individual needs.
Because of the potential for lasting value, encouraging the development of a “reading
game plan,” or a reading process, should be an important focus in teaching young students to
read. This process should lead students toward long-term development and ownership of skills
and strategies that will assist them in reading independently while accomplishing the purposes
for reading. Teaching children to read is a challenging responsibility. A good reading program
should include five components of effective reading instruction which includes; phonemic
awareness and phonics in building word-recognition skills, a fluency component, which
facilitates comprehension, a vocabulary component, which includes a variety of word learning
strategies, and a comprehension component, which teaches students to apply a variety of
comprehension strategies as they read. Unfortunately, there are several causes of
underachievement in reading including; reading role models, life experiences, visual processing,
learning disabilities, and the acquisition of reading skills-specifically phonics and
comprehension. When teachers proactively address these underdeveloped skills in the
classroom, struggling readers can make progress.