Literacy Tips and Tricks
Practical Strategies for Fostering Literacy Across the Content Areas
In search of a purpose
Why do our students read? Outside of school, reading takes on
many different purposes for them—to connect with friends, to learn
about things of interest, or to just have fun.
But what about reading done specifically for school? Do students
have purposes for the reading that we as teachers assign?
According to Cris Tovani, author of I Read It, But I Don’t Get It,
students rarely get the chance to set their own purpose for their
academic reading.
But more than that, the purposes that students are provided with
by their teachers can be just as limited.
Teacher purposes might simply be to “read chapter 10 as there
will be a quiz over it on Monday” or “finish Acts 2-3 so that you can
write a character analysis.” Unfortunately, such vague purposes as
the ones above don’t give students enough information to separate
out what is important from what is not.
As I was preparing a model lesson for a class last week, I was
looking at the current physical science textbook at the high school. I
knew that most of the classes would soon be starting on chapter 12,
so I decided that I would design my lesson on that particular
chapter.
As I dug into the text, everything seemed so dense, so full of
information that everything—and I mean everything—seemed
important. And I began to wonder if, like me, the students who
would eventually read this book would struggle in determining what
vocabulary terms, processes, and facts were most important.
So, how to we tackle this issue? The most obvious way is, as
teachers, to provide students with a specific purpose before they
read. For example, a science teacher assigning reading from chapter
12 might simply tell students that they need to be able to describe
the properties of electromagnetic waves and why those waves are
important to us in today’s society.
However, as the Chinese proverb says, “Give a man a fish and you
feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a
lifetime.” What is most essential, then, is to instead teach students
why it is important to have a purpose when they read and how they
can establish one.
According to Cris Tovani, students
who read difficult text without a purpose
often express the following complaints:
 I don’t care about the topic.
 I can’t relate to the topic.
 I daydream and my mind wanders.
 I can’t stay focused.
 I just say the words so I can be done.
So how can teachers help students set
a purpose when reading tough texts?
Figure previewing is a great way to
help students build background
knowledge prior to reading and help
them create questions they hope to find
the answers to when reading.
In addition, using the THIEVES
strategy has students use various text
features to identify what they already
know about the subject and what
information the text might provide.
Both of these strategies have students
using defined graphic organizers in the
beginning, but as students become
proficient at the strategies, they can do
these previews and set their own
purposes entirely in their heads.
Determining Purpose Strategy: Figure Previewing
This strategy is extremely valuable in texts that use diagrams, process illustrations, or charts and graphs.
Science textbooks are a natural fit as pictures explain cycles and processes better than written text alone. Not
only do students record their observations about what they see in the figures, they also write questions about
their own wonderings about the topic or the text. These questions give students a purpose to read on as most
of us don’t like unanswered questions. And, even if students think they already know the answer, they like to
prove themselves right.
What Is It?
Figure previewing has students examine the figures, pictures, and illustrations
with the captions to help them develop a basic understanding of the material
they are going to read, activate their prior knowledge, and create questions they
hope to find answers to in the text.
What Does It Do?
In text-based previewing, students use figures, tables, and graphics to recall
what they observe and what these visual elements made them wonder about.
How Do I Use It?
Step 1: Model the Process.
o Talk through a figure preview with the students, having them turn
pages as you do. Record information on an overhead copy of the
figure previewing worksheet.
Step 2: Students Complete Visual Previewing
o Give students a chart to record observations on.
o Have students record not only what they see in each picture, but
what questions it brings to mind.
Step 3: Have Students Share Questions and Predictions
See the following pages for an example of a completed figure previewing chart. A blank copy of the chart is
also available at the SHSD Literacy website using the address below. Simply look under the Chapter Previewing
section:
http://www.sthelens.k12.or.us/17412082521156117/blank/browse.asp?a=383&BMDRN=2000&BCOB=0&c=5
7073&17412082521156117Nav=|&NodeID=190#Chapter. Simply look under “Chapter Previewing.”
Figure Previewing: Fossilization
Directions: To gain some background knowledge for this reading selection, look at each figure/picture/ chart
listed below. In the space provided, describe what you see in each of the elements and write at least one “I
Wonder” question about each figure.
Figure
What I Observed
What I Wondered
Fig 1-1
The paleontologist is chipping away at the side of a stone
hill looking for fossils in the rock.
Where does the term
paleontologist come from?
There is a series of pictures:
Fig 1-2
o
o
o
a dead fish in shallow water
sediment covering the fish
the sediment becoming rock; part of the fish is
preserved
Is the presence of shallow water
necessary in forming fossils?
Fig 1-3
A mountain with petrified tree stumps at the base. The
tree stumps have been turned to stone.
I wonder how the tree stumps
became petrified…and where
you could find them.
Fig 1-4
Pictures of fossils showing an ancient animal. I noticed
that the fossil mold is raised and the fossil cast is
indented.
I don’t understand the use of the
terms mold and cast.
Fig 1-5
A very old bug fossil is shown.
I don’t understand the term
carbon film.
Fig 1-6
Footprints of a dinosaur in desert stone. The dinosaur
appears to have had three toes.
I wonder what the name of the
dinosaur is.
Fig 1-7
Ancient bugs preserved in amber.
What’s amber?
Determining Purpose Strategy: THIEVES
The term THIEVES is a mnemonic that students can use to help them preview nonfiction text, especially
textbooks. As part of the strategy, students look at the Title, Headings, Introduction, Every first sentence,
Visuals and Vocab, End-of-chapter questions, and chapter Summary.
What Is It?
THIEVES has students examine some of the common structures of informational
text to discover what the reading might be about. Students can use titles,
summaries, headings, and subheadings as part of the preview, but they can also
use vocabulary terms, figures, pictures, and illustrations with the captions to
preview as well.
What Does It Do?
THIEVES helps students pinpoint information they gain from main areas of the
text, connect that knowledge to their prior knowledge, and create questions
they hope to answer to determine purpose.
How Do I Use It?
Step 1: Model the Process.
o Talk through a THIEVES preview with the students, having them turn
pages as you do. Be sure to model aloud your thinking about the
different text elements.
o Once you have completed the think aloud, show students how that
information can be recorded on the THIEVES graphic organizer.
Record information on an overhead version of the organizer. Remind
students that when they become more comfortable with the process,
THIEVES can be done entirely in their heads.
Step 2: Students Complete a THIEVES graphic organizer with a short text.
o Give students a chart to fill out with a small group. Give each group
member copies of a short, high-interest text that they can conduct a
THIEVES analysis on.
o Once students have finished THIEVES with the group, share our
responses and record on a class copy on the overhead.
Step 3: Students Engage in Partner and Individual Written THIEVES
Step 4: Students use THIEVES independently (whether mentally or using the
graphic organizer) to create questions and purpose.
See the following page for an example of a THIEVES graphic organizer that could work in any class. In addition,
the following website has additional lessons and resources for lesson planning.
http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=112
THIEVES
Stealing Valuable Information Before Textbooks Know What Hit Them
What am I stealing?
Title

What is the title?
Headings

What headings are in the
chapter?
Introduction

What important info can I
find in the introduction or
beginning text features?
Every First
Sentence

Summarize the information
you receive in the first
sentence of each
paragraph.
Visuals/Vocab


What information can be
found in
charts/graphs/pictures/
captions?
What key words are listed
in the chapter?
End-of-Chapter
?s

What information do I need
to know from the chapter
based on the questions I
need to answer?
Summary

What are the main ideas
that the summary
addresses?
What do I already know
about what I am stealing?
What questions might I find
answers to as I read?