Learning from Textbook Reading at Second Level: Strategies for Success National Behaviour Support Service Predicting Close Reading Skimming Scanning Finding the Main Idea Making Connections Visualising Text Features Asking Questions Reading Back and Reading Forward
National Behaviour Support Service (NBSS) Navan Education Centre Athlumney Navan Co. Meath Telephone: +353 46 9093355 Fax: +353 46 9093354 Email: nbss@ecnavan.ie Written and compiled by Fiona Richardson, Literacy Development Officer, National Behaviour Support Service, 2010. The National Behaviour Support Service (NBSS) was established by the Department of Education & Skills in 2006 in response to the recommendation in School Matters: The Report of the Task Force on Student Behaviour in Second Level Schools (2006). The NBSS is funded by the Department of Education and Skills under the National Development Plan 2007 2013
Learn from Textbook Reading at Second Level: Strategies for Success Introduce 1 st years to their new textbooks and to strategies that will help them learn in their new school by using and adapting some of the exercises in this resource. Research has shown that effective learners use a variety of comprehension and reading skills. For example: They bring their own experiences and background knowledge to the text - they make connections. They see pictures in their minds when they read they visualise. They have a purpose for continuing to read. They question, predict, confirming their thinking and adjusting their thinking. They are able to infer meaning based on background knowledge and text clues. They understand the main ideas of a text and can determine what is important. They are able to synthesise their reading and produce their own ideas and create new thinking. They keep an eye on their understanding and use fix-up strategies like rereading when the meaning is not clear. The direct and explicit teaching of strategies to develop these skills can support and improve learning. Explicitly teaching students about text features, how to make connections, how to ask and generate questions, how to visualise and infer, how to extract important ideas and summarise information will lead to deeper thinking and understanding. This resource suggests exercises that can be used when teaching students about (1) text features and how they can support students in determining importance and making connections; (2) the different question types and their relationship to the answer - for example when an inference or reading between the lines is required; and (3) ways to find the main idea and supporting details in a text. Section 4 looks at the strategies proficient readers use when learning from a text. *Other NBSS resources are also available on comprehension, learning and study skills and strategies.
National Behaviour Support Service Contents 1. Text Features Page 5 Take a Textbook Tour Page 7 Big Fox Page 8 Textbook Trifles Page 9 2. Questions Page 12 Question Answer Relationships (QAR) Page 13 Using QAR Page 14 QAR in Your Textbook Page 15 3. Finding the Main Idea Page 16 3-2-1 Sum It Up Page 17 5-4-3-2-1 Page 18 Get the Gist Page 19 Important Ideas from My Reading Page 20 Main Ideas from my Reading Page 21 Pull it All Together Page 22 4. Textbook Reading Strategies Page 23-27 NBSS Academic Literacy & Learning Resources Page 29 Textbook Reading Strategies 4
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National Behaviour Support Service What are text features? Text features are parts of your textbook that have been created to help you locate and learn information. Text features include the design and organisation of pages in your textbook. The title page and table of contents are text features you can find at the beginning of textbooks. Headings, graphics, main idea boxes and bolded words are some of the text features you will find in the middle of your book. Glossaries and indexes are some text features you might find at the end of your book. Below is a list of text features. How many can you find in your books? Title page Glossaries Headings Graphics (pictures, graphs, charts, diagrams, photos, etc.) Subheadings Table of contents Bolded or highlighted words Test or Review questions Vocabulary/Keyword boxes Icons Main idea boxes Header/Footer Other: Other: Why should you look at text features? Looking at text features will help you know what is most important in a topic and help you locate information quickly. Looking at the titles in the table of contents and the headings and subheadings on a page can quickly tell you what information you will find out about on that page. How do you use text features? Knowing which text features to use and when to use them is important. The chart below can help you decide which text features to look at when you want to understand your textbooks better. To understand words and vocabulary: glossary vocabulary/word boxes bolded or highlighted words To find main ideas and topics: table of contents headings/subheadings index main idea boxes questions To find data or places: maps charts tables Can you add to the bullet points? Textbook Reading Strategies 6
National Behaviour Support Service 1. Using the Table of Contents, find the chapter number for the topic. 2. In the Index at the back of the text, find and list all the pages that deal with. 3. On page, what is the purpose of the coloured box (e.g. highlights a key or main idea). 4. What diagram appears on page? How is it connected to other information on that page? 5. In the Table of Contents, which topic is covered in Chapter, Section? 6. On page, what special feature helps you to identify the definition of? 7. In the Index, how many page references are there for? Which reference provides you with the most complete information on the topic? 8. In Chapter, how many subheadings appear throughout the chapter? Where is the subheading that identifies (e.g. summary, activity)? 9. Where would you go in the textbook to (quickly) find information about? 11. Turn to page. Read the first paragraph and find the words in italics. What is the purpose of this feature? 12. Open the text to pages and. Scan the words in boldface type. Why did the writers use this feature? 13. Open the text to page. Look at the graphic (e.g. map, photograph, graph). What is the purpose of this feature? Textbook Reading Strategies Source:ThinkLiteracy 7
National Behaviour Support Service Remember to leave your prints on the text B Bold List any words or phrases that are in bold print. i Italics List any words or phrases that are in italics. G F O Graphics Describe any graphics (photos, drawings, graphs, charts, maps, tables, etc.). Facts List at least 5 facts found in the pages. Opinions List any opinions found in the textbook piece. X X marks the spot or at least the main point. In 2-3 sentences, write the main point of the piece you have previewed (Hint read the opening sentence of each paragraph). Textbook Reading Strategies Source:teachingtoday.glencoe.com 8
National Behaviour Support Service Trifles Find out the ingredients of your textbook Title What is the title? What do I already know about this topic? What does this topic have to do with the chapter before it? What do I think I will be reading about? Read the headings What does this heading tell me I will be reading about? What is the topic of the paragraph beneath it? How can I turn this heading into a question that is likely to be answered in the text? Introduction Is there an opening paragraph? Does the first paragraph introduce the rest of the chapter? What does the introduction tell me I will be reading about? Do I know anything about this topic already? First sentence in a paragraph What do I think this chapter is going to be about based on the first sentence in each paragraph? Look at the visuals and vocabulary Does the chapter include photographs, drawings, maps, charts or graphs? What can I learn from the visuals in a chapter? How do captions help me better understand the meaning? Is there a list of key vocabulary terms and definitions? Are there important words in boldface type throughout the chapter? Textbook Reading Strategies 9
National Behaviour Support Service Do I know what the boldfaced words mean? Can I tell the meaning of the boldfaced words from the rest of the sentences? End-of-chapter questions What do the questions ask? What information do they point to as important? What information do I learn from the questions? Summary What do I understand and recall about the topics covered in the summary paragraph? Now you re ready to eat up the information in your textbooks Adaptedfrom:ReadWriteThink Textbook Reading Strategies 10
National Behaviour Support Service What s in your Textbook TRIFLES? Topic Title: Textbook Page/s: T R I F L E s Textbook Reading Strategies 11
National Behaviour Support Service Let's&find&out& about&the& different&types&of& questions&we&can& get&asked&in&our& textbooks.& CompleteALLtheexercisesinthissection Textbook Reading Strategies 12
National Behaviour Support Service Question-Answer Relationship (QAR) (Teacher Note: QAR provides a basis for three comprehension strategies: locating information; showing text structures and how the information is organised; and determining when an inference or reading between the lines is required. QAR shows students the relationship between questions and answers, how to categorise different types and levels of questions, as well as understand that the text does not have all the answers). In secondary school you need to know HOW to find the information that is important in your textbook and how to ask different types of questions, as well as find the answers to different question types. QAR IN THE BOOK Right There The answer is in one place in the text. You can put your finger on it Words from the question and words that answer the questions are often right there in the same sentence. Reread Scan Look for keywords. Think and Search The answer is in several places in the text. You put together (think and search) different parts of the text to find the answer. Skim or reread Look for important information Piece together different parts from the text to answer the question. IN MY HEAD Author and You The answer is not in the text. Think about how what you know and what s in the text fit together Reread Think about what you already know and what the text says On My Own The answer is not in the text. Think about what you already know Think about what you ve read before Make connections. Predict. Textbook Reading Strategies Source:T.E.Raphael,1982;1986 13
National Behaviour Support Service Using QAR with set questions After reading the text below work with a partner to decide the questionanswer relationship for each question. Explain why it fits that QAR category. Sam has lived in Merrytown his entire life. However, tomorrow Sam and his family would be moving 100 miles away to Rosslare. Sam hated the idea of having to move. He would be leaving behind his best friend, Pat and the local football team he had played on for the last two years. And to make matters worse, he was moving on his birthday Sam would be thirteen tomorrow. He was going to be a teenager He wanted to spend the day with his friends, not watching his house being packed up and put in a van. He thought that moving was a horrible way to spend his birthday. What about a party? What about spending the day with his friends? What about what he wanted? That was just the problem. No one ever asked Sam what he wanted. 1. What is the name of the town where Sam and his family are moving? 2. Why was Sam not looking forward to the next day? 3. What might Sam do to make moving to a new town easier for him? 4. In what ways can moving to a new house and to a new town be exciting? * If you were a teacher and there were 30 marks in total for this exercise, how would you divide the marks out between the different questions? Should each question be worth the same amount of marks or not? Why? Textbook Reading Strategies Adaptedfrom:McMillianMcGrawHill 14
National Behaviour Support Service Look at the questions in your textbook chapters and find examples of the different question types. Put examples of the different types of QAR questions in the chart below. Textbook Reading Strategies 15
National Behaviour Support Service Let's&find&out& ways&to&get& the&main&idea&and& important&points& of&what&we&read. Startbycompletingthe3"2"1or5"4"3"2"1exercisebyreadinga paragraphorpagefromatextbook. Thencompletethe Get*the*Gist exerciseusingtheinformationfrom thesamepageorparagraph. Finallyreadonemorepage.Thencompleteone ideas*map fromthis section,notingdownthemainpointsinthecircles.finishbywritinga shortsummaryusingthepointsfromthe ideasmap orcompletethe Pull*it*All*Together exercise. Textbook Reading Strategies 16
National Behaviour Support Service When you finish reading the paragraph or page write down your 3-2-1 points to help you sum up the main ideas and to figure out anything you don t totally understand. Important things I found out Interesting things Question I still have Textbook Reading Strategies 17
National Behaviour Support Service After reading a page or paragraph in your textbook complete the chart below to help you sum up what you have learned. Keywords from the pages 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Facts related to the main topic 1. 2. 3. 4, New words 1. 2. 3. Facts you already know 1. 2. Questions you still have 1. Textbook Reading Strategies 18
National Behaviour Support Service Heading: Textbook Page: 1. Read the paragraph. 2. Who or what is the paragraph mostly about? This paragraph is mainly about 3. What important pieces of information are linked to the who or what? 4. Put together the answers above and tell the main idea in 10 words or less Textbook Reading Strategies Source:Cunningham,1982 19
National Behaviour Support Service Linked information Linked information Important Idea 4 Important Idea 1 Topic: Textbook Pages: Important Idea 3 Important Idea 2 Textbook Reading Strategies 20
National Behaviour Support Service What happened? Where did it happen? When did it happen? Topic Map about Who was involved in the events? How did it happen? Why did it happen? Textbook Reading Strategies 21
National Behaviour Support Service You ve now found out about text features, the different types of question you can be asked and also ways to find the main idea and important points in a paragraph or page of your textbook. Now pull all this learning together by using the exercise below. Main Idea Record Name(s): Section Title: Main Idea of Section, Paragraph or Page: Write some teacher questions you could ask about the ideas in this paragraph. (Remember the QAR question types) What text features helped you get the gist of what you skimmed and scanned? Textbook Reading Strategies 22
National Behaviour Support Service Let's&find&out& about&the& different&reading& strategies&we&use& to&understand& and&learn&from& textbook&reading.& Textbook Reading Strategies 23
National Behaviour Support Service So What Ways Do We Read? FindoutaboutthedifferentReading( Strategies(youusebymatchingthe how toexplanations tothereadingstrategy listedonthenextpage.(thenpractice usingthemtohelpyouunderstandand learnmorefromyourtextbooks. Textbook Reading Strategies 24
National Behaviour Support Service Reading Strategies How to Explanation Predicting Skimming Scanning Close Reading Questioning Reading Backwards and Forwards Making Connections Visualising Inferring You make informed guesses about the text. You use what you already know and clues (like text features) from the text to make a judgment and predict what will happen next. You read quickly to get the main idea of a paragraph, page or chapter to get the gist of what the text is about. Your eyes dart around a text searching for a specific word/phrase/number/name, etc., for example when you look through the newspaper to find the time of your favourite TV programme or match result You pay close attention to the meaning of each word in a sentence, for example when you read a maths problem. You ask yourself questions as you read (in your head) to help you get the meaning and understand the ideas in the text. You read back in a text or read forward in order to make connections and check your understanding. You connect what you read to your own life and to what you already know. You use your what you know to understand something new You see a picture or movie in your mind to help gain a better impression or understanding of the text. This is when someone makes a point that isn t obvious and you have to read between the lines to find the meaning. Textbook Reading Strategies 25
National Behaviour Support Service When you were looking at the titles, the bold words and the diagrams in the textbook features exercise you were skimming and scanning. But what exactly is scanning and why use it? Scanning$ What is it? Why do I scan? How do I scan? Read in this direction. When you SCAN, you move your eyes quickly down a page or list to find one specific detail, for example what time your favourite TV programme is on Scanning allows you to quickly find a specific fact, date, name or word in a page without trying to read or understand the rest of the piece. You may need that fact or word to answer a question or to add a specific detail to something you are writing. 1. Knowing your textbook well is important. Note how the information is arranged on a page. Scan the features like headings, diagrams, boxed, highlighted, bolded terms, words, names and dates. 2. Move your eyes vertically - up and down, or diagonally down the page, letting them dart quickly from side to side looking for bolded words and other text features. Textbook Reading Strategies 26 Source:ThinkLiteracy
National Behaviour Support Service What exactly is skimming and why use it? Skimming What is it? When you SKIM, you read quickly to get the main idea of a paragraph, page, chapter, or article and a few (but not all) of the details. Why do I skim? Skimming allows you to read quickly to get a general sense of a text (the gist). You may also skim to get a key or main idea. How do I skim? Read in this direction. 1. Read the first paragraph, a middle paragraph and the final paragraph of a piece, trying to get a basic understanding of the information. 2. You can also skim by reading the first and last sentences of each paragraph, that is, the first few sentences and concluding sentences. 3. If there are pictures, diagrams, or charts, a quick glance at them and their captions may help you to understand the main idea or point of view in the text. 4. Remember you do not have to read every word when you skim. 5. Generally, move your eyes horizontally- left to right (and quickly) when you skim. Textbook Reading Strategies Source:ThinkLiteracy 27
National Behaviour Support Service Now that you ve found out about the different ways we read to learn don t forget to use these strategies when you are reading, doing your homework or studying from your textbooks Textbook Reading Strategies 28
National Behaviour Support Service National Behaviour Support Service National Behaviour Support Service (NBSS) Navan Education Centre Athlumney Navan Co. Meath Telephone: +353 46 909 3355 Fax: +353 46 909 3354 Email: nbss@ecnavan.ie For$further$information$contact$the$NBSS$Literacy$Development$Officer:$frichardson@nbss.ie Textbook Reading Strategies 29