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Reflection 1
This semester has provided me with a chance to improve the process of teaching reading to students. I
felt somewhat unprepared because I had little experience teaching. I implemented the theories I learned via
four instructional techniques on English learners' English reading comprehension and incorporated them into
my sessions over the course of two days with Mr. Huan and two weeks with my student. Throughout this
reflection paper, I will present four instructional techniques and how teachers might implement them.
Reading comprehension is linked with English learners’ (ELs) language proficiency (Guo, 2018;
Jiménez, García, & Pearson, 1996). To enhance comprehension, teachers should engage ELs in text reading
and employ multiple instructional strategies (US Department of Education, 2008), including questioning,
visualizing, interactive reading, and scaffolding. According to Graves and Graves (2003), the activation of
students’ prior knowledge (scaffolding) is considered a pre-reading activity that can provide text-specific
knowledge, pre-teaching vocabulary, or pre-questioning and enhance their reading comprehension,
encouraging them to develop a broader knowledge base. Graphic organizers are tools to visually organize
information for students to link fragments of information together (Hyerle, 2008), as well as to assist with
increasing students’ efficiency in learning new concepts (Bromley, Irwin-DeVitis, & Modlo, 1995; Irwin-
DeVitis, Bromley, & Modlo, 1999).
Interactive read-aloud is a strategy to assist students with understanding new content knowledge,
facilitate students’ language learning, and develop their language skills by using language, providing
feedback, and having adult-child/student interactions through picture book reading (Zevenbergen &
Whitehurst, 2003). Guastello & Lenz (2005 claimed that the use of leveled questions to enhance ELs’
reading comprehension adopted Bloom’s Taxonomy as a guideline for developing six levels of questions:
knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation that help ELs negotiate for
meaning, which allows them to receive more comprehensible input to later enhance their development of
reading comprehension (Ayaduray & Jacobs, 1997). Especially in Panel (2000), teachers are suggested to
use multiple instructional strategies throughout a lesson to provide a perspective on the impacts of the four
specific instructional strategies and on how the effects of these four strategies on ELs’ reading
comprehension may differ across school levels, intervention durations, and learning contexts.
In summary, after a period of time using a combination of these strategies, I was able to positively
reflect on our students' English language ability and academic performance in content areas after receiving
and practicing multiple strategies for over a year. To read more successfully with ELs and maintain a
favorable influence on their reading comprehension, teachers should be well-versed in numerous
instructional styles and should employ them throughout a class.

Reflection 2
In this reflective paper, I will share my experience with how reading prompts can be used to encourage
active engagement with texts during class. This article summarizes important areas for reading prompts that
teachers can use for learners outside of class. Reading comprehension is important to understanding the
meaning of a text because it is the first step in the material that needs to be analyzed for a specific purpose.
Therefore, my students faced many difficulties in developing reading comprehension and engagement in
class, but in the end, I found a suitable solution.
Terry Tomasek at Elon University developed reading comprehension prompts to enhance critical
thinking and expose students to background knowledge. Six different prompts were suggested to improve
students' reading skills. Although some students believe out-of-class reading tasks are time-consuming and
unrelated to class activities, Applegate et al. (2002) emphasize the importance of tasks before reading, as
good readers can retrieve prior experiences and concepts from their memories. After applying some different
prompts for my students, I believe that choosing a realistic purpose for the reading assignments is crucial to
promoting critical reading because the value of realistic responses helps students have chances to do
something with what they are learning through their reading (Meyers & Jones, 1993). Next, I collect a list of
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six possible prompts, including identification of problems, making connections, interpretation of evidence,
challenging assumptions, making applications, and taking different points of view. The task of responding in
writing to these prompts helps students explore their own thinking about the problem and helps expand and
clarify existing mental structures (Meyers & Jones, 1993). The assessment process was effective in
enhancing students' critical thinking skills, but the specific context of the use and assignment of reading
prompts needs to be carefully considered. I think we should only give students one reading prompt (at the
end of class) at the same time as the reading assignment.
I am aware that teachers allow students to submit their answers in a variety of ways so that the answers
do not become boring and routine. We should create prompts based on text type because prompts can be
related to students' personal experiences and situations, allowing students to more actively and thoughtfully
participate in class discussions and apply new learning to different situations. Prompts create more engaged
classroom discussions for both students and teachers. August (2000) argues that reading prompts improve
student preparation because when students share their experiences, connections and interactions are created,
and students become more actively involved in class. Therefore, the entries help students improve their
reading comprehension and stimulate their thinking. According to August (2000), 90% of students agreed
that journal entry assignments made them more likely to read outside of class.
In summary, as instructors, we encourage critical reading habits by providing our students with realistic
reading goals outside of class (reading prompts) and guiding them toward critical reading with targeted
writing prompts.

References
1. Applegate, M. D., Quinn, K. B., & Applegate, A. J. (2002). Levels of thinking required by comprehension
questions in informal reading inventories. The Reading Teacher, 56(2), 174- 180.
2. August, A. (2000). The reader’s journal in lowerdivision history courses: A strategy to improve reading,
writing and discussion. The History Teacher, 33(3), 343-348.
3. Ayaduray, J., & Jacobs, G.M. (1997). Can learner strategy instruction succeed? The case of higher order
questions and elaborated responses. System, 25, 561–570.
4. Bromley, K., Irwin-DeVitis, L., & Modlo, M. (1995). Graphic organizers: Visual strategies for active
learning. New York: Scholastic.
5. Graves, M.F., & Graves, B.B. (2003). Scaffolding reading experiences: Designs for student success. 2nd
edition. Norwood, MA: Christopher-Gordon Publishers.
6. Guo, L. (2018). Modeling the relationship of metacognitive knowledge, L1 reading ability, L2 language
proficiency and L2 reading. Reading in a Foreign Language, 30, 209–231
7. Hyerle, D. (2008). Visual tools for transforming information into knowledge. Thousand Oaks, CA:
Corwin Press.
8. Myers, C., & Jones, T.B. (1993). Promoting active learning: Strategies for the college classroom. San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
9. Jiménez, R.T., García, E.E., & Pearson, P.D. (1996). The reading strategies of bilingual Latina/o students
who are successful English learners: Opportunities and obstacles. Reading Research Quarterly, 31, 90–112.
10. US Department of Education. (2008). Improving adolescent literacy: Effective classroom and
intervention practices. Washington, DC: US Department of Education. Available at: https://
ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/docs/practiceguide/adlit_pg_082608.pdf (accessed February 2021).

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11. Zevenbergen, A.A., & Whitehurst, G.J. (2003). Dialogic reading: A shared picture book reading
intervention for preschoolers. In van Kleeck, A., Stahl, S.A., & E.B. Bauer (Eds.), On reading books to
children: Parents and teachers (pp. 177–200). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.