STRATEGIES THAT

MAKE GAINS
FSA strategies that are practiced and proven
By Haley Freeman
 Barriers and Challenges

BARRIER: STUDENTS IN THE BOTTOM
QUARTILE ARE MOST LIKELY THERE DUE
TO VERY LOW READING COMPREHENSION
CAPABILITIES
CHALLENGE: HOW DO WE PLANT READING
COMPREHENSION SKILLS THAT STUDENTS
CAN WATER AND GROW INDEPENDENTLY?
BARRIER: STUDENTS OFTEN BECOME
EXTREMELY OVERWHELMED BY FSA TEXTS
DUE TO THEIR INABILITY TO MAKE ANY
CONNECTIONS.
CHALLENGE: HOW CAN WE TEACH
STUDENTS TO STAY ROOTED IN THE TEXT
BY MAKING MULTIPLE CONNECTIONS?
BARRIER: STUDENTS ARE GOING INTO A
FOREST TO HUNT FOR ANSWERS BLINDLY
AND WITH NO TOOLS.
CHALLENGE: WHAT CONCRETE TOOLS AND
STRATEGIES CAN WE GIVE STUDENTS THAT
WILL ASSIST THEM IN TARGETING AND
HUNTING FOR ANSWERS THROUGH THE
WILDERNESS?
Challenge #1:
Just because students can read, doesn’t mean they can
comprehend.
◦ Instead of telling your students to read a text, tell your students to “Have a Conversation” with the text.
◦ What is the process of having a conversation with someone?
◦ Step 1: Introduce or greet
◦ Step 2: Ask questions
◦ Step 3: Read the person’s vibe and tone
◦ Step 4: Learn and discover about that person or topic of conversation
◦ How do we turn this process into having a conversation with the text?
◦ Step 1: Get to know your title by thinking about what topic or central idea it suggests
◦ Step 2: Stop every line or two to ask one question related to the text. Don’t let the text “talk too long” without asking it questions.
◦ Step 3: Read the vibe of the text by figuring out the author’s attitude through words they choose. Think positive, negative, or neutral vibes.
◦ Step 4: Summarize the text by each paragraph so you know you have a clear understanding of what it told you.

◦ Prerequisites for “Having a Conversation” with the text

◦ Teaching tone and attitude through word choice
◦ Replacing words you don’t know, or words that are too complicated, with words you do understand
◦ Explicitly teaching central idea and theme
Conversation with the Text Example
◦ 1       November 29, 2000—It's open for business! And even though the
construction crews aren't done yet, the International Space Station's first
occupants have moved in and set up housekeeping. If all goes as planned,
the arrival of Expedition 1 in orbit earlier this month signaled the beginning of
a new era. From now on, there will always be humans in space.
◦ 2       Living in space is a daunting adventure with plenty of derring-do and
glamour. Hollywood spacefarers rarely have to take out the trash or clean the
kitchen. When was the last time you saw Captain Jean-Luc Picard struggling
with the twisty-tie on a garbage bag?
 “Kids don’t grow up knowing that good readers ask
questions. In fact, schools often appear more interested
in answers than in questions.” (Harvey and Goudvis,
2000)

◦ Just like asking questions is an essential part of having a

conversation, it’s also an essential part of comprehending a text.
◦ How do we model this process of questioning the text and
engaging in conversation with the text?
◦ Share Your Questions About Your Own Reading
◦ Refer to Pgs. 82-83 of Strategies that Work
Challenge #2: Let’s face it, the FSA texts are boring to our
students, making it easy to stop reading and give up quickly.
◦ To keep students interested in the story, it helps significantly to make connections or apply experiences that
reveal familiarity.
◦ Unfortunately, many of our lower students lack experiences, so when a student reads a text about genetically
modified food, they probably have no idea why people care about GMO’s because their family has never cared
to purchase organic produce. Therefore, this informational text would easily become irrelevant and boring.

◦ We can help our students fabricate experiences in their minds, which may help them make connections in order to
stay interested in the text.
◦ Tell students to insert themselves in the text by pretending they are the character, or they are the scientist
discovering the effects of GMO’s.
◦ Allow them to even create some kind of small back history or fantasy that inserts themselves in the text as an
important character or key role.
Challenge #3: The passage is your wilderness, the
questions are your map, and the answers are your targets.
◦ Concrete strategies for targeting answers on the FSA
◦ Step 1: Read the question FIRST! Re-write your question on the back of your paper to find your
EXACT target.
◦ Model Process
◦ Step 2: Fold your paper according to how many paragraphs there are.
◦ Model Process
◦ Step 3: Find the questions that mention a specific paragraph number and STAR that box. This gives you
an exact location in the wilderness.
◦ Model Process
◦ Step 4: Engage in CONVERSATION with the passage to hunt for your answers. Summarize each
paragraph in the boxes to make sure you are getting the main ideas from each paragraph.
◦ Model Process
Thank You!