ENHANCING READING SKILLS

What is a skill?
It was associated historically
from the behaviorist’s point of
view to motor skills, routine
habits, and activities that were
less mindful and more
automatic.
 What is a skill in reading?

Skills were equated with habits of reading such

as:
a. Recognizing units of thoughts (sentences),
words, and typographic devices;
b. Reading hygiene
c. Oral and meaning interpretation
(Whipple, 1925- The 24th Yearbook of the National Society for
the Study of Education)
Skills are abilities (Smith, 1965) which include:
a. Comprehension
b. Retention
c. Organization
d. Research
e. Interpretation
f. Special skills such as understanding
technical word meanings and reading math
problems
Nine potential Component skills of
Comprehension: (Davis; 1944)
1. Word meanings
2. Word meanings in context
3. Follow passage organization
4. Main thought
5. Answer specific text-based questions
6. Text-based questions with paraphrase
7. Draw inferences about content
8. Literary devices
9. Author’s purpose
The Model of Reading Skills Enhancement

Explicit
instruction of
strategies

Skills
Development Emerging
strategies
(automatic)
Strategy vs. Skill
STRATEGY SKILL

⚫ Leads to a skill ⚫ Makes up strategies

⚫ It is a journey ⚫ It is a destination
⚫ Has to be learned ⚫ It is an automatic
⚫ Controlled process process.
⚫ Effortful and mediated
⚫ Less mindful.
⚫ Tool for learning
⚫ Conscious and systematic ⚫ It is habitual
⚫ A mnemonic device
Meaning:
⚫ Reading strategies ⚫ Reading skills are
automatic actions that
are deliberate, goal- result in decoding and
directed attempts to comprehension with
control and modify speed, efficiency, and
the reader’s efforts fluency and usually occur
without awareness of the
to decode the text, components or control
understand words, involved.
and construct
meanings of text.
Concrete Classroom scenario:
Strategy Skill
The student wants to do The student is in the
something to clarify his habit of asking “Does
or her comprehension so that make sense?”
the student slows down while he or she
and asks, “Does that proceeds reading.
make sense? after every
sentence.
 Strategy vs. Skill
Reading strategy Reading skill

⚫Something to ⚫Something to
be taught as a be measured
tool for and assessed
academic
survival
What is therefore the goal of reading
instruction?

“AUTOMATIC AND FLUID

APPLICATION OF READING SKILLS”
-STRATEGIC READING
Precaution!!!

A particular reading skill is often preceded by a period

in which the developing reader must be strategic.
Example: Young readers must learn decoding strategies before
they can be expected to apply them accurately and automatically.
Developing readers must learn to be metacognitive, and
it is in the stage of conscious application of strategies
that readers come to understand how reading works and
how to identify and fix problems.
Implications:
• Practice alone may not be sufficient
for some children to make progress.
Metacognitive instruction about how
and why to use strategies can be quite
effective (NICHD, 2000).
• Scaffolded and guided practice may
also be required.
 Why to enhance Reading skills?

1. It is a national and even a global challenge.

2. Problems in reading are universal.
3. It is a key to success in school, to the development of out-
of-school interests, to the enjoyment of leisure time and to
personal and social adjustment.
4. In our lives, 80% of the things we do involve reading…
that unlocks the door to the world of enlightenment and
enjoyment. (Villamin, 1999)
5. Reading must be within the system of every student to
either direct or redirect his path towards academic and life
survival. (SPRCNHS Reading Program Philosophy)
Some significant reasons of reading
failures:
⚫ …”the educational system wastes its efforts and
resources accommodating students in schools without
enabling them to acquire the competencies necessary for
them to become self-reliant and to even contribute in the
society.” (National Action Plan To EFA by the year 2015)
⚫ “The absence of a strong literacy program in the system
is one of the reasons for the reading difficulties of
Filipino children.” (Tatlonghari, 2004)
⚫ Majority of teachers still depend on traditional classroom
methods in spite of the emerging technology today that
directly or indirectly affects their students. (PAFTE
Report, 2004)
 Recommendation:
“The demands of the 21st century requires a
substantial shift in the way high school
literacy learning… with commitment on the
part of the teachers, administrators and
policy makers to rethink traditional notions
of literacy.” – Vacca and McKeon, 2002
Who Are The Learners of Today?
(21st Century Learners)

Expressive with strong views

Fiercely independent
Emotional and intellectual open
Inclusive
Inquisitive and curious
Possess sense of immediacy and urgency
Highly diversified
Assertive and self-reliant
Seeks trustworthiness
Trending View of Reading
Instruction:

“Teach the reader, not the reading!”

(Boyles, 2004)
 It’s a simple concept:
Teachers get so wrapped up in teaching the
content of the text- the characters, the main
ideas, and the themes- they forget what should
be a critical focus of their instructional mission:
HELPING STUDENTS USE THAT TEXT TO
UNDERSTAND, NOT ONLY THE CONTENT,
BUT ALSO TO UNDERSTAND AND USE
THE STRATEGIES THAT GOOD READERS
USE AUTOMATICALLY TO CONSTRUCT
MEANING FROM WHAT THEY READ.
MOST SIGNIFICANT CONCEPTUAL
DEFINITIONS OF READING:
1. Reading typically is bringing meaning to rather than the gaining
of meaning from the printed page. (Horn, 1961)
2. Reading involves much more than recognition of the graphic
symbol; it includes even more than the arousal of meaning or the
gaining of meaning from the printed symbols.
3. Reading is a process in which information from the text and the
knowledge possessed by the reader get together to produce
meaning. (Anderson, et al., 1985)
4. Reading consists of two major components: recognizing and
analyzing words (decoding) and understanding words and ideas
(comprehension). (Salazar, 1997).
FACTORS THAT AFFECT
READING:

1. Physiological factors
2. Intellectual factors
3. Psychological factors
4. Linguistic factors
5. Sociological factors
 Elements of Effective Reading
Instruction:

1. Phonemic awareness and the teaching of phonics

2. decoding and word studies, including the learning of sight
vocabulary
3. Language development, to include vocabulary development
4. The explicit teaching of comprehension strategies
5. Meaningful writing experiences
6. The development of fluent reading by reading and rereading
familiar texts
7. A wide-range of reading materials
8. Opportunities for both guided and independent reading
Factors that affect a reader’s
comprehension:

1. Prior knowledge
2. Interest in the subject
3. Purpose in reading
4. Ability to decode
 Basic Comprehension Skills

1. Literal thinking operations

2. Inferential-thinking skills
3. Critical-thinking operations
4. Creative-thinking operations
 Literal-thinking operations

1. Translating text into mental images

2. Following sequence of events, ideas, or cause-
effect
3. Remembering significant details
 Inferential-thinking operations

1. Making predictions
2. Reading between the lines
3. Recognizing main ideas
 Critical thinking operations

1. Distinguishing fact from non-factual

2. Detecting author bias
3. Evaluating according to criteria
 Creative-thinking operations

1. Inventing flexible alternatives to author’s

ideas or characters
2. Applying old ideas to new situations
3. Translating ideas into an artistic medium
 YOUR THOUGHTS ON
THESE-

1. “READING THE LINES”

2. “READING BETWEEN THE LINES”
3. “ READING BEYOND THE LINES”
 Reading Beyond the lines
a)“ We almost live in global Village.”
b)“Changing, world, Lasting Values.”
c)“ Being together while not being
together.”
 Reading Beyond the lines
a)“ We almost live in global Village.”
b)“Changing, world, Lasting Values.”
c)“ Being together while not being
together.”
 Levels of comprehension

4. Reading the Lines: This activity enables the

reader to get the basics of understanding what
the material is saying (e.g. main idea, theme, development of
ideas, etc.)
Level 2: Reading Between the Lines: This requires the
ability to:
a. recognize the author’s purpose
b. interpret the author’s thoughts
c. pass judgment
d. distinguish fact or opinion
e. interpret clues to character and plot
f. sift the author’s ideas
g. assess the author’s competence and authority
in
the areas being written about
h. interpret literary devices
Level 3: Reading Beyond the Lines:
This is considered the most difficult task in
comprehension because it involves critical and creative reading
techniques. The readers are expected to:
a. recognize implications
b. anticipate consequences
c. draw conclusions not stated by the author
⚫ Reading the Lines: The reader enables the
⚫ reader to get the basics of understanding
⚫ what the material is saying (e.g. main idea,
⚫ theme, development of ideas, etc.)
Three Important Phases of Reading
Instruction:

Pre-reading Phase/Before reading

While reading Phase/During Reading

Post-reading Phase/After reading

 Pre-reading Phase/Before Reading

This introduction to the text provides enough

background for many students to prepare them for
reading and learning from what they read.
(schema theory)
 Pre-reading Activities:
⚫ Set a purpose for reading
⚫ Motivate students to read
⚫ Preteach vocabulary and concepts
⚫ Link students’ background knowledge and
experiences with the reading
⚫ Relate the reading to students’ lives (making
connections)
⚫ Build students’ knowledge of all the text
features.
⚫ Make predictions
 While Reading Phase and Post-
reading Phase

These two phases allow the students

to monitor their understanding and to
validate their understanding of the
text.
 While Reading Activities:
⚫ Confirming the accuracy of one’s predictions.
⚫ Modifying predictions or making new ones.
⚫ Using context as much as possible to determine
unfamiliar words.
⚫ Monitoring one’s comprehension
⚫ Adjusting reading rate as needed.
⚫ Making notes, graphic organizers, or other records of
what one is reading as required by individual purpose of
reading.
 Post-Reading Activities:

⚫ Confirming predictions
⚫ Adjusting preconceived ideas on basis of what has been
read
⚫ Summarizing
⚫ Recognizing bias, author’s purpose, tone, etc.; rejecting
ideas as appropriate
⚫ Assimilating new information into existing knowledge
⚫ Rereading as needed to clarify comprehension
⚫ Following up on reading by writing (reading-writing
connection) or talking (reading-speaking connection)
about what has been read.
 The Role of METACOGNITION
in Reading
“”Thinking about thinking”
WHAT IS IT IN READING?
• Good readers use metacognition to self-monitor their
reading. When readers can determine what they do and don’t
understand while reading, and they fix-up strategies that help
them make meaning, they have tools for learning content.”
• Self- monitoring questions enable good readers to identify
what they understand and what confuses them.
These are the sample questions they
have in mind while reading:
• Is this making sense?
• Do I remember lots of details?
• Can I skip this word and still get the
gist, or do I need to pause and figure
out its meaning?
 LEARNING STRATEGY
INSTRUCTION

This is very much applicable for students

with reading disabilities whereby specific
strategies are developed, introduced and
practiced for specific types of instructional
activities (in reading).
 Steps in Strategy Instruction
1. Pretest and commitment
2. Describe the strategy
3. Model the strategy
4. Verbal rehearsal of strategy
5. Practice with controlled materials
6. Practice with grade-appropriate materials
7. Commitment to generalize the strategy
8. Generalization and maintenance
Step 1: Pretest and Commitment

⚫ A student is tested to determine if he or she

needs a strategy for a particular task.
⚫ Students should be encouraged to “opt in” to
learning the strategy; this stresses the need
for student involvement in this decision and
the student commitment to the decision to
learn new strategy.
Step 2: Describe the Strategy

• The strategy is introduced and the

various components of the strategy are
described to the students.
• The student is told where and under
what conditions a strategy may be
applied.
Step 3: Model the Strategy

• The teacher models each step of the strategy

while discussing the use of the strategy out
loud.
• Each aspect of the strategy is modeled, and
students are encouraged to ask questions.
• This step may include several different tasks,
and the teacher may prompt students to model
particular aspects of the strategy at various
points.
Step 4: Verbal Rehearsal on Strategy

• Learning the strategy by rote

• State the strategy steps very quickly before they attempt to
apply the strategy.
• Identify the action to be taken in each step and tell why
each step is important for the strategy overall.
• This step intends to facilitate independence in strategy
application and can usually be completed by students with
learning disabilities in one instructional period.
Step 5: Practice with Controlled Materials

• The student should master the application of the strategy

on simpler materials; the assumption behind the step is
that the difficulty of the material should not impair the
student’s ability to learn the strategy.
• The students would be coached by the teacher using
explicit corrective feedback.
“CONTROLLED MATERIALS”
These are the materials at the student’s academic
performance level rather than at his or her grade level.
Step 6: Practice with Grade-Appropriate
Materials

• The level of complexity on which the student practices

is gradually increased until the materials approximate
those grade-level materials with which the student
works.
• This step also involves the fading out of various
prompts and cues the student used in earlier steps.
• Progress during this phase is charted to present a daily
picture of the student’s progress.
Step 7: Commitment to Generalize
the Strategy
• A commitment should then be elicited from
the student to apply the strategy on all theme-
writing assignments in all subject areas.
• This discussion with the student may take as
little as a few minutes during one of the
instructional periods, but this commitment to
generalize is considered a critical step in the
learning process.
Step 8: Generalization and
Maintenance
• The generalization step involves three phases:
1. Orientation: This is designed to make the student aware
of situations in which the new skill may be tried.
2. Activation: The student is given specific assignments to
apply the strategy in grade-appropriate materials from
other general education classes.
3. Maintenance: The students who have been trained in a
particular strategy should be periodically reminded to use
that strategy, and the teacher should check the work
output when the strategy is applied.
 Strategic Reader

“Anything mastered becomes automatic”.

Classroom Teaching Strategies
Indexed by Student Activities
 Classroom Teaching Strategies
Developing Vocabulary
⚫ Analogy Graphic Organizer
⚫ Concept definition mapping
⚫ Frayer Model
⚫ Magnet Summaries
⚫ Mind Mapping
⚫ Possible Sentences
⚫ Question Dissection
⚫ Semantic Feature Analysis
⚫ Story Impressions
⚫ Vocabulary Overview Guide
⚫ Word Family Trees
Brainstroming of Ideas
⚫ Analogy Graphic Organizer
⚫ Anticipation Guides
⚫ Brainstorming Prior Knowledge
⚫ Character Quotes
⚫ Frayer Model
⚫ History Change Frame
⚫ Inquiry Charte
⚫ K-W-L Plus
⚫ Mind Mapping
⚫ Possible Sentences
⚫ Problematic Situations
⚫ Story impressions
⚫ Vocabulary Overview Guide
⚫ You Ought To Be in Pictures
 Classroom Teaching Strategies
Cooperative Learning
⚫ Anticipation Guides
⚫ Character Quotes
⚫ Different Perspectives
⚫ Discussion Web
⚫ Follow the Characters
⚫ Inquiry Charts
⚫ Interactive Reading Guides
⚫ Jigsaw
⚫ Paired reviews
⚫ Point-of-view Study Guides
⚫ Read Alouds
⚫ Save The Last Word For Me
⚫ SMART (Self-monitoring
Approach to Reading and Thinking
Promoting Discussion
⚫ Analogy Graphic Organizer
⚫ Anticipation Guides
⚫ Brainstorming (Prior
Knowledge)
⚫ Character Quotes
⚫ Pyramid Diagram
⚫ Semantic Feature Analysis
⚫ You Ought To Be In Pictures
⚫ Jigsaw
⚫ K-W-L Plus
⚫ Follow the Characters
⚫ Interactive Reading Guides
 Classroom Teaching Strategies
Interactive Reading
⚫ Chapter Tours
⚫ Anticipation Guides
⚫ Different Perspectives
⚫ Guided Imagery
⚫
History Change Frame
⚫
Inquiry Charts
⚫ Point-of-View Study Guides
⚫ Power Notes
⚫ Problematic Situations
⚫ Pyramid Diagram
⚫ Questioning the Author
Encouraging Writing
⚫ Discussion Web
⚫ Inquiry Charts
⚫ K-W-L Plus
⚫ Learning Logs
⚫
Magnet Summaries
⚫
Possible Sentences
⚫ Power Notes
⚫ Proposition/Support Outlines
⚫ Pyramid Diagram
⚫ Question Dissection
⚫ RAFT
(Role/Audience/Format/Topic
 Classroom Teaching Strategies
Representing Information
Graphically
⚫ Analogy/Graphic Organizer
⚫ Concept/Definition Map
⚫ Different Perspectives
⚫ Discussion Web
⚫
Follow the Characters
⚫ Frayer Model
⚫ History Change Frame
⚫ History Memory Bubbles
⚫ Inquiry Charts
⚫ Word Family Trees
⚫ Story Mapping
⚫ Vocabulary Overview Guide
Building Study Skills
⚫ Chapter Tours
⚫ Elaborative Interrogation
⚫ Follow the Characters
⚫ History Change Frame
⚫
History Memory Bubble
⚫ Inquiry Charts
⚫ Paired reviews
⚫ Story Mapping
⚫ Structured Notetaking
⚫ Template Frames
⚫ Question Dissection
“We have created a culture of reading poverty in which
a vicious cycle of a literacy has the potential to devolve
into illiteracy for many students. By allowing students
to pass through our classrooms without learning to
love reading, we are creating adults (who then become
parents and teachers) who don't read much. They may
be capable of reading well enough to perform
academic and informational reading, but they do not
love to read and have few life reading habits to model
for children.”
― Donalyn Miller,
The Book Whisperer: Awakening the Inner Reader in Ev
ery Child
Thank You!!!