Direct Reading Thinking Activity
Direct Reading Thinking Activities are great strategies to get students into and thinking about the text that is being read. Beginning with a prediction using the cover of the book and title, students make assumptions about what the text is going to be about. Making a list of those predictions, students use the pictures or chapter titles to support or change their predictions. Throughout the text, pre selected stop points are used to revisit previous predictions to add additional support or change what the reader thinks is going to happen in the story. The reader is held accountable for their predictions and must support their predictions through passages and information obtained from the text. The reader continues to stop at various points throughout the text and uses the information they read to guide their predictions.
I use this strategy at least 3 times a week. It helps my students become better at predicting as they read stories. We begin with a cover discussion and picture walk predicting before we begin to read. At different parts of the story, we stop so we can revisit and change or add to our predictions. This process continues throughout the story. A worksheet can be used when doing this activity with your students if the teacher chooses to use one.
KWL
The use of a KWL (Know/Want to know/Learned) as a classroom strategy helps educators when they introduce a new topic or concept. This strategy uses a three column graphic organizer where the main topic of instruction is placed at the top of the K-W-L , which is displayed on the board, overhead, or through a projector. Students collaborate to make a list of things that they know about the topic and things they want to learn or wonder about pertaining to the main topic. While reading or listening to the information presented on the topic, the what I want to learn section is used to guide the students through the text. Students also mark when they have confirmed a topic on the I know section. After the reading is completed, the What I learned section of the graphic organizer is filled in. Any questions that are left unanswered are then further researched by the student/educator. The KWL gives teachers an idea about what needs to be taught and discussed and what information students are taking from the lessons and readings.
Using a KWL with my children is done at least once a week. We begin with a new topic and discuss it as a whole group or in small group settings. As a class we make a list of things we know or think we know under the K column, and then make a list of things that we want to know about the topic under the W column. As we read and learn about the topic we revisit the things that are on the K and the W chart and discuss each one, proving them true, false, or answering questions. The use of a KWL (Know/Want to know/Learned) as a classroom strategy helps educators when they introduce a new topic or concept. This strategy uses a three column graphic organizer where the main topic of instruction is placed at the top of the K-W-L , which is displayed on the board, overhead, or through a projector. Students collaborate to make a list of things that they know about the topic and things they want to learn or wonder about pertaining to the main topic. While reading or listening to the information presented on the topic, the what I want to learn section is used to guide the students through the text. Students also mark when they have confirmed a topic on the I know section. After the reading is completed, the What I learned section of the graphic organizer is filled in. Any questions that are left unanswered are then further researched by the student/educator. The KWL gives teachers an idea about what needs to be taught and discussed and what information students are taking from the lessons and readings. After we have talked about the topic for the length of time intended, we further find information to answer any question the children may have. A good strategy for any grade level or child’s ability level.