Four Resources Model

The Four Resources Model has guided my thinking about reading instruction throughout this project and informs what I have highlighted on this website.

In their chapter "Fifty Years of Reading Comprehension and Research" in Research-Based Practices for Teaching Common Core Literacy, Gina Cervetti and David Pearson (with my emphasis added) describe the power of the Four Resources model for all students:

If we as a profession accept the Four Resources Model—and along with it, a commitment to examine reading from the perspectives of the text, reader, and context—then we must find a way to engage all readers, not just our most able readers, in traversing all four of the resources every day and every week.

The four resource model provides a framework to explain how students take different stances as readers depending on the task and the text. For instance, a student may focus more on code breaking for some tasks and texts, but shift focus to text-using and text-analyzing for other tasks and texts. What is particularly compelling about this model in terms of secondary students who are not yet reading near grade level, the focus for this website, is that this model is applicable for all readers, from developing readers to the most advanced readers. The model highlights that all readers struggle with particular texts and particular tasks, and taking on different roles can help readers understand, analyze and use the texts they read.

In this section of the website, I have included the following on this page and tabs within this page:

• Overview of the model and links to different descriptions of the model (this page)

• Explanation of and implications for the model: insights from David Pearson and Gina Cervetti

• Comprehension instruction that is aligned with this model

On this page, I have included an accessible description of the model that comes from the following helpful resource: An Introduction to Quality Literacy Teaching, by the New South Wales Department of Education and Training, Learning and Development (2009) ("NSW Report").

Two other useful descriptions of the Four Resources Model are the following:

1. This prezi, created by Louise Phillips.

2. This post, created by a member of the Edutopia community.

As indicated by its writers, the NSW Report, excerpted below, is an open-resource document and can be reproduced freely for government, personal or educational purposes.

The image below shows the relationship between reading and writing with this four resources model. The first question in this graphic is related to reading and the second to writing.

Reference: Morgan, Brad. "Literacy." bradmorgan-teachingportfolio. 2015. http://bradmorgan-teachingportfolio.com/literacy/.

This graphic, from the NSW Report, suggests the types of questions students might ask when taking a particular stance as well as suggestions for teachers. Please see this link for further discussion of this graphic and the Four Resources Model.