Yesterday I presented a GLAD strategy for the Swap Shop at the staff meeting. If you remember, I taught you a little something about a molecule called Deoxyribonucleic Acid.
The lesson I modeled showed a couple of GLAD strategies:
Using artifacts to teach concepts
Having students repeat essential vocabulary words.
Below is another GLAD strategy you can use if you are planning on reading a nonfiction text. These strategies are great for any teacher in any content area and can even be used by those who are tired and time-impoverished.
Three specific research-backed reading strategies that reach all students are Think-Alouds, Annotation, and Wait Time. You can use these strategies separately or combine all of these with very little effort and almost zero preparation.
Here are some simple directions for using a Think Aloud Annotation with Wait Time below:
Prep: Choose a small section of text (depending on the class and grade level, this could be a paragraph or small section)
Share your content learning target with the students and make sure to explain WHY annotation will help students accomplish this target.
For example: “Our learning target today is to explain how structure is related to function. I’m going to think out loud as I read the first paragraph of this text. As I read, I’ll annotate a ‘bookmark’ so that I can remember what I’ve read and make connections between structure and function in the reading.”
Ask students to follow along while you fold a piece of 8.5” x 11” paper in thirds, lengthwise to make a “bookmark”.
Begin reading the text aloud and explain your thinking while you annotate the bookmark under the document camera.
For example: The first time the text refers to a “structure”, you’ll write “S - (word or phrase that is the structure)”. The first time the text refers to a “function”, you’ll write “F – (word or phrase that is the function).” Then pause, and say “Now, I’m asking myself how the structure and function are related” and draw an arrow between S and F, writing a word or phrase that connects them on the bookmark.
Common Annotations
i. ! – This is surprising/new/important
ii. ? – I have a question about this/this is confusing/I don’t know this word
iii. ∞ – Connection
iv. * – main idea or claim
v. E – Evidence
Ask the students to annotate their own bookmarks and you continue to read and Think Aloud but do not annotate. If possible, as you read, roam around the room to see how the students are annotating. Be explicit with what you are seeing on the students’ bookmarks and adjust as necessary.
Ask students to pause and consider their annotations. Say “With your partner, share one annotation you made and why.”
Consider giving a metacognitive prompt as well. Make sure to include Wait Time: Say, “Think about how your annotation(s) helped you with the learning target for 30 seconds”. Pause. “How did your annotation help you with the learning target? Turn and talk to your partner”
When the students begin to understand how to read and annotate, they practice as you roam the room.
If you’re fancy, you can play with adding sketches or color coding to the bookmarks.
At the end of the activity, ask students to complete a 3-2-1 exit slip:
3 ways the Annotation strategy helps you understand a text
2 other things you could annotate and the symbol you would use for each
For example:
cause and effect
this relates to me
examples
inference
prediction
different perspective
figurative language
setting
fact
opinion
purpose
counter claim
1 you could use your annotations to demonstrate that you accomplished (or made progress towards) the learning target.
Here are some other sources with more information on these and other reading strategies:
Informational Reading Strategies: https://www.literacyworldwide.org/blog/literacy-now/2014/08/05/best-ever-literacy-tips-for-teaching-informational-text-structures-
7 Strategies of Highly Effective Readers: https://www.adlit.org/topics/comprehension/teach-seven-strategies-highly-effective-readers
Reading Strategies for Middle and High School Students: https://secondaryenglishcoffeeshop.blogspot.com/2017/03/reading-strategies-for-middle-and-high.html
5 Strategies for Struggling Readers: https://www.edutopia.org/article/5-ways-support-students-who-struggle-reading-comprehension
Graphic Organizers for Text Structures: https://intensiveintervention.org/sites/default/files/GraphicOrganizersPart4-508.pdf