Chapter+7+-+Integrating+Reading+Strategies+and+Knowledge+Building+in+Adolescent+Literacy+Instruction

Integrating Reading Strategies and Knowledge Building in Adolescent Literacy Instruction EDU 740 - Alicia Chambers, Caroline Hagenbuch, Erin Haemker, Julie Balen, Liza Gonzalez, and Tracey Love



Introduction Chapter Seven of //What Research Has To Say About Reading Instruction// (Samels and Farstrup, 2011) discusses the strategies (process) approach and the knowledge (content) approach to reading instruction. There is a debate in the field of education about which approach is more beneficial. This chapter highlights the historical shifts that emerged in the field, which brought about new outlooks on not only the strategies approach and the knowledge approach, but the blending of the two. Though the vast majority of adolescent reading instruction at present is in the form of a strategies approach, many seem to look at both approaches as very separate, or even as methods that contradict one another. The goal of this chapter is to show that rather than look at process and content instruction as separate, they should in fact, work together for a holistic subject matter reading instruction.


 * Defining the Terms **

While most educators are likely able to explain the terms reading strategies, content, and knowledge, in their own words, the clarifications made in Samuels and Farstrup (2011) are critical when it comes to fully understanding the purpose of the chapter, as well as the integral connection between knowledge and reading strategies.

**Reading strategies** are distinct from knowledge building, and described as “training studies” by Brown, Campione, and Day (1981) and “cognitive prompts for elaborating text“ by Paris, Wixson, and Palincsar (1986). Strategies today involve scaffolding and organizing one's own knowledge to help build new knowledge (as cited in Samuels and Farstrup, 2011, p.165). Specific reading strategies mentioned in the text include: predicting, questioning, visualizing, clarifying, summarizing, activating prior knowledge, inferencing and may include graphic organizers. In short, reading strategies are the processes students use to learn from text (p.159).

**Knowledge**, in the context of chapter 7, is a multidimensional term, as it stretches much farther than the typical understanding or awareness one possesses in any given area. According to a study by Moje and Speyer (2008), researchers discussed six kinds of knowledge that may be required to actively engage in text: semantics (i.e. knowledge of word meanings), mathematical, historical, geographical, discursive and pragmatic knowledge (as cited in Samuels and Farstrup, 2011, p.177). Knowledge is the ability to integrate various levels and types of understanding and meaning to garner an overall comprehension of a topic.The chapter also mentions broad knowledge types, including topic, content, domain, discourse and language (p. 180).

**Content**, as discussed by Samuels and Farstrup (2011) is more than the information that lies on the page; while subjects or topics covered in a class or reading make up the basis of content, it is also the act of knowledge building and meaning-making in relationship to the subject matter. To illustrate this point, one might look at Herber’s (1978) research, in which he coined the phrase “content area reading”. He stated that teachers were charged with more than just providing instruction on their subject, but should also teach “the processes through which it is produced and learned” (as cited in Samuels and Farstrup, 2011, p.163-64), thus making content an integrated approach.


 * Historical Timeline **

Prior to the **1950's ** there was no differentiation between how students were taught reading in the elementary level vs. the secondary level. **1970's-** various studies take place looking at what makes a good reader vs. bad reader at the secondary level. **1978-** Herber coins the term content area reading. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">**1980's**- Through research studies the role of prior knowledge and schemata in learning as well as the use of previewing and structural organizers becomes important. There is a general trend that knowledge/content and process/strategy are linked. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">**1990's-** Research shows that reading strategically as a way to build knowledge is necessary to the strategic process. Advanced organizers, questioning & predicting, collaborative discussion, and think-alouds are all shown to help students engage strategically with the text and build knowledge at the same time. There is an implied general trend that knowledge/content and process/strategy are linked. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">**2000's-** In the last 10 years knowledge/content vs. process/strategy have been pitted against each other.
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">1966- **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;"> Ausubel and Ausubel (1966) studied Piaget's theory that children's minds switch from concrete operations to formal operations as they approach high school age. This changed how people viewed teaching secondary reading.


 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 20px;">Integration of Knowledge & Strategy **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Although most adolescent literacy has been based on either strategies or knowledge approach, researchers believe that these two strategies can be integrated in order to enhance adolescent literacy. Wigfield et al. (2004) created and studied the concept-oriented reading instruction. With this approach, teachers provide explicit instruction in reading strategies based on the processes of reading comprehension, activating background knowledge, questioning, searching for information, summarizing, organizing graphically, and learning story structure. The purpose of this strategy is specific knowledge goals that are connected to the classroom activities. This strategy showed growth in intrinsic motivation to read as well as self-efficacy. (Samuels and Farstrup, 2011)

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Moje and Speyer (2008) also studied the use of knowledge building and strategy use. They discovered that most students lacked components of necessary knowledge required by texts. In order to build the knowledge, students were presented with similar texts in order to learn how to understand the information provided. They also found that connecting knowledge and purpose for reading helped students with problem solving.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Content enhancement routines (Bulgren et al., 2007) situate reading as a learning activity in the process of disciplinary inquiry and use both strategic and knowledge building. The knowledge required prior to the task is provided and that it scaffolds to acquire critical facts, concepts, vocabulary, principles, procedures, and propositions that creates a good foundation. It is recommended to use general strategies and disciplinary strategies in order to achieve success in learning and reading.


 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 20px;">Conclusion **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Teachers do not have to choose between teaching strategies and building knowledge. In fact, the same reading comprehension strategies that are used in literacy classrooms are also important in disciplinary literacies. Strategies like prediction, questioning, self-monitoring, and summarization can be main stays in the content area; however, they may not be used in the same way as they are in the literacy classroom. For example, reading for the purposes of writing a summary of a text is similar across the disciplines in some ways, but there are significant departures for a summary of a narrative text versus one for a factual text. What is important here is that teachers recognize the value of a strategy and adapt it for their content area use.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Strategy instruction is not enough to propel students to higher levels of engaged reading. The reason we read is to gain knowledge, and for that, readers have to activate their prior knowledge and then build on that knowledge. Teachers know that students must make connections between what they already know and what they are learning. This is not always an easy task. Sometimes, students don’t have prior knowledge on a particular topic. Too be sure, teachers can provided scaffolding for students in order to build student knowledge. This is where the marriage between knowledge building and strategy instruction happens. Instruction of explicit reading strategies makes the text available to the student who can then build his or her knowledge.

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 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 20px;">Theory to Practice **

~ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 30px;">When teaching a westward expansion unit to fifth graders I provided learners with a graphic organizer labeled with Native Americans, African Americans, and Caucasian Americans on the top, and positive changes and negative changes on the left. As they read about various events, innovations, and groups they filled in the organizer. Through whole class discussions we talked about how things that learners wrote on their organizers illustrated on of the "big ideas" of our unit (Change of a nation has positive outcomes for some groups, while is has negative outcomes for other groups.) Providing them with an organizer to pick out important points along the way was the process, and having them analyze their content knowledge in the frame of our "big idea" was the content. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 30px;">(Tracey Love)

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: super;">~ One important element of reading mentioned in chapter 7 is the connection between knowledge and purpose for reading (p. 178). Each day, I post my agenda on the smart board; in addition to an objective for the lesson, I also highlight purpose, so students have an authentic reason for participating in each lesson and overall unit. For example, when I introduce the compare/contrast essay students write analyzing the similarities and differences between the Renaissance and the Harlem Renaissance, my first focus lesson answers the overarching questions why are we doing this? For what purpose? I find that by clarifying purpose from the start, students are far more dedicated to the unit, in addition to being better able to organize prior knowledge in conjunction with new material, thus increasing their content knowledge on a variety of levels. (Caroline Hagenbuch)

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">~The text recommends using anticipatory activities and literacy strategies that both activate prior knowledge and build off student interests and backgrounds. One of the strategies I commonly use in my classroom is Vocabulary Previewing which is an pre-reading activity that introduces students to key concepts & terms prior to reading engagement. Vocabulary Previewing is an effective way to activate prior knowledge as well as familiarize students with unfamiliar terms through class discussions and activities. Because vocabulary and fluency are closely linked to reading comprehension this is a great way to set students up for reading success. Currently in my English III course we are reading F. Scott Fitzgerald's, The Great Gatsby, at the beginning of the unit we reviewed terms and concepts from the 1920's period which they had recently learned in U.S. History class. Activating this prior knowledge allowed students to easily jump into the world of the fictional novel. To provide continued support, key vocabulary terms from each chapter are previewed and discussed. (Alicia Chambers)

<span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times,serif;">~ An area that I focus on in my teaching and coaching is the explicit instruction of metacognition. When students can articulate how they understand while they read, the reading process becomes visible to them. This is a powerful strategy because not only does it help students identify what strategies they use in the reading process, but it also supports their ability to make meaning with the text (build knowledge). I use a variety of tools to support students’ work in metacognition like teacher modelling, lots of opportunity for student talk, conferences, interviews, surveys, exit slips, and 3-2-1 forms. All of their metacognitive work is housed in a portfolio, and students are required to monitor, evaluate, and reflect on their use of the strategies and how they help students master the necessary information.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Here is a video showing metacognition in the classroom: []<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;"> (Julie Balen)

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">~ When reading cultural texts, I will also have my students complete graphic organizers (pre-reading, during reading and post-reading). For my Spanish IV classroom, the students read Pablo Neruda's ode poems. Before I begin this lesson, I have students read an excerpt of a poem and discuss what personification and symbolism are. As a class, we create samples of these literary elements using their prior knowledge in order to relate and understand how these terms are used. After reading the poem, we discussed why the author chose to give these everyday objects human qualities and what message he was trying to portray. Since I helped the students understand the terms and related it to their daily life, the students had a better understanding of the purpose of this literature and later able to create their own. (Liza Gonzalez)

====<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">~ A concept that I use to help students engage with not only reading strategies but also the content is the use of annotations. Students annotate a text for not only what is going but also for the structure of the writing, questions they have while writing, and connections they see to the real world, other pieces of literature and their own life. This encourages students to develop the skills that good readers automatically use while reading. (Erin Haemker) ====

**<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 20px;">Resources **

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'times new roman',times,serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: left;">Summarizing "Sum it Up": <span style="display: block; font-family: 'times new roman',times,serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: left;">media type="youtube" key="T7JAIMAw_Es?version=3" height="198" width="344"

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'times new roman',times,serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: left;">Teaching Inferences:media type="youtube" key="ReGpVvj3MOg?version=3" height="201" width="343"

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'times new roman',times,serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: left;">Question & Answer Relationship (QAR): <span style="display: block; font-family: 'times new roman',times,serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: left;">media type="youtube" key="U0o2jUFRpXc?version=3" height="204" width="347" media type="youtube" key="wsud7AQWva8?version=3" height="202" width="347"

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 0px; overflow: hidden;">media type="youtube" key="8zK-uJkK7SA?version=3" height="200" width="340"
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Directed Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA) Strategy: **


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Here are a few more links to reading strategies that support content literacy: **

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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">**Critical Reading & Writing Strategies:** The //Thinkquiry Toolkit//Text and website is a great resource for content literacy strategies. I love that the website provides access to templates you can easily modify to fit your lessons and units. []

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'times new roman',times,serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: left;">**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Vocabulary Enrichment-Word Walls: ** This links to an article that further discusses the use and importance of word walls, and offers a variety of ways in which to use them. []