Appendices

Literacy Intervention Strategies

08.04.11
Appendix 1

SELF MANAGEMENT- Students need to learn what to do at each stage of reading

Self-scripts scaffold reading. Through learning self-scripts, a student learns to understand what they will do when they read. When teaching self scripts it is important to move the reader from "What did I do when I read?" to

"What will I do when I read?" The student will need to learn self scripts at each stage- before, while & after reading.

Stages of reading / Levels of text processing
Dispositional / Topic / Conceptual / Sentence / Word
Before- reading
or orienting stage / Focus on the purposes for reading: Why am I reading this text?
What will I look for as I read?
What will I know when I have finished reading?
The student will need to be able to generate & answer these questions independently. / Link text with what the reader knows using the title and cover.
What do I think the text is about? What might the key ideas be?
The purpose is to extend the knowledge necessary to successfully enter the text. / Link ideas in the text with what is known. Mapping is a useful strategy.
What ideas may be linked to these? What might happen next? What questions can I ask about it? / Focus on how the ideas might be verbalised.
How would I put these ideas into sentences? How could I tell or present these ideas to someone else? / The student will need to develop decoding skills through a structured program in order to be able to state:
What will I do when I come to a word I don’t know? What words will I see on this topic?
While –reading processing text and self monitoring
stage / Word level
·  use context of word & initial few sounds
·  read to end of sentence and re-read
·  use word analysis and re-read
Sentence level
·  break text into digestible bits, decide where to pause,
·  listen to themselves as they read,
·  act on ideas, put themselves in the context,
·  paraphrase, retell,
·  visualise what was read,
·  Does it make sense/fit in?
·  re-read, question
Conceptual level
·  summarise, What is the main idea so far?
·  infer, Why did that happen?
·  think ahead, predict, anticipate
·  review and consolidate, What do I know now?
·  underline, note down useful information
·  relate then to what they expected
·  gradually build an impression of the text.
After-reading or reviewing stage / Respond emotionally to the text.
Did I like the text? Were the ideas useful? Interesting? Funny? Frightening?
Why was the text written? / Review text understanding:
What did the text tell me?
Review and evaluate the reading strategies used whilst reading.
The student needs to be able to verbalise these.
What reading actions assisted me? / Learn by reading.
What new ideas have been learnt; How has my knowledge changed? What new ideas will I remember? / Add to his knowledge of language eg:
Paraphrase ideas in the text.
Note new expressions. / What new words were in the text?
Can I use a different word (synonym) for this word?
Do I need to find out the meaning of this word, to accurately suggest a synonym?

© John Munro

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Appendix 2

COMPREHENSION - SPONTANEOUS AND CUED RETELLING (Fiction/Narrative)

At the completion of reading (or listening to) a story/passage, ask the student to provide a spontaneous retelling of the story/passage in own words. Give 1 point to each main idea in the text. The key literal ideas and the ones you could infer have been given for the sample passage below.

Here is a practice passage and an example of how to create your own scoring chart.

Practice Passage

"No matter where you are on these islands", Sam said, " the beach is never far away".

"But some are better than others", Tom said.

Yes, that's right, Pat agreed. "Some are good for swimming. Others, the ones with big waves, are great for surfing".

"How is the beach we are going to?" Rob asked. " I've seen a lot of pictures of your beaches".

You'll like this one", Tom said.

The road went over a hill. Rob could hear the sound of the waves and smell the sea.

Characteristic of retelling / Ideas in the story / No of ideas/ points
Main characters / The main characters are Sam, Tom, Pat and Rob / 4
Theme of story / About boys who were going to the sea / 1
Plot of the story / One of the boys is new to the island and the others are taking him to a beach / 2
Events of the story / • Wherever you are on the island you're close to the sea
• Some of the beaches are good for swimming and others, with big waves, for surfing
• They are going along a road to a beach
• Tom said Rob would like this beach
• Rob could hear the waves and smell the sea / 1
1
1
1
1
Inferential ideas (infer, predict, explain, read between the lines) / • The island was small.
• All the boys except Rob lived on the island.
• Some beaches were ocean beaches.
• The land near the beach they were going to was hilly.
• The boys liked the sea / surfing/ swimming/ both. / 1
1
1
1
1

Following the spontaneous re-telling, use directed questioning to examine further comprehension (cued retelling), for example; for a narrative you can ask

Who else was in the story? What did they do? Did ..... happen first?

• Why did...... happen? What did they do?

Examine inferential knowledge by asking questions that go beyond the information given:

• Why do you think..... happened? Would it have happened it.....

• How do you think...... ?

Examine topic knowledge by asking questions that involve a summary of the information given:

• Make up a headline to say the main ideas in the story.

• What is a good title for the story?

Then score the child's answers, adding a new column next to the scores for the spontaneous answers.

Student's can be taught to spontaneously use these strategies while reading, to scaffold comprehension.

© John Munro

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COMPREHENSION - SPONTANEOUS AND CUED RETELLING Appendix 2 (Continued)

At the completion of reading (or listening to) a story/passage, ask the student to provide a spontaneous retelling of the story/passage in his/her own words. Give 1 point to each main idea in the text.

Create your own scoring, in the blank table below, for your selected passage.

Title of selected passage/story:

Optional: Cut & paste the story here.

Characteristic of retelling / Ideas in the story
(To be determined and written in the space provided, by the teacher,
prior to the student’s retell) / No of ideas/ points / Student’s score,
Spontaneous retell
Score / Student’s score,
for cued retell
Score
Setting
Main characters
Theme of story
Plot of the story
Events of the story
1.  Initiating event
2.  Attempt
(Action taken)
3.  Consequence
4.  Ending (resolution)
Inferential ideas (infer, predict, explain, read between the lines)

Cued questions: What happened next? What else can you remember? What happened in the beginning/middle/end of the story?

Specific cues: What lesson did we learn from the story? Where did the story take place? Who was the story about? What might happened next?

** Try to use general cued questions (in a testing situation) so you don’t ‘feed’ the answers to the student.

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Appendix 3a

COMPREHENSION - VISUALISING STRATEGY

Teaching visualising 'while reading' will assist the student's comprehension and will improve their oral expression.

TARGET STRATEGY Read

Image

Describe

Evaluate

Read on

Activity / Task Description
Text Reading
(Shared Reading Strategy) / In the first session
The teacher demonstrates the use of RIDER strategy during reading.
In future sessions
Student and teacher re-read passage from previous session.
The teacher cues use of the RIDER strategy during reading.
Image and describe / Student cued to describe the picture imaged in own mind, (at end of each sentence, or after a few sentences/paragraph, depending on the reader & text).
Evaluate / Students listen to other children describe what they imagined, and then evaluate their own description in light of other descriptions.
(If working one to one evaluate the reader's description with them.)
Reading on
(Shared Reading Strategy) / Student reads on and continues to use the RIDER strategy. Teacher cues student use of RIDER strategy during the reading.
Reflective / Student comments on what has been learnt in the session

* Cue cards available under the heading - 5. Visualising and verbalising

http://online.edfac.unimelb.edu.au/LiteracyResearch/pub/Projects/P_list.htm


Appendix 3b

COMPREHENSION - PARAPHRASING

Activity / Task Description / Time
Text Retelling
(Passage from Previous Session) / Students re-tell passage from the previous session. They say what they remember about the text. / 3 – 5 mins
Text Reading
(Shared Reading Strategy)
(Passage from Previous Session) / Students and teacher re-read passage from previous session. Teacher cues use of paraphrasing during the reading. "How would you say it another way?" The reader reads each sentence and then retells it in her / his own words, changing as many words as possible, while retaining the meaning. / 5 - 8 mins
Synonyms
(Passage from Previous Session) / Students are cued to retell in their own words sentences read to them from the story they read in the previous session. / 5 mins
Reading Target Words
(New Passage) / Students match key content words from the text to be read with synonyms. They can do this by sorting word cards and placing each card on synonyms in the story. / 3 - 6 mins
Writing Target Words
(New Passage) / Students write key content words from the new text to be read by copying each from its card. / 3 - 6 mins
Text Reading
(Shared Reading Strategy)
(New Passage) / Students say the paraphrasing strategy before they begin to read: “After I have read each sentence I will try to say it my way. I will change as many words as I can.” Student reads passage. Teacher cues the student to paraphrase aloud after each sentence read in the text. / 8 - 12 mins
Reflective / Student comments on what has been learnt in the session / 3 mins
30 - 45 mins

© John Munro


Appendix 3b (continued)

First session introducing paraphrasing

Introduce the strategy: We are learning things you can do to help you read. One thing you can do is to make a picture in your mind. Today we are going to learn another thing you can do,

What you do is tell yourself what you have read. After you have read a sentence, you say it to yourself, in your own way. You try to change as many words as you can.

Let’s practise it.

Teacher models paraphrasing and cues student activity: Look at the first sentence. I will read it and I want you to read it to yourself with me. Then I will try saying it another way. Then I will ask you to try.

Read some sentences that have accompanying pictures with the child. After each sentence, you model paraphrasing it and then have the student practise it. You may need to begin with changing individual words in sentences first (that is, the students suggest synonyms).

Sentence read / Teacher / Students paraphrase
A monster came to live in a city. He wanted to find a place to live. / Read sentence twice
Model paraphrasing: This monster moved to a new town. He needed to get a house for him to stay in.
Now you try saying it in your words.
He needs to get to know the city. After he bought a map he looked for a bus. / Read sentence twice
Model paraphrasing: He wants to find what is in the town. First he got a map. Then he searched around for a bus stop.

Teacher reviews the action: Let us look at what we did here. We read each sentence and then said it in other ways. See how it helped you to understand what the text said.

Do you have any questions?

Appendix 3b (continued)

Teacher models and students practise: Let’s do this together with another paragraph. Read this text.

Teacher reviews the action: What do you tell yourself to do when you paraphrase.

Student transfers the action to other texts

Students paraphrase texts individually: Now you are going to practise doing this to some sentences all by yourself. Try to think of a different way of saying each sentence. Read each sentence. Say it to yourself in another way and write down what you thought of. Try not to use words that are in each written sentence.

Students review what they did. Teacher says: At the end of our first session can you tell me what you know about paraphrasing and what steps you should follow to paraphrase a text.

Students' possible answers:

1. The first step in paraphrasing is to read a text.

2. The second step is to ask yourself questions about the main idea and details.

3. The third step is to put the main ideas and details into your own words using complete sentences.

Session 2 and so on…

During this session, the student consolidates the use of the strategy. The student reviews the steps involved in paraphrasing and the teacher gives additional practice in paraphrasing single sentences and paragraphs. Monitor the students’ work and give appropriate feedback. Pupils transfer the strategy to new texts by being shown a text and saying what they will do.