Letting students read what they want--this has been tested out in a  
federal study I worked on--higher scores when own material is used.

Andrea

On Sep 26, 2008, at 10:58 AM, Bruce C wrote:


>

>

> That's a great idea Steve. It makes me think...

>

> When teachers have students read, how much pre-reading preparation  

> do they do? If we just open the book to page one, and ask students  

> to start decoding for us, we are asking them to read in an very  

> unnatural way. That's not what I do when I read. I think it's a  

> good idea to teach students ALL the strategies that good readers  

> need--not just decoding.

>

> In addition to letting students choose what they are reading, there  

> are many other things to do:

>

> For nonfiction, discussion of the topic addressed in the reading  

> helps readers focus on content and provide a useful context for  

> decoding. For example, if we are reading an article about the  

> current economic situation and home foreclosures, the class can  

> discuss what they know about home-buying. (Probably more than I  

> do.) That makes decoding easier and more accurate. Students can use  

> the discussion to support  decoding. For example, if a word starts  

> with "h-o" and ends with "s-e," it's probably not "horse."

>

> For fiction and nonfiction, discussions of the pictures (if there  

> are any) and the title can help. If I ask students what they think  

> PAT KING's FAMILY is going to be about, words like family, parent,  

> children, son, daughter, mother and father are probably going to  

> come up. Again, that provides support and guidance as students decode.

>

> Making predictions is a great strategy for any reading. If students  

> make predictions based on pictures, titles, and background  

> knowledge, they are more likely to focus on comprehension and not  

> just meaningless phonetic decoding.

>

>> From Bruce Carmel

> Turning Point

> Brooklyn, NY

>

>>

>> On Sep 25, 2008, at 11:50 PM, Steve Kaufmann wrote:

>>

>>> I agree that this, and other information provided by

>> Mr. Sticht, is

>>> very interesting.

>>>

>>> I find that in reading Russian, which I am studying,

>> the more

>>> familiar I am with the subject the better I do at

>> negotiating

>>> meaning from sentences and paragraphs. If I am

>> interested in the

>>> subject, and have heard an audio file of the content,

>> I get

>>> momentum which helps me create meaning out of the

>> words.

>>>

>>> I wonder if we should not put more effort into

>> allowing learners to

>>> choose content to read that they are interested in and

>> familiar

>>> with, and allowing them listen to a recording of it

>> before reading.

>>> In time the recording may cease to be necessary.

>>>

>>> Steve

>>>

>>>

>>> -- 

>>> Steve Kaufmann

>>> www.lingq.com

>>> 1-604-922-8514

>>> ----------------------------------------------------

>>> National Institute for Literacy

>>> Adult Literacy Professional Development mailing list

>>> professionaldevelopment at nifl.gov

>>>

>>> To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings,

>> please go to

>>>

>> http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/professionaldevelopment

>>>

>>> Professional Development section of the Adult Literacy

>> Education Wiki

>>> http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/

>>> Adult_Literacy_Professional_Development

>>

>> ----------------------------------------------------

>> National Institute for Literacy

>> Adult Literacy Professional Development mailing list

>> professionaldevelopment at nifl.gov

>>

>> To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please

>> go to

>> http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/professionaldevelopment

>>

>> Professional Development section of the Adult Literacy

>> Education Wiki

>> http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/ 

>> Adult_Literacy_Professional_Development

>

>

>

> ----------------------------------------------------

> National Institute for Literacy

> Adult Literacy Professional Development mailing list

> professionaldevelopment at nifl.gov

>

> To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to  

> http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/professionaldevelopment

>

> Professional Development section of the Adult Literacy Education Wiki

> http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/ 

> Adult_Literacy_Professional_Development