Section 4.3: Core Content Areas

 

The particular material that an individual literacy program focuses on depends on its mandate. For example, a General Education Development or similar academically oriented program will include traditional subjects such as English and Mathematics. A life skills literacy program such as those found in correctional institutions may include anger management, relationship building, and so on. All programs, however, need to cover core or foundational areas including reading, writing, spelling, and more recently, numeracy and the computer. These are the 'meat and potatoes' of literacy if you will.  These core areas are discussed below. It is crucial to remember that although techniques are given in separate sections for each literacy area, the learning sessions you design should integrate and frame them against authentic themes.

 

Section 4.3.1: Reading – Reading  is a search for meaning. Low literacy adults often have the mistaken impression that reading is simply a case of knowing all of the words in a piece of text. But as experienced fluent readers know, reading is about much, much more. The descriptions of newer and more experienced readers below nicely highlights this:

 

New readers ....	Experienced readers.....
Tend to view reading as knowing all the words	Are aware that the purpose of reading is to engage in an active search for meaning
Read slowly, word by word	Read quickly and look for key words and ideas in the text
Often fail to connect background knowledge with new information that they read	Integrate information from what they read with background information
Have difficulty connecting ideas in the text	Make meaningful connections among ideas stated or inferred in the text
Often don't realize they have lost track of the main ideas in the text and are no longer comprehending what they are reading	Continually monitor themselves to ensure they are comprehending what they are reading
Cannot or do not adapt their approach to reading depending on the text (i.e., level of difficulty, purpose of the text, etc.)	Continually adapt their approach (e.g., attention level, reading rate), depending on the text (i.e., level of difficulty, purpose of the text, etc.)

 

We need to comprehend the words we read as an organized whole. Several possible reasons for a lack of comprehension include:

 

·       Failure to understand a specific word or words

 

·       Failure to understand a sentence

 

·       Failure to understand how sentences relate to one another

 

·       Failure to understand how the information fits together in a meaningful way

 

·       Lack of interest or concentration

 

Not only do we need to help our new learners with the mechanics of reading (e.g., vocabulary building, learning grammar guidelines, sounding out words, decoding words, substituting words for unknown words, using the dictionary), but with the purpose of reading (i.e., comprehension, analysis, and utilization of material or active reading).

 

The table below describes learners in terms of their reading ability for each of the three stages used in Manitoba. Appropriate techniques and strategies, and objectives and materials for each stage are identified for each stage. Please note that we have only included a small number of reading strategies to get you going with your learner(s) while not overwhelming you. You are encouraged to locate and use other resources in your tutoring such as the Journeyworkers course resource and once you have a bit of time under your belt, to take the more detailed courses offered by ALL. 

 

	Stage One	Stage Two	Stage Three
Ability	- generally very reluctant to try reading anything   - read some high-frequency words and simple sentences                                - retell in simple terms stories that have been read to him/her, as well as make simple evaluations and interpretations of their content   - connect, with the tutor's help, what is read to him/her with real experiences	- often are still uncomfortable and hesitant about reading, although somewhat more willing to take risks   - read materials that contain the most common sight words and require knowledge of consonants, short vowels, blends, clusters, syllables, and common phonics rules such as the silent "e" rule   - independently relate parts of what is read to his/her own experience   - make predictions about what is being read   clarify new terms in context, confirm predictions, summarize, interpret, and analyze the content in simple terms	- much more confident about reading   - read fiction and nonfiction materials with literal and inferential comprehension   - clarify new words; make predictions and answer "if-then" questions   - summarize reading passages  and answer questions that require analysis, synthesis, and evaluation of the material being read   - support answers to questions about the reading by drawing on background knowledge and upon literal and inferential information from the text.
Techniques & Strategies	Vocabulary building   Listening - the student listens and follows along as the tutor reads aloud. After reading a passage, the tutor can ask the learner to point out words that she remembers. The learner can choose words from the passage that she wants to learn to read, and these words can be placed on a list or on flashcards.   Echo Reading - the tutor reads a phrase or sentence and the student repeats it. This method allows the student to see, hear, and say the words. Just as in the listening approach, students can choose words or sentences they want to practice by placing them on a list or on flashcards.    Language Experience Approach  (LEA) Material is dictated by the learner and the tutor writes it down exactly as it is said. Students use familiar words in a meaningful context, and this ensures that reading material is interesting and relevant, fits it into an existing framework of knowledge, is at the appropriate level, and integrates other literacy skills (e.g., writing, spelling). The disadvantages include a lack of new vocabulary and writing styles, does not demonstrate correct grammar and punctuation, and does not challenge reading comprehension.	Vocabulary Building    Duet Reading: both the student and the tutor read aloud at the same time. The student can either read aloud, sub-vocalize (read under her breath), or just move her lips. The pace is important. It should be slow enough to allow the student to keep up yet fast enough to facilitate comprehension.   Reading Aloud - the student reads aloud to the tutor. Reading aloud is one way to pinpoint certain difficulties; i.e. tracking from left to right, word attack skills, and sight word recognition. Words that give your student difficulty can be used later for isolated practice.	Vocabulary Building   Silent Reading  - the student reads silently. Silent reading is the type of reading most readers do. In school, work, and life, most people are called on to read material to themselves and then discuss it. After a learner finishes a reading selection, check comprehension through discussion or a writing activity.
Objectives	- Begin to develop reading  comprehension by using fill-in-the-blank techniques such as cloze exercises.	- Develop reading comprehension by having the student identify the main idea, recall some details and main characters, and identify the sequence of events   - Develop the student's predictive ability using the Directed Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA). Students are given the beginning of a story and are asked to speculate on what might happen next. This helps learners to think about the purpose of the text they are reading. (For further information about DRTA, see pp. 49-51 of the resource Journeyworkers  )	- Read aloud using appropriate pace, rhythm and intonation   - Read increasingly complex texts; - Participate in guided and independent discussions that promote comprehension and higher-order thinking
Materials	- Language Experience Approach material   - Everyday items such as signs, flyers, brochures, menus, recipes	- Simple to moderately difficult text and graphical material  (e.g., some books and magazines, food and medicine packages, the newspaper, the television guide etc).	- Increasingly challenging text and graphical material (e.g., fiction/non-fiction books, newspapers, magazines, textbooks, instructions or directions, etc.

 

Some basic reading techniques are outlined below. Please also refer to your Journeyworkers resource, as well as use the Internet resources listed at the end of this section.

 

"DISSECT" 

 

This strategy provides a simple mnemonic for dealing with unknown words:

 

·       Discover the word's context.

 

·       Isolate the prefix.

 

·       Separate the suffix.

 

·       Say the stem or root word.

 

·       Examine the stem or root word.

 

·       Check with someone.

 

·       Try the dictionary.

 

Cloze Exercises

 

Cloze exercises are helpful for improving reading comprehension. Certain words are deleted from each sentence in a passage. A rule of thumb is to delete every ninth word for beginners and every fifth word for those who are more advanced. The learner then has to fill in the blanks with a word that makes sense based on the meaning or context of the sentence.

 

You can either write a passage yourself if you want to work on a particular area or theme. You can have the student dictate (if a beginner) or write (if more advanced) something themselves. For example, in the language experience activity in the previous section, the learner dictated a passage about computers. The tutor could then turn it into a cloze exercise as shown below:

 

I want to learn computers so I can get ________ better paid job. Now I work at McDonald's and it's hard ________ get by on not much money. Computers are used to do lots ________ cool things. Love to have one ________ home, but can't afford it.   Don't know how hard learning them is, but I'd like  ________ try anyway.

There are many different variations or ways in which to use this type of exercise. In the example below, in addition to reading comprehension the tutor is starting to work on computer basics with the learner, so she has used a cloze exercise to blend or integrate the two.

 

Computers can be a lot of fun, ________ they can also be very confusing. The more you know ________ them, the more fun they are. The computer's main job ________ to run programs.   Programs are instructions in a language ________ computers and programmers understand.  When you want run ________  program, you type its name and ________ computer goes and gets the program off the hard drive. It brings it ________ its short-term storage (called RAM), and then you can run it.  The most common program is used ________ word processing.

 

Words = (for, about, is, into, but, that, the, to, a)

 

Directed Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA)

 

The objective of this activity is to develop a learner's skill in reading critically and getting into the habit of predicting what might happen. This increases reading comprehension. The steps in a DRTA lesson typically include:

 

1.    Ask the learner to make a prediction about what might happen in a story based on available clues such as pictures or the title of the story.

 

2.    Have the learner read the story.

 

3.    Have the learner confirm, adjust or revise his/her prediction.

 

4.    Reread the story. Repeat Steps 2 and 3 as required.

 

Conduct follow up activities (e.g., word recognition, comprehension activities, discussions, writing, etc).

 

Reading Resources on the Internet

 

·       Developing Reading Skills – LinguaLinks

·       Adult Education Reading Instruction – Partnership for Reading

·       Techniques for Teaching Beginning Level Reading to Adults – by A. Hager, Focus on Basics, Vol. 5, Issue A, Aug 2001

·       Handbook of Effective Literacy Instruction by  T. Rasinski and N. Pada, 1995, Kent State University

·       Reading Skills Toolbox – Texas Centre for Adult Literacy and Learning

·       Effective Reading Strategies – University of Otago Student Learning Centre

·       Assessing Reading/Instructional Materials – Demystifying Adult Literacy for Tutors

·       Web Based Resources for Teaching Reading – Columbia University Teacher’s College 

·       Reading Comprehension Muskingum College Center For Advancement Of Learning, Learning Strategies Database

·       Instructional Model For Guided Reading - Tuscon United School District Department of Education

·       Reading Difficulties – Auckland School of Education

·       Shared Reading – Montgomery County Public Schools Reading Language Arts

·       Shared Reading -  Basic Skills Magazine - January 1988 issue

·       Guided Reading – English Online

·       Guided Reading -  Montgomery County Public Schools Reading Language Arts

·       Cloze Type Dictation Exercise – College of Humanities, Brigham Young University

·       Reading Comprehension Worksheets (K-12) – RHL School

·       Personal Journals, Reading Logs and Dialogie Journals – Tuscon United School District Department of Education

·       Research Conclusions Critical to Reading – ToRead.com

·       Learning Resources - Western/Pacific LINCS

·       Guidelines for Reading Tutoring Sessions – North Western Regional Educational Laboratory

·       Ask ERIC Lesson Plans: Reading (K-12)

·       ProTeacher Reading Lesson Plans (K-12)

·       The Reading Room - online magazines, books and newspapers from the Internet Public Library

·       Fluency Through Fables - Comenius English Language Center

·       Adobe Acrobat eBooks

·       Books Online – University of Pennsylvania Digital Library

·       International Reading Association

·       Reading for Pleasure – by S. Cuban, Focus on Basics, Vol. 5, Issue A, Aug 2001

 

 

On to Section 4.3.2

 

Back to Contents

 

(Page updated November 13, 2002 )