Ingredients of a Directed Reading-Thinking Activity -

DR-TA

Step One - Begin with the title of the narrative or with a quick survey of the title, subheads, illustrations, etc. Ask questions such as:

· “What do you think this story will be about?”

· “What do you think the author’s purpose for writing this story might be?”

or if it’s a text section

· “In what ways will this text inform you?”

Encourage the students to make predictions and follow their predictions with

· “Why do you think so?”

Step Two - Ask students to read silently to a predetermined logical stopping point in the text. You may wish to mark the spot in the text or article so that the students who are tempted to read ahead won’t.

Step Three - Repeat the questions suggested in Step One. Some predictions will be refined; new ones will be formulated. To encourage clarification or verification, ask,

· “How do you know?”

Redirect questions.

Step Four - Continue silent reading to another suitable point. Ask similar questions.

Step Five, etc. - Continue in this way to the end of the material. A note of caution: Too frequent interruption of reading may detract from the focus of attention, which needs to be on larger concepts. As readers move through the DR-TA process, encourage reflection and thoughtful responses to the text.

To apply DR-TA to informational texts

Step One - Identify purposes for reading - it is extremely important that you take time to accomplish this -

· Ask, “What will the author present in this chapter?” then record speculations on board and ask, “Why do you think so?”

· Lead guided discussion - pay special attention to terminology and unclear concepts

· Take polls of students

Step Two - Adjust reading rates to fit the purpose for reading the material. Students should be guided in understanding that some text may be:

· skimmed,

· scanned or

· studied

Students should also be guided to see if their predictions were correct.

Step Three - Carefully observe students while they read. Assist when needed. Watch for posture, movement of lips, etc.

Step Four - Guide reader-text interactions. Continually check the students’ purposes for reading. Rework predictions and make more hypotheses.

Step Five - Extend learning through discussion, further reading, additional study, or writing. Students and teacher should identify future needs by:

· determining if predictions were inaccurate or accurate

· revising predictions

· etc.

Discussion in small groups is very helpful in accomplishing this. The teachers should also ask open-ended questions that encourage students to encourage generalization and application of significant concepts. Ask:

· How do you know that

· Why did you think so?

· etc.