Re-Reading with a Purpose
Beers (2003) suggests that re-reading is the number one strategy that independent readers use when difficulty in understanding is experienced. To encourage struggling students to use this strategy, the teacher will request that students re-read a passage with a purpose in mind. (When Kids Can't Read: What Teachers Can Do, pp. 111 - 119)
For example, when reading a novel, the teacher might ask students to read Chapter One and write any questions, predictions, or responses that they might have. Then, re-read the chapter looking for information about one of the characters and answer the question what do you know of the character that you did not know before you read the chapter. Finally, students are instructed to read the chapter examining the text for information about another character.
With this method, students can discover the value of re-reading through experience. Beers suggests several points when implementing this strategy: 1) Prove to students that re-reading is valuable, 2) Model your thinking as you re-read a text, 3) Then give students specific tasks as they re-read, and 4) After students have re-read, review what happened. Debriefing after the re-reading activity is critical to students' acceptance of the strategy. Each time a rereading occurs, one's understanding of text is revised.
When introducing re-reading to students, it is helpful to use short passages. James Patterson's novels for adolescents as well as other author's, provide short chapters that are useful for this process.
Reference:
Beers, K. 2003. When kids can't read; What teachers can do. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
http://www.vanguardnyc.net/foodforthought/mainidea111509.pdf
Re-reading at the Sentence Level (Vocabulary Prediction)
Gallagher (2004) also suggests a re-reading strategy where the teacher might identify vocabulary from a passage and ask students to make predictions of their meaning prior to reading the passage. A chart might be used as noted below:
Word |
Prediction Before Reading |
Prediction After Reading |
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Gallagher suggests six words from a passage of three paragraphs. After reading for discovering the meaning of the word, the students will re-read the passage to assure that they have predicted the meaning correctly. (pp. 74-76)
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