The mere topic of Reading in the Content Area, for most teachers, brings on a certain element of angst.  Content area subjects, whether it be Science, Social Studies or Math, at grade level, can be tricky at best for most students to learn and for teachers to teach.  With an array of student reading levels, experiences and other struggles, content area teachers have become increasingly perplexed with not only how to teach the content, but also how to solve the age old question, “My students don’t know how to read the content!  What am I supposed to do about it?  I’m not a reading teacher!”  In this two part article I will first address the topics of “How do readers think?”; from there I will provide strategies that engage the readers to interact with content area material.  In the second part, to be published on August 9th, I will address the question of how struggling readers can be supported in the content area classroom. Let’s get started!

Before we answer the question, “How do readers think?” we must first define the concept of independent and dependent readers.  As Kylene Beers stated in her book, When Kids Can’t Read, What Teachers Can Do, she stated, “Dependent readers typically appeal to the teacher for help, stop reading when it’s difficult and don’t have the goal to read to understand.  Where independent readers first have goals for their reading, use strategies for getting through the text, and know how to make meaning of the text to comprehend.”  THIS is what we want!  We want independent readers!

So, how do we get there?  Regardless if you are a content area teacher or an ELA teacher, there are numerous strategies to engage students in reading the material.  Please note, I am not proposing content area teachers teaching phonemic awareness, phonics and fluency.  I am proposing teaching actual strategies for students to read on grade level content area material.  Strategies that will engage them before, during and after reading the material.  In fact, Toargesen, et al (2007) stated, “A consistent recommendation for improved adolescent reading achievement and literacy comprehension is that strategies be taught by content area teachers using subject specific reading materials.”  

Our next step in helping our students become independent readers would be defining reading comprehension.  While there are a myriad of definitions provided by very well known experts in reading, I will use the one written by the International Literacy Association who state that, “Reading comprehension starts first with the literal understanding of what is read and then the ability to connect that understanding with the reader’s own knowledge and experiences.  Readers become active and critical consumers of the text.”  That is independent reading!

When suggesting strategies to teach students before, during and after reading content area material, we as teachers need to make sure that they are foundational strategies you know can be taught and easily used throughout the year.  As stated by Keys to Literacy, “Educators can use multiple strategies to help struggling readers become more active and strategic readers, thus having before, during and after reading strategies is most beneficial.”   Strategies must be explicit, and include modeling, guided practice with feedback and scaffolding(Torgesen et al, 2008).

Let’s first look at a few Before Reading Strategies that can be used to help our readers comprehend the material.  The main goal in teaching “Before reading strategies” is front loading the information and helping those dependent, passive readers to begin thinking about what they are about to read.  We want our students to be able to: access prior knowledge, engage in portions of the text prior to reading, think about sequencing, cause and effect, make inferences and predict.  We also want our students to be able to identify vocabulary that might be a problem and to understand why they are about to start reading. Before reading strategies might include:  

• Anticipation Guides– Independent readers anticipate what they are going to read; they get excited or at the very least, are focused.  Dependent readers just start reading with no reason or goal in mind.  Anticipation guides activate students’ prior knowledge and encourage them to make a connection and to participate in the material. 
• SQ3R – Students Survey, Question, Read, Recite, Review. 
  • Survey—Have students preview the title, pictures, graphs, or captions, then read the first and last paragraph of the article.  Make a list below of the main points or objectives you find.
  • Question—Have students write questions based on their survey of the text.
  • Read—Have students read and answer the questions that they wrote down.
  • Recite—Have students look over their questions and be able to recite the answers without looking them up.
  • Review—Have students summarize what they wrote.

Independent readers are constantly reading and rereading passages as well as asking themselves,”what is going on here, what does this mean, etc.”  Dependent readers do not see reading as active.  They see reading as a passive, reading of words to get it done.  “During Reading Strategies” help all readers take action while reading.  It is imperative for the teacher and students to talk about the text DURING the reading, not just after!  Some strategies include:

• Say Something – This simple strategy was created by my former professors at Indiana University, Doctors Jerry Harste and Carolyn Burke (1988).  The premise is for two students to work in partners and “say something” about what they just read, whether it be to ask a question, make a prediction, clarify something that might be misunderstood, make a comment or connection.  If you can’t do one of the above, you need to reread!
• Rereading – Most students are not encouraged to reread!  From kindergarten to post secondary, my students have heard me say, ”REREAD,REREAD,REREAD!” Independent readers do this all of the time, adults do this all of the time; dependent readers do not and the only reason is because they have not been taught or encouraged to do so.  Rereading is the best kept secret! As teachers, we need to help all of our students to reread several times to understand the text.

After Reading Strategies typically tell us how much our students have comprehended but to dependent readers, after a passage is read, they are done!  Independent readers want to ask more questions, connect what they read to a personal experience, compare and summarize what they read to another passage. Independent readers anticipate discussion of some kind or open ended reflection.  Dependent readers typically wait for a closed question and answer activity.  They don’t anticipate discussion.  As teachers, we need to take the time to discuss. “After reading strategies” that promote discussion or retellings are:

• It Says, I Say, And So – As a visual organizer, this strategy helps students make inferences and is a visual that helps students organize their thoughts and connect to their prior knowledge.  The students read a question, find the answer in the passage, tell what they think about it and then combine the two to come up with the answer.  It is a DOK 3 activity. 
• Save the Last Word for Me – Doctors’ Harste and Burke(1996) created this strategy to foster oral language, which most of our students, today, are struggling with.  It is a great strategy for getting our students to open up and express themselves.  After reading the text, students are given three cards and asked to write down three different passages that they liked from the text.  On the other side of the card, they write why they liked the passage.  Once they have completed the assignment, they get into small groups and read their passages, the other students are encouraged to comment; then the student who wrote it gets to have the last word.