10-second review. Preparing students to read: Give students a question, the answer to which is hidden in the text, that contradicts their prior beliefs.
Source: VA Ciardiello. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy (November.2003), 228-239. A publication of the International Reading Association (IRA).
Comment: This would be a good exercise in skimming. Beyond that, giving students a question to answer gives purpose for reading. And having a purpose for reading results in active rather than passive, pointless, purposeless reading. The worst, most boring reading assignment is “Open your books to page 35 and answer the questions at the end of the chapter.” Those directions have about as much motivation as a wet dish towel.
How do you help students read a difficult, apparently boring, apparently unfamiliar chapter in a textbook? Build up the students’ background knowledge of the topic of the chapter. Pre-teach unfamiliar vocabulary words. Either give students a purpose for reading in the form of a question or have the students preview by reading the first paragraph, the first sentence of each intermediate paragraphs and the last paragraph and raise their own questions to read to answer. After they have discussed the answers, have them apply or extend what they have learned. RayS.
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