The main goal of every Literature teacher is to develop good readers and writers. In other to achieve this objective, teachers use a variety of before, during and after reading strategies to provide students opportunities to interact with the texts.
Before Reading activity:
ANTICIPATION GUIDE: What we already know determines to a great extent what we will pay attention to, perceive, learn, remember, and forget. (Woolfolk, 1998). An anticipation guide is a series of questions or statements (usually 8 to 10) related to the topic or point of view of a particular text which allows students to make prediction about the text before they begin to read. While reading or after reading students can confirm or reject these predictions .It helps students activate prior knowledge and experiences. Furthermore, anticipation guides help students develop a purpose for reading and “encourages students to make personal connections with a topic or unit of work.” In addition to the questions posed by the teacher, students scrutinize the cover page of the book, its layout and even the blurb
During reading
INTERACTIVE NOTEBOOK: A valuable strategy to engage students in while reading the text is the interactive notebook. This strategy facilitates interaction and reflection and is effective in formative assessment. It allows students to make connections with the text and their world. In this process the teacher is present only in the classroom (discussions, lectures, reading etc) “Interactive notebooks promote organization, engage students, and encourage students to process information, combine words and visuals, become a working portfolio, and demonstrate critical thinking.”
After reading
One of the most common strategies used after reading is LITERATURE CIRCLES. They are often referred to as book clubs. Members of the circle meet on a regular basis to discuss the text they have read. It therefore means that the members have to read the same book. Literature circles provide opportunities for students to “read books in a supportive environment and then discuss the books in ways that make sense.” Within the Literature circle each student is given a role which they have to fulfill and “bring [the] information to the weekly meetings.” These roles are:
The passage master: who finds interesting, difficult and important passages from the text and helps the group members to understand them through group discussions.
The illustrator: summarizes the event in the story through the use of visuals such as concept maps, pictures etc.
The connector: finds ways in which the story connects to things group members know. He/she makes connection between the text and other text, personal experiences and or the world.
The word wizard: picks out new, difficult, interesting and important words from the text and has to provide meaning or explanation for each word and also has to explain why the word was chosen.
The questioner: constructs questions to guide the group discussions.
Some activities which can be integrated in the literature circle are:
YFish bowl
YJigsaw
YTime line
YPair/share journals
When teachers include the before, during and after reading strategies into their planning, it will transform the Literature class and make it fun, interesting and exciting.
http://www.lkdsb.net/program/elementary/intermediate/di/files/25strategies(anticipation%20guide).pdf
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