“Developing My Reading Style”

Creating a Reading Survey/A Minilesson

Kathy Jhugdeo

 

Purpose

The goal of this minilesson is introduce a reading comprehension strategy to students that will teach them how to become better readers and writers. Students will work with a partner to create a reading survey.  Through this activity, students will learn the importance of developing reading skills that work best for them.  By learning reading skills that work best for them, students will produce writing that reflects their comprehension and understanding of the reading material. Students will then be able to produce writings that reflect the knowledge they have gained through their usage of this reading survey.

 

Objectives

NCSC:  6th grade

Competency Goal 1:  The learner will use language to express individual perspectives from personal or related experience.

1.02-     Explore expressive materials that are read, heard, and viewed by:

  • Generating a learning log or journal

 

NCTE/IRA:  6th grade

Standard 12:  Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information)

 

Time Required:  15 minutes

Activity: Students work with a partner to create a reading survey

Activity based on 26 students divided in to 13, 2-person teams

 

Materials Needed:

Paper, pencil

 

Script:

Good Morning Students.  Today in our Reading and Writing Workshop we are going to focus on developing our reading styles.  Before we begin, I would like to first ask you a question.  What is the most important quality that a good reader possesses?  (Possible answers:  they read a lot, they are smart, they read slowly they understand what they read, and they read well aloud) 

Now, we are going to divide into teams.  I will count you off in pairs and you will be with one other student. (You may number off students or can just group students in pairs who work well together)  You and your partner will then create a reading survey.  (Once students are in groups, you may then begin the activity)  At the top of your sheet of paper, I would like for you to write, “Reading Survey”.  (You may want to put this on the board.)  Next I would like you and your partner to begin listing questions that you would ask yourself as a reader who wants to really understand what they are reading. Please think about your reading styles, how you read, and what you may want to change.  Be sure to ask questions that affect your reading ability.  For example, “ When do I read better?”  Do I like to read with or without background noise?  Do I usually understand what I read?  (You may want to clarify that students are to write down questions that readers ask themselves.) Now that you have written your questions on your Reading Survey, I would then like you to turn to your partner and ask each other a very important question, “What would you change to become a better reader?” Record this question and your answers at the bottom of your reading survey and sign your name.

Debriefing:  Now that we have finished creating our reading surveys, can I have some volunteers to share these with the class? (Have students then volunteer to share their reading surveys.) I hope that this activity has helped you to see that there are many characteristics of good readers.  There is not a specific type of person that makes a good reader.  The most important thing is that we are aware of our reading styles.  Remember students, reading is a skill.  This reading strategy is just one of many ways that we can learn more about our reading styles and we can improve our reading through our awareness.  Thank you for working so hard on this activity.  We will be doing similar activities like this one throughout the year in our reading and writing workshops.