I Want to Read Better

Description of Learner:
Najiba is a 38 year old woman from Afghanistan. She immigrated to the United States at age 17 and attended secondary school for about a year. Because she lacked adequate English proficiency, she was unable to keep up with her classes; she became discouraged and dropped out. As an adult, she enrolled in a literacy program where she completed an ESOL (English as a Second Language) curriculum with a volunteer tutor. Najiba entered our local adult education program with the goal of improving her reading.

Challenge Faced:
Najiba struggles with new words and has difficulty figuring out their meanings in context. Thus, she often misses the meaning of the passage and has little comprehension of what she reads.

What We Did:
Based on the results of a grade 2 through 8 informal reading surveys of comprehension skills, I selected several reading materials on Najiba's reading level. From these, she selected a book and a passage about assisting someone who was choking from food caught in the throat and blocking the windpipe. This selection had no title, but it contained several diagrams. Together we looked at the illustrations and discussed each of them. We scanned the passage for key words: symptom, blockage, oxygen, and Heimlich maneuver. Najiba wrote the words and I encouraged her to guess at their meanings. Even when she didn't know, I encouraged her to guess. I asked her to close the book, and predict what she thought the passage was about. I asked if she had any experience with someone choking and if she knew what to do. I asked what she expected to learn from the passage and how she thought this information might be useful for her. She then read the passage, and we returned to the diagrams and illustrations to discuss them a second time. We talked about our earlier predictions and if there were any changes or additions to her predictions or what she thought she would learn? We went back to the key words and Najiba added and changed some of her first definitions. Four multiple-choice questions accompanied this passage, and we discussed why each choice would or would not be a reasonable answer.

Analysis:
Because reading is an active thinking process, these pre-reading activities focused on Najiba's involvement with a minimum of teacher paraphrasing. Although Najiba was reluctant to offer predictions during our first session, she grew more confident in taking risks as we worked over time. The processes of predicting, reading, and verifying information added necessary reinforcement to her understanding. Relating pre-reading questions to her background knowledge helped prepare her mind for the topic, and allowed her to decide if the information would be useful to her.

What I Learned:
Because Najiba is an active participant in the pre-reading process, she has a better understanding of how reading involves the thinking process. If she responds with "I don't know," I respond with "while you may not know, what do you think it might be?" I allow adequate time for her to formulate responses, and I make no value judgments about her answers. Reassured that all responses were acceptable, this strategy lessens my 'telling' and increases her participation.

Najiba, Group Discussion:

I noticed that you had the student select the book and the passage. Why didn't you as the teacher assign the materials?
I asked her to select the book and passage, because I wanted her to become engaged from the beginning in making decisions that involve her learning. This was a small but significant step in helping her take responsibility for her learning.

When the teacher allows students to guess at key words and they miss the definitions, how will this affect their understanding of the material?
You will notice that we returned to her predictions and key words to revise both when necessary. After reading, Najiba gains new knowledge and the revisions reinforce her understanding of the content and help cement the meaning of new vocabulary.

I noticed that you always go back to the student. Aren't you tempted to give her the answers?
Of course, I am tempted to give prompts and answers. However, I have found that giving students a 10 to 15 second "wait time" increases their willingness to respond and their answers are more often correct. To make sure I am giving enough response time, I count the seconds in my head.

What do you mean reading is an active thinking process?
In this case, the student is talking about words and meanings, writing words and meanings and then reading them. The prediction process allows the student to think about and evaluate the information, take a position with respect to the material presented, and decide whether or not the information is going to be or is useful.

Summary:

Director's Comments:

Making a mistake while guessing a word and/or its meaning and then returning to correct, expand, and discuss it is an excellent way to bring new learning to the student's awareness. Often, teachers plan a lesson, teach it and never make clear to students what they are learning. Overt, specific attention to the learning process allows students abundant clarity regarding what is being learned. The active thinking process means the learner vicariously interacts with the author and the material in meaningful ways. It is as if they carry on a conversation with each other about the material, and the teacher serves as a guide to help them communicate.