Tip #118 from 365 Teacher Secrets for Parents (McKinley, Trombly) - Directed Reading - Thinking Activity (DRTA)
Today's tip for parents from two talented teachers comes from 365 Teacher Secrets for Parents by Cindy McKinley Alder and Patti Trombly.
#118
DRTA: Directed Reading-Thinking Activity
Oh, magic hour, when a child first knows she can read printed words!
~A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Directed Reading Thinking Activity is a comprehension strategy that focuses on helping children ask questions about the text and make predictions before reading. This technique encourages students to be active readers and gives them a purpose for reading. It also helps them monitor their understanding of the text as they are reading. In this strategy, the parent is involved. When your child has an informational reading assignment, you should preview the length and determine a few stopping points in the text where you will ask your child to stop reading. Before he begins to read, let him know where he should stop reading. Then, use the following outline to guide him:
Direct: Ask him to make predictions about what he might learn in the text. Use the survey method in the SQ3R strategy for specific examples (Idea #96.)
Read: Have him read until the first pre-selected stopping point. Ask him about his predictions. Try to ask him specific questions about this section. Look for bold faced words, and ask him the meaning. Look for pictures, and ask what they represent. Scan the page for names, and ask who they are and what they’ve done.
Think: After reading, he should consider his predictions to find out if they were correct. Using what he’s learned in the first pre-selected section, he may want to alter his predictions before reading the next section. Continue these steps for each reading section.
This comprehension method is helpful to many children who tend to wander while reading a longer text. For younger readers, you can create more stopping points. Have shorter sections where they will stop and have to think about their predictions and answer questions. In this way, they are more likely to stay focused.
Parents do not always have to be involved in this activity. For older children, you may need to guide your child through the stages at first, but eventually, he can learn to separate the reading selection into smaller chunks himself and learn to make predictions and check for accuracy or modify his predictions on his own. Whether he works on his own or works with a parent on this strategy, he will be strengthening his reading skills as well as his critical thinking skills.
Cindy McKinley Alder Patti Trombly
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Cindy McKinley Alder Patti Trombly
For more posts about the authors and their books (this is not the only one), click HERE.
For excerpts from more books, click HERE.
For more excerpts from 365 Teacher Secrets for Parents, click HERE.
For more posts about books about parenting, click HERE.
To purchase copies of this book at 25% discount,use code FF25 at MSI Press webstore.
Want to read this book and not have to pay for it?
Ask your local library to purchase and shelve it.
 |
Follow MSI Press on Twitter, Face Book, Pinterest, Bluesky, and Instagram.
Check out information on how to submit a proposal.
Planning on self-publishing and don't know where to start? Our author au pair services will mentor you through the process.
Julia Aziz, signing her book, Lessons of Labor, at an event at Book People in Austin, Texas.
Check out our rankings -- and more -- HERE.
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