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Reading-to-Learn Activities

Adapted from Alvermann & Phelps (2002), and Katz, et al. (2003).

Name Timing* Description
Analogies After Students create word relationships based upon their readings. Types of analogies
may include: part/whole, synonym/antonym, people/place, dates/locations,
cause/effect, action/object, and word/function.
Anticipation Guides Before Students examine a series of statements about the material covered in the text.
Character Quotes During Students study quotes about a character and determine what information could
be used to portray the character
Comprehension Guides After Students are asked literal, interpretive, and applied questions related to the
reading.
DR-TA (Directed
Reading-Thinking
Activities)
Before, During, &
After
Students predict what will be covered in the text, read the text, and then confirm,
revise, or elaborate the predictions with information from the text.
Fiction Connections During & After Students are invited to critically read groups of thematically similar books and
consider alternative perspectives.
Graphic Organizers Before & After Students are either provided with some type of pictorial representation of what
they will be reading or they create a pictorial representation of what they read.
Knowledge Rating Charts Before & During Students are asked to predict the meaning of words that are new to them.
Most Import Words &
Magnet Summaries
During & After Students locate five important words and use them to formulate a summary
sentence.
Organizational Guides Before, During, &
After
Students are typically provided with graphic organizers related to text structures.
For example, text structures such as: series of events chain, cycle, compare/
contrast matrix, cause/effect fishbone map, or problem-solution outline.
Problem-solving Activities During & After Students read about a situation, determine their goals, consider their options,
make a decision, and examine the consequences.
QAR (Question Answer
Relationships)
Before, During, &
After
Students are asked questions to help them focus on the targeted information.
Questions bring together RT (Right There), PIT (Putting It Together), AY (Author
and You), and OYO (On Your Own) thoughts.
Reaction Guides After Students examine a series of statements about the material covered in the text.
Read-alouds During & After Students select something they want to share with the class by reading it to them.
Students are supposed to encourage predictions, questions, and discussion.
Reading Apprentices Before, During, &
After
Older students mentor younger students in the reading process, including social,
personal, cognitive, and knowledge-building dimensions.
Reciprocal Teaching Before, During, &
After
Students ask each other predicting, questioning, clarifying, and summarizing
questions to direct their reading. (This involved direct strategy instruction and
time commitment.)
SQ3R (Survey, Question,
Read, Recite, & Review)
Before, During &
After
Students preview a selection by reading titles, headings, and subheadings. They
turn each title, heading, and caption into a question, and then actively read to
answer the questions. They close the text and orally summarize what they read.
Then they make their own notes from which to review the information.
Study Guides Before, During, &
After
Students are given questions to support the reading. Typically, students are
asked to answer one question in-depth for homework.
SSR (Sustained Silent
Reading)
During Everyone in the class, including both the teacher and the students, read
something that is NOT school-related.
Tableaux Vivants After Students create a living sculpture of events depicted in a book and explain their
intentions behind the work (based upon reading comprehension).
Text Structure Guides Before Students are provided with lists of signal words for text structures. For example,
words related to sequence/time order, compare and contrast, cause and effect,
and problem-solution.
Visual Directions After Students read passages from various texts that describe a particular event. They
analyze the event to determine its structure and present a picture of the process
to the class.
Vocabulary Squares During & After Students complete four squares related to new vocabulary. The squares are:
1) the target word, 2) the dictionary or text definition, 3) a student-generated
sentence with the word included in it, and 4) an illustration drawn by the student.

* Timing refers to before, during, or after reading.

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