Throughout the semester, we modeled several reading strategies used to analyze and comprehend text. These are strategies I feel I would use in my own classroom to help students to get through the difficult science text. The important thing to note about a reading strategy, is that is should require minimal thinking to fulfill the strategy–the emphasis should be on the content of the reading or literature. If students are struggling to use the reading strategy, it is unlikely they will come to a better understanding and comprehension of the material.

These are various strategies I feel I could use in my science classroom to help students understand the science material.

• 3 MVP

After completing the reading, students chose the three most valuable points the author was trying to make in quotes from the text. They write these quotes down as well as an explanation for why they considered these to be the MVP’s of the piece of writing. This strategy requires critical thinking skills and analyzing in order for students to determine which points are supporting details are which points are truly the most important.

• Text to Self

In this activity, students select any number of quotes which they connected with other information or personal experiences. They can mark these in the text and then used post-it notes, or write on a separate sheet of paper, their explicit connections. This is an important literacy skill which promotes connecting background knowledge to readings which is a critical skill in science because it makes the difficult and convoluted material more relevant to students.

• Double- Journal Entry

During their reading, students create a double entry (two column) journal where the list on one side relevant quotes and the other side their reflection about the material. This strategy helps students to identify spots where they may have had difficulty understanding what the text was saying as well as areas where they made strong connections to prior knowledge or experiences.

• 3-2-1

In this strategy, after reading students choose 3 passages which resonate with them, they mark these in the text with a Post-It note and write their reflection about what they thought, wondered or felt as they read this section. They then choose 2 strategies the author uses in the text, also marking these and commenting on Post-It notes. And finally, they write 1 question they had after reading the text or after a particular passage on a Post-It note.

• Split Page Note Taking

In split page note-taking, students divide a page into two columns. Then, as they are reading they complete one column with the key information from the reading and the other column with the supporting information which is relevant to the key points they identified. This is a great strategy for science reading because it helps students to break up texts which provide a lot of information into which is most relevant and which is just supporting details.

• KWL

KWL is a useful strategy to complete with a text which provides a provocation. In KWL students  before students read, they begin to complete a page detailing what they Knew (or Know) before they read, and what they Want to know from the text. Then after reading, they complete the final area which is what they Learned from the text.

• Mind Maps

This last strategy is a great tool for modeling multiple intelligences. In this strategy students complete a reading and then create a mind map starting with the central topic and branching out with the connections they have made as a result of the reading. Each branch is a curved line with only one word per line. They mind map also contains many pictures which help students to create visual connections to the larger topic.

Also it is important to note that many other strategies were listed in the book 50 Instructional Routines to Develop Content Literacy (2nd Ed) as well as the 35 Strategies for Developing Content Area Vocabulary both published by Pearson.

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