Dr. Kevin Gericke Professor, Economics & Statistics West Kentucky Community & Technical College Inspiring Students to Better Reading Comprehension

Dr. Kevin GerickeProfessor, Economics & Statistics

West Kentucky Community & Technical College

Inspiring Students to Better Reading Comprehension

•How many of you read books for pleasure as a child or young adult?

•How many of you read a book for pleasure last year?

•Approximately what percent of adults don’t read a single book in a year?

– 10%?– 25%?– 50%?

One in Four Read No Books Last YearTue Aug 21, 2007 8:58 PM EDT

Alan Fram, AP Writer

WASHINGTON — There it sits on your night stand, that book you've meant to read for who knows how long but haven't yet cracked open. Tonight, as you feel its stare from beneath that teetering pile of magazines, know one thing — you are not alone.

One in four adults read no books at all in the past year, according to an Associated Press-Ipsos poll released Tuesday. Of those who did read, women and older people were most avid, and religious works and popular fiction were the top choices.

The survey reveals a nation whose book readers, on the whole, can hardly be called ravenous. The typical person claimed to have read four books in the last year — half read more and half read fewer. Excluding those who hadn't read any, the usual number read was seven.

•How can I help my students improve their reading comprehension of the material in my class?

•Introduction•How did West KY Comm. & Tech. College arrive at a project to improve reading comprehension?

•What are some easy classroom strategies to improve reading comprehension?

Do I Have to?

•Focus on Reading

• Quality Enhancement Plan required for accreditation• National scores indicate not all students

entering college have adequate reading skills for college-level courses.

“Fully 31% of all graduates did not meet any of the College Readiness Benchmarks... Twenty-six percent of ACT-tested high-school graduates met all four benchmarks.”

ACT College Readiness Report, 2013

“In reading, 44% of graduates met the Reading Benchmark.”ACT College Readiness Report, 2013

• Professional Development activities for faculty/staff• Faculty Learning Circle• Campus-wide PD training• Website of resources for faculty and students

• Creating a culture of literacy through activities for college community

• Increased library collections• Outdoor furniture and displays• One Book reading & author

events

• Our role as teachers of a discipline has required some “adjustment”

• Not everyone reads the same way we did in college

•Informal•5 strategies

•Formal•3 strategies

•Just talk about reading!•Model good reading behavior•Let students know what you’re reading.•Post a discussion board forum•Newspapers in Education

•Show them how to use the textbook•Students need to quickly become familiar with the author’s

style•Show them the features!

•All textbooks have certain elements to add to the reading. We just need to point them out.

•What features do authors typically use to help students?

•MAKE them read!•If they ask a question and the answer is in front of them, MAKE them find it!

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Created with EclipseCrossword — www.eclipsecrossword.com

• Syllabus Crossword• Teach them to skim

headings to find answers

•Remind them to FOCUS!

•3-2-1 activity

•Some require very little time to create and implement•Some require more time and creativity

•Anticipation Guide•Identify the main issue in the reading•Consider what the students are likely to believe about the topic.•Write general statements about their beliefs•Have students respond to those statements

•Before/During/After•Before reading questions•During reading questions•After reading questions

•Topic, Restriction, Illustration•Skim to find the topic•Find “restrictions” to the topic•Provide illustrations to strengthen the topic

Formal Classroom Strategies #1Guided Reading Strategies

•Skim to find the topic•impact of unemployment on human lives


•What information narrows or restricts the general statement or topic?

•“the unemployment rate by itself doesn’t measure the full impact”•Other data shows more of an impact than just the number


•What examples provide an illustration of the topic or restriction?

•Millions were discouraged workers•Increased murders, strokes, heart disease, and suicides


•Summarize the reading•While the unemployment rate provides a measure of the health of our nation’s economy, the number, but itself, doesn’t show the full picture. When there is increased unemployment, lives are impacted on a personal level, resulting in health consequences and psychological effects.


•Venn Diagrams

•Find differences and similarities between the three types of memory

Formal Classroom Strategies #2Graphic Organizers


Scarcity: Resources are limited and we always want more

•Classification Notes

•Find main topics and write short notes from each main topic



China’s economy has been growing



•GDP grew at 7.9%•Up from 6.9%•Gov’t had a goal of 8.1%



Government has helped


•Building high-speed rails•Gov’t directs state bank to make loans



Government has helped There are concerns


•Building high-speed rails•Gov’t directs state bank to make loans

•Concern about quality of the data•Country grew, but electricity use was lower?



Problem from front side

1.2.3.

Solution

What is the concept or principle? Where is it located? Chapter? Page?

Write the problem. Right side: explainWrite each step of the problem. (How, what, why)

1.2.3.

Solution

2nd problem on back.

•Carousel•Each group gets a short amount of time to write down the information they know about the topic on the handout.•Then it is passed to the next group to add to it.•As the easier pieces of information are placed on the paper, give a little more time for groups to add their knowledge.

Formal Classroom Strategies #3Intensive activities

•What is required to be a successful cook at home?


•What is required to be a successful cook at home?•Equipment used•Measurements•Ingredients•Recipes


Do I Have to?

•Focus on Reading

• Increased reading comprehension scores• Measured by Nelson Denny Test of Reading

Comprehension• Students becoming more aware across campus of

importance of reading• Increased library use and increased use of

reading strategies in classes

Documents

Dr. Kevin Gericke Professor, Economics & Statistics West Kentucky Community & Technical College Inspiring Students to Better Reading Comprehension