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Michael

Two Great Resources

1) This is a great document by Laurie Gill that outlines that process of DRTA, along with a general framework to work from. Very helpful for educators to use with the class!

http://curry.edschool.virginia.edu/reading/projects/garf/Kevin%27s%20handout%202.doc

2) A good description of the DR-TA as well as a video demonstration to boot!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MON5L0S3wWc

References

Here are some of the references I used to write this blog:

British Columbia Ministry of Education. (2006). History 12: Integrated Resource Package. Retrieved November 12^th, 2011

http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/irp/pdfs/social_studies/2006history12.pdf

Vacca, R.T., Vacca, J.A., & Begoray, D. L. (2002). Content Area Reading: Literacy and Learning Across the Curriculum. Pearson Education Canada: Toronto.

Washington Educational Television Association. (2011). Directed Reading Thinking Activity: Classroom Strategies. Reading Rockets. Retrieved November 12^th, 2011 from http://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/drta/

West Virginia Department of Education. (2011) Directed Reading – Thinking Activity. Retrieved November 11^th, 2011 from http://wvde.state.wv.us/strategybank/DirectedReading-ThinkingActivity.html

How Would I Use This Strategy?

Introduction

A good way to introduce the DR-TA strategy in my lesson would be to emphasize it to students as a new approach to reading. Before actually applying the strategy in my classroom in my Social Studies lesson, I would give a hand out on DR-TA. This handout would include salient points regarding the strategy, and would focus on how DR-TA can be applied to my subject area. I will be using the strategy in my “Soviet war in Afghanistan” lesson. Before beginning this lesson, I would first go over the handout with my students to see if they had any questions or comments on the strategy itself. The following would be an interaction between my students and I.

T=Teacher

S=Students

S=This is a strange way to go over readings Mr. Sparrow!

T=It is a different approach, but I think you all will benefit from taking a new approach to learning with texts.

S=Why is stopping to talk about a text important?

T=It will allow you to increase your understanding and comprehension of what you are reading. Since your classmates are also participating, and asking questions, it becomes less likely that you will be lost or confused.

S=Even after reading this handout, I still do not really understand how making predictions helps, it seems like many times they turn out to be wrong…

T=That’s ok if your predications turn out to be incorrect, more importantly, using this strategy will guide you to correct answers regarding the text. Even if you are wrong in your predictions, you will be writing and discussion why they were wrong. This will help solidify your overall understanding.

Demonstration of DR-TA

Dialogue Between Teacher and Students

T: Today you are going to read a passage in your textbook about the Soviets involvement in Afghanistan. You have previously learned about other Cold War conflicts, such as the Korean and Vietnam wars. This reading will provide an outline of the decade long conflict and is a good introduction. Firstly, lets look at the title, “The Soviet war in Afghanistan: A Cold War Crisis”, what can we gather from this alone?

S: I think that it will take place in Afghanistan

T: Okay, what else?

S: The Soviets will be involved

T: Is there anyone else that may be involved in the conflict?

S: Maybe the United States

T: Okay and what makes you think that?

S: Since this is a Cold War conflict and these have known to have been between superpowers such as the US and USSR

T: Does anyone else agree with this statement? Or disagree?

S: I agree but I wonder if Canada will be involved…

T: Was Canada involved in other Cold War conflicts?

S: They were in the Korean War but not Vietnam

T: Okay good responses from our initial impressions, now we are going to read the passage, I have written up on the board the headings of the article that you will stop at. Once everyone has reached these points we can discuss as a group any questions that you have. If you finish reading before others you can read ahead, or formulate your own questions to ask. Don’t forget to write down any predictions you have about what you are reading!

S: (Students read passage silently)

T: (Surveys around class helping those who need help/have any questions)

*Students are several passages in at this point, and now have a paragraph on combat

T: Okay so now that you have read this paragraph on what the battles between the Mujahedeen and Soviet soldiers were like, why do you think the results were like this?

S: The Soviets seemed to be caught off guard a lot of time and were surprised

T: Why do you think would this be the case?

S: I think that it was the geography of the land that benefited the Mujahedeen (Afghan rebels) so much

T: So why couldn’t the Soviet forces adapt to their geography?

S: The rebels are so used to their land from living there, they know the area better than others

T: Do you think the conflict was similar to Vietnam?

S: No because it took place in another country

T: But what about in the ways in which the soldiers fought? What about the impact of the geography to which we just spoke about?

S: Well, the US in Vietnam encountered much of the same situations as the Soviets did in Afghanistan

T: How so?

S: The US in Vietnam were faced with guerrilla warfare, which used tactics such as surprise and moving in shadows. This is similar to what the Soviets experienced in Afghanistan.

*Now students are finished reading entire passage from textbook

T: Okay now that you have all finished, I want you to write about which predictions you made were accurate and which were not. For those that were not correct, write down WHY they were not.

Why Use DR-TA?

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Why would I be using this strategy?

I would use this strategy as it makes students think about what they previously learned and then they are able to apply this schema to a text. I think that it is great because it can be used in all subject areas and at any grade level. As long as you scale the readings and questions asked, this could be accomplished in any classroom. This strategy is also important as it can be used individually or in groups. Students can be thinking on their own, or they can collaboratively work together through synthesizing their combined ideas. It is also a unique approach to reading a text, one that reduces confusion by having students predict and see if these predictions are true or not.

What educational philosophy does it illustrate?

DR-TA utilizes a philosophy that emphasizes learning one step at a time. The strategy breaks from traditional reading where students simply read from one page to the next without stopping for questioning or understanding.

How will this strategy assist your students in understanding the content area, and help them become confident, critical thinkers?

First and foremost, they will increase their reading comprehension skills. They will be able to break down readings into sequences, actively predicting and judging the information read. Students are focused to think why, where, when, what, and how something is happening. This focus allows them to use their critical thinking skills, and to question what they read. By using critical thinking skills, they can understand the material much easier.

What educational goals will it help you and your students reach?

Goals such as high motivation will be reached when using the DR-TA strategy. Students will want to see if the predictions they made were true, as opposed to simply reading through the text. They will also reach goals such as increased verbal communication skills. They will learn to respectably communicate with other students, as well as teachers.

If you didn’t use this strategy, what would be missing in your students’ learning?

They would formulaically read texts in the same way, every time. Likewise, they would not be actively thinking as they read. They would forget to understand the importance of stopping and asking/answering questions during reading. Students would lack a strategy that collaboratively engages with other students and the teacher. The strategy produces a healthy educational learning environment in which all students are encouraged to participate.

How will this strategy improve the speed and comprehension of their learning, and allow them to synthesize what they have learned to create new ideas and understandings?

Their comprehension will be improved after using the DR-TA strategy. Since they have to activate their prior knowledge and skills in a different way when using DR-TA, they will be able to better understand what they are reading. By listening to other students’ voices, they will feel comfortable with being able to question what they don’t understand. This will eventually lead to increased learning speed, because there will be less overall hesitation due to students feeling secure in asking questions.

Where and When Would I Use This Strategy?

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Where and When?

DR-TA has a natural tendency to be used as a during reading activity. This strategy does implement pre and post reading elements however. One example of this is that DR-TA often asks students to analyze a text based on its title, this is done before the actual text is read. Post-reading is also utilized in DR-TA, as there are follow-up questions commonly used. Students can be asked to validate their hypothesis made at the end of readings; they must demonstrate why they believe this. Questions such as what do you think would happen next and why would be appropriate post-reading activities. DR-TA can also be effectively incorporated as an introductory activity or as a review.

Where will this class be held? And how will I arrange the space in order to accomplish my goals?

Primarily this would be done at student’s desks and tables. From my own experience in the History 12 classroom, we each had individual desks and these were distributed in a circular fashion. I liked this organization of space because everyone faced each other, and it seemed to naturally encourage classroom dialogue and discussion.

What are the logistics necessary for successful outcome of strategy?

Teachers need to utilize a black or white board. This is a resource that can frame the activity by writing down questions that will be asked. A black/white board can also give instructions as to what passages or page numbers to read. Students also need to be participating in order for the strategy to work effectively. They need to feel secure in that they can contribute meaningfully without repercussions. Materials such as blank index cards, or sheets of paper, can help mark where students will be reading to (Vacca et al, 2005).

Where is this lesson taking place? How might I over the physical limitations of my environment?

I envision the DR-TA activity taking place inside a classroom during my lesson. As a field trip, the DR-TA would be interesting to try. Students could visit museum, stopping at various attractions along the way. The teacher could bring students to a historical statue or monument and then begin the DR-TA strategy. They could ask questions like, “Before you read a description or the title of this statue, who do you think it could be/represent and why?” Students would be using previous knowledge in order to predict their hypotheses. You could also ask students to watch a video clip in the library or computer lab. They would be individually pausing the clip at sequences (such as commercial breaks) and asking/answering questions. As there are noise rules in some of these environments, students could be writing instead of verbally communicating. Afterwards, students could bring a group discussion into effect once they returned back to the classroom.

What is DR-TA?

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Talking to Learn Strategies?

DR-TA is categorized under talking-to-learn strategies. Talking-to-learn strategies involve using verbal communication as a primary tool to help “students explore, clarify, and think about ideas they encounter in reading and writing, listening and speaking, and viewing and representing” (Vacca, Vacca, & Begoray, 2005). They are very relevant to classroom learning, as teachers and students spend a long part of the day communicating with their voices.

DR-TA Definition

This strategy can be defined as a teacher guided exercise in which students will use “predication, verification, judgment, and ultimately extension of thought” (Vacca et al., 2005). Students read passages of text and the teacher helps to facilitate learning by stopping at sequential parts, and then having the classroom participate through questioning, dialogue, and critical thinking (Vacca et al., 2005).

Successful Application of Strategy

In order for this strategy to be used effectively in the classroom, certain measures must be followed. Firstly, key to the success of DR-TA, is the classroom climate. By this I mean that students must feel encouraged and able to participate, or else this defeats the purpose of the strategy (Vacca et al, 2005). There must also be ample time for students to answer the prompted questions. The author’s Vacca et al (2005) suggest that teachers delay their questioning interventions, as they can fall prone to intervening too quickly, often students are simply thinking and desire more time to get a answer.

Other Literacy Experts Research

DR-TA is a strategy that helps increase the level of “active and thoughtful readers”, this is integral to improving comprehension (Washington Educational Television Association [WETA], 2011). Through the reading process, students can see if their predications turned out to be true (WETA, 2011). The West Virginia Department of Education [WVDE] (2011) stresses that this strategy is a way for students to think critically about what they are reading, and focuses them to think in this way. They also argue that this is a strategy that can be used effectively to engage students in any subject area and with both fiction and non-fiction texts (WVDE, 2011).

Use of Prescribed Learning Outcomes with DR-TA

Specific PLO’s from the History 12 IRP would be beneficial to use with the DR-TA literacy strategy. A relevant PLO to use would be that students will “assess significant historical events in relation to social, political, economic, technological, cultural, and geographic factors” (British Columbia Ministry of Education, 2006). Students would pause at portions of a text or even a movie, and would have to make predications. When students read about corruption in the Afghan government during the war, they could then predict how this would impact the government in the future, using evidence they found to support their claims. Another PLO I would employ in this strategy when learning about the Soviet war in Afghanistan, would be for students to “analyze the late stages of the Cold War with reference to the US/USSR relationship” (British Columbia Ministry of Education, 2006). As this event was one of the last examples of the US and USSR fighting proxy wars, I would use DR-TA to ask students whether they thought this event would lead to the end of the Cold War. Why or why not? Based on their reading of a text and their previous knowledge base they would have validity and supporting evidence to answer these questions.

Who will be using DR-TA?

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Grade and Class Level

I would use directed reading-thinking activity (DR-TA) in my History 12 classroom. The class would be studying the Soviet war in Afghanistan, and I would be asking probing questions such as how did the event shape Afghanistan today? And did this conflict help bring an end to the cold war?

Practicum Usage and Number of Students

I would be using this strategy for one of my practicum classes; these would take place between April and May 2012. In my History class, there would likely be around 30 students, as based on my own experience as a student, History was a very popular subject. However, this really could depend on the school and other factors such as who is teaching it, or how the program is structured.

Differentiations (Diversities and Exceptionalities)

As I plan to do my first practicum in Whitehorse, a city with a large population of First Nations Heritage, I would expect around one-third of my class to be of this background. I would therefore have to be aware of cultural sensitivities, and through the process of inclusion, be sure to promote multiculturalism and stress the benefits of having a diverse classroom. There will also be students who may have mild intellectual disabilities, such as ADHD or general troubles focusing. There would be around 5 of them in this classroom situation. This is where, as a teacher, I may have to adapt the form in which the student learns. I could reduce the sheer volume of reading pages required, or highlight key words/phrases that would help the student meet the PLO’s. All students would be striving to meet all the PLO’s, but I will differentiate the ways in which they individually learn.

Welcome!

Hello all, welcome to my blog about the literacy strategy known as directed reading-thinking activity. I will be posting blogs in reference to the strategy itself, covering the basics of who, what, where, when, why, and how. In covering the strategy in a variety of ways, I hope that you all learn something. This strategy has great potential and applicability for classroom usage, and as a future educator I will no doubt implement it at some point.