What is Linguistically Informed Reading?
Reading by the Rules
Imagine teaching algebra without the order of operations or cooking a soufflé without a recipe. Many reading programs fall short because they try to do just that. By asking students to read more closely, to highlight important information, ask deep questions and think "harder" about what they read, comprehension is supposed to occur naturally.
For most students however, they highlight everything or nothing at all, they don't know what questions to ask and they sit looking at the words as they "think harder" only to become more and more frustrated.
We harness the power of linguistics to give students a roadmap, a set of rules, a way to approach reading so that they are able to better tackle the task of comprehension.
Key Components and Patterns by Genre
Every genre of reading has a unique set of key components and noticeable patterns all their own. Knowing these components and how authors use these patterns not only supports comprehension but allows the reader to go beyond what the author said and understand what the author actually meant.
Building upon any reading program that a district already has in place, we teach these patterns to teachers before going into the classroom to show them exactly how to maximize each component with students during the reading process. The best part about this process is that teachers do not need to learn a new curriculum, throw out all of their previously planned lessons or even photocopy a single worksheet or organizer.
We work alongside teachers to show them that when it comes to reading comprehension, it isnt the book you use, it is how you use it!
Linguistically Informed Reading Seminar Options
FROM SPEAKING TO READING: USING ORAL LANGUAGE SKILLS TO ACCELERATE READING COMPREHENSION
Description: The separation of teaching receptive and expressive language skills during reading instruction has helped create students who are able to rotely decode large quantities of text and to formulate responses using only the words found within the question itself. This session shows teachers how to maximize student oral language learning during reading instruction by getting them to discuss text using their own self-generated thoughts. Teachers will leave with 10 specific ways to get students talking about their understanding of text during reading instruction
Teachers will:
1. Implement strategic classroom reading structures that focus on independent organic student discourse before, during and after the reading process;
2. Push! students to orally produce academic thoughts at a level that is parallel in length and linguistic complexity to the text they are expected to comprehend.
READING CLOSER THAN CLOSE: A PRIMER ON LINGUISTICALLY- INFORMED READING COMPREHENSION
Description: Grammar-based language instruction provides students with the fundamentals of reading comprehension. But what would a truly linguistically informed approach to reading instruction look like? And what could it accomplish? Fasten your seat belts as you venture into a parallel universe where reading instruction seamlessly builds on students’ grammar and creates a launching pad for creating truly strategic and independent readers who understand text at a deep level.
Teachers will:
1. Understand and articulate differences between vocabulary-based and linguistically- informed reading approaches and practices;
2. Apply the hierarchical connections between applied-grammar instruction and linguistically-informed reading to increase students’ ability to read with comprehension.
TEXT-CAVATION: TEACHING STUDENTS TO THINK SYNTACTICALLY TO ELEVATE THEIR READING COMPREHENSION
Description: Separating key details in text from non-essential details is one of the most difficult tasks a language learner has to perform. Teaching students a grammar-based approach to completing this task equips them with a tool that cuts across all content areas. This session will show teachers how to use basic English syntax patterns to directly enhance student reading comprehension.
Teachers will:
1. Overtly show students how to use their grammar knowledge to isolate essential details;
2. Increase the expectation of sophistication and complexity of student responses during reading comprehension using Syntactic Mapping.
ADVANCED-TEXT-CAVATION: GOING BEYOND THE TEXT TO MAKE INFERENCES AND DRAW CONCLUSIONS WITH ACCURACY.
Description: Proficient readers apply the form, meaning and use of different verb tenses and syntactic patterns to read with comprehension. This unique and powerful synthesis of skills can be developed through the direct teaching of discrete grammar structures. This session shows teachers how to use specific grammar structures to find key details, make text-based inferences and draw text-supported conclusions.
Teachers will:
1. Know how to teach students to use syntactic maps, grammar-based definitions of comprehension skills and a clear annotation system to enhance comprehension;
2. Show students how to go beyond the specific text details to make inferences and draw conclusions about key ideas using discrete grammar concepts.
LANGUAGE FIRST! LANGUAGE LAST! USING ENGLISH GRAMMAR AND SYNTAX TO FORM ACADEMIC PREDICTIONS AND SUMMARIZE EFFECTIVELY ACROSS ALL TEXT TYPES.
Description: It would be difficult to teach students to solve multiple-step algebraic equations without the use of the order of operations. A clear set of rules that governs how numbers are computed is not only beneficial but vital to finding accurate solutions to both basic and advanced math problems. Much like algebra, reading comprehension has an analogous set of rules. This session teaches how to apply the English parts of speech and 10 basic English syntax rules to enhance reading comprehension and Push! students to understand more complex academic texts.
Teachers will:
1. Teach students to annotate and respond to text using a system of key grammar components;
2. Ask students to justify their thinking regarding an author’s ideas through the analysis of the words and syntactic patterns the author chose to use.
TEXT-SPECIFIC COMPREHENSION SKILLS INVENTORY: A SIMPLE SYSTEM TO SUPERCHARGE STUDENT COMPREHENSION
(Note: specific sections designed for narrative, informational, explanatory, opinion, persuasive and argumentative text types)
Description: It is all too common for teachers to separate genres of writing when teaching students specific writing skills. Paradoxically, as teachers move from one type of text to another, a common set of skills can be used by students to predict, infer, conclude and summarize. This series of seminars breaks down the linguistic components of each type of text and shows teachers how to teach students to fundamentally approach each text-type with a different set of goals and strategies based on the necessary components of the text.
Teachers will:
1. Understand and be able to teach students the specific linguistic components that are the cornerstone of each distinct text type;
2. Require students to justify responses to text using linguistically-informed citations that govern each specific text type.