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Details of the task:
Students develop a portfolio of resources for teaching readings to a selected group of learners. The portfolio consists of:
- a set of texts (no more than 5) chosen by the students, a brief description of each text, focusing on the genre and register of each text
- an exegesis justifying their choice of texts based on the theories of literacy, language and pedagogy learned in subject, and selected group of learners.
- for one of the texts, a detailed analysis of at least two prominent language features and two prominent features of visual image/s in the text
- an account of how students will teach learners to read the text, making reference to the noted features.
What follows is a supportive framework of questions to prepare you for parts 1), 2), & 3) of assignment 1.
What to consider in selecting a text for teaching reading:
General considerations:
- Do you consider this text to be one that would be challenging for your students – ie one they would find it difficult to read independently with full comprehension? Why is this important?
- On what other grounds did you choose this text?
More specific considerations:
Before employing the text in your teaching you need to consider what the text is like. You need to understand the text, the meanings it makes and how.
This can be done in more or less detail, but here we are exploring what might be taken into account in a detailed consideration of the features of the text.
What is the genre of the text?
- What is the general purpose of this genre?
- Is it a clear example of the genre? If not do I want to edit it in some way?
- How does it infold as stages and phases? Mark these on your text.
- How long is the whole text?
- If you are planning a reading to learn lesson, will you use the whole text or a section only? If the latter which part will you use and why?
Field:
In general
- What is the general topic (field) of the text and what is the specific field?
- Is this field (topic & content) relevant / interesting / useful / important for the students to learn something about?
More specifically
- Review the text to consider how the field is evident in the text.
- Look at:
- the entities – what are the people and things in the text?
- activities – what kinds of activities and events are those entities part of?
- settings: what information about place and time are given in the text?
Tenor:
- Is there evaluative language in the text?
- Mark that up in the text.
- Is there many or few expressions of evaluation in the text?
- Is evaluation spread throughout the text, or does it appear only in parts?
Mode:
- Is the text monologic written language or is there dialogue (spoken language) in the text?
- Is the expression relatively congruent or relatively abstract.
Eg, contrast:
Free trade zones are often centres where goods are manufactured using a lot of workers
with
Free trade zones are often centres of labour-intensive manufacturing
Preparing for Reading to Learn (www.readingtolearn.com.au)
Steps:
- Preparing before Reading
Teacher and students discuss topic and sequence of the text, which is then read aloud.
- Detailed Reading
Teacher prepares students to identify and highlight wordings in each sentence.
- Note Taking
Students scribe highlighted wordings on the board as notes
- Rewriting from Notes
Teacher guides students to write a new text structure and information from notes.
- Independent writing
Students have written the text together, and can then move to writing a text independently (still with access to the text structure and notes on information if necessary as support)
To begin you need to have
- selected a good text (section of a longer text) (see details to come)
- have marked up the text for the wordings you will ask them to highlight
- have worked out your general preparation for the whole section of text you have chosen
- have worked out your general preparation for each sentence in that text.
Consider what wordings to highlight in your chosen text in preparation for the detailed reading stage, and why. Eg:
