A 5-part method for building reading comprehension skills

The program provides students with an English Language Arts toolkit that can be used with any reading content ranging from 6th-12th grade level. The 5 part method is interlinked and each part centers on providing students with tools needed to build mastery in three core English language arts competencies. The two goals are for students to have independence and accuracy with completing grade level English language arts reading assignments.

The ‘P.R.A.C.T’ method develops the following specific skills:

  1. Building active reading habits
  2. Organizing information in a text according to general categories and relevant details
  3. Retaining information necessary to retell a story, rephrase a concept , retain the complete picture for content covered in a book or textbook section/chapter
  4. Finding main ideas and building the ability to create an accurate and complete summary of a text

P Print Out

When reading online material, always print out the material and read from a hard-copy. The reason is simple- the mind absorbs information from the senses, and comprehension happens more naturally when the material we are reading is printed on paper instead of stuck behind a glass screen. With paper, we can actually touch the page, allowing for our eyes to strain less, and open up space for marking key ideas and new words with a highlighter and pencil. The bottom line this- when it comes to comprehension, we want to do all that is in our power to make the material come to life and the first place to start is to allow our eyes and hands to work in harmony so more energy is available for the mind to use its power to imagine stories, remember details, and build conceptual understanding.

R Read Aloud

When we read aloud, we make use of another sense to help the mind imagine and build conceptual models. By reading aloud, we are actually doing three things at once- reading material, speaking material, and hearing material. To help us build the habit of reading aloud we will be using a computer or phone to record ourselves reading aloud for 5-10minutes per day, listening to the recording, and then filling out a simple table to keep track of our experience with listening to ourselves read aloud.

Active Resource:

The table is linked here Reading Record

A Annotate

Annotate means “taking notes.” Believe it or not, pencil and paper is a form of technology. comprehension starts to flow naturally as we turn passive reading into active engagement with ideas. The annotation process consists of three simple actions that are designed to be used consistently until they become second nature:

  1. underlining words we don’t recognize

    1. drawing stars next to key sentences in paragraphs

    2. writing main ideas after sections and chapters

      Active Resource:

      We will follow the annotation guide linked here: Lines Stars & Themes 

C Context Building:

Since we are reading from printed out material, we will use screens as a tool for searching new words, looking up pictures of new places, and building background context. Context building happens alongside the annotation process and we will practice effective use of google search engine in two parts-

  1. Before we begin reading new material, we can do some “pre-reading” preparation. Here we find background context to start engaging with the book or article we are reading before page 1 begins.

    Active Resource:

    Pre-reading context building linked here: background context

    1. Building on the annotation process, we will follow this guide to look up new words, new places, and clarify any jargon or other unfamiliar items we come across while completing reading activities.

      Active Resource:

      We will use the table linked here: Just Googled It

T Trace the Main Idea:

Using Lines Stars and Themes we reread just the first and last sentence of every paragraph. After reading these sentences, we should start to get a sense for the author’s overall message from beginning to middle to the end of the material. We will prepare a short summary that consists of four total sentences:

Start

Middle

Ending

One Overall sentence

This structure creates a clear and complete summary for picturing the overall birds eye view of understanding the whole of our reading material. It can be expanded on later to respond to particular essay prompts and assignments.

Active Resource

We will use the graphic organizer linked here: Start Middle Ending