Level of Expertise: 3
Strategy 2: DR/TAWhat is the instructional strategy?
The instructional strategy I am using is a DR/TA, or Directed Reading/Thinking Activity. It encourages active reading through activation of prior knowledge, predicting, and checking the accuracy of predictions. Students will be using this strategy while reading the article entitled, “Marshall Plan” from http://www.history.com/.
Why does the strategy work?
This strategy is effective because it allows students to take into consideration what they already know about a particular topic to build connections with prior knowledge. The prompts encourage students to preview the text and pay attention to graphics, headings and subtitles, and highlighted or bolded terms. Students also make predictions about what they think they will be reading about in the text. They will later be able to prove how accurate their hypothesis was.
How does it work?
1. I will determine what I want the students to know and understand from the online text.
2. Working individually or in groups, students will write down what they already know about the topic.
3. Students will preview the online text and note inferences on titles, subheadings, graphics, and bolded terms.
4. Students will create a hypothesis of what they think they will be reading about.
5. Students will then read the online text while keeping in mind their hypothesis. Students will either confirm their hypothesis to be true, or rewrite a new one they agree with to be accurate.
6. Lastly, students will record what they learned from reading the text. This can be shared in groups or as a class. Students will have this graphic organizer to review and revisit.
Sources Referenced: http://www.history.com/topics/marshall-plan
What does it look like?
See hard copy.
