Comprehension strategies are conscious plans — sets of steps that good readers use to make sense of text. Comprehension strategy instruction helps students become purposeful, active readers who are in control of their own reading comprehension.
-- C.R. Adler
Introducing adolescents and adult learners to a selection of reading strategies provides them with helpful guidance and encourages reading with a greater sense of intent and purpose. Graphic novels represent an ideal medium through which to practice using reading strategies and doing so nurtures students' development of metacognition and multiliteracy. Read on to learn about the intersection of graphic novels and reading strategies.
Reading Strategies for
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Research indicates that children benefit from being taught explicitly what to look for when they read a text, and I think this is true of adult learners as well. Generally speaking, while we may not have to teach adolescent learners how to read, we do have to teach them how to read effectively, and this is as true in the adult sector as it is in the youth sector. Many younger adult learners struggled in high school, and may not have had the opportunity to learn specific strategies. Many older adult learners have been out of school for a long time, and may have never received explicit instruction in how to read with intention. For these reasons, I feel it is critical that we (re-)teach specific reading strategies in both high school and the adult education classrooms. Here are five proven reading strategies that may help your students as they work through texts:
Tip: One way to encourage students to use reading strategies is through reciprocal teaching, wherein the teacher models how to use specific strategies, and then asks students to demonstrate what was modelled to their peers in order to both practice and reinforce the strategies. |
Graphic Novels for Teaching, Learning,
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I believe that many students are reluctant to practice reading strategies because to do so with traditional texts is often tedious, and all the more so if a student struggles with reading and/or has a learning disability. I also believe that reluctant and struggling readers will be more likely to use reading strategies if they are provided with shorter, high-interest, accessible texts through which to practice using their strategies -- texts such as graphic novels. Because graphic novels include images, students will be able to more quickly generate questions about the book, which cultivates interest and a desire to read on. And because graphic novels require that students learn to read sequences of images as well as text, they can practice a form of multiliteracy that will transfer to "reading" other mediatexts, such as music videos, television shows, and films. Hopefully students' use of reading strategies will transfer to thinking critically about other media as well.
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