Before-Reading Strategies

My book is:  Benjamin, A. (2007).  But I’m Not a Reading Teacher:  Strategies for Literacy Instruction in the Content Areas. Larchmont, NY: Eye on Education.

Black font indicates what the author says.

Red font indicates my comments.

Benjamin writes that there are three critical time frames for reading:  before-, during- and after-reading, and that there are specific strategies to increase reading comprehension at each one. 

There are three features in the before-reading strategies.  Establish a purpose for the reading, use a before-reading strategy to quickly look at the text, and connect the new knowledge to prior knowledge. 

The first step of any before-reading process is to set a purpose and expectation for the reading.  I suspect that most students would say their purpose is that the teacher told them they have to read the chapter, not something more meaningful, so most will need a little help with this.  I think it would be helpful to have a short introduction to summarize the main topic, and the basics of what the teacher wants the student to learn from the reading.  Knowing why they’re reading can help students pick out important details and facts.

Then, there are a couple of before-reading strategies to choose from, skimming and scanning.  We skim when we want a brief exposure to the text, typically before we read more closely, or to decide if we want to read the text at all.  We skim by flipping through the pages, reading headings and captions, and looking at pictures.

Scanning allows the reader to quickly find information to answer questions.  Typically, one might use an index or table of contents.  If you must scan the text itself, you narrow your search by using headings or textual notations, just as in skimming, but you’re looking for targeted words or phrases.  She says that scanning pages instead of using the index is too time consuming, but I would say, after helping my daughter with her history questions, that many answers aren’t in the index or table of contents.  Knowing how to quickly peruse the pages is a valuable strategy. 

She also points out that building on prior knowledge is key to reading comprehension.  This can be tricky for science textbooks, if the topic and jargon are new to the students.  This is part of the reason that skimming and scanning are so vital.  The teacher can also select a few key words that are vital to understanding the text, and preview them before students read the text.  Once the student has the general structure or pattern of the text from the headings, and the knowledge of the keywords, comprehension during close reading is more easily achieved.  Relating the topic to something the student already knows about is extremely powerful.

One way to “activate” prior knowledge is to break the class into small groups and have them brainstorm what the text will be about, based on some basic information.  If the students find some link to a topic they’re already familiar with, the new knowledge can then be assimilated more easily.  She emphasizes that it is vital to connect the students to prior knowledge, and it doesn’t have to be through the same subject.  Analogies work as well.  She gives an example of teaching biology classification by using an analogy of classifying ice cream by fat content, flavor, brand, texture, etc.  The kids could connect with this analogy, so went into the text armed with more confidence that they would understand.