Reading Expository Texts: Seven Patterns of Organization

Graphic organizers are fundamental to thinking and  provide opportunities for analysis that reading alone and linear outlining cannot . These strategies are especially beneficial to low-achieving students (Jones, Pierce, Hunter 1988).  

This website provides an explanation of the Expository Patterns of Organization for those struggling with reading comprehension and offers writers a refresher of the patterns used in their own pieces.

Text Structure | Reading Worksheets:

Cause and Effect:The results of something are explained.
Example: The dodo bird used to roam in large flocks across America.  Interestingly, the dodo wasn’t startled by gun shot.  Because of this, frontiersmen would kill entire flocks in one sitting.  Unable to sustain these attacks, the dodo was hunted to extinction.
Learn More About Cause and Effect

Chronological: information in the passage is organized in order of time.
Example: Jack and Jill ran up the hill to fetch a pail of water. Jack fell down and broke his crown and Jill came tumbling after.
Learn More About Chronological Order

Compare and Contrast: two or more things are described.  There similarities and differences are discussed.
Example: Linux and Windows are both operating systems.  Computers use them to run programs.  Linux is totally free and open source, so users can improve or otherwise modify the source code.  Windows is proprietary, so it costs money to use and users are prohibited from altering the source code.
Learn More About Compare and Contrast

Order of Importance: information is expressed as a hierarchy or in priority.
Example: Here are the three worst things that you can do on a date.  First, you could tell jokes that aren’t funny and laugh really hard to yourself.  This will make you look bad.  Worse though, you could offend your date.  One bad “joke” may cause your date to lash out at you, hence ruining the engagement.  But the worst thing that you can do is to appear slovenly.  By not showering and properly grooming, you may repulse your date, and this is the worst thing that you can do.
Learn More About Order of Importance

Problem and Solution: a problem is described and a response or solution is proposed or explained.
Example: thousand of people die each year in car accidents involving drugs or alcohol.  Lives could be saved if our town adopts a free public taxi service. By providing such a service, we could prevent intoxicated drivers from endangering themselves or others.
Learn More About Problem and Solution

Sequence / Process Writing: information is organized in steps or a process is explained in the order in which it occurs.  
Example: Eating cereal is easy.  First, get out your materials.  Next, pour your cereal in the bowl, add milk, and enjoy.
Learn More About Sequence

Spatial / Descriptive Writing: information is organized in order of space (top to bottom, left to right).
Example: when you walk into my bedroom there is a window facing you.  To the right of that is a dresser and television and on the other side of the window is my bed.
Learn More About Spatial Organization

'via Blog this'

Jones, B.F., Pierce, J. & Hunter, B. (Dec., 1988- Jan.,1989) “Teaching Students to Construct Graphic Representations,” Educational Leadership, 46: 20-25. 

Reading Comprehension Strategies

Focused strategies for teaching vocabulary and reading comprehension benefit our special populations and struggling readers, but strategies that are research-based and proven winners also raise the levels of our “regular” students too. 

 Cubing is a strategy designed to prepare students in reading and writing (Cowan & Cowan, 1980).  In reading, cubing can be used to strengthen students' comprehension of a topic or concept and help expand students' understanding of a topic, concept, character, and/or text from various perspectives.

Here are three sites for more information about cubing and how to use them: 
How to make a comprehension cube 
Primary Source Designs: Cubing
Differentiated Strategy 101: Cubing Strategy (a ppt download)

Cracking the Alphabet Code

Children  love to work with interactive websites  because they are more than point and click; they are fun!

These sites contain multimedia with top quality content. They are the sort that teachers will recommend to each other again and again, and new readers will enjoy learning how to break the alphabet code.

Can't go wrong with Professor Garfield -.
for phoneme awareness try Orson's Farm

Fruit Phonics - orange you glad I found this for you?

Practice with Spelling

8 principles for effective teaching of Reading

Effective teachers

View more PowerPoint from vblori

information from Gail Tompkins, Literacy for the 21st Century:  A Balanced Approach, 5th ed. 2010.

Learning Strategies

Whatever the strategies emphasized, learned, and used, it is generally agreed that they should be taught through explicit instruction, careful modeling, and scaffolding.

• Mentally active learners are better learners
• Learning strategies can be taught
• Learning strategies transfer to new tasks
• Academic language learning is more effective with learning strategies

from The SIOP Model by Jana Echevarria, MaryEllen Vogt, and Deborah J. Short

Word of the Day: Suggestopedia

 http://www.jwelford.demon.co.uk/brainwaremap/suggest.html

Key Elements of Suggestopedia

Some of the key elements of Suggestopedia include a rich sensory learning environment (pictures, colour, music, etc.), a positive expectation of success and the use of a varied range of methods: dramatised texts, music, active participation in songs and games, etc.
Suggestopedia adopts a carefully structured approach, using four main stages as follows:

• Presentation
  A preparatory stage in which students are helped to relax and move into a positive frame of mind, with the feeling that the learning is going to be easy and fun.
• First Concert - "Active Concert"
  This involves the active presentation of the material to be learnt. For example, in a foreign language course there might be the dramatic reading of a piece of text, accompanied by classical music.
• Second Concert - "Passive Review"
  The students are now invited to relax and listen to some Baroque music, with the text being read very quietly in the background. The music is specially selected to bring the students into the optimum mental state for the effortless acquisition of the material.
• Practice
  The use of a range of games, puzzles, etc. to review and consolidate the learning. 

Enable students to take control of their learning

While the teacher provides the necessary instruction, modeling, and support, the students work to develop the metacognitive skills necessary for independent problem solving.

from: Mastering ESL and Bilingual Methods by Socorro G. Herrera and Kevin G. Murry