Thursday, January 13, 2011

"Step" up to the Challenge

While meeting with a few new teachers this afternoon, I heard myself encouraging them to design procedures, to break reading challenges into small "steps" in order to support their struggling readers. Sometimes, I feel like the "Queen of Acronyms". Over the years, I have developed easy ways to segment reading so that it becomes more manageable for students. For example, PCQC, an acronym developed a few years ago, provides a way for students to navigate those difficult PSSA passages.
P - Preview the text.
C- Chunk the text, reading small bits and clarying information.
Q - Answer the questions.
C - Check your work.
There now, that wasn't so bad after all! Can you create a short procedure to simplify some aspect of reading for your students? Bet you can. Step up to the challenge!