“DE-BUGGING”THE TEXT

The Orientation Form

Activating Prior Knowledge

“A teacher must assess conceptual prior

knowledge to determine if the knowledge the

student possesses is appropriate or adequate

for the new information be learned.”

Caldwell & Leslie, 2009

Prior Knowledge at Work

Groom

Current

Court

Groom

Current

Court

Introducing New Vocabulary

“Focusing vocabulary instruction on both

word definitions and learning words in

context is superior to instruction that

emphasizes only one of these components.”

Caldwell & Leslie, 2009

“Reading and writing are two different ways of learning about the same thing – the written code used to record the oral language.”

“Writing consistently but subtly seduces the learner to switch between the different levels of letters, clusters, words, phrases and messages.”

Clay, 2005

Connecting Reading & Writing

The Orientation Form

Let’s Try It

What do you know about physics?

Have you ever heard of string theory?

Let’s learn more…..

String Theory – Words to Know

1. bosons - particles that transmit forces

2. fermions – particles that make up matter3. supersymmetry – an equal match of

bosons and fermions

4. tachyon – a particle with imaginary mass5. compactification – the act of reducing

spacetime dimensions

6. chiral – spinning in only one direction

The Procedure – Pre-Reading

1. Teacher dictates the words; students write the words.

2. Students check their spellings against a model, and make any necessary corrections.

3. Teacher and students review the words, discussing meanings and looking at

spelling patterns.4. Students write dictated sentences that

focus on the main idea of the text to be read.

During and After Reading

Students read the text, stopping at predetermined points to discuss vocabulary, main idea, supporting details.

Following the reading, teacher and students revisit the vocabulary and main idea statements from the pre-reading portion of the lesson.

Additional Possibilities

Review previously-taught phonics skills (i.e. vowel pairs, blends, digraphs, word endings)

Enhance learning through reciprocity – use encoding to support decoding.

Set a purpose for reading with comprehension questions.

Let’s Try It – Creating an Orientation Form

1. Define your purpose/Choose your words:

What key vocabulary do I want to introduce? Which decoding/phonics skills do I want to

reinforce?

2. What’s the big idea? What main ideas do my students need to know to

understand the text? How can I incorporate vocabulary and main ideas

concisely?

References

Caldwell, J.S. & Leslie, L. (2009). Intervention Strategies to Follow Informal Reading Inventory Assessment: So what do I do now? 2nd Edition, Boston: Pearson.

 Clay, M.M., (2005). Literacy Lessons Designed for Individuals. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.