Engage Students in Meaningful Lessons
Collaborative Strategic Reading is a method to appropriately engage students in meaningful lessons and discussions.1 CSR breaks down learning into four main parts (preview, click & clunk, get the gist, and wrap up). This ensures student understanding especially for students with LBLD who have difficulty processing language (listening, speaking, reading, and writing). Throughout the year, the process of Collaborative Strategic Reading will be explained by analyzing each step with sample materials to implement in the classroom. In addition, we’ll continue to organize the resources in relation to Landmark’s Six Teaching Principles™. For the full text of the Landmark Teaching Principles™, including “Provide Opportunities for Success,” click here.
The first tenet of CSR is preview, which consists of two activities: (a) brainstorming and (b) making predictions. With these activities, the goal is two-fold: get the students to think about (a) what they know about the topic and (b) what they think they will learn by reading the text. In coordination with the Landmark Teaching Principles™, previewing provides opportunities for success by allowing students to become familiar with a topic and reflect on what they already know about it. Furthermore, it is also important for a teacher to determine where the class stands based on prior knowledge. This determination allows the teacher to choose a starting point where students feel comfortable as well as what material should be covered more in-depth with increased explicit instruction. Having the class brainstorm what they want to learn also provides insight for the instructor on what the class is interested in before beginning the material.
References
1Bremer, Christine D., et. al. “Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR): Improving Secondary Students’ Reading Comprehension Skills.” Improving Secondary Education and Transition Services Through Research. July 2002. Vol 1, Issue 2.
