{"id":1210,"date":"2019-09-18T19:58:18","date_gmt":"2019-09-18T19:58:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/lli\/?p=1210"},"modified":"2025-02-26T13:27:43","modified_gmt":"2025-02-26T13:27:43","slug":"helping-to-scaffold-students-reading-practices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/lli\/2019\/09\/18\/helping-to-scaffold-students-reading-practices\/","title":{"rendered":"Helping to scaffold students\u2019 reading practices"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is a draft preview version of a resource currently in production.<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

The activities here are designed to help students understand how to read more effectively for academic purposes and to develop their own academic reading practices. More detailed advice and guidance on supporting students\u2019 reading practices is available in the LLI\u2019s Transitions Toolkit (www.le.ac.uk\/transitions-toolkit<\/a>).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Start small<\/h3>\n

Initially, set students shorter reading tasks in order to help them get into the habit of reading and discussing their responses to reading. Examples of smaller reading tasks might include:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Allocating smaller sections of a chapter or article for students to summarise and report back on
\n\u2022 Asking students to read whole a chapter, article etc. but to report back briefly on just one aspect
\n\u2022 Setting shorter reading\/summary tasks in seminars and lectures in order to model good practice and help students develop more active and critical reading practices.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Question-based activities<\/h3>\n

In addition to setting reading (e.g. for a seminar to follow a lecture) it\u2019s a good idea to provide students with some more directive activities designed to help them to: a) manage the reading task; and b) develop better reading habits. One way of doing this is to set a small number of questions to accompany the reading. You might decide you want students to have a go at all the questions, or you might ask them to consider a few and pick up on more complex questions in a later seminar. Types of questions can include some or all of the following:<\/p>\n

–\u00a0 \u00a0 Clarifying specialist language questions about the meaning of key words, phrases and concepts
\n–\u00a0 \u00a0 Understanding central argument questions about key claims being made\/arguments advanced
\n–\u00a0 \u00a0 Evaluative questions, inviting more critical reflection
\n–\u00a0 \u00a0 Synoptic questions, inviting more of an overview of chapter, article etc. as a whole<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In addition to providing some structuring questions, it\u2019s also helpful to indicate at this stage the period of time you would expect students to spend on the activity. If the reading is for a subsequent seminar, you can also task students to devising at least one question of their own for discussion among the group. As students make progress through the module, this exercise can be expanded so that students are tasked with developing their own questions and\/or questions for peers, relating to key readings.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Structured reading groups<\/h3>\n

The \u2018structured reading group\u2019 (SRG) model presented, here, has already been applied to good effect<\/a> at the University of Leicester. SRGs work by allocating specific reading tasks to students. The idea, over time, is for all students to have a go at playing each role at least once. Below is a brief overview of how these roles work in practice (for a more detailed account of this approach, including student resources to support and encourage engagement, see Parrott and Cherry, 2011).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\n
<\/h5>\n

Role title<\/h4>\n

<\/h4>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Role description<\/h4>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Discussion<\/p>\n

leader<\/p>\n

<\/h5>\n<\/td>\n
\u2018\u2026to develop at least three possible discussion questions that you can discuss in groups to help everyone understand the main points of the assigned reading\u2026 You will also be responsible for facilitating the class discussion.\u2019<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Passage<\/p>\n

Master<\/td>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u2018\u2026to locate a few special passages that are important in the reading assignment. These may give key information, back up the information given, or summarize the author\u2019s key points. They might also be passages that strike your fancy for some reason, are particularly well written, or might be controversial or contradictory with other passages or other information learned in class\u2026\u2019<\/p>\n

 <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Creative Connector<\/td>\n <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u2018\u2026to help everyone make connections to other important ideas, both to ideas from this class and also to other cultural, social, political, and economic ideas. You may make connections to other reading assignments, lectures, TV shows, movies, or other experiences\u2026\u2019<\/p>\n

 <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Devil\u2019s<\/p>\n

Advocate<\/td>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u2018\u2026to challenge the ideas in the article by developing a list of critical, thoughtful questions and arguments that might be raised by critics of the authors or by those with different points of view.\u2019<\/p>\n

 <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Reporter<\/td>\n <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u2018\u2026the only role that will be prepared during and after class. Your job is twofold. First, during the discussion, you will take notes on the discussion and will summarize its main points\u2026 Second, after the discussion you will need to write a brief summary of the group discussion.\u2019<\/p>\n

 <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

Reference: <\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Parrott, H.M. and Cherry, E. (2011) Using structured reading groups to facilitate deep learning, Teaching Sociology<\/em>, 39(4), 354-370.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For further help and advice, contact steve.rooney@le.ac.uk<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is a draft preview version of a resource currently in production.   The activities here are designed to help students understand how to read more effectively for academic purposes and to develop their own academic reading practices. More detailed advice and guidance on supporting students\u2019 reading practices is available in the LLI\u2019s Transitions Toolkit […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":261,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[46,98,6,96],"class_list":["post-1210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-academic-literacies","tag-extended-induction","tag-teaching","tag-transition"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/lli\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/lli\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/lli\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/lli\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/261"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/lli\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1210"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/lli\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1210\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1252,"href":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/lli\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1210\/revisions\/1252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/lli\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/lli\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/lli\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}