What Research Has to Say About Reading Instruction - International ...

✓ IRA’s position statement Investment in Teacher Preparation in the United
States (optional; available at www.reading.org)
✓ Learning log
For you:
✓ Approach to Comprehension Instruction cards (one set for each
small group; see Appendix)
Session Activities
Initiating learning
Invite participants to read and reflect on the quotations in the first
column of the Double-Entry Reflection form and summarize their
initial thoughts in writing in the middle column.
Interactive group design
The technique of conceptual matching asks learners to manipulate
cards as a way of involving tactile senses to reinforce learning and
relationships among concepts.
1. Ask participants to form small groups and distribute a
set of Approach to Comprehension Instruction cards to
each group.
2. Working in their groups, participants should read and discuss
the statement on each card and match it to one of three
larger concepts—Direct Explanation, Transactional Strategy
Instruction, or Both—sorting the cards into one of three stacks
for each concept.
3. As a whole group, discuss the card assignments. (The Card
Assignment Key on the following page shows one possible
arrangement.) Do study group members agree with the
assignments shown on the key?
Learning logs: Reflection and application
Participants are invited to reflect and respond to the following:
In your opinion, is one of these approaches—direct explanation
or transactional strategy instruction—more promising than
the other? Why or why not?
From the Professional Development Edition of What Research Has to Say About Reading Instruction
(3rd ed.), © 2009 International Reading Association.
34