The Take-Five Model

I just recently read that students should be reading in class every day. Reading in class every day. When I was teaching, I liked to use reading for homework, but the more I think about, the more it makes sense to have students reading in class. This allows you, as the teacher, to better monitor comprehension; to guide the reading; to work with struggling readers; reduces homework load for students; motivates students to continue reading at home; and by using the jigsaw method, allows students to read few things in greater depth. So read in class every day.

Here's a strategy from Jeanne R. Paratone and Rachel L. McCormack's "Grouping in Middle and Secondary Grades: Advancing Content and Literacy Knowledge" in Literacy Instruction for Adolescents: Research-Based Practice ed. Karen D. Wood and William E. Blanton, Guilford Press, New York, 2009.

The Take-Five Model has five daily components: get ready, read, reread, respond, and react.

Getting Ready includes doing any of the following

*review previous work

*activate/build background knowledge

*develop vocabulary

*make predictions

*question

* mini lesson

*introduce/implement graphic organizer

*comprehension monitoring

Reading can be done in various groups such as pairs, teams, individual, or whole class and includes

*read with a focus

*main idea

Rereading can also be done in any of the various groups mentioned above and includes

*reading with a different focus

*for detail

*to identity areas of confusion

*verbalize/think aloud

*talk/discuss

*skim

*complete graphic organizers

*KWL

*answer questions in text orally

Responding is also done in various groupings and includes

*response journals

* dialog journals

*arts

*learning logs

*convert graphic organizer to connected text

Reacting is genearlly the whole class but can be done in various groupings and includes

*sharing journal entries

*teacher-led or peer-led discussions

*sharing responses or graphic organizers

I like this model because it is formed around groups and discussions and can be used in any content area. It prevents reading from becoming an isolated activity of students reading on their own and then doing nothing with the reading. It forces students to read, do something with the reading and then read it again. Reading then is an active, involved process where the reading is important now and is use in authentic conversation and not just to answer right there questions.