Assisting Reading Infographic

For more information about assisted reading see my Assisted Reading blog series called 10 Principles for Assisting Reading.

This infographic was created using tools from www.easel.ly

10 Principles for Assisting Reading. 5. Pause, Prompt, Positive Feeding-back

The next stage of the guided reading session is supported reading. Supported reading implies that the reading is scaffolded, in other words, the supports are meant to be temporary and gradually faded out. The main idea is that the reading guide should gradually release responsibility to the reader as the reader gains in confidence and competence.

The most effective method to promote this self-supported reading is the pause, promp, and praise method. This provides a scaffolding that transfers responsibility to the young or novice reader and overcomes the tendency to rely too much on the reading guide for help. It also overcomes the frustration, and even anger, that can develop when using other methods that focus on accuracy rather than on meaning and enjoyment.

The pause aspect relates to the notion that the reader needs time to process the language and meaning of the text so that they can use compensatory strategies when meaning breaks down. Thus, when the reader makes an error the reading guide should pause and wait until the reader finishes the sentence (a sentence is a complete thought). At the end of the sentence the guide should give a prompt and wait for about three seconds to give the impression that it is the reader's responsibility to self-correct.

The second aspect is the prompt scaffold. This implies that the guide will assist the reader without undermining the reader's responsibility during the reading. However, it must be emphasised that some prompts are better than others. In the next blog I will show which prompts are most effective and why.

The third aspect is a variation of the praise principle.  Readers should be given praise as much as possible for their efforts, particularly since reading is an enormously complex process. Praise should be in the form of positive but accurate feedback. For readers to become strategic, they should be made aware of their reading progress. The main idea is that after some modeling by the reading guide the reader should be encouraged to use self-praise rather than merely looking for external rewards.

10 Principles for assisting reading - 3a. Modelling & Predicting

Children often learn by watching and listening to others, particularly people with whom they have a  good relationship. Guided reading sessions are no exception, in fact, this aspect is a vital element that begins in the pre-reading phase. In the last blog post it was emphasised that talking about the content of the book and related experiences was just as important as the reading itself.

This initial phase is often referred to as the book orientation phase because it entails becoming acquainted with the content and language of the book. Book language is different to spoken language and the type of language used will differ from book to book. During this initial phase the person guiding the reading (parent, older sibling, other) should read the book aloud to the child so that the child can become familiar to the language of the book and become acquainted with the content. The reading guide should also take the opportunity to model the sorts of reading processes that the reader should adopt. For example, the reading guide should model the following reading comprehension thinking processes:

1. sampling,
2. predicting, and
3. confirming or correcting.

In practical terms this will require the reading guide to browse through the book with the child to demonstrate how predictions about story content can be made by sampling. This sampling process begins when the reader looks for clues in the illustrations and the text to show what the story or passage might be about. The reading guide should verbalise what they are thinking, this is often referred to as 'thinking-aloud'. For example, while looking at the pictures and discussing them the reading guide should think-aloud by saying something like, "It looks like ...  I wonder what will happen next?"

"This is very similar to what happened to me once when... So I think that ... might happen next. let's turn the page and find out."

After turning the page the reading guide then says, "Yes, my prediction was right, ... did happen but it was slightly different to what I expected. I thought that... would happen as well, but instead ... happened. Now I know what to expect over the next page. Let's turn over to find out if I am right."

N. B. Predictions are usually based on past experiences and so it is important for the reading guide to explicitly demonstrate that they are related to similar life situations that can be shared with the young or novice reader. The expectation is that the reader will eventually do this independently. Before this can happen the person assisting the reading will usually need to give prompts and gradually fade them out as the child becomes more confident and begins to take more responsibility.