FOR-PD’s Reading Strategy of the Month

A high school, English language learner sits with a reading specialist going over answers to questions his history teacher assigned. It is apparent that the student did not gain the information he should have after reading the chapter. He is unable to answer questions at the end of the chapter or answer questions the reading specialist asks of him. Finally, she asks him to summarize a key section of the text and he is unable to do so. Teaching students with a wide range of abilities and needs has always challenged teachers. Language is rapidly becoming an additional form of diversity, and many teachers have little information or education that focuses on assisting multilingual learners with their reading (Fitzgerald & Graves, 2005). The main source of reading material in the content area classroom is the textbook, however, many students, including English language learners struggle to comprehend textbooks. English language learners have the added challenge of learning, comprehending, and applying the academic English used by teachers and textbooks. Academic English is the “linguistic glue ” that describes content-area knowledge and procedures, expresses complex thinking processes and abstract concepts, and creates cohesion and clarity in written and oral discourse (Zwiers, 2004/05). Teachers must understand how to teach strategies and deliver content to English language learners in strategic ways that make the concepts comprehensible. One such strategy that has proven effective as a study and reading strategy is SQ4R – Survey, Question, Read, Recite, Review, Reflect. SQ4R provides a systematic way of comprehending and studying text (Richardson & Morgan, 1997)