This course introduces 'The Deep 4' - Strategies to Enhance and Deepen the Construction of Meaning in Sentences.
Please note: Stage 3 is a prerequisite to this course.
Moving on from Comprehension Skills
Our first port of call (Stage 3) was to develop the 'in-the-moment' understanding of text as the reader is reading it. We want to move students on from just reading words and skating over the ideas presented, making them aware that sentences contain a collection of ideas that must be extracted and then combined to decipher the message that the author has intended. That means being more consciously active and engaging with the message WHILE they are reading.
Time for Comprehension Strategies
We now want to turn our attention to comprehension strategies, These are 'stop-and-think-about-it' intentional actions that the reader can employ to deepen and enhance their understanding and aid in the transfer of knowledge to the long-term memory for use in later learning.
Many studies – hundreds actually – have shown that teaching comprehension strategies has a significant impact on achieving that desired outcome. (Filderman, Austin, Boucher, O’Donnell, & Swanson, 2022; National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 2000). That’s a pretty strong argument for teaching strategies.
All teachers of reading Yr 3-Yr 10, Learning Support, Teacher Aides, Home Schoolers.
Our scope and Sequence recommends introducing Stage 4 in Year 4 but this is a flexible guideline.
STUDENT READINESS:
Students need to have significant mileage in Stage 3 and developed some fluency with unpacking sentences as we are now going to add to the cognitive load of the reader WHILE they are reading.
"This is the fun part - giving the reader licence and showing them how to get lost in the magic of reading."
Do you want to have a look under the bonnet?
We have spent many hours on our course design to ensure it caters for a whole range of learning preferences.
On-your-own learning
If you want to go it alone then go for it - our written and video explanations, tasks and quizzes will help you to process and apply this new knowledge (use it or lose it)
Live face-to-face tutoring
If you learn best through interaction with a tutor, our Zoom webinars and Zoom coaching is all included when you enrol.
After the theory (Unit 1) each of Units 2-5 introduces one of the four strategies.
Unit 2: 'I have a picture...' (Making Mental Images)
Unit 3: 'I know that because...' (Connections to Prior Knowledge)
Unit 4: "I wonder...? (Asking Questions)
Unit 5: 'Maybe it's because... (Forming Hypotheses)
Unit 6: Fluency - Students choose the strategy that best suits the sentence they are unpacking.
Each unit follows the same pattern - Explict Teaching of a strategy followed by Independent Practice. You need about 4 classroom lessons to build your fluency with the teaching and your students' fluency with the strategy..
Variations on the Teacher Script are provided for each strategy, which makes this very easy to implement.
Twelve months gives you plenty of time to work through the 4 strategies and practice the fluency stage.
We continue to offer a 2-hour Start-Up Webinar as many still find this valuable.
You can schedule this using our appointments calendar in Unit 1.
As for all of our courses we offer 2 x 30 minute Zoom caoching sessions for Stage 4.
If you get stuck, want to problem-solve specific issues with your class, or want to clarify some aspect of the teaching you can book a session.
Accreditation - use these sessions to show your expertise and become an accredited Stage 4 SharpReading Teacher
Your 18 page downloadable Course Book is your 'at your fingertips' classroom reference.
Teacher scripts, teaching charts, cover cards, planning and assessment templates.
These options are always available during your 12 months access.
Email us if you can't problem-solve a query
Be a part of our Online Learning Community. Connect with other Stage 4 teachers (Coming soon).
Student get excited by the challenge of adding in the Stage 4 strategies once they have become comfortable with 'I think that means...'
Having been contrained in Stage 3 by what the author has provided (Stay with the Sentence) they can now go beyond the actual text and explore the way their brain is engaging with the storyline or the information provided.
An observation from one group...
"We don't bother watching movies made from books anymore. We prefer the pictures we have in our own heads."