READING COMPREHENSION USING A PODCAST

1. READING COMPREHENSION USING A PODCAST DIANA L. WHITAKER

2. Live Action Project • To create a pod cast to teach reading comprehension • Focus is on high school and post high school students • Test group – my 1102, 1101, and 99 students from the college I teach at

3. 2 works of fiction “The Pedestrian” by Ray Bradbury “Sonnet 29” by William Shakespeare 2 works of non-fiction News article “The Misuse of Cell Phones” by Saba Anwar Islambad Essay “Why We Crave Horror Movies” by Stephen King Material Used

4. What is reading? • Two part answer • 1. calling words – ability to recognize word structures • 2. understand words – ability to understand the meaning within the context of the words **One does not exist without the other. For effective reading to occur, one must be able to call words and understand their meaning.

5. Five Basic Steps to Reading Comprehension • 1. Previewing • 2. Reading and Comprehending • 3. Skimming • 4. Scanning • 5. Following Up

6. Previewing • Previewing is the manner by which one uses previous knowledge, prior learning, predictions, art, limited information, etc. to grasp the intended reader’s attention. Essentially, it is what attracts one to read the desired material

7. Reading and Comprehending • Reading and comprehending is the conscious effort of one to call words and understand the intended meaning whether it be by reading aloud, using the punctuation, answering questions while reading, underlining key words, etc. The two must work together for effective reading.

8. Skimming • Skimming occurs when the reader intentionally looks over the material searching for details pertaining to the plot or the purpose of the selection. These details are necessary to understand the overall gist of the selected reading.

9. Scanning • Scanning is the more depth work done to better understand the material. This can be anything from learning new vocabulary to completing exercise worksheets. Although a certain amount of scanning is done mentally, often this is done more in a school or business setting.

10. Following Up • Following up is the extra mile one takes to make sure he understand the text he has read. In a leisure setting this might be done by explaining the text to someone else. In school or business, it might be writing a paper or doing a project based on the material.

11. Questions to Ask • The Pedestrian by Ray Bradbury • “Sonnet 29” by William Shakespeare • News article “The Misuse of Cell Phones” by Saba Anwar Islambad • Essay “Why We Crave Horror Movies” by Stephen King

12. Reading and Comprehending Is the story futuristic? Does the story seem to be open ended? Did any information in the previewing help to set the stage for the story? Previewing What is a Pedestrian? What else has Bradbury written? What kinds of books does Bradbury write about? The Pedestrianby Ray Bradbury

13. Scanning Who are the characters? What is the setting? What is the conflict? What are some key points of the story? Skimming Why is Mr. Mead being arrested? How is he different than the other people? Why does the car say he has regressive tendencies? What is the underlying theme? The Pedestrianby Ray Bradbury

14. The Pedestrianby Ray Bradbury • Following Up • Are Bradbury’s fears founded or unfounded? • Is technology taking over humanity? • Are we losing ourselves to the progression of technology? **None of these are simply yes or no questions. These are thought provoking questions that should encourage people to truly consider the role technology has taken in our lives.

15. Previewing What is a sonnet? How do you read poetry? How are sonnets arranged? What types of sonnets is Shakespeare known for writing? Reading and Comprehending What terms stand out? Are those terms positive or negative? What terms can be either positive or negative depending on the usage? “Sonnet 29” by William Shakespeare

16. “Sonnet 29” by William Shakespeare • Scanning • What does Fortune mean in these lines? • What is the attitude of the speaker in the first quatrain? • What is the main point of the first quatrain? • What does the speaker desire in the second quatrain? • Why is the speaker discontent? • What is the gist of the second quatrain? • What is the moment of awakening? • Why do things seem better? • What is the gist of the third quatrain? • What does the speaker realize in the turn?

17. Skimming Why does the speaker have a change in attitude? What are the similarities in the quatrains? Why does the couplet or the turn have a change of heart? Following Up What might be a lesson to be learned from such a poem? How can one summarize the meaning of this poem? “Sonnet 29” by William Shakespeare

18. Previewing Are cell phones misused? Who is abusing cell phones? How are they abusing cell phones? Reading and Comprehending Who is misusing the cell phones? Where are they misusing the cell phones? What abuses were mentioned in the article? The Misuse of Cell Phones” by Saba Anwar Islambad

19. Scanning What are some advantages to having cell phones? What are some disadvantages? Skimming Why does the article only focus on two problems when there are clearly more? Who is the primary target for the article? What is the emphasis of the article? The Misuse of Cell Phones” by Saba Anwar Islambad

20. The Misuse of Cell Phones” by Saba Anwar Islambad • Following Up • What suggestions does the author give as a possible solution to the cell phone problem talked about in the article? • Is the suggestion viable? • What are pros and cons to the suggestion?

21. Previewing What do we know about the author? What types of stories does King write? Do we really crave horror movies? Reading and Comprehending Does the first line of the essay capture your attention? What is the difference between normal and crazy? What kinds of crazy things do we do everyday? What kinds of unfounded fears do we have? Essay “Why We Crave Horror Movies” by Stephen King

22. Scanning Why do we watch things that scare us? Why are horror films so popular? How are horror films simple? Skimming Do we have a dark side hidden deep within each of us? Why are we drawn to evil? What about the dark side is so exciting? Essay “Why We Crave Horror Movies” by Stephen King

23. Essay “Why We Crave Horror Movies” by Stephen King • Following Up • What of the dark side excites us? • What characters of evil do we relate to? • What beast do we hide within? • What entices and grabs us about horror? • **Notice that sometimes questions and ideas do overlap because there is not always a clear cut beginning and end to examining works.

24. Reading Comprehension Survey Questions • Who are you? 2. How would you normally feel about reading comprehension tests? Number of Responses English 1102 - 8 English 1101 - 11 Other – 5 Great - 6 Not So Great - 2 A Bit Anxious - 11 Anxious - 2 Very Anxious - 3

25. Reading Comprehension Surveycontinued… 3. Did the reading comprehension help your understanding? 4. Did you find the reading comprehension segment enjoyable? Very Much - 14 Some – 5 Don’t Know - 2 Not much - 1 Not at all - 2 Very Much - 12 Some - 9 Don’t Know - 0 Not much - 2 Not at all - 1

26. Reading Comprehension Surveycontinued… 5. Were the handouts helpful? 6. Were the reading selections enjoyable? Very Much - 15 Some - 6 Don’t Know - 1 Not much - 2 Not at all - 0 Very Much - 11 Some - 10 Don’t Know - 0 Not much - 2 Not at all - 1

27. Reading Comprehension Surveycontinued Positive Comments • I loved it! I especially like the idea that I can listen to a pod cast to make up work when I am absent. • Ms. Whitaker is hilarious! She made comments that were funny which made it enjoyable to listen to. • I like how Mrs. Whitaker used a variety of texts. This shows that the steps work with any reading material. • Hey Ms. Whit, Can you do a pod cast for every class? That way I don’t have to be in class at 8:00 A.M. • Mrs. Whitaker is very personable. She makes you feel as though you are in the classroom with her. • I like how Ms. Whitaker uses her own personal examples like Twilight and Nancy Drew. That way we can all relate. Negative Comments • The pod cast was too long. • There was too much material at one time. • I didn’t understand how you came up with all the questions.

28. Survey Explanation The majority of the students liked the podcast. A few complained about the length and the amount of material covered. For the most part, I received positive comments although I will tell the one student the pod cast does NOT replace class

29. What I Have Learned • I am not sure how I ever lived without technology. Pod casting opens up a whole to area in which I could teach. The more I think about it, I think it is certainly a viable alternative to homebound or homeschooled students. I would love to eventually put together an entire unit or even class of pod and webcasts for such use. The recording was relatively easy. The writing I simply spoke out loud as if I were teaching a class and then corrected errors. The pod cast also made me look at my own grammatical skills while speaking which I am proud to say were pretty good.

30. Conclusion Pod casting is something that I am certainly going to continue doing. I really enjoy it, and I see it as beneficial to my students. This replaces the old days of tape recording class lectures. My intent is to begin with my 1101 class, and begin recording the to post onto my webpage through my college. I am also hoping that this will spark an interest with my boss to see knew possibilities that can be used with pod casting.

31. Quote Force yourself to reflect on what you read, paragraph by paragraph. – Samuel Taylor Coleridge

32. Bibliography • Kamil, M. (2003). Adolescents and literacy: Reading for the 21st century.Washington, DC: Alliance for Excellent Education. http://www.all4ed.org/publications/AdolescentsAndLiteracy.pdf. • Krashen, S. (2003). The Power of Reading. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. http://www.sdkrashen.com/articles/singapore/singapore.pdf • Maas, Klaus. (2007). “Steps Towards the Skills of Using Reading Comprehending Strategies.” www.kfmaas.de/read_step.html. • Meltzer, J., Smith, N. C., & Clark, H. (2001). Adolescent literacy resources: Linking research and practice. Providence, RI: Education Alliance at Brown University. http://www.alliance.brown.edu/topics/literacy.shtml • Mike, D.G. (1996). Internet in the Schools: A literacy perspective. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 40, 4-13. http://www.jstor.org/pss/27542244

33. Bibliography cont. • Pearson, P.D., & Johnson, D.W. (1983). The Instruction of Reading Comprehension. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 8, 317-344. http://rer.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/61/2/239 • Pressley, M. (2000). What should comprehension instruction be the instruction of? In M. L. Kamil, P. B. Mosenthal, P. D. Pearson, & R. Barr (Eds.), Handbook of reading research (Vol. 3, pp. 545–451). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. http://rse.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/29/4/222 • Snow, Catherine. (2002). Rand Reading Study Group. Reading for understanding: Toward an R & D program in reading compression. Santa Monica, CA: Science and Technology Policy Institute, Rand Education. http://www.rand.org/pubs/monograph_reports/MR1465/ • Walker, C. H., & Meyer, B. J. F. (1980). Integrating different types of information in text. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 19, 263–275. http://www.ed.psu.edu/educ/faculty-cvs/bjm8.pdf