Modeling instruction after what good readers do naturally

What I really love about this section from Carol Jago's With Rigor for All (pp. 111-112) is both the reminder to tell weaker readers the "secret" (or secrets!) of excellent readers AND the paragraph which follows the list, which reminds us that the core of all these strategies is "the thinking that these tools represent."

In order both to help students comprehend demanding literature and to meet Common Core Standards, I begin with the behaviors of good readers behaviors of good readers According to research by Michael Pressley and Peter Afflerback (1995), excellent readers are extremely strategic readers. Often without realizing that they are doing it, strong readers:

• overview a text before reading
• determine what is most important in what they are reading
• use prior knowledge to make sense of new learning
• predict what is likely to come next in a text
• construct an interpretation of a text as they read
• draw inferences from what they read
• determine the meaning of words they don’t understand, especially when the word seems critical to making sense of the text
• use techniques such as underlining, rereading, note-taking, visualizing, summarizing, paraphrasing, and questioning strategically to focus their reading
• engage in an imaginary conversation with the author
• anticipate or plan for the use of knowledge gained from the reading

Although many remedial reading programs have turned these behaviors into reading strategies, each with its own catchy acronym, I don’t think this is the best method for helping reluctant readers develop the habit of doing these things naturally. Too often the strategies insert a layer of artificiality onto the act of reading. Do you keep a reading log? When was the last time you filled in a wish-bone/fishbone graphic organizer to explain relationships between characters? This is not to say that such tools can’t be helpful for making what is transparent for good readers visible to all students. But too many students think their work is done once they complete the graphic organizer. It’s the thinking that these tools represent, the habits of mind, that we want students ot acquire. Teachers need to be strategic in their use of classroom time so that students spend a brief amount of time practicing strategies and the bulk of their time reading."