I believe the majority of educators would agree that, when it comes to reading comprehension abilities, more isn't necessarily better. Students will have the opportunity to master each approach by focusing on one skill at a time, and they will be able to utilize the taught talents while reading independently. All reading levels may benefit from the below techniques.
SQ3R Method
SQ3R is a reading comprehension strategy that encourages students to think about what they are reading while they are reading it. The SQ3R approach consists of the five following steps:
- Survey: Before beginning to read, children should scan the material. I make sure they pay attention to the graphic's title, captions, and pictures. Students may also read the introduction, conclusion, and text summary (if provided).
- Question: While reading the book, students need to be thinking of questions to ask about it. I advise my pupils to record their questions as they come up. Unknown vocabulary terms may also be found by students. Now is a good moment to write them down and interpret their significance.
- Read: The text is read aloud by the students. They will hopefully learn the answers to the queries that emerged from the survey component of the plan. I instruct pupils to go through confusing passages again and use context clues to decipher the meaning of unfamiliar phrases.
- Recite: After finishing the book, students write their own comments on the subject; by summarizing the book, they will have a deeper understanding of the subject.
- Review: Students must examine the material in more depth in the last phase of the SQ3R approach. Students may actively study the material offered in the book by answering comprehension questions, completing a graphic organizer, or taking part in group discussions, for example.
Disadvantages of the SQ3R method
Many educators and researchers question the reliability of the SQ3R method, bringing attention to some possible disadvantages.
- The SQ3R procedure must be intentionally repeated by students until it becomes instinctive.
- The process takes a lot of time since students have to set aside enough time to read each chapter thoroughly and consider each topic.
- The SQ3R methodology may be initially challenging to understand and use.
- The cognitive processes of organization and integration are not supported by SQ3R's phases.
- The approach is not appropriate for online courses or learning resources other than textbooks.
Since the approach is getting close to a century old, many of these drawbacks are starting to appear. Some educators believe that alternative strategies, such as the GIST method, are better than the SQ3R since learning psychology is now better understood (The Advantages of SQ3R Technique The Disadvantages of SQ3R Technique 2022).
The SQ3R technique may not be ideal. However, it remains to be one of the best study techniques available for understanding textbooks, and I believe it still has its fair share of applications.
KWL Charts
A KWL chart is an evidence-based reading technique that engages students' previous knowledge, establishes a reading goal, and supports comprehension assessment. It is quite effective when beginning a new text. The instructor first determines the text's subject and makes a three-column chart that the class will complete jointly. Before reading the text, the first two columns, K and W, are filled out. Everything that pupils already know about the subject is included in the K column. What pupils wish to know about the subject is denoted by the letter W. Active reading is encouraged and supported by taking the time to address existing information and come up with questions beforehand. L is the final column. It speaks about what the pupils discovered after reading the material. After reading the material, students should fill in the L column so they may draw connections and consider what they have learned.
Disadvantages of the KWL method
The problems with this method when used incorrectly as a reading comprehension strategy are that it is reader-centered rather than author-centered and is constrained by the pupils' prior knowledge
(Ibrahim, 2012). Additionally, while brainstorming in groups dramatically improves previous knowledge for the K step, students often contribute irrelevant, false, or incomplete material that might potentially complicate their reading. The teacher's job is to use analogies, fill in the blanks, and synthesize the students' combined previous knowledge to make the student contributions understandable. When conducting the KWL activity, teachers should use discretion and only choose reading material that their pupils are already highly acquainted with. Before implementing this technique, instructors must also consider two issues: Is it truly worth the time? Is the result worth the effort? Once again, KWL is constrained by the information supplied by students during the W stage since it is reader-centered. Both what students don't know and what they wish to know are unknown to them. Or they could wish to know what is irrelevant, unimportant, or not covered in the reading list or other resources. Following the interests of the reader may result in a lot of circle-driving and tangential bird-walking.
Developing Concise Summary Writing with "GIST"
One last method for determining understanding of a text is called GIST (Generating Interactions between Schemata and Text). It encourages students to create succinct, insightful summaries and is suitable for readers of all reading abilities. Students that are taught information-summing strategies will develop their ability to effectively synthesize knowledge. Students should be able to communicate the "gist" of what they read in a GIST summary without adding any unnecessary information. Students learn the competencies they need to independently recognize a text's major ideas and important details by using GIST. I usually have students read a brief passage of text before starting the GIST approach. After reading, I instruct them to respond to the following questions based on the text: who, what, when, where, why, and how. Finally, I ask students to summarize their responses in one phrase. Students should get assistance in writing GIST summaries until they are able to do it on their own.
Disadvantages of the GIST method
This strategy helped me improve the reading and writing abilities of many students. To my knowledge, there are no downsides. Even with the neediest students, a teacher needs only to closely supervise and support (for a while) and be patient. For the students, all they have to do is read the text and answer the questions.
References
Ibrahim, (2012) developing students' reading comprehension skills through. Retrieved from
The Advantages of SQ3R Technique The Disadvantages of SQ3R Technique. (2022). Retrieved 29 September 2022, from https://text-id.123dok.com/document/lq5m818ry-the-advantages-of-sq3r-technique-the-disadvantages-of-sq3r-technique.html
