Text Structure And Gradual Release Of Responsibility

By Author: peter
Total Articles: 191

The structure of a text is a key to comprehension. Good readers "naturally" recognize and respond to cues about the nature of a text and adjust comprehension strategies accordingly—most of the time without even realizing they are doing so. This may work well for them, but invisible acts are not useful for struggling readers or for teachers who wish to assist them. In fact, identifying and explicitly applying comprehension strategies helps all readers because even skilled readers benefit from understanding the met cognitive processes that they are spontaneously using to comprehend texts.

Students may know that reading their biology textbook is more difficult than reading Of Mice and Men, but they may not understand Like talented athletes, we probably became fluent readers and writers almost effortlessly, our skills fostered by our passion for the Replica Cartier Jewelry worlds we discovered and created through language. Why; they are unlikely to recognize features of the text structure that change their experiences of reading. In Strategies That Work; Teaching Comprehension for Understanding and Engagement, Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis explain that Poetry has its white space, fiction its characters, and nonfiction its bold print. In fact, every literary genre or form has certain features that define it. When we explore fiction, we teach our students about character, setting, problem and solution. When we investigate nonfiction, we share expository text structures, such as "compare and contrast" and "cause and effect." We teach visual and text features so that students will have the background knowledge to better comprehend a specific genre or form when they read and write.

In short, Harvey and Goudvis use research about what good readers do intuitively to recommend that teachers explicate text structures and provide strategies to help students engage with different types of texts. Graphic organizers can be particularly valuable tools for facilitating text comprehension. Even though narrative text, the familiar plot structure of stories, tends to be relatively easy for students to grasp, graphic organizers such as story maps may help students keep track of characters, settings, and other information.

Initially, during the direct instruction and modeling phases of lessons, teachers do most of the work. As students become more proficient, teachers progressively expect students to identify and analyze text structures independently. This approach is known as the cheap d&g jewelry "Gradual Release of Responsibility" framework described by Harvey and Goudvis as a combination of modeling and guided practice that requires a "delicate balance" between releasing responsibility too soon—resulting in frustration—and providing excessive instruction—resulting in boredom and disengagement. Harvey and Goudvis identify five phases of the Gradual Release of Responsibility model:
1. Teacher modeling
2. Guided practice
3. Collaborative practice
4. Independent practice
5. Application of the strategy in authentic reading situations

Harvey and Goudvis emphasize the point that teacher modeling should be brief and clear; the preponderance of instructional time should be devoted to students' practicing strategies as teachers guide them through the process, constantly providing assistance, assessing progress, and modifying instruction. The crux of the gradual release of responsibility model is that metacognition shifts from teacher-directed to student-directed. Initially, teachers provide explicit instruction and supervise guided practice. Text structure and comprehension strategies are explicitly taught, just like any other content, and students are held accountable (through formative and summative assessments) for their use of comprehension strategies as much as they are for their knowledge of content. After assessments indicate that students are capable of applying comprehension strategies independently, responsibility for doing so shifts to them.