Strategy 2: DR/TA

What is the instructional strategy?

The instructional strategy I will have my students use to enhance students pre-reading of chapter three of African Americans and American Indians Fighting in the Revolutionary War by John Micklos Jr is called the Directed Reading/Thinking Activity or DR/TA.
Why does the strategy work?

The strategy works by allowing students to first consider what they already know about a particular topic and activate their own prior knowledge. The prompts ask students to preview the text so that they can look over titles, graphics and headings that the students might gloss over or skip entirely. The strategy forces students to take a closer look at the pages of a reading. Students are also required to make predictions or hypothesis about what they will read. Students often relate the word hypothesis with science class and in other content area teachers could use this strategy to get students thinking about making predictions.
How does it work?

1. The teacher will determine what she wants the students to know and understand from a selected text.
2. Students will write down what they already know about the texts topic either working independently or in a small group.
3. Students will write down what they think they will learn from the text.
4. Students will examine the text and note the title, subheadings, graphic aids, and any other text sections in the reading.
5. Students will then create a hypothesis or prediction about what they think they will read, which will help students plan and prepare for the text they are about to read.
6. Students will then read the assigned text and will reconsider the hypothesis that they created. Students will either agree or disagree with the hypothesis they created and adjust or rewrite a new hypothesis based upon the information they read in the text.
7. Lastly, students will write “What do you know you learned” in the graphic organizer. This will allow students another opportunity to think again about what they read and revise their understandings.

What It Looks Like: 

Directions: Before reading, answer questions 1-7 in the graphic organizer below. You will need the book African Americans and American Indians Fighting in the Revolutionary War chapter three to answer the questions. Answer questions 8-9 after you have completed the reading.

Statement/Question	Response
1. What I already know I know about African Americans who fought in the American Revolution:
2. What I think I know about African Americans who fought in the American Revolution:
3. What is the title?
4. What subheadings do I see?
5. What pictures/graphics are in the reading?
6. What other features do I notice in the reading?
7. What do I think the chapter is about? “Hypothesis”
After Reading: 8. Do I still agree with my hypothesis? If not how would I change it to fit with what I read?
9. What I know I learned from the reading: