Fall 2007

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Making Connections With Non-Fiction Text

by Vanessa Knock

Assumptions are sometimes made that students have the skills to understand and connect with the text that we give them because someone else should have taught them what they need to know by the time they get to our classrooms. This may not in fact be the case. Many students continue to struggle with reading all through school and miss meaning in the text because they do not know how to make connections, deconstruct text and then reconstruct the information.

For students to experience literacy across the curriculum, they need appropriate skills to deal with different types of text. Traditionally, content area teachers in the upper grades have taught the curriculum, spending very little time thinking about literacy and how it impacts student learning, believing that only the ELA teacher teaches literacy. Today, we recognize that different texts require different skills, and we realize that we are the best people to teach students how to read our content areas. Many of us remember information because we are able to relate/connect it to previous knowledge, information and experiences. It is up to us to create such experiences for our students.

Years ago students would tell me that they could not remember what they had read in the textbook and I would tell them to read it again, and reread it they would. Since that time I have adopted strategies to help students interact and create connections with the text.

WRITING AROUND THE TEXT
One way I encourage students to connect is to have them write around the text. I photocopy a short article and model what I am thinking while I am reading the text. Then I physically mark my thoughts in the margins. I try to find an article that is thought provoking and that students may have different connections to than I do. This technique can be used for fiction as well as non-fiction.

As textbooks cannot be marked up, we use sticky notes to use this strategy when we’re reading textbooks. Students keep track of questions, make connections and mark places in the text for later discussion. I have found it useful for students to put the page number and their initials on each sticky. That way, if their notes become lost on the floor, we can return them to their rightful owners.

By expecting students to use sticky notes, I am able to monitor their learning. I can quickly see how far they have read, assess levels of comprehension, and determine if students are connecting previous knowledge. I am also able to see if a student is having real difficulty and needs to be supported in a different way. Sticky notes are a great way for students to record thoughts, inferences and questions.

RAN ORGANIZER
Another useful tool is the RAN Organizer developed by Tony Stead. The RAN is used for Reading and Analyzing Non-fiction and teaches students how to interact with text. Many teachers are familiar with similar charts such as the KWL chart (what we Know, what we Want to know and what we Learned).

The RAN takes into consideration other factors involved in learning, such as misconceptions, previous knowledge, questioning, new information and connections we can make to previous learning. What I really like about this chart is that it validates that as learners we make mistakes and that is OK.

You may find that even with this chart you have to deal with information that students thought they knew but was not addressed in the text. Therefore, you may have a column for unverified information. Sometimes I use all columns; sometimes I choose four. I have found it beneficial to adapt the chart so that it works to support the outcomes that I want students to achieve.

Making connections, building on previous knowledge, confirming knowledge, questioning, and dealing with misconceptions. All students face educational challenges, and as teachers we strive every day to give them the tools to deconstruct text and make meaning of what they have read. By teaching students to become strategic thinkers, we are helping them create meaning from text—a skill that will enhance lifelong learning.

Vanessa Knock teaches learning strategies and supports struggling readers and writers at a public school in Amherst, Nova Scotia.