Collaborative strategic reading is a model that uses four strategies to support the learning of readers with disabilities. It involves mutual reading in small groups, where students take turns being the “teacher” and using techniques like rattling and clunking to unpack the meaning of a text. Other roles include clunk maven, concepts maven, announcer, and encourager. This approach not only strengthens academic understanding but also creates a sense of security and investment in the group’s success.
Four strategies designed to support the learning of readers with disabilities from middle school through high school make up the collaborative strategy reading model. These strategies work best when students with a range of reading comprehension skills work in reading groups of no more than five students. Collaborative strategic reading approaches offer readers methods by which they can unpack the meaning of a word or text through their prior knowledge; research the meaning of unfamiliar words or phrases through context and word families; focusing on the main idea of a passage; and create a summary reviewing the material.
Collaborative strategic reading centers its strategies on mutual reading. This method requires students to read the same text. In turn, each student enters a “teacher” spotlight by reading a section aloud. The other members of the group are “students” who then ask questions to which the “teacher” answers on the theme of the text. Next, the ‘teacher’ offers a summary of the text, the ‘students’ consider areas that need clarification and, as a group, predict the expected outcomes based on the text.
Mutual reading is a type of cooperative learning. This term is given to a method that groups students at different levels and offers techniques and strategies that students themselves use to help others in their group. This approach not only strengthens academic understanding, but helps create a sense of security as all members identify strongly with the group and are therefore invested in its success.
Learner-friendly techniques used in collaborative strategic reading include rattling and clunking, comprehension, and conclusion. Clunks are segments of words that need explaining because students have no prior knowledge of them. They represent affixes or involve root words that are unfamiliar, or the context does not make their meanings apparent. During practice, students seek out central ideas and themes by examining characters, settings, symbols, and objects. During summarization, students work independently to create text-based questions, which they then answer to summarize what they have read.
Roles other than “teacher” include a clunk maven, concepts maven, announcer, and encourager. These roles are assumed at some point by all students in a group. The clunk expert uses a set of cards outlining the steps involved in clunking, while the substance expert guides the team in their search for meaning. The announcer’s job is to determine which group member should contribute next, and the encourager is the team cheerleader who offers cheers when the team is doing well and offers encouragement when the team is discouraged.
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