I created a reading instructional strategy that I have used countless times in my own English classes. This strategy provides students with a way to organize their thoughts and creates thought-provoking, high level questions to further their reading. This activity encourages students to create their own questions while they read and attempt to find the answers independently. Students are also encouraged to share their questions with other students, which will encourage an open discussion about the passages the students have read independently. What makes this strategy effective and one that I go to time and time again is that it teaches and reinforces the active reading model needed to be active readers and lifelong learners.
Each time I have used this reading strategy I have to provide students with a model in order for them to fully understand how this strategy works, but once they see an example then this most often becomes the strategy they return to for other reading assignments. To use this strategy in the library, I will reconfigure it to fit any content area in order to make it more accessible to others. Just as in classroom teaching, library teaching works in the same way with modeling for the students, and in some cases modeling for the teachers.
A major component of AASL’s standard 2.4 is the collaboration with a content teacher; this component is priceless for everyone involved, including the students. While so many teachers are convinced that they are not “reading” teachers, the fact is that we all are. At the secondary level, the curriculums are departmentalized to the point where certain components are left up to a specific course or subject. In turn there are teachers who feel that it is not their job to teach certain skills. The reality is that reading is the basis for all students’ success, and if all teachers and the librarian can work together, then we can help our students reach their full potential.