Quick Guide:
Reading Strategy, Student Engagement
Proficiency
level: intermediate and above
Preparation
time: 5 minutes
Activity
time: 45 minutes
Materials:
Course book or a reading text, classroom board
Introduction
SQ3Rs is a
reading strategy which involves students in the reading process quite well.
SQ3Rs stands for: survey, question, read, recite, and review. Teachers can use
this strategy to work on any reading text. This strategy covers all three
aspects of pre-reading, while-reading, and post-reading phases. In the
following section, the above-mentioned terms will be explained as the lesson
goes on.
Procedure
Step 1
(Survey): The teacher asks the students to look at the pictures, text title,
and the heading and sub-headings to predict the content of the text. They write
sentences like:
I predict
that ……
This stage
is important because students try to guess the content of the text. Moreover,
students’ background knowledge is activated which leads to a better
comprehension of the text on the part of the students.
For this
lesson, the teacher selected the text entitled: “Endangered Animals” on page
22, grade 10.
Step 2
Question: The teacher invites students to write (create) some questions based
on the picture of the text, title of the text, and the headings. They are asked
to write the questions either on the left-hand side of the reading text or on a
separate piece of paper. This motivates students to skim read the text and
write some questions to make their reading purposeful. Some sample questions
are:
1. What is
the meaning of endangered animals?
2. Why are
they endangered?
3. Where do
these animals live?
4. How can
we support them?
Step 3 Read:
For this stage, students are invited to read the text quickly and find answers
to the proposed questions. This can be done in pairs which means students can
exchange their books (texts) and find answers to the questions written by their
peers. They then check their answers with the text. This phase is a
while-reading activity which is considered the main step of the process. Some
probable answers to the above-mentioned questions are:
5. It means
that we can find only a few of them around us.
6. Humans
destroy the natural homes of the animals in the forests, lakes, and plains.
They cut trees and destroy lakes. They make houses and roads instead.
7. Nature
and plains of Iran
8. We can
support them by paying more attention to nature, learning about saving
wildlife, and deciding not to hunt anymore.
Step 4
Recite: In this phase, the teacher asks the students to summarize the text and
recite the summary to their partners. They also underline the key points in the
reading text.
Step 5
Review: In the last stage, the teacher asks the students to look at the
underlined words and sentences. Students are supposed to recite the main point
in thair mind first and then tell them to their peers.
Conclusion
SQ3Rs is a
complete procedure for reading comprehension including a pre-reading activity
(Survey and Question), a While-reading activity (Read), and a Post-reading
reading (Recite and Review). It is very important to involve students in the
reading process in order to make the class more student-centred.