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Four-Part Reading

Here’s an activity described by Marian Thomas, as Special Lecturer and long-time Basic Writing Instructor at Boise State University.

This is an in class activity that uses writing to intervene in students’ reading process.

Setup: Select a short (2–3 page) reading (or portion of a reading) and divide it into four sections. Make copies so that each individual section is on its own page.

Step 1: Read the first section of the text once through and answer these questions:

• What is your understanding of the reading so far?
• What concepts do you find difficult?
• What do you wish you knew that would help you understand this reading better?

Step 2: Read the second section of the text and answer the same questions from Step 1. Also answer this additional question:

• How does reading this section help you understand the previous section(s)?

Step 3: Continue this process for the remaining sections.

When you’re finished, have students discuss their process. How did their understanding of the text develop?