Before, During, and After reading strategies for grades 6 and up. For readers with a primary focus on non-fiction in each of the categories.

1. READING STRATEGIES:
BEFORE, DURING, AND
AFTER
Sarah Chadwick
April 28, 2014
RED4348
Jennifer Bishop

2. READING STRATEGIES
1. Pre-write
Questions
2. Word Splash
3. Do Now
4. Think-Pair-
Share
5. Visual Aids
1. Sticky Notes
2. Lit Circles
3. Text
Rendering
4. Response
Sheet
5. Pre-write
Questions
Before During After
1. Whip
2. 3-2-1 Strategy
3. Exit Slip
4. Question-
Answer-
Relationship
5. Timeline

3. PRE-WRITE QUESTIONS
 This strategy is to be used before
reading.
 Students survey the text and create
questions they think the text was
designed to answer.
 This sets a purpose for reading.

4. WORD SPLASH
 Word Splash is to be used before reading.
 Word Splash is a fun activity that also engages
students in writing while providing motivation
for reading by setting a clear purpose for reading.
 A Word Splash activates prior knowledge about
key vocabulary and concepts.
 Students write a story using some familiar and
unfamiliar words that are found in the text.
 Some stories are shared aloud; any
misunderstood or unknown words are then
defined.

5. WORD SPLASH CONTINUED…
 Directions on how to use Word Splash:
1. First, select 7-10 key words or phrases from the
given text; use words that are both familiar and
unfamiliar to the students.
2. Dictate the words to the students so that they have
to try to spell the words.
3. Have students write a short story of at least seven
lines using all the words.
4. Give students a chance to share their stories with a
partner; then select several students to read their
story aloud.
5. Read the given text to see if any student-generated
story was similar to the text.

6. DO NOW
 This strategy is to be used before reading.
 Do now activity enables an efficient transition
between hall time and class time.
 Can be used for introducing a new unit or a new concept in
the current unit, quickly review on a learned concept, and
to get thoughts on paper for a later discussion or reflection.
 A Do Now is a quick question or thought-
provoking statement that the students are asked
to respond to within a given time.
 Usually 3-5 minutes
 The question can be written on the board, shown on
an overhead or duplicated and passed out.

7. DO NOW CONTINUED…
 The object is to engage students in writing their
thoughts without the pressure of being correct
and to focus the students on the concept that will
be targeted in class that day.

8. THINK-PAIR-SHARE
 Think-Pair-Share is to be used before reading.
 The Think-Pair-Share activity is a cooperative
learning tool.
 This strategy forces interaction and uncovers
various perspectives and prior knowledge.
 In this strategy, students are given a topic or
open-ended question to think about and then to
recorded their thoughts on paper.

9. THINK-PAIR-SHARE CONTINUED…
 After writing down their answers, the students
are then paired up and asked to share their
thoughts with a partner.
 The partners are asked to create one concise
statement combining both group members’ thoughts.
 Once students are done sharing their thoughts,
the combined statements are then shared with
the class.

10. VISUAL AIDS
 This strategy is to be used before reading.
 Pictures and other visual material can activate a
students' prior knowledge.
For Example:
 If a student has some schema for fossils, a simple
picture may serve to retrieve appropriate knowledge.
Thus a teacher may share this photograph of a fossil
before students read a science textbook chapter on
fossils.
 A picture serves to activate the students'
schemata.

11. STICKY NOTES
 Sticky notes are used during reading.
 Students use “post its” to write their
thoughts and notes.
 Students are stick their notes on to the
text, where writing in the textbook or
novel isn’t allowed.

12. LIT CIRCLES
 This strategy used during reading.
 An independent reading activity that
prompts student-generated discussions on
a chosen text.
 Students are active, rather than passive,
users of text.
 This strategy gets students engaged and
prompts them into thinking about the
text.

13. TEXT RENDERING
 Text Rendering is used during reading.
 A text rendering is a during reading activity that
creates interaction between students and text.
 Students are expected to mark their text in some
way as they read, focusing on a few types of
connections.

14. TEXT RENDERING CONTINUED…
 A typical text rendering might focus on three
types of student-text interaction.
 Using a code to simplify the process:
 Placing the symbol (ü) next to some statements with which
the student may agree too.
 Placing the symbol (!) next to text that appears to state the
main idea.
 Placing the symbol (?) near text which confuses the reader
 During text rendering, a highlighter might be
used to highlight the actual words that are
connected to the symbol markings.
 Additionally, students can be encouraged to write
marginal notations, if possible, to capture more of
their thoughts as they read

15. RESPONSE SHEET
 This strategy used during reading.
 Students note key statements on the left.
 Students note personal responses on the right.
 The response sheet helps connect text to prior
knowledge, and provides meaningful study guide
later.
 This strategy is based on Cornell note-taking
method.

16. PRE-WRITE QUESTIONS
 Pre-write Questions are used during reading.
 From the before reading, students would have
written questions they thought the text was
designed to answer.
 The Students are to answer the questions they
composed prior to reading.
 Then students are to create additional questions
that arise as they read the text.

17. WHIP
 This strategy used during reading.
 This strategy can be a quick around-the-room
activity that ensures everyone’s participation
 done to share many different responses to an open-
ended question
 Another way to use Whip is to complete a quick
review of a concept.
 To find out if there are misconceptions or errors to
clarify.
 A whip does not allow critical or corrective
comments from either the teacher or other
students that might dissuade students from
sharing.

18. WHIP CONTINUED…
 Whip is a strategy for total participation and
data gathering.
 It also provides weaker readers with other
perspectives and models of text-based thinking.
 Directions:
1. After reading, instruct students to answer aloud,
going up and down each row, responding to a given
question that connects to the text.
Examples:
 “Which paragraph offered the best visual description of
_______?”
 “Read aloud the phrase that stood out in your mind”.
2. The Whip question follows the text rendering, so
students are revealing some of their during-reading
thought processes.

19. 3-2-1 STRATEGY
 The 3-2-1 strategy is used after reading.
 This strategy is a good end-of-the-period activity
to review the day’s lesson and promote higher
order thinking.
 The 3-2-1 strategy involves steps and writting.
These steps are:
 3 = three things they discovered.
 2 = two things they found interesting.
 1 = one question they still have.
 This writing strategy is to help students
comprehend what they have read.

20. EXIT SLIP
 This strategy is used after reading.
 The Exit-Slip strategy requires students to write
responses to questions the teacher poses at the
end of class.
 Exit Slips help students reflect on what they
have learned and express what or how they are
thinking about the new information.
 Exit Slips require students to think critically.
 Exit Slips are great because they take just a few
minutes and provide you with an informal
measure of how well your students have
understood a topic or lesson.

21. EXIT SLIP CONTINUED…
 There are three categories of exit slips:
 Prompts that document learning
 Discuss how today's lesson could be used in the real world.
 Prompts that emphasize the process of learning
 Write one question you have about today's lesson.
 Prompts that emphasize the process of learning
 Did you enjoy working in small groups today?
 Other exit prompts include:
 I would like to learn more about…
 I wish…
 The most important thing I learned today is…
 The thing that surprised me the most today was…

22. QUESTION-ANSWER-RELATIONSHIP
(QAR)
 Question-Answer-Relationship is used after
reading.
 QAR teaches students how to decipher what
types of questions they are being asked and
where to find the answers to them.
 QAR empowers students to think about the text
they are reading and beyond it, too. It inspires
them to think creatively and work cooperatively
while challenging them to use literal and higher-
level thinking skills.

23. QUESTION-ANSWER-RELATIONSHIP
CONTINUED…
 Four types of questions are examined in the QAR.
 Right There Questions: Literal questions whose answers
can be found in the text. Often the words used in the
question are the same words found in the text.
 Think and Search Questions: Answers are gathered from
several parts of the text and put together to make
meaning.
 Author and You: These questions are based on information
provided in the text but the student is required to relate it
to their own experience. Although the answer does not lie
directly in the text, the student must have read it in order
to answer the question.
 On My Own: These questions do not require the student to
have read the passage but he/she must use their
background or prior knowledge to answer the question

24. TIMELINE
 This strategy is used after reading.
 Timelines help determine the sequence of major
events, cause/effect relationships, and how events
influence people.
 This study skill:
 Helps students organize dates, numbers, and other
information efficiently
 Helps students visually remember when events
occurred
 Gives students a framework to add additional
information to while studying

25. TIMELINE CONTINUED…
 Procedure for using timelines:
 Ensure that the dates/ideas you are using are truly
important.
 Create a brief, general line of events happening in
the world at the same time as the events the students
need to know for the class.
 The general timeline gives students the framework to add
additional information to.
 Give the general timeline to the students at the beginning
of your session.
 Have students draw another timeline below the
general one. Work on filling in key dates and ideas
from their notes on the new timeline.
 Discussion should be focused on making sure
everyone’s dates correlate and answer any questions
that may still remain.

26. REFERENCES
Indiana University:Bepko Learning Center. (2002-2014). Timelines. Retrieved from
http://blc.uc.iupui.edu/AcademicEnrichment/StudySkills/NoteTakingStrategies/Ti
melines.aspx
Kolega, P. (2014). Pennsylvania department of education: A- after (post reading).
Retrieved from
http://www.education.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/before-during-
after_reading_strategies/7540/a_-_after_(post_reading)/508382
Kolega, P. (2014). Pennsylvania department of education: B- before (pre-reading).
Retrieved from
http://www.education.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/before-during-
after_reading_strategies/7540/b_-_before_(pre-reading)/508378
Kolega, P. (2014). Pennsylvania department of education: D-during (reading &
rereading). Retrieved from
http://www.education.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/before-during-
after_reading_strategies/7540/d_-_during_(reading___rereading)/508381
Porter, K. (n.d.). Reading: Strategies to activate prior knowledge. Retrieved from
http://departments.weber.edu/teachall/reading/prereading.html

27. REFERENCES CONTINUED…
Seminole County Public Schools. (2014). Teaching and learning: After reading strategies.
Retrieved from
http://www.scps.k12.fl.us/curriculum/AcademicCore/LanguageArtsandReading/S
econdaryReading/AfterReading.aspx
Weimer, M. (2010). Lesson plan: Reading informational texts using the 321 strategy.
Retrieved from http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-
plans/reading-informational-texts-using-951.html
WETA. (2014). Classroom strategies: Exit slips. Retrieved from
http://www.adlit.org/strategies/19805/
WETA. (2014). Classroom strategies: Question-answer relationship (qar). Retrieved from
http://www.adlit.org/strategies/19802/