This article was originally published on 29 January 2024
When a recent study found that children comprehend text better when reading on paper than when reading on a screen, those supporting a rollback on tech for learning rejoiced.
The study, from Columbia University’s Teachers College, used a sample of 59 children aged 10-12 and found that they exhibited “deeper semantic encoding of text from paper than from a screen”.
In other words, reading on paper appears to better support what is known as “deep reading”. But what exactly is deep reading, and why does it matter?
What is deep reading?
Deep semantic encoding - or deep reading - refers to the association of newly assimilated information with existing knowledge. This creates a more thorough understanding of the new information and increases the likelihood of retaining that information in memory.
Of course, we want pupils to remember the new information they read. The Columbia study suggests that this might happen best when pupils are reading on paper.
But what else can teachers do to encourage deep reading? Here are three strategies that might help.
1. Before reading: write to read
The Education Endowment Foundation has found that “writing about texts improves pupils’ reading comprehension and fluency”, and that it can be effective to ask pupils to do this before reading, in order to support deeper reading.
So, before pupils start reading independently about a topic, get them to write out what they already know about it. This will encourage lateral thinking about the topic, which begins the engagement process and prepares them to read more deeply.
When you are prompting pupils to write out what they already know, emphasise interdisciplinary links between subjects. For example, if the passage relates to a book from a particular time period, ask pupils to recall any relevant information they may have learned in history.
Although writing in bullet points will still be useful, insisting that pupils use proper sentences will give them more of an opportunity to fully frame their thoughts. Sentence starters may be useful here, for example: “I am already aware of…”
2. During reading: model best practice in active reading
Pupils ought to be rigorously trained in practices designed to support engagement in reading, or “active reading”. These practices include but are not limited to: defining, questioning, paraphrasing, annotation and summarising.
These are all skills that must be taught, no matter how intuitive or obvious they seem to us on the surface. It is imperative that the process of active reading is modelled by a teacher.
Here are a few tips for modelling active reading to achieve deeper understanding:
- A visualiser is the most useful tool for modelling active reading.
- Be sure to select a text that is suitably challenging, so that pupils can sense themselves arriving at a deeper understanding of it through the techniques that you model.
- Read the passage through in full once, without using the active strategies; this can help pupils ascertain the main idea of the text. The second reading is for deepening understanding.
- When faced with complex content, model writing specific questions about the content in the margin and explain that you will return to these later.
- Have a rationale for the annotations you make: are they to summarise information or to make links to prior knowledge? A colour code can help here.
- If you come across a particularly convoluted sentence, model how to paraphrase it to make sense of it. Paraphrasing is a very useful tool for deepening understanding.
- For difficult vocabulary, model how you may be able to work out the meaning of the word, using its context.
- If you are using a highlighter, do not use it indiscriminately. If you are just highlighting for “key points”, then explain how you know that something is a key point.
3. After reading: move on from the ‘main idea’
In his enormously helpful guide Reading Reconsidered, Doug Lemov highlights the fact that “gist conversations”, centred on whether pupils have “gotten the main idea of a text”, can often result in an incomplete understanding of that text.
To avoid this, Lemov recommends using text-dependent questions (TDQs). These are questions which cannot be answered without paying very close attention to what is being read. These questions require “taking a microscope” to the text, Lemov writes.
In your planning, devise a substantial list of TDQs that are focused on the smaller details of the text you plan to read. These are also very useful for differentiation, as TDQs can be given to your more able pupils straight away. Chapter two of Lemov’s book has more information about this; an excerpt is available here.
Another way to move on from the main idea is to encourage pupils to connect personally with the text.
In a 2008 study, Judith Roberts and Keith Roberts note that “deep reading is enhanced whenever readers come to see connections to their own lives, their emotions or their future ambitions”.
There is usually room for quiet and thoughtful reflection on how pupils relate to what they have read on a personal level, so be sure to build time for this into your lessons.
Erin Miller is a teacher of English and law at a school in Somerset
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