# Any university or high school teachers teach a college reading readiness course? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 3, 2012, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-university-or-high-school-teachers-teach-a-college-reading-readiness-course/617724 "2012-04-03T19:45:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![iftheresaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecae2f/32.png) [@iftheresaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iftheresaway)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2012, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-university-or-high-school-teachers-teach-a-college-reading-readiness-course/617724/21 "2012-04-04T21:59:30Z")
> [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > One way to approach this is to not tell them what _you_ think, but ask them what _they_ think. So for example, you give them a how-to article about fly-fishing, and someone comes up with the title “Encumbrance-Related Flight Velocity Variances in _Hirundo rustica_”. Instead of saying, “That… makes no sense,” you could ask, “Why did you choose that title?” I thought it was funny. “Heh, me too. But how does it relate to the article?” Well, it doesn’t, but who cares? It’s just a title. “Interesting. Do you think the title of an article has a purpose? If so, what is it? Could it have more than one purpose? Does it depend? What do other students think?” And so on. > > You can also define in advance what you think the criteria are, with as much input from the class as possible, and ask them to create their own title using those criteria. Then, if they come up with something kooky, you can refer back to the criteria and ask them to show how it fits. You can also do something similar, using other students to give the feedback instead of doing it yourself. For example, tell the class (or work with them to arrive at the conclusion) that a title should give the reader a sense of what to expect from the reading. Then split the class into group A and group B, with a different selection for each group. Have the groups read their selection and come up with a title. Then give group A’s title to the group B kids before they read the corresponding passage, and have the group B kids determine whether group A’s title helped them to understand what the passage would be about (and vice versa). ---
**Author:** ![Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4bbf92/32.png) [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heart_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-university-or-high-school-teachers-teach-a-college-reading-readiness-course/617724/22 "2012-04-05T14:09:11Z")
> [@iftheresaway](#): > > You can also do something similar, using other students to give the feedback instead of doing it yourself. For example, tell the class (or work with them to arrive at the conclusion) that a title should give the reader a sense of what to expect from the reading. Then split the class into group A and group B, with a different selection for each group. Have the groups read their selection and come up with a title. Then give group A’s title to the group B kids before they read the corresponding passage, and have the group B kids determine whether group A’s title helped them to understand what the passage would be about (and vice versa). Yes! I was about to go on to suggest exactly this, but felt I’d said too much already. I’ll shut up now. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-university-or-high-school-teachers-teach-a-college-reading-readiness-course/617724/23 "2012-04-05T14:39:32Z")
The way that I’d normally handle this would be to use an individual–\> groups–\> whole class approach. Basically, I’d have the students read the passage individually. If I felt like they needed more comprehension, I’d have them discuss the theme of the passage with a partner. That’s probably not necessary in this case, but a short chance to talk things over with a partner can prime shy students to participate actively in larger groups, and is a good way to combat a silent classroom. Then I’d break them into groups and have the groups work together on a title. Finally, I’d write each group’s final title on the board and discuss as a whole classroom which titles were the most and least effective. I try to stick to the 80/20 rule, leading students work out with each other what works and what doesn’t and ask them leading questions into why. I used to run a lot of my classes on activities that move from a smaller to larger group (or vice-versa) with a different level of learning addressed (taking in information, recalling information, applying information, creatively integrating information into your worldview) at each step. Whenever I can, I try to have a concrete product (say, a title from each group, or a title voted best by the class) for each step to make students see how they are working on a productive goal and keep them on track. ---
**Author:** ![iftheresaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecae2f/32.png) [@iftheresaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iftheresaway)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-university-or-high-school-teachers-teach-a-college-reading-readiness-course/617724/24 "2012-04-05T16:04:43Z")
> [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Yes! I was about to go on to suggest exactly this, but felt I’d said too much already. Oh good, because when I was writing it I was really hoping that it would make sense outside of my own brain! ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-university-or-high-school-teachers-teach-a-college-reading-readiness-course/617724/25 "2012-04-05T16:51:35Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > What is the actual reading level of the students, beyond “not college level?” Will they all be roughly similar or pretty varied? I agree with the suggestion of short stories… One thing I have to ask is WHY specifically are they under the level? E.g. is it because they are not native English speakers and don’t know enough vocabulary, is it because even though they can read a newspaper, they don’t have grammar well enough down to find the error in “John knew that they’re viewpoints would not be easily changed.”, is it because they can’t summarize a paragraph, etc.? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-university-or-high-school-teachers-teach-a-college-reading-readiness-course/617724.md?page=1)