Embedded Reading Extensions

Last year I learned of embedded readings and it totally changed how students looked at readings. I guided them through a couple of chapters at first with an embedded reading and then the next chapter I just read outright. Oh my goodness! I was not prepared for the backlash that happened. wowser. Students craved the scaffolding that an embedded reading provided. It also gave them great confidence in diving into the full chapter, after discussing the bare-bones version and then the extended version. This is perhaps the most powerful strategy that the TPRS/CI methodology has to offer.

This year, being in a new district, I am bringing this strategy to my students. I just introduced it today and they commented that they have never done this before. This told me I had to start from ground zero and explain the process to them, giving them minimal rationale for the ones who needed it.

We are currently reading Blaine Ray's ¡Viva el toro! chapter three. I prepared two versions of an embedded reading. Students partner read the very short first version and I circled the basic information. I was pleasantly surprised that they were asking for more information, yes more information! This is the same group of kids that sat quietly and stared at me the first day, some 30 days ago, scared to speak a word. [Isn't TPRS/CI awesome?!]

Concentric Circles
After reading version two, they wrote a 5-7 sentence summary of what they read. We did a concentric circles activity to share what they wrote. This gave them both speaking and listening practice. If they didn't understand what their partner was saying, they had to ask clarifying questions. This could have been as simple as "¿Qué significa ___?"  After speaking and listening, they switched papers, turned around and found a new partner to speak with. They now read their new summary to a different partner, repeating the same activity.

Visualize
After speaking and listening twice to summaries, the students folded their paper into hotdog/hamburger to create 4 sections. On one side was the summary of their partner and on the back were four blank sections. They drew pictures to visualize what was happening in the story given the details up to this point, based on their partner's summary.

Confirmation
They returned to their partners and retold their summary using only the pictures. The partner then confirmed or guided changes. Wow, this is awesome to lead them into the full text of the chapter. Should be an easy day tomorrow!