DRTA

INSTRUCTIONAL PURPOSE:

DRTA, or directed reading-thinking activities are designed to get students asking questions to aid in reading comprehension instead of just answering a teacher's questions. This method encourages students to develop their own reading and thinking processes by setting their own purpose for reading.

AUDIENCE:

All age levels.

PROCEDURE:

§ First, have the students analyze the title, subtitles, and visual aids in the text.

§ Then have them read the introductory and concluding paragraphs.

§ Now, either as a class or individually, have the students (the teacher as a facilitator, not leader) hypothesize and predict about the main idea of the text, including writing or asking questions.

§ Finally, have the students read the text, evaluate their predictions, and using the new information they derived from the text, answer any questions they had before reading.