Directed Reading
Thinking Activity (DRTA)
Definition:
The Directed Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA) develops
students’ reading comprehension as they reach a developing or independent level
of reading behavior. This technique
encourages students to actively engage in text and to read for a personal
purpose. It is helpful when teaching
genre characteristics and when working with informational texts. It is often used during small-group
instruction. As students read, the
teacher encourages them to predict, read, and confirm or revise their
predictions. When using this
instructional strategy, multiple copies of the same book or story are needed.
Steps:
1. Read the title
of the book and look at the cover with the students.
2. Elicit a prediction
from each student in the group by asking questions such as:
·
What kinds of characteristics
do you think most mystery (folk tales, adventure stories, etc.) books would
contain?
·
What do you think this story
might be about?
·
What do you think will happen?
·
Why do you think that?
3. List their
responses for future use.
4. Ask the students
to read a large segment of the text and then close their books.
5. Help students to
confirm or revise their individual predictions and justify their thinking by
asking questions, such as:
·
How did your prediction
compare to what was read?
·
What do you think will happen
next?
·
Why do you think that?
·
All questions asked require
higher-level thinking.
6. Continue this
pattern until the story or information piece has been read. It is not useful to break the story up into
more than three pieces. You can also
allow the students to set their own goals for reading. They may want to finish the read of the
piece in one sitting before discussing it again.
When To Use:
DRTA could be conducted at any time during the language
arts block.
Resources:
Hornsby, David, Parry, Jo-Ann, and Sukarna, Deborah.
(1992). Teach On: Teaching Strategies for Reading and Writing Workshops. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Robb, Laura. (1995) Reading
Strategies That Work: Teaching Your Students to Become Better Readers. New York: Scholastic
Professional Books.