Directed
Reading/Thinking Activity (DRTA)
Description
Directed
Reading/Thinking Activity is a way of teaching students to read closely and
purposefully. A text is revealed to students in instalments. As each is
introduced, the students are asked to make predictions, reach conclusion, and
consider the structures and features as supporting evidence from the text. It
encourages students to understand more about the reading process and to develop
prediction skills. It stimulates thinking and helps develop hypotheses about
texts which aid interpretation and comprehension. Finally it helps to increase
curiosity about particular texts and text types and encourages students to
listen to the opinions of others and modify their own in the light of
additional information.
Procedure
Prediction
Predict what the text is
about using the title. Illustrations may also be used if desired. Consider what
the topic might be, the point of view suggested, any emotional pointers?
Read
Instalments
Read, view or listen to the first
instalment. Ask students to discuss the following
§
what they know
§
how they know
§
what they think
will happen next
Read, view or listen to the
next instalment. Ask the same types of questions - confirming and disproving
predictions.
Continue with this sequence
asking students to explain and justify predictions.
Assessment
Students' work might demonstrate their ability to:use the context as an aid to prediction
§
draw conclusions
and predict outcomes
§
locate information
§
identify
supporting information
§
respond to texts
through feelings or ideas
§
explore issues or
ideas beyond the text
§
discuss the
effects of linguistic structures and features
Link to Outcomes
Students describe and reason with patterns, structures and relationships
in order to understand, interpret, justify and make predictions.
Dynamic Strategies
Think/Clarification
Tips
Have students work in groups
and present their findings after each instalment. Have students write down
their predictions.
Adapted from Tasmanian
Education Department,
Directed
Reading/Thinking Activity (DRTA)
Text
Title Predictions First
Installment (What you know?, How you know?, What happens next?) Second
Installment (What you know?, How you know?, What happens next?)