Multiple Text Comprehension in the Disciplines

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Naturally, our brain gathers information from multiple sources ALL the time. We are constantly getting information that contradicts itself, especially in the education world. Think about the evolution of a balanced literacy workshop approach. That stemmed from the movement from whole language to solely phonics instruction and evolved into a balanced approach. Every day, someone is publishing an article or writing a book that states what the latest and greatest instructional strategy is in the education world (Common Core, Close Reading, etc). So, it is only natural that we use multiple texts on the same topic in our classrooms. I find it hard to keep up with the latest trends in education because of the amount of research available with claims of ‘this is the next big thing in education’.

It doesn't matter what academic area or profession we are discussing or examining, in regards to reading and writing they are ALL reading and writing multiple texts in the same topics they study. If we are preparing students to be college and career ready, then it is our job to prepare students to be ready for their professions (whatever they choose). If professionals are expected to read and write multiple texts, then we should have students immersed in multiple texts in the classroom. 

Two things we need to teach in our classrooms are how to search for the proper information as well as using credible sources. With the overabundance of information that is at our students’ finger prints, we need to educate them how to analyze multiple texts and credit or discredit the information they obtain. We also need to make sure students are finding appropriate evidence for their claims or ideas that are developed through reading and writing. The world they are growing up in consists of them blogging, updating their statuses, or texting. All of these modes take away from students engaging in the formal writing process and creates writers who are immature. By having students write about the same topic in a different way, we are working towards developing those formal writing skills so many of our students lack.

Students should be reading multiple texts on the same topic that vary in reading complexity. I agree with an assertion made by Cynthia Hynd Shanahan in her article Reading and Writing across Multiple Texts that sometimes we worry about the level of a complex text instead of teaching students the strategies to navigate through a complex text. If we present various levels of text to our students and teach them how to read them with different lenses, the students will be better equipped to comprehend a wide-variety of texts. Students need specific strategies taught to them in order for them to comprehend complex text they will encounter. They need to be taught where to go when they encounter a tough vocabulary word. Students need to be taught how to build background knowledge on topics and to read multiple texts to help build that knowledge base. They need to understand the importance of looking at both sides of a topic before forming an opinion. They also need to know how to navigate through specific genres. They will be able to comprehend and take more away from an article if they have been taught the basic skills of how to change their reading lens based on the genre they are reading.    

The idea to have students read like historians fits in with the curriculum we have in my district. The students are charged to participate in a research project centering on our social studies content. Students are asked to read a wide-variety of texts and to synthesize this material to form their own thoughts and ideas. The majority of my students seem to use the computer to search for information instead of reading books published on the topic. The process historians’ uses (validate a source, contextualize the author/time written, and corroborate with other sources) is a great process to teach students when researching. This process needs to be taught and broken down for students in the classroom. They cannot be expected to know how to research and pull together all the pieces on their own. It is important that we have students participate, practice, and learn how to read across multiple texts in the classroom.

The process laid out in the article is one that we can use in any academic area. The students need to read a general article that builds background knowledge about the topic that everyone has access to in regards to reading level. Then, students need to study a second text (harder in text complexity). After that, they read a third text and study that as well. When they have read the three different texts, the fun begins. This is the time for students to compare and contrast the information presented in the three different articles and synthesize the different information. If we routinely did this in our classrooms, we would be raising critical readers and writers.

We want students to be able to read text and know that there is more information about there. Ultimately we are creating life-long learners who need to be able to find information on their own. As teachers, we are constantly reading and finding more information on new and more effective ways to instruct our students. We want students to be empowered to do that. In order for them to synthesize all of the information, we need to lay the foundations for how to do this.

Our goal is to have students be more critical when reading informational or literature. We want students to be able to synthesize the information learned from multiple sources to form their ideas and have an opinion about it.