Miller VENDOR Muscle Reading for Textbooks

24/F 3:30 PM Dolder G

Type_Presentation: 90 Minute Concurrent session

PresentationTitle: Muscle Reading for Textbooks

ProgramStrand_Primary: College Reading

ProgramStrand_Secondary: Learning and Study Strategies

Presentation_description:

What if your students could finish their reading assignments with time to spare and could easily recall the key points? Muscle Reading requires active, engaging work, but the benefits are worth the effort. This session will explore a three-phase technique students can use to extract ideas and information.

Session_summary:

Muscle Reading for Textbooks

Purpose of presentation: The primary purpose of the presentation will be to model a process for reading textbooks that instructors can use to engage their students. Many reading instructors recognize the excellent pedagogy behind reading formulas such as SQ3R, but they complain that students find them too cumbersome, or they resist implementing them because they seem boring. This presentation is built on the premise that it is the method used to teach the strategy that often turns students off. If we can use a method that introduces the steps in a way that makes it seem accessible and easy to remember, students are more likely to integrate it into their own repertoire.

Learning Objectives:

• Participants will be able to describe three advantages of using the Muscle Reading strategy

• Participants will be able to name and describe the steps of Muscle Reading

• Participants will be able to implement a method for teaching Muscle Reading

Significance to the Field:

Although various valuable and powerful textbook reading formulas have been developed from research, instructors often report that students resist implementation. Introducing the strategy in a simple, clear way with collaborative learning, repetition, and diverse approaches for each step can cause students to be more engaged in the initial stages of the process. If they “buy in” to the process, they may be more inclined to apply the process often enough so that it becomes a habit. When automaticity develops, instructors agree that objectives have been met.

Relevance to CRLA members and other conference attendees:

The translation from theory into practice is a continuing challenge for classroom instructors. Strategies and formulas are only as good as their implementation. This session seeks to address the challenge head-on by taking a brain-based approach and demonstrating a method for teaching it that can go straight from the workshop to the classroom.

Outline/description:

Participants will begin the session by taking on the role of a student and by telling another “student” one of his or her problems with textbook reading. This brief activity will be debriefed to set the stage for the types of problems the Muscle Reading strategy can and cannot address. The activity is also a good way to build the community necessary for the method use to teach the strategy.

Next, there will be a presentation of the points discussed by CRLA member, Karen Agee, in an article titled “Why don’t students read their textbooks?” The issues related to the strategy will be emphasized.

Then the participants will be led through the method for teaching the materials covered in a textbook excerpt, “Muscle Reading.” Rather than have everyone read the article and answer questions, etc., they will:

• review a skimmed version of the article, work with a trio to test;

• look for a “strong line” in one section;

• participate in a series of answers called “Shout outs”;

• review the steps.

Plans to promote audience interaction and engagement:

From the first of the session to the end, participants will be asked to interact. There will be opportunities for individual activities, paired assignments, small group work, and whole group response. The activity, “Shout out” is one that can be used in other contexts as well.

Description of the handouts:

There will be at least the following handouts:

• Skimmed version of How Muscle Reading Works

• Textbook excerpt, “Muscle Reading,” from Becoming a Masrer Student, 12 e

• Powerpoint slides with steps for the method

• Bibiliography for studies on textbook reading strategies

Presenter’s experience with the topic:

I taught reading in high school classes and at Austin Community College for over 25 years. I am a certified Reading Specialist. I served as a reviewer for the Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy for six years, reading extensive research about reading strategies. I currently work with professors all over the country in a multitude of disciplines to support instruction and the promotion of best practices based on research.

PresenterBio: Maggi Miller is a Program Manager for Faculty Programs and Training of Houghton Mifflin. Previously, she was a Professor of Reading and Study Skills at Austin Community College. While there, she directed the Learning Communities program and developed the initial Alternative Teacher Certification program.

She completed her undergraduate work at the University of Texas at Arlington and earned her Master’s of Education Degree in Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Texas at Austin. Before beginning her teaching career in Austin’s public schools, she was a VISTA (Volunteer in Service to America) developing and directing a tutoring program for low-achieving children in five elementary schools. Subsequent to graduation, she managed federally funded projects for the Regional Education Service Center, disseminating best practices in the area of teaching reading.

She has developed curriculum in reading, study skills, and vocabulary for students of all ages and is the author of Laughter Is a Basic Skill, a book about using humor to teach reading. Maggi has long been active in local, state, and national professional organizations, and has been recognized by the International Reading Association “for exemplary service in the promotion of literacy.” She has presented over 100 workshops and has been training educators for over 25 years. She currently serves on the board of Reading is FUNdamental of Austin, a literacy program which serves over 20,000 children annually. She has also served on the Editorial Advisory Board for the Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy for 4 years

Maggi’s husband, Dan, is retired from the Austin Independent School District and her daughter, Belle, is a student at Texas State University.