Chapter 6 - Frontloading Meaning

I really liked the idea of frontloading meaning. I think this is a very useful strategy to help students make connections with the text they are going to read. Probably without realizing it, we all try to guess what is going to happen next in a book, especially one that we really are enjoying. I know some people who actually read the last chapter first! But the idea of predicting or anticipating what is going to happen in a text seems like the first step in comprehension; you're either going to be right or wrong. The best part is that you have already become actively involved in the text.

While I've heard of anticipation before, I've never heard of a formal "Anticipation Guide." This seems like a very effective way to help students guide their anticipation and encourages constructive discussions between the students. Beers states "Effective Anticipation Guides present students with pertinent issues that are worth discussing but that don't have clear-cut answers" (78). Through productive discussions, students will continue to make connections and develop a deeper understanding or comprehension of the text.

I have actually used the K-W-L strategy in my field experience with a fourth-grade inclusion class. I have seen first hand how K-W-L can help students talk through different thoughts. These discussions can be very enlightening for students and seems to be an environment where students feel relatively safe participating. Beers reminds us that in order for this strategy to be effective, we need to remember that the students should be creating the link between what they currently know to what they want to know; we should not be creating the questions. Comprehension is linking the unknown to the known.

I think Probably Passage is a really fun and engaging activity that facilitates a deeper level of comprehension. Beers tells us "Probably Passage forces students to think about the characters, setting, conflict, resolution, and vocabulary of the story before they read the story" (91). As students move through the process of what might be probable, they form concrete thoughts about what might happen. Probably Passage actually helps students bring the invisible thought to the visible level. This strategy provides an opportunity for students of all learning levels to participate.

The strategies that Beers introduces as "frontloading students knowledge of a text" teach students to become actively involved in constructing meaning prior to reading. If students are engaged in the prediction of what is going to happen next, they will be more engaged readers from the beginning. Engaged reading leads to comprehension. Beers summarizes "Pre-reading strategies that focus on active engagement with the text help struggling readers do what good readers do-think all throughout the reading process, not just at the conclusion" (101).