* Created by Matthew Streit

Rationale

This strategy is a great way to add structure to the reading process, especially for difficult (and short) selections.  Moje also described how SQ3R was used in a science classroom to create positive teacher-students relationships, although this strategy needs to be combined with an empathetic, involved teacher.  SQ3R would work in a Language Arts classroom well, but I think it is best used a Science classroom with difficult short texts.

     Source: Moje, Elizabeth B.  “I teach students, not subjects: Teacher-Student Relationships as Contexts for Secondary Literacy.”  Reading Research Quarterly.       Vol. 31, No. 2.  Apr/May/Jun 1996.  pp172-295.

Procedure

This sample activity is not one I have used before (I am not a Science teacher), but I’ve kept it general enough to be modified for different concepts and content areas.  A high school classroom seems to be the best fit for SQ3R.

Survey

• Students would preview a Science text on a new concept.
  • Preferably, the text would be 2-3 pages long.
  • The text should also be organized and easy to skim (bold headings, white space, charts and graphs if possible).
  • Students would preview this text by reading the introduction and summary, reading the headings/paragraph titles, and any charts/graphs/illustrations included in the text.

Question

• Students would form Questions based on their preview.
  • Students could form questions from heading titles, captions, and illustrations.
  • Students could also decipher the main points in the introduction and summary and create questions from these main points.
    • This is a more advanced application of the Question stage.
  • Students could also create other questions that just came to mind from curiosity or from previous concepts taught in Science class
    • These Questions may not always be answered by the text, though.

Read

• Students would read the entire selection, focusing on answering the questions they created.
  • Vocabulary assistance can be given by the teacher, but the teacher should not provide direct answers to student’s questions at this stage.
• Like all stages of the SQ3R process, the Reading stage can be done individually or as a small-group out loud.

Recite

• Students would hide the text and then try to recite a summary and/or the important points of the text.
  • This stage would seem to work best in pairs or a small group.
    • Individual students would have to create their own recitation sharing with the group to ensure that students came up with their own ideas first.
• This step is important for its higher-level comprehension and synthesizing skills, but many students would be tempted to skip this step or “breeze” through it.
  • It is the teacher’s responsibility to communicate to the students of this step’s importance and to monitor student participation.

Review

• Students should study their notes, created questions, and answers periodically to make sure they retain this new information.
  • This step can take place immediately after the recite step and/or days later to help students study for a test and retain the information.
• This stage lends itself very well to group work, while the earlier steps seem better for individual classwork.

SQ3R needs to be explained and modeled over and over for students who are new to this strategy.  Teachers should also follow through with this strategy over a long period of time (at least a quarter, preferably the entire school year) if teachers are expected that students will be invested and find value in this process.

Source:  Alvermann, Donna E. et. al.  Content Area Reading and Literacy.  Pearson Education, Inc.  Fifth edition.  2007.

Other Procedures

...to be filled in by others...