Model with links to Teaching Strategies

A model for understanding literacy learning disabilities

We read by processing text at a number of levels.

Highlighted areas in the model below are linked to corresponding

teaching strategies (Click here for full list)

Click here to print a copy of the model (PDF)

Levels of text	Knowledge of text features, the "whats", conventions of writing	Reading strategies, 'how to'	Value of each level; reader's beliefs
word level	word bank containing 3 forms of a word: how it is written, said and is used (means). letter clusters, rime families types of written words word structures	match text word directly with stored letter cluster knowledge convert letter clusters to sounds and blend segment words into functional clusters read unfamiliar words by segmenting and recoding	why reading/ working out words is useful
sentence level (literal comprehension)	grammar that links word meanings sentence propositions (how meanings are linked) punctuation, written sentence structure	visualise sentence paraphrase sentence re-read ask questions about the ideas listen to ourselves as we read pause and consolidate	how visualising a sentence helps reading you can talk about the strategies you use as you read
conceptual level (inferential comprehension)	'idea bank' or schema; set of ideas linked in networks similar to text links episodes - contextual links linking connected prose in paragraphs paragraph propositions	backtrack / read ahead within / across sentences to cross-reference and link concepts predict, anticipate infer ideas or feeling what other words / ideas might be in text? recode imagery to words	why it is useful / interesting to predict
topic level (inferential comprehension)	structures used to link ideas to a topic	suggest title monitor scan or skim a text at the outset, select a few key words to guess its general theme	why it is useful to note the topic of text
dispositional level (inferential comprehension)	values, attitudes communicated by a text	how to detect the attitudes in a text	why you need to know the attitudes of the text's writer
Self-management and control strategies frame up reasons or purposes for reading a text, plan how they will read monitor our reading, initiate corrective action, decide when to re-read, self-correct, how they use what they know review and self-question to see whether we are achieving their reading goals, review or consolidate what they have read organise the information gained from reading to fit our purposes for reading believe they can learn to read (self-efficacy) self talk, build up self-scritps
Existing Knowledge
Oral language knowledge at the word level, what words mean, how they are said, awareness of sounds in words, strategies for recalling concepts from long-term memory (phonemic awareness) at the sentence level, how ideas are structured into sentences, the conventions for grammar. at the conceptual level, how ideas are linked into themes, verbal reasoning strategies. at the topic or theme level, how a theme is communicated in a narrative, description, explanation. at the pragmatic or dispositional level, how the social context affects how ideas are communicated, the attitudes and values of the writer towards the ideas in the text.			Experiential Knowledge experiences, visual imagery knowledge action, motor knowledge knowledge of symbols
Sensory input to the knowledge base		Motor aspects of expressive language
Auditory input	Visual input	Touch, feeling input	Motion input


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