What is Directed Reading Thinking Activity?

Directed Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA) is a strategy that encourages students to use their minds while reading a text. It guides students to ask questions based on what they read, make predictions on the story line and read further to confirm if their predictions were right. This process helps develop them into thoughtful learners, making their active to comprehend more from the text.

A DRTA may be used for an individual separately, for a small group or even the class as a whole. When used with a group, it helps develop communication skills in the students, not just reading skills.

There are four steps to the DRTA process:

• Introduction

It sometimes helps for the student to talk about what he or she already knows about the subject that they will be reading. This helps them put everything they know on the subject out on the table before they start reading and pushes them to discover new information on the topic.

• Predict

Encourage the students to predict the story after reading the title. They may also predict the story based on the pictures included. Tell them that there is no wrong answers but they need to justify their answers.

• Modify Predictions

Start reading the text. After each section, provide the students an opportunity to change their predictions.

• Reflect

After the entire selection has been read, encourage the child to reflect on his or her predictions and the reasons they modified their earlier predictions. Help them understand the value of thinking about their text.

Choosing the text

The text that is used for this activity must be selected carefully. A badly selected passage can dull the activity and prove disappointing. Some of the elements to consider while choosing the text are:

• Familiarity

You need to ensure that none of your students have read the passage earlier. Students will not be able to predict their way through the text if they know what happens next.

• Prediction points

Another element that helps is to pick a passage that has definite prediction points. This ensures that predictions are made with greater ease.

How can you do a Directed Reading Thinking Activity in your classroom?

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