Timothy Shanahan's Video About Teaching Students How To Read Complex Text

Abstract This paper is an overview of Timothy Shanahan’s video about teaching students how to read complex text. In this video, Shanahan emphasizes that reading is more verbal than visual, and that students must negotiate language. He addresses that the assumption has been that if children can translate text into language, they can summarize the text, ask questions about it, and visualize it; however, language interpretation does not happen automatically. Also, he mentions that as educators, it is our role to ensure that each student receives the best and equal opportunities for learning. It is important that we create curriculum aligned with students’ reading and performance levels, rather than imposing them on a level that they continue to

He mentions that Common Core State Standards (CCSS) have shifted attention to skills in the context of reading complex text. Past standards had focussed on cognitive skills being mastered, but ignored text difficulty. However, the new standards highlight text difficulty as an integral part of learning and students’ academic development. Shanahan goes on to add that text complexity varies, with more complex texts being read by fewer individuals, being difficult for them to understand. Readability measures can be used to predict reading comprehension; however, these measures are not ideal, since they index difficulty, rather than measuring it, and reader variables are also important. Text complexity requirements were not only set by the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), but they were also higher than those of typical grade level texts. Since text level is now a requirement for learning, it is discouraged when teaching reading to children using texts that are too difficult for them. There are far too many students who graduate from high school, unable

Moreover, a common classroom response to text complexity is moving students to an easier text. Also, reading aloud to students helps them understand the material better, although it may not improve their reading skills. He emphasizes that explaining to students what is written in the texts has the same impact as directly reading out the text to them. Shanahan says that the underlying principle has been that reading relatively easy texts is effective toward students’ reading growth. A number of experts have implied that students will not be able to learn if the texts are too difficult. As a result, there are many strategies for assigning children to their text levels and for educating using texts that are instructional level. Although there hasn’t been any solid research demonstrating that instructional level is effective, the concept has gained attention because it was not working to put students in challenging texts that they could not read. According to the instructional level theory, placing students in relatively easy texts will ensure that they can read instructional materials with a reasonable level of fluency and comprehension. In contrast, Powell’s meditations on text theory implies that instruction can help