Category Archive for: ‘Blogging’

The SQ3R reading method is on par with apples as a staple of the American, upper elementary school experience. Rarely will you find a student that hasn’t been exposed to SQ3R during their early academic journey, and you would be hard pressed to find a classroom without a reference to an apple (desktop ornament, wall hanging, sweater). I am not implying a correlation- just an observation that the SQ3R methodology is about as common as what has become the American symbol for teachers, teaching, and education.

I remember using the SQ3R reading method when I was in fifth grade. It was used while reading in a basal reader or social studies textbook, and the rationale for its use was nearly always recall for a pencil-and-paper test. I would (in no way is this the proper way to use SQ3R):

• Survey: Glance at the headings, look at the pictures and captions, and skip to the end of the chapter and read the questions/summary.
• Question: Turn the headings and captions into questions and then write them on a piece of notebook paper. I admit that I was fairly lazy and often just inserted a “What is…” phrase for a lot of the headings.
• Read and Recite: Read the text while highlighting phrases of importance (from chapter questions), underline bold words, re-read unclear sections, and then answer chapter questions. Sometimes I would summarize what I read at the end of a section, but this was a rare occurrence.
• Review: Return to the text, memorize highlighted parts, and recite answers to questions. I reviewed only when I had a test, and this usually happened at 8:00 PM on the evening before the big assessment.

Disregard the fact that I did not model the proper methodology AND strip away some of the context (using SQ3R for printed, nonfiction texts as a way to understand/prepare for assessment)…

I believe that there is a place for SQ3R in the digital classroom with untraditional texts like websites, wikis, and blog posts. Why? A mental framework for a topic, one that can form through active reading methodologies like SQ3R, is as essential in reading digital texts as it is in printed pages. Yet, how often are websites treated as different beasts that don’t require the same reading focus? Most teachers’ relative lack of digital proficiency leads me to surmise that this is quite common. How many teachers approach the web and all of its words, conventions, links, and styles with an analytical approach? I suspect that there are relatively few in comparison to the teaching profession. At the same time, our children’s learning is an amalgam of digitized and traditional content- just ask a middle school student where they turn when a question arises.

What might the application of SQ3R to digitized text look like?

The practicality of reconstructing SQ3R in the digital abyss is somewhat daunting from the standpoint that much of its success requires activities like writing and highlighting. Yes, printing a page or using a piece of notebook paper and/or a second application like Microsoft Word circumvents this problem. However, this unnecessarily complicates the methodology when a much simpler solution exists: The Awesome Highlighter (TAH).

TAH allows readers to highlight and add notes to a web page without leaving the page, opening a second application, or printing a hard copy. With just a click of a button (bookmarklet), all of the physical markup tools appear on the web page- it’s that simple. It is akin to a stack of sticky notes, pen, and a highlighter on your computer. The annotated web page can be saved and shared with others. It requires no user accounts or passwords which makes it a viable solution in the upper elementary and middle school classroom.

The digitized SQ3R methodology below and the picture above references a TAH example that I created from Dean Shareski’s post, Student and Teacher Blogging that Succeeds. I chose this post as an example because the school where I teach encourages student blogging, I believe that students would benefit from reading Dean’s ideas, and I hope to use my highlighting/notes as a model for students to learn from as they explore SQ3R on the web. You can see all of my highlights and notes by visiting this link.

With a web page loaded and The Awesome Highlighter in hand…

• Survey: Decide if the source is credible and true by looking for clues (readership, author, spelling errors, domain name). Examine the structure of the page and figure out what is important and relevant to the topic. Briefly examine the links by clicking on them. Note any bold, colored, or italicized words. Look at the headings, subheadings, and pictures to mentally create the major ideas in the text.
• Question: Re-frame all of the headings and subheadings as questions using TAH’s note tool. Ask yourself, “What do I know about the topic?”
• Read: Using self-generated questions as a guide, read and highlight the page but stopping at section breaks if present. Use TAH to highlight answers to questions. Visit links when finished with a page.
• Recite: Briefly summarize the major points of the page as a TAH note but use personal words and voice. Save your highlighting and notes by clicking on the Make Public button as well as bookmarking the link to the specific TAH page.
• Review: Review and re-read highlights and notes. Reviewing in the SQ3R method is generally situated in the context of preparing for recitation and recall. This is fine and good, but I prefer to couch the final step in a 21st century light: Review to reformulate, connect, or comment on the author’s message. (I believe that I incorporated all of Dean’s points in this post in one way or another!)

References:

Hester, Darren. “Green Apple.” Flickr. 21 Mar. 2007. 20 July 2008 http://www.flickr.com/photos/36045027@N00/2053320817.