In our classroom we will base our model of thinking when we read on the following ideas:

The Components of Active Literacy

Reading, writing, drawing, talking, listening, and investigating to engage in the world of issues and ideas, to enhance understanding, to build and actively use knowledge, and to develop insight.

Talking and Listening to each other

• Having a conversation--"Literacy floats on a sea of talk." (Britton 1970)
• Sharing, thinking, and learning with others
• Discussing, agreeing, disagreeing, debating

Reading to construct meaning

• Noticing and thinking about the inner conversation
• Activating background knowledge and thinking about new learning
• Asking authentic questions
• Inferring to surface big ideas and themes
• Determining importance and synthesizing information
• Stopping, thinking, and reacting to information and ideas.

Responding to reading by talking

• Connecting personal experience and ideas to the text
• Wondering and thinking inferentially
• Creating a common language for talking about what we read and think

Constructing meaning through writing and drawing

• Writing and drawing to merge our thinking with information
• Making thinking visible
• Surfacing big ideas and themes

Writing and drawing to discover and explore thinking

• Learning information, building new knowledge, and organizing it
• Expanding thinking and ideas--inferring and interpreting
• Creating original ways to represent learning

Investigating and doing further research

• Exploring topics of our own choosing, gathering information
• Asking and answering significant questions
• Summarizing and synthesizing information
• Sharing learning to bring it to life.

Harvey and Goudvis ©2006