LD@3: Encouraging active reading

In this session I would like to invite delegates to be the student and take part in an ‘active reading’ exercise that I have developed.

With their ‘student hat’ on, participants will be asked to read a short fairytale and to keep the text secret from their fellow ‘students’. After three minutes, the texts will be taken away and participants will be asked to work in small groups to answer a set of questions about the story that they have just read. These discussions will (hopefully!) reveal some interesting answers and stimulate some lively discussions.

Next, with their ‘practitioner hat’ on, participants will consider why these particular questions have been asked – what do we want students to think about before, when and after reading?

The answers and ideas will be fed back to the whole group in order to compare responses and discuss any issues and/or ideas for developing the activity further. When going through the questions, I will explain my rationale behind creating the activity and welcome constructive feedback on how this activity could be developed. (This version of the activity has been influenced by feedback from colleagues at the ‘Storytelling in Learning Development’ regional symposium at University of Portsmouth in September 2019.)

This activity usually takes between 20 and 30 minutes to complete (depending on the discussions). It has been used during small workshops with Level 5 and Level 7 students, but can be adapted for any level of study and any subject area.