TACTics Journal

A Publication for and by TOC for Education Practitioners

August 8, 2003

In this week’s issue:

Connections

(1) PAR2—A Student-Owned Reading Method: Results of Using the

Ambitious Target, Belinda Small

Editors’ Notes

(2) Kay Buckner-Seal, Cheryl A. Edwards

NETWORKING

(1) PAR2—A Student-Owned Reading Method: Results of

Using the Ambitious Target

By Belinda Small, B.S., M.Ed., Classroom Teacher, USA

In last week’s TACTics, Belinda shared how she and her class applied the

Ambitious Target tool to create a reading method that helped her students

overcome obstacles to taking a statewide reading test: The PAR2 Reading

Method was born!” This week we are publishing the results of using the

Ambitious Target tool.

Below is an explanation of the PAR2 acronym. Following the explanation, I

have included a comparison of PAR2 to an older research based reading

method.

PAR2

I simply named the three groups Previewing, Attacking (the passage), and

Reflecting. Thus, P – A – R. We connected the series of actions connected

with if – then statements such as, “If I am ‘Previewing’ a passage then I…

and if I check off the title then I….” The students did this until “P” was

complete.

Then the logic connects, “Once I have previewed the passage, then I must

Attack’ the passage. If I attack the passage, then I must draw a symbol at

the end of the first paragraph to identify the genre. And, if I identify the

genre with a symbol, then I underline the topic…” and so on until the attack

on the passage was complete.

If I attack the passage while reading, then I must ‘Reflect’ on what I just

read. If I reflect, then I write down the overall mood. If I make a note of

the mood, then I…” and the process continued. As we worked, students

reviewed concepts that they had studied all year and found new

understanding of how each concept is related to PAR.

The Teacher’s “Ah-ha!”

As we completed PAR, I personally reflected on our original obstacle work. I

realized our work was not done. In years past, I had been making an

assumption that was not true. I had always assumed that students could not

effectively read the passage. For some, this is definitely true. However, by

using the ambitious target, I learned something important. Many of the

students’ obstacles were not problems with understanding the passage, but

in understanding the question and answer choices. Thus, my acronym evolved

to PAR2. The number two means times two or “repeat the method twice.” A

reader should follow the pattern once on the passage and once on the

following question/answer session. This second focus was a new focus for

me—but, as you can imagine, a very important part of testing.

The use of the ambitious target brought my students and me to a new

conscious level about the importance of understanding everything you read

on the test. My motto for the upcoming year is “I just don’t read, I read

and understand!”

A Comparison

When I was doing some research regarding existing acronyms and reading

strategy techniques, I came across one tried and true formula that was

coined in 1946 by F. P. Robinson in a book entitled Effective Reading. It was

still around when I was in school. And it is still around today: SQ3R. I was

pleased to find that this reading/studying method has proven effective over

a period of time. However, in my past ten years of teaching, the method has

simply not been the trend in my field. The SQ3R Reading Method is Survey,

Question, Read, Recite, and Review. This method has been widely accepted

as an effective study method. PAR2 is quite similar. However, PAR2 is

different in a couple of ways.

In PAR2, there is a queue for the active reader to follow the same

strategies for understanding the questions and answers. In addition, PAR2

was unique because we used student language to create the steps together.

I found this had more personal and connected meaning for my students.

PAR2 and SQ3R are both acronyms to help trigger memory, but PAR2 is

presented using text boxes and arrows (graphic organizers) to show the

logic. Once students practiced a few times using the boxes and arrows they

could still remember all the steps without their notes.

The ambitious target tool helped us create a step-by-step reading strategy

that students could recognize as a pattern to be used when actively reading.

Adding the meaning of PAR2 to our vocabulary allowed students to know

what to look for and what to do when reading. Equally, it also allowed

students to follow a pattern for reading question and answer sections. This

pattern remained constant even when performing reading skills under time

pressure.

Universal Implications

Because students could easily remember the reading strategy pattern, even

under time pressure, I felt we accomplished a lot. The bigger picture is

this: students could leave the language arts classroom and use this method

in any class. This pattern is universal and general to all reading, not just the

FCAT.

Just like SQ3R is used with any textbook, it stands to reason that PAR2 will

have the same cross-curricular application.

Other Points of Interest for Teachers

The Time Advantage

The Ambitious Target tool had a big impact in the classroom using very little

time. Once we defined the goal, exposing the obstacles took about thirty

minutes of class time. Listing the Intermediate Objectives took about

fifteen minutes the next day. Organizing the sequence of action steps took

up the remaining period. In the larger scope of any lesson plan, this was very

little time. In fact, no more time than completing one reading lesson of out

of a literature textbook.

The Teaching Method Used to Implement PAR2

Implementing the PAR2 was accomplished by traditional teaching practices

with one exception. I modeled, gave guided practice, then I assigned

independent practice*. I did this part by part. Then the students

performed FCAT-like practice tests without using the graphic organizer

notes.*

I first used this teaching practice for the preview steps, then the attacking

steps and then the reflecting steps. However, I added a twist. The twist

was to TIME it. Somehow this added an interesting urgency for the

students. Using time pressure addressed the obstacles students raised at

the beginning of this experience. Complaining about the time stress was a

frequently mentioned student obstacle. The idea of timing the reading

process is not a new one. But, I had not planned to do it this year. Every

year I think that next year I will make a point to add timed practices into

my lesson plans. BUT, I think of doing this AFTER the test is administered

and then, sadly, I forget about the importance of it the next year.

This year the Ambitious Target tool was crucial in remembering to practice

reading strategies with time constraints. The tool allowed me to

systematically remember that time management was an uncomfortable issue

with the students.

Based on observing reading assessment in progress, it appeared that

students neither rushed nor finished too early. They appeared confident

and steady. I was completely satisfied that all the students tried their best

on the FCAT.

*These very important steps are based on the ideas and practices of Dr. Sirias.

EDITORS’ NOTES

(2) Kay Buckner-Seal, Cheryl A. Edwards

Next week we will publish the last part of this article, which will be an

explanation of the many benefits of using the Ambitious Target from both

the students’ perspective and the teacher’s perspective.

We would love to get your feedback; so, feel free to share with us. Send

your responses, applications of the thinking processes, lessons,

announcements, and etc. by mail to: Cheryl A. Edwards, 2253 S. Hill Island

Rd., Cedarville, Michigan 49719, USA. Or send hyperlink to

cedwards@cedarville.net or bucknek@earthlink.net.

Please note that the pdf version of TACTics is attached. You must have

Acrobat Reader to open the file. It is freely available for download from:

http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html. If you have the

Reader installed but still can't open the file, drag it from this e-mail to your

desktop, launch the Reader, and open from the FILE menu.

You may also view TACTics in its intended formatting, by visiting our web

site at www.tocforeducation.com. Click on “What’s New.”