NEW & UPDATED CONTENT

I’ve recently updated this content here and here. And I now have a separate eBook out that takes a much more comprehensive approach. Click the link below or scroll to the end.

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Revised Reading Comprehension Hacks List

Here’s the list. I’ve revised the categories to just one category. Really, it’s just about getting readers to identify something something in the text. See down below for the list.

Responses and inferencing

The other dimensions relate to:

• What kind of response you want them to give you.
  • Multiple choice
  • Forced choice (Yes/No, True/False)
  • Complete the second half of the sentence.
• Whether they have to
  • Infer the answer, or
  • Find information that is explicit in the text.

Identify something

There are a bunch of things you can ask your learners to identify in a text as part of a reading comprehension question – or series of questions. Here’s an incomplete list with the odd example. Identify…

1. An object. E.g. “What’s in the picture?”
2. A person or people. E.g. “Who is this?”, “What organization…?”
3. Time. E.g. “When was the truck made?”, “How long should you leave X for?”
4. A suggestion, recommendation, or advice. E.g. “What advice does she give for X?”
5. An action. E.g. “What should he do?”
6. A location or place E.g. “Where should you store the X?”
7. The meaning of a word, sentence, or paragraph. E.g. “What does “X” mean?”
8. If something is true or correct. E.g. “What is most likely to be included in X?”
9. A particular situation or state of being. E.g. “This text is for people who…”
10. A reason or cause. E.g. “Why is Damon such a good tutor?”
11. A solution to a problem. E.g. “How can you get better results with X?”
12. The correct second half of the sentence. E.g. “The ad promotes the size of its building to show that it is…”
13. A summary or the gist of something. E.g. “What is this article about?”
14. A step or steps in a sequence. E.g. “What should you do first?”
15. Some aspect of formatting or typography. E.g. “Why is bold print used?”
16. Some aspect of punctuation. E.g. “Why is “X” in quotation marks?
17. The purpose of a text. E.g. “The purpose of the text is to…”

There’s probably more, but that’s more than enough for now. Also I’ll  probably lay this up in a table and provide some more examples, but I don’t think WordPress can do all that.

Let me know in the comments if this is useful. I’m going to try it out on some unsuspecting tutors next week. If I design a chart for this I’ll post it as well.

Reading Between the Lines – The Secret Guide to Hack Reading & Listening Comprehension

Discover how to hack reading and listening comprehension so that you can check if people really understand what the hell it is you’re saying

I can show you how to hack reading and listening comprehension. This will help you if you are a teacher, trainer, course writer or salesperson who relies on content.

Once you’ve been through this guide you will understand:

• How to write assessment items for any reading or spoken text
• How to structure your questions or assessment items so that they are easy to use with online platforms that allow you to write self-marking quizzes
• The difference between a question that relies on explicit knowledge versus a question that requires the reader to “infer” the answer

Most online courses are rubbish. They’re just an information dump. The same thing happens with classroom and online teaching. If you want your people to actually learn your content or you care about whether they understand what you’re saying to them, then this is for you. You can read more here.

CHECK OUT READING BETWEEN THE LINES: THE SECRET STEP BY STEP GUIDE BY GRAEME SMITH

Click the link below to find out more about Reading Between The Lines: The Secret Step-By-Step Guide.

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Literacy & Numeracy – It’s Not Rocket Science

Learn the fundamentals of literacy and numeracy with Graeme Smith

Discover how to be more successful in your teaching journey. I’ll introduce and explain some of the fundamentals of adult literacy and numeracy.

Once you’ve finished reading, you will have a better understanding of the basics including how to integrate or embed literacy and numeracy into your teaching. This includes with technical and vocational education. You can read more here.

Now bundled wth two free printable resources – a place value chart and hundreds grid.

CHECK OUT LITERACY AND NUMERACY: IT’S NOT ROCKET SCIENCE BY GRAEME SMITH

Click the link below to find out more about Literacy and Numeracy: It’s Not Rocket Science.

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The Educator Entrepreneur – Don’t Bring a Whiteboard Marker to a Knife Fight

Learn how to think like an Entrepreneur with Graeme Smith

Education is a tough business to work in. And that’s true regardless of whether you are a teacher, a trainer or any kind of specialist educator. But what if you’re a business owner AS WELL…!

If you’re like me, most days you’re probably pretty excited about what you do. But some days… Some days I can’t understand why anyone would want to work in education. But I learned to survive and thrive and you can too. Teach yourself a lesson and start thinking like an entrepreneur. Read more here

CHECK OUT THE EDUCATOR ENTREPRENEUR – DON’T BRING A WHITEBOARD MAKER TO A KNIFE FIGHT BY GRAEME SMITH

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What is Learner-Centred Teaching – 12 Concepts from Te Ao Māori You Should Embrace to Create Learning Success

Discover time-honoured approaches to learner-centred teaching

What if I told you that there were time-honoured approaches to teaching and learning you can use to create the conditions for learning success. Imagine if your teaching really connected with your learners… What if your classroom or training environment was a place where your learners felt like they belonged and wanted to learn?

Here’s a secret. It’s totally possible if you discover and embrace time-honoured concepts from Te Ao Māori – the Māori world. This book is for you if you want to teach or train in a way that is more learner-centred or if you want to learn to think in a more holistic way. Read more here

CHECK OUT WHAT IS LEARNER-CENTRED TEACHING? 12 CONCEPTS FROM TE AO MĀORI YOU SHOULD EMBRACE TO CREATE LEARNING SUCCESS BY GRAEME SMITH

Click the link below to find out more about What is Learner-Centred? 12 Concepts from Te Ao Māori You Should Embrace to Create Learning Success

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Three Simple Approaches You Need for Learner-Centred Teaching

Find out more about three of the fundamentals of adult teaching

Have you ever thought about how to improve your teaching? Have you ever wondered what it takes to create learner success in any teaching environment? Well, you need three things. Make that four things… You need to:

• Understand what people mean when they talk about “learner-centred” teaching.
• Know how to leverage your learners’ prior knowledge.
• Have simple ways of increasing the motivation of your students. 
• Know what learner agency is and how to develop it.

Read more here.

CHECK OUT THREE SIMPLE APPROACHES YOU NEED FOR LEARNER-CENTRED TEACHING BY GRAEME SMITH

Click the link below to find out more about Three Simple Approaches You Need for Learner Centred Teaching – Proven Ways to Use Prior Knowledge, Increase Motivation and Develop Learner Agency to Pave the Road to Learning Success

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Writing

How To Not Suck At Writing More Than 280 Characters

Learn strategies taught in university and college writing courses

So you can write 280 characters. So can a lot of people. But what happens beyond that? What happens if you want – or have to – write something longer?

This is where it gets tricky for some. Discover you you can write long-form content like blog posts, articles and books. Read More Here

CHECK OUT HOW TO NOT SUCK AT WRITING MORE THAN 280 CHARACTERS BY GRAEME SMITH

Click the link below to find out more about How to Not Suck at Writing More than 280 Characters.

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