Textmasters: Shaking Up Textbook Reading in Science Classrooms

Materials and Technology

Student Interactives

Printouts

Websites

Preparation

 

MATERIALS AND TECHNOLOGY

• Computers with Internet access
  
  
• Content area textbook and Internet article on a related topic

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STUDENT INTERACTIVES

Grades   3 – 12  |  Student Interactive  |  Organizing & Summarizing

ReadWriteThink Webbing Tool

The Webbing Tool provides a free-form graphic organizer for activities that ask students to pursue hypertextual thinking and writing.

 

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PRINTOUTS

• Textmasters Role Sheet-Discussion Director
  
  
• Textmasters Role Sheet-Summarizer
  
  
• Textmasters Role Sheet-Vocabulary Enricher
  
  
• Textmasters Role Sheet-Webmaster
  
  
• Textmasters Self-Reflection Sheet (one for each session)
  
  
• Textmasters Schedule (Sessions 3-6)
  
  
• Culminating Activity Rubric

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WEBSITES

• National Geographic Explorer: Living It Up in Space

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PREPARATION

1.	Bookmark National Geographic Explorer: Living It Up in Space so that students may access the article and its links on classroom computers or bring the website up on an interactive whiteboard for whole-group reading. Alternatively, select another article that parallels the unit you are currently studying in the textbook; both Time for Kids and National Geographic Kids offer timely articles on a range of scientific topics at varying grade levels.
2.	Preview the chapter students will read in Textmasters groups and use the Textmasters Schedule sheet to organize how much reading you want students to do for each meeting.
3.	Use the schedule sheet to create groups for Textmasters. Textmasters lends itself to heterogeneous grouping; it is suggested that groups are a mix of both high- and low-achieving students. Because the roles rotate throughout the Textmasters cycle, role assignment at the beginning of the strategy is not important; all students will assume each role at least once.
4.	Create a packet of the Textmasters handouts for each student: one of each role sheet and the self-reflection sheet for Session 1 and a second packet for subsequent sessions (the number of role sheets will vary, depending on the number of sessions you will need to complete the textbook chapter).

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