The Herringbone Reading Strategy

 The Herringbone Reading Strategy

WHAT IS IT?
The Herringbone is a graphic organizer that helps students to determine the supportive details and the main idea of an article by requiring them to determine the who, what, when, where, why and how of the article. Students answer each of these questions by filling out a diagram that resembles a herringbone pattern. 

WHAT THE STUDENTS READ? 
Students were learning about slave life in the United States before the Civil War.  The aspect students focused on were five different slave rebellions.

PROCEDURE
Students read five different information texts as it related to slave rebellions.  Instead of having all students read all five texts, students read in a think-pair-and-share format. Students were allowed completed the assignment in small groups, no more than two or three students or work independently. Then students completed the Herringbone diagram.  

As I introduced the Herringbone Reading Strategy, I explained to the students how important it is to read the entire article first, then answer the questions on the Herringbone worksheet.

Next, the Herringbone worksheet was completed, and students wrote a paragraph summary of the article.

Finally, with the Herringbone worksheet completed, students shared information about their rebellion with another student.  I ensured students shared their information with other students who read about a different slave rebellion.

As a closing, students shared with the entire class a short summary of the rebellion they read.

REFLECTION
In the beginning, some students struggled to find answers for parts of the Herringbone worksheet (answering who, what, when, where, why and how).  However, it helped students to understand the purpose of the Herringbone once they understood the layering of the questions.  First, they answer who the article is about.  Then what did the person (or people) do?  How did the person (or people) do their task?  When did the person (or people) do the action, and so on.

Also, it is imperative for students to know, like writing, close reading is a process too.  To read deep takes skill and time.  And I do not believe my students understand this.  So next time I will present this reading strategy as a process to achieve deeper understanding of the text, rather than an encumbrance step.

MODIFICATION
In the morning classes, I gave the students the Herringbone Reading Strategy worksheet and their reading materials at the same time. But I discovered this was a mistake.  Even though I instructed students to read first, THEN complete the questions on the Herringbone worksheet many of the students did not do this.  Instead, students completed the Herringbone worksheet AS they read the first time.  Even though students completed the assignment sooner, they were skipping the process of re-reading for important information and details.  So, later I handed out the reading material first.  Once I saw the students complete annotation on their reading,  I gave them the Herringbone worksheet to complete.  This slowed down the reading process and allowed for deeper understanding of the material.

I was impressed with the student's ability to comprehend the main ideas of their articles since they were written for an older audience. The Herringbone allowed students to slow down and focus on the details, rather than rushing through the reading.