THIEVES Strategy

 The article is choose to use if an UPFRONT article called " No Competition" from the  New York Times. We frequently use UPFRONT articles in my English 12 class because it is accessible for all learners, has relevant topics that garner interest from our students, and comes with a variety of Comprehension and Vocabulary questions/ activities. This articles was about the Taylor Swift Concert Ticketmaster scandal from a few years ago.

The strategy I chose to use for this article was the THIEVES model. The reason why was because this article has many visuals with large texts in it, so I thought that it not only would it be good for the "T" portion of the acronym, but also the " V" portion. Overall, I just felt that this article lent naturally to this model because that was how I instinctively teach it. First, I have the students scan the article for Headings and Subheading, including those in the visuals. This is especially important for the graphs( which especially my Language Learners often struggle to comprehend. Afterwards, I would have them work thought the rest of the acronym. I  may also gives groups of students sections to complete rather then asking them to read the whole thing individually or go through the whole article as a class. This really does depend upon whether this is the first time we are utilizing this strategy or not. Overall, I chose this strategy for a variety of reasons, but the most important reason would be because it allows a natural " chunking" that makes it more accessible for everyone.

I believe this strategy will impact the deeper learning for students because it will require them to not only actually read the whole text, but also allow them to practice paying attention to details. Oftentimes we I give students a reading, they will look at it very overwhelmed and not have any clue how to start. The try skimming or simply try to answer the questions either by guessing or using their own personal bias. I hope by teaching them a simple strategy that they will be less inclined to feelings of frustration and less inclined to cheat( or simply copy off a friend). Overall, I this this will teach my students to anticipate and activate prior knowledge in order to have a better understanding of texts, including graphs/ data tables.