DIRECT READING TEACHING ACTIVITY (DRTA)
LARMIE E. DELA PEÑA
Teaching reading has become a difficulty for teachers to make learners become readers. Scholars and linguists propounded varied tested approaches in reading comprehension to ensure that the underlying English language domains are delivered smoothly to learners. It is how teachers are determined to employ a strategy that leads to the understanding of the implied concept of reading comprehension. Direct Reading Teaching Activity (DRTA) scaffolds the teachers’ burden in teaching reading.
DRTA is an approach which interfaces discovery method of teaching. The exquisite feature of this reading strategy is to enhance the critical thinking skills, decision making and giving predictions in a text structure. The teacher gives prompts in every paragraph which connects those to the next paragraph. This stage in reading encourages learners to think analytically on the possible events narrated in the next paragraph. They are likely challenged to give their own thoughts prior to the actual situations entrenched from the given selection. This brings learners as well to give conclusions based on the details revealed abstracted from the teachers’ prompts.
That is why questions should be structured clearly. This is somehow an apparent challenge of DRTA to teachers in outlining prompts with the appropriate use of the art of questioning following the Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) style. The careful construction of questions which conform to either Bloom’s or Barrett’s taxonomies is highly suggested. Questions which are of pyramid structure depending on the teacher’s point of entry in the art of questioning are expected from teachers during the teaching-learning process. The equilibrium in those questions leads to the acquisition of skills in reading comprehension.
Reading comprehension correlates to the notion of comprehensible prompts. Well-helmed questions lead to better understanding of reading comprehension concepts. Learners are inspired to share their experiences in the classroom once given the opportunity through the utilization of DRTA as an effective reading strategy. DRTA is just a few of the many suggested pedagogies in teaching reading not only in the elementary but also in the secondary level. This is also one of the predominant features of the K to 12 Program which is spiral progression or simple to complex approach.
The impact of DRTA to learners as decoders is the ability to use their critical thinking skills and their capacity to make decisions on crucial situations. It is proven that reading and decoding combined results to comprehension. Learners who are the end users of the curriculum benefit the most in this aspect of reading comprehension. As a result, both teachers and learners find reading activity enjoying and motivating given the appropriate approachto a large content ontheir levels of reading comprehension as well.
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II at Planas Elementary School, Division of Pampanga
The author is Teacher