Wednesday, 11 January 2012

The RAP Strategy for Reading Comprehension

The RAP strategy targets the reader's ability to understand main ideas and supporting details by emphasizing paraphrasing skills. The three-step approach involves reading, asking questions, and paraphrasing.

RAP may be used by students on their own or with the help of facilitators. The approach may be modified for use in group activities lead by the instructor. Readings from most subject areas are amenable to the strategy.

In general, RAP is similar in purpose and structure to SQ3R, PQ4R, and other reading comprehension strategies that focus on how information is organized. RAP, however, lacks the initial surveying and questioning steps found in other approaches. However, the brevity of the strategy allows for ease of implementation. Below are the three components of the RAP strategy.

This is a strategy that can be used to study any content reading material or to comprehend any reading text.  It forces the student to be an active reader and to analyze the information after each paragraph.  Excellent reading comprehension gains have been shown through the use of this strategy.

PROCEDURES
1.      Read
One paragraph of the text is read at a time. Reading may be done by the facilitator, but it is more effective if the student completes the reading. The student may read silently or aloud.
2.      Ask Yourself What the Main Idea Is
The next step involves the reader asking him/herself what the main idea of the paragraph is. He/she should also identify details supporting the main idea.
3.      Paraphrase
The information is then paraphrased into the reader's own words and recorded on paper or audio tape. Written material from several paragraphs should be organized using outlines, word maps, matrixes, or other organizational tools.

Sources
Parker, R., Hasbrouck, J.E., Denton, C. (2002). How to Tutor Students with Reading
            Comprehension Problems. Preventing School Failure, 47(1), 45-47.

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