How Cloze Reading Can Be Used to Solidify Learning

How Cloze Reading Can Be Used to Solidify Learning Cloze reading is an instructional strategy where users are required to fill in the blanks within a passage with correct words from a word bank. Cloze reading is used to assess a students understanding of vocabulary. STAR Reading is an online assessment program that embraces cloze reading passages. Many teachers create cloze reading passages to assess student vocabulary understanding within a particular story or passage or a group of spelling words. Cloze reading passages are easily created and can be adjusted to specific content and/or grade level. Cloze Reading Passages Teachers can also have students create their own cloze reading passages as they read a story. This makes the learning more authentic. It also helps students find and make connections between key vocabulary within in the story and how their meaning enhances the story. Finally, students can exchange their cloze reading passages with other classmates. This naturally reinforces the critical components of the story including key vocabulary as students interact with each other and share what they created. This gives students ownership in the learning process. Cloze Reading as a Study Tool Cloze reading can also be used to help students study and prepare for a test. Students can be taught to create their own study guide using the cloze reading process. They can essentially build their own version of the test from their notes. As they put together the guide, it cements the content, makes the connections, and helps them remember it. Providing students with this skill will help them develop better study habits that can help them succeed throughout life. Most students struggle with test and quizzes because they do not know how to study. They simply read through their notes and call it studying. True studying is a much more rigorous and time-consuming process. Developing cloze reading passages that align to a test is one way to study more authentically. Five examples of cloze reading: 1. An elephant is a ____________________________ mammal with a trunk and large ears. A. microscopic B. enormous C. vigorous D. small 2. The radius of a circle is one-half the ___________________________________. A. circumference B. chord C. diameter D. arc 3. A dog chased a cat down the alley. Luckily, the cat was able to escape by climbing over a fence. The word alley refers to a ___________________________________? A. sidewalk running through a neighborhood B. narrow road that between buildings C. open field in a park D. long hallway connecting two parts of a building 4. ______________________________ was the twenty-seventh president of the United States of America and later became the only former president who also became a Supreme Court justice? A. George H. W. Bush B. Theodore Roosevelt C. Martin Van Buren D. William Howard Taft 5. The phrase time is money is an example of a ________________________________. A. Metaphor B. Simile C. Alliteration D. Onomatopoeia