Comments from Educators and Students

Here's what teachers and students are saying:

"I love using scrolls ... whole picture books copied and pasted on long rolls of brown paper and unrolled across the classroom floor ... children armed with felt-tips walking all over and around writing thoughts, observations, questions, comments, labelling, adding/replying to others ... and the talk that goes on ... magic! And equally so when I have done this with 10/11-year-olds as well as 5/6/7-year-olds." - Pauline Sparks, Elem/Middle Teacher, Westport, New Zealand

"Here at Huddersfield we’ve used scrolls and textmapping with 1st year Criminology, Politics and Sociology undergraduate students, who are beginning to explore different forms of academic writing. I’ve found that it has been particularly useful in encouraging students to begin using the visual cues that journal articles provide, and to encourage them to explicitly consider the structure of the writing, and how this might help in terms of getting into the content of the writing. Consequently it seemed like an ideal approach to include in the section of our book on reading for the process of literature searching and reviewing (Amazon | Sage). So, thank-you – your approach seemed to provide a really useful bridge in terms of introducing students to more formal kinds of academic writing." - Robin Kiteley, Senior Lecturer, Department of Behavioural and Social Sciences, University of Huddersfield, England

"We have everything laid out before us and we just look from page to page. Doing the scroll makes us see how many pages there actually are....It helps me determine what's what as opposed to looking through the whole text. My eyes just go directly to what I'm looking for...." - College Student, Developmental Reading Program, Los Angeles County, CA

"This helps me view what I have to read before I start to read. I can see all of the information at hand." - College Student; Academic Success Center, Shippensburg University, Shippensburg, PA

"I found [a reference to textmapping] at the end of a powerpoint about close reading. My kids are having a great time with it… We did the highlighting, and they chose a favorite text feature and wrote about it. Today, the students answered the section check questions by highlighting the answer on the scroll. Later, I am going to give them an ‘open scroll’ test. This is the most engaged I have seen them with non-fiction." - Suzi Hesser, 5th Grade Teacher, Sterling, IL

"I wanted to share with you that Text Mapping was a great success with my gifted students! They were very excited to try a new strategy with reading. Here is how it went....
With first and second grade, I decided to read the text with them to demonstrate the ease of reading without turning pages. Afterwards, I gave each one a colored marker and I asked each individual child to look for a specific item. They found characters, nouns, verbs, adjectives, facts about sea animals, location of plants, main idea, and new vocabulary. They absolutely loved that they had full control to do what they needed to do with the activity! I also enjoyed watching them help each other with the tasks at hand. Afterwards, I placed colored index cards with the label of the skill and who has found it in the text.
What did I learn from the experience? I learned with this age group who knew what skills I was trying to have them identify in the text. Labeling who did what helped me to realize who already had prior knowledge of the skills and who needed additional practice.
As for 3rd grade, they had the same story and they had to read the text on their own. They were very successful finding the skills I wanted them to find. To extend the lesson, I asked them to divide up into two groups and to create a scroll of their own story. They had so much fun! One group created a story about going undersea and finding candy in the deep open ocean. The second group decided to create a story about going deep sea diving to find treasure. Once they found the treasure chest and they opened it, inside was a bunch of Pacman clams trying to bite them! Ha ha ha What fun and creativity!
What did I learn from this lesson. I learned who were my fastest readers. I found out that one of my students is having a problem with her eyesight. She was the first one to start reading the story and I observed that she stayed in one spot and everyone else was walking around her to finish reading the story. If I had not been doing Text Mapping I dont think I would have ever known that she was having a problem seeing the text she was reading. My observation made me contact her parents to let them know what I observed and they are taking her to the eye doctor.
I asked 3rd why they liked the Text mapping and they said it was easier to flow with the story and not have to wait for others to continue reading. They said they could see everything about the story and it was fun to find all the skills they have to learn.
Next week's challenge......Text mapping with 5th grade with a non fiction article. Yeah!!!" - Debbie Holden, Gifted Education Teacher, Paulding County School District, GA

"This helps out better and is not overwhelming. I can pull out the main idea better. Before I could not stay focused, but this I feel is quick and easy to do." - College Student, Academic Success Center; Shippensburg University, Shippensburg, PA

"I have used this technique with my adult ABE students. It really gives them an entirely different perspective on the material. Most students said that they were able to put text to pictures or graphs/maps much more easily. They also said that they were able to see the purpose of the chapter they were reading and understand its organization much more." - Community College Reading Instructor, Reading, PA

"Hey I never ever heard of this scroll stuff before. But I can tell you some stuff... it really works. I never ever looked at a book like this. I actually learned something. The titles and sub titles and those other lower supporting stuff is important and you can see that when you the lay the whole thing out. Not just turning page to page. I am in charge of this book.... [Y]ou got to know I am not afrade of no textbook now that I have rolled a scroll. I can break it up in parts and I can read and make some sinse of it." - College Student, Developmental Reading Program, Los Angeles County, CA

"I have found one of the most powerful skills a reader can use in accessing content area material is textmapping. Essentially the material is presented as a scroll and then color coded, by text feature as well as by reading strategies. I teach first grade and the kids benefit so much from these kind of concrete experiences because they are literally acting on the text. The scroll allows them to see the piece as a whole and the color coding visually presents a topographic map of the content and the text features. Continual use allows kids to see the predictability of how content material is presented. Not only that, using scrolls sets up many easy collaborative jobs - and then, of course, follows sharing and discussion. I have also found that it is a boon for writers, too. If kids lay text features out accordingly then they plug in the information they want to share. This works for nonfiction and small moment type stories." - Pam Cucco, First Grade Teacher, Short Hills, New Jersey

"For quite some time, I have been intrigued by your textmapping concepts and have used and shared the concepts with teachers/schools that I serve around the country. The approach has helped so many teachers make break-throughs with countless students. Additionally, it has re-energized many classrooms that had grown stagnant with the same methods for reading and writing. We all thank you for your work in this area of literacy!" - Cheryl Sigmon, 4-Blocks author and Reading Specialist

"Active, global modes of teaching reading comprehension are rare.... This is a great way to address the weaknesses in reading comprehension, and to teach active/metacognitive reading skills." - Reading Specialist; Clayton, MO

"I have referred many students to the textmapping scroll pages. It particularly helps dyslexic students move through the text more confidently, and is especially useful for when students need to revisit texts - for instance when writing literature reviews for their dissertations." - Janet Godwin, Study Skills Tutor, Oxford Brookes University, UK

"[This is] a practical application for more thorough and complete text reading -- connecting concepts, visuals, important terms, etc. It provides clarity. It engages the mind on the topic prior to digesting the text. [Emphasis on pre-reading] is akin to stretching prior to exercising." - Reading and Study Skills Instructor; Shippensburg University, Shippensburg, PA

"This helps your understanding. I can comprehend the information better because I am interacting with the chapter." - College Student, Academic Success Center; Shippensburg University, Shippensburg, PA

"I like how the kids can look back through the story and keep thinking without turning pages. It is a very different approach to reading." - 1rst Grade Teacher; Pennsville, NJ

[In a scroll]... "It is easier to understand the text. You can see it quicker than flipping pages." - ESL College Student, Developmental Reading Program, Los Angeles County, CA

"This method puts the focus on the process, which helps focus my attention on what is important." - College-level Tutor Training Facilitator; Phoenix, AZ

"I like the idea that the students get to move over the entire text. The idea to let them walk on the paper is great!... I liked the exercises. They were relevant and gave me the opportunity to walk in my students' shoes. I would recommend this workshop and will be modeling this lesson for teachers in our district." - Reading Specialist; Avonworth, PA

"It adds color which helps you remember the information and also asks you to look for ways the text is organized which causes you to think about it." - College Student, Developmental Reading Program, Los Angeles County, CA

"This will definitely help my kinesthetic learners. This concept will help them become engaged with the text in a way that they have not yet experienced." - Assistant Professor and and college-level Reading Coordinator, Grand Rapids, MI

"It helps us visualize the whole chapter instead of having to flip through the pages and be confused." - College Student, Developmental Reading Program, Los Angeles County, CA

"I used textmapping this year for the first time with a group of 2nd graders who knew about text features, but really didn't know! By using a scroll, color coding, etc., there was this incredible AHA moment for each of them. Suddenly, questions about the content came pouring out (after reading the bold headings), connections across the text were made. It was a powerful learning experience. It is definitely a strategy I will continue to use through the grades next year." - Martha Hershey, K-5 Reading/Language Arts Consultant, Berlin, CT

"I finally got the chance to do [textmapping] with a Grade 4 class. We used a magazine article. I gave them directions, similar to but not exactly like the ones in the lesson plan on your website. The conversations that were occurring were amazing. I also planned with a couple of grade 3 teachers yesterday who are planning to use textmapping in a unit they are planning. It was rather interesting listening to them as they planned - textmapping just seemed to be a natural thing for them to include." - Learning Support Facilitator, Literacy, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

"This is a great strategy for visual kinaesthetic learners. You have come up with the perfect platform for teaching traditional techniques. This is an in-context meaningful way to help students know themselves as learners." - Reading Resource Teacher; West DesMoines, IA

"We started this assessment by choosing a chapter of a book and taping it together to form a scroll. Then after having the scroll completed we were supposed to highlight the different important parts of the chapter. We highlighted the title, subtitle, and supporting. Therefore, while reading we knew what was support by what. We also had to highlight examples/charts/pictures that made us understand the chapter better. After completing the highlighted parts we started noticing different patterns throughout the chapter. Of course, the scroll gave it a better view towards finding patterns. Some of the patterns I identified were how the author never stopped explaining a subject in one page. He would skip pages and then began explaining a same subject all over again.... Now by forming a scroll I can find what patterns the author used to confuse me. I noticed that [different] authors have a different way of explaining a subject. I also learned that charts and pictures can be very helpful while trying to understand the chapter. After this assignment I am sure that I will be very successful in understanding a college text." - ESL College Student, Developmental Reading Program, Los Angeles County, CA

"I ran across your internet sight two years ago when I first began teaching. I used it to help my 5th grade students study for the Arizona State Test (AIMS) that they had to take. I used it by having them follow along in their own workbooks.... My students did very well on the AIMs that year.... This year, we are a Reading First School, the first year of this federally funded program, which requires that the school must use only the various workbooks and materials... My students this year are the lowest readers in the four 5th grade classes at my school. I was dinged on not keeping my students 85% actively engaged in the lesson while partner reading. I began going to brain-based research workshops and began trying some of the things I learned, but nothing worked, I still had only a 65% engagement of my students and was continually getting poor observation remarks and on my first evaluation of the year I received a low score in student engagement, I was devastated but kept plugging away, thinking somewhere there had to be an answer to this nightmare. Then, I was searching though my office late one night looking for a math activity I wanted to use the next day and ran across the information I had pulled off your website. I reread it, really excited, I could hardly sleep. The next day I went to school and told my children, I have something I think we can do together, something that will help us learn to understand what we read. The first day I had only an 80% engagement, but the second day, it shot up to 95%.... For the first time this year, they were working together to understand something, to read and find information. It was great, their test scores rose slightly, but enough for me to want to keep at this." - 5th grade teacher, Casa Grande, AZ

"By creating the scroll, I was able to see information the textbook had side by side rather than back to back. This way it could make it easier to view." - ESL College Student, Developmental Reading Program, Los Angeles County, CA

"The scroll allows one to see it as a continuous item. It is like reading a sentence and putting it together as a whole. Seeing the big picture is sometimes better.... Textmapping is probably best used to organize material that is very hard to understand. Math is a perfect example to do textmapping." - College Student, Developmental Reading Program, Los Angeles County, CA

"Wonderful information that will be valuable in my reading classes. I can see how students will be engaged in reading; in fact, I can see them developing a totally new perspective and appreciation for reading." - Lead Faculty and Professor of Developmental Education, Kingwood, TX

"There is a need for this in all classrooms. I will be trying several of your examples in classrooms: Poems - Wonderful! Strengths for both regular readers and struggling readers. Dr. Seuss example - Great!" - Literacy Coach, Mt. Pleasant, MI

"Engagement with text is a research-based strategy to increase comprehension, and these methods are terrific examples of text engagement. These approaches engage via many different intelligences..... The passion of the presenter was engaging. The presenter's candid disclosure of his own disabilities and their impact on his research was meaningful." - Supervisor of English, Mt. Labanon, PA.

"I love the teaching of organization of a chapter within a textbook. I can use this with study skills and teaching author's argument, how to outline and how to study notes. Great stuff using movement and interaction!" - Professor of Developmental Reading, Dallas, TX

"Provides strong visual representation for teaching structures/features of different genres. Excellent. Poetry was awesome!" - Teacher, Troy, MI

"Well the [mapped] scroll pretty much organizes category by color scheme, which enables you to keep on track, the specific info you are trying to acquire.... [I]t helps me organize my information in a better way.... I believe textmapping is useful when there may be a substantial amount of information that needs to be categorized. On the other hand, it can be used to decypher information." - College Student, Developmental Reading Program, Los Angeles, CA

"First off, this was a FABULOUS workshop that cut right to the point and opened the door to an excellent resource for students and teachers. My thoughts on Textmapping are very positive! The mapping itself fosters teamwork and collaboration between high and low readers. It makes reading of "picture-less" text less intimidating by chunking it. I love that it supports brain-based learning/teaching. This was a very practical workshop - outstanding presentation!" - K-5 Resource Teacher; North Brunswick, NJ

"There is a significant need for this in my classroom. I have tried the scroll activity already - students very engaged. Very good for plot development." - Reading Specialist; Dorseyville, PA

[Scrolls and textmapping helped me] "...divide and select main information. I could remember the information thanks to the connections and graphics that I did." - College Student, Developmental Reading Program, Los Angeles County, CA

"I can't wait to use it! This will really help engage students in breaking down and understanding textbook chapters." - College-level Reading Specialist, Evansville, IN

"This has great value to help visually organize text that some LD, etc. children just don't see on their own. This is a skill oftentimes assumed by teachers, especially at the upper levels!" - Support Services; Stamford, CT

"Hands-on presenter, expert in field. Time flew. I really enjoyed this presentation!" - Teacher; Ringwood, NJ

"You can look at the overall book at once. Textmapping helps me because I am a visual learner. Having all the main points on one page in front of me makes it easier to remember and learn." - College Student, Developmental Reading Program, Los Angeles, CA

"I have already used scrolling and the students really love it. Scrolling zeroes in on important parts and engages students into conversations/thinking. David Middlebrook is very clear in his explanations and engages all into working, which is what you want your students to do. I definitely would recommend this workshop." - Resource Room Teacher; Millburn, NJ

"I work with fourth and third grade Title 1 students who are struggling with comprehension because the lengths of the stories overwhelm them. By scrolling and mapping the text, they can interact with the text and actually see the sequence.... I liked the presentation - it gave hands-on, practical ideas to use in the classroom." - Title 1 Teacher; South Fayette, PA

"Very good workshop. I really enjoyed working with the other faculty members directly on the text. I learned from the other faculty members as well as the facilitator." - Adjunct Professor, Community College Reading and Study Skills Program; Camden, NJ

"I am very excited about using this for poetry and social studies....This was the most amazing presentation I have ever seen. I'm so excited to use this!" - 2nd Grade Teacher, Somerville, NJ

"I particularly like the interactive aspects of textmapping for students who have touble focusing." - 6th Grade Teacher, Somerville, NJ

"For my master's work, I was having trouble organizing one particular paper and turned to textmapping. We were to cover nine questions in a ten page paper. I taped the questions and my research together and posted the scroll on the wall by my computer. By textmapping, I was able to see the big picture and integrate my writing better....
...I've used textmapping in my classroom for our reading packets. Earlier in the year, I had the entire class create the scrolls for their homework packets. I thought it would give them more of a 'global' view of the work. Most of the students have transitioned back to stapled packets but I still have five who prefer the scrolls so I accommodate them. It has been especially helpful for two of my ELL students and one of my LRC kids." - 5th Grade Teacher, Tacoma, WA

"This approach encourages students to be active readers and see the text as a whole.... I like that the presentation was hands-on and that we were active in the learning process. I would recommend this to my colleagues and encourage that it be used across the curriculum." - Language Arts (5th grade) and Instructional Support (grades 5-8), South Fayette, PA

"I used textmapping last year with my first grade students, and plan to use it again this year. We didn't do a lot of marking on the scrolls. Instead, we used them to see the whole story. This was very helpful when we were working on retelling a story. We could check the events to see if we got them in order. The kids had read Pat Hutchins' Titch books (three books about the same little boy - he is older in each succeeding book). We laid out all three scrolls and compared and contrasted the texts. We also used the scrolls to look at nonfiction conventions. First graders don't understand that if there is a heading on one page and none on the next page, the author is still talking about the same topic! We could look for captions, labels, etc. When we talked about important ideas and details, they could show me on the scroll where to find them. I've shared the site with a lot of teachers. Thanks for all of your work." - First Grade Teacher; Wilmington, OH

"I really enjoyed yesterday's workshop and I actually used the technique today with my police academy class. (The get a 4-session mini basic skills component to their program.) It worked very well! They liked it! They want me to bring more markers and glue next time! I do think it was useful, especially with this very mixed ability group (ranging from people who would be in RS I and/or WS II to others who already have BA degrees); I was able to create heterogenous ability groups which worked well together." - Adjunct Professor, Community College Reading and Study Skills Program; Camden, NJ

"When I saw the scrolls, I started scanning science pages. Used 4 different sections of a science book in guided reading this week. Had to go the floor. I'm old and my knees hurt, but it was WONDERFUL. We crawled around on the floor, wrote all over the paper I had taped the pages too. One of my third graders said (of this science text written at a frustration level for third grade), I think we're really digging into the text, aren't we? Can't get better than that." - Third Grade Teacher; Panama City, FL

"Excellent presentation. Showing teaching reading instruction in a totally different manner. A lot of power in this method." - Third Grade Teacher, Pittsburgh, PA

"This has major implications for teaching reading and writing. Many students could benefit from this." - English Teacher and Department Chairperson; San Jose, CA

"I just finished my eldest son's annual IEP meeting.... I DRA'd him and found that he was consistently performing at an oral accuracy rate of 97% to 95% with texts level 10 to 18. His comprehension never reached adequate levels, but was consistently in the 14-15 point range. Because of his age, 16, I know how difficult it is to match his (sort of) social and emotional level/age approriateness and texts but to have him reading level 2 books - now I know why he is being such a pill when they ask him to read. I turned in pages of report and at the end, suggested that they consider textmapping. It seems such a natural way to address reading problems with special needs children who often truly need that body kinesthetic. I printed off material from your website and sent the address as well." - Elementary Teacher and Reading Specialist; Mission, SD

"I used textmapping this past year for instruction in text features and structures. Although I am the ELA teacher, I introduced this to my team and students through science. We scrolled a short chapter (only 3 pages) on Pangaea and the development of plate tectonics theory. Each group of students had their own scroll and I had one at the board. We mapped the text features and I did a think-a-loud with questions and connections....What was truly amazing was that after marking the text and completing the mapping, students identified the structure of the text from the features (time order)....Upon completion, we discussed author's purpose in choosing time order. The students immediately seemed to "see" that it was to show how theory is built over time (building upon another scientist's idea.) Our maps were a mess of colors...but somehow organized due to the color-coding. Now, it turns out that kids started talking about this in their other classes. As we sat down for our team meetings, my colleagues shared student comments that were occurring in their classes as a result of the textmapping lesson completed in mine....This is a terrific process!" - Middle School English/Language Arts Teacher; Coventry, RI

"Excellent! I want to use Textmapping, and I want our content-area teachers to use it! This teaches valuable skills that students don't usually learn in school." - LD Language Arts Teacher; Silver Spring, MD

"This forces students to really prepare for reading...The color coding helps to visually focus students and to tie information together." - Resource Room Teacher; Great Neck, NY

"I have been using textmapping with my sixth grade resource class - and it has been very beneficial. The kids are more focused - the color coding helps a lot as well as the idea of really being able to make a book their own - we use the board to display our reading material and I see them going back to revisit parts of interest. It is great." - Sixth Grade Special Education Resource Teacher; Cynthiana, KY

"My goal was to preview the text with a focus on people and places (which were all based in history) as well as looking at author's craft....I divided the class into four groups of four students, and each group had a scroll and a different colored marker or highlighter. I assigned each group one thing to look for: character words/names, setting words, repeating verses(structural craft), close echos (word craft). Then they went to work scanning, boxing, and highlighting....The students had great discussions while they were marking the text....I loved how having the text right there marked with their discoveries facilitated the students' discussion in small groups (we had always used one scroll as a whole class before)." - 4th Grade Teacher; Texas

"Excellent concept. I work with many students, primarily ADHD, who need multisensory techniques like this. This teaches students to use searching techniques while reading - like detectives and explorers use - searching for facts and linking them together." - Cognitive and Learning Assistive Technology Specialist; Mississippi State University

"These techniques are great! I believe they should be used to teach reading and critical thinking skills for "regular" people, as well as for those with learning problems." - post-doctoral reading researcher, Boston University

"These are great ideas! You've given me ideas of how to work with some of my elementary LD students. The idea of a text as a map never occurred to me." - LD Specialist; Santa Rosa, CA

"Now I am just much more purposeful in carrying reading instruction over into my social studies content time. Textmapping has helped me out tremendously here, because it helps the kids to physically mark up the same text from that book they're not supposed to write in and because it helps me plan exactly what I'm going to focus on more purposefully (identifying and using non-fiction conventions, determining importance, summarizing, etc.)." - 4th Grade Teacher; Texas

"Love the Textmapping concept. I have shared the idea with other reading coaches in my city system and in our regional system. Lots of good information here--especially good for those of us who are visual learners." - Reading Coach; Alabama

"Your enthusiasm is infectious! I'd like to try these techniques with whole classes, working with partners and teams. I believe these techniques can be used to cover content area material more effectively with low-level readers." - Teacher and Department Chairperson, Los Angeles, CA

"I think that Textmapping can be a very valuable tool for students with learning disabilities because it involves them in multiple learning styles (visual, auditory, tactile, kinaesthetic...); it allows them to get their whole body involved. I had fun with it because I like using colors -- it made the learning process more exciting. I felt more motivated toward the learning process. This has been a great experience. Thanks for sharing your work with us." - LD Specialist; Princeton, NJ

"We could really feel the difference total body involvement makes. I think the scrolling will help students conceptualize better; this will make all the difference to students who learn better whole to part." - LD Specialist; Princeton, NJ

"Your presentation was excellent. You used very simple tools (markers, tape) and made it fun and understandable." - Education Technology Specialist, Special Education; Fort Kent, ME

"It seems that everyone I talk to at my school has heard of Textmapping before, but it was a new concept to me. I like to see the big picture, myself, so I decided to try it out and see how it works....I made a textmap of Abe Lincoln's Hat by Martha Brenner. It is a wonderful book to use in this way. The "chunks" of story are so clear, and easy to identify. I had read the book aloud to the students two times this week, and we had talked about text-to-self connections a little bit--not enough. Today I decided to guide them to look at the chunks first, then it seems we will be able to go back to connections and sensory images prompted by each section....I had them to find a partner and identify the different little stories in the big story. I gave them three minutes to talk among themselves. After three minutes, they identified the episodes, we circled them in different colors on the textmap, and worked together to give each one a summary sentence, which I wrotedirectly above the text....The children really were involved in the lesson. They were up on their knees with hands raised, wanting to be the next to identify an episode in the text. It was exciting to see their involvement. When we had circled all the chunks, I was amazed at how much clearer the organization of the text appeared....As long as I have been learning and using the reading strategies with a class, I have had such a challenge with charting our thinking. Making charts gets so long and involved for us. This method allows us to jot things on a sticky to add to the textmap, or even to write directly on the text. I like seeing the big picture!" - First Grade Teacher, Tennessee

"I am using text mapping with fourth graders this month, and they seem to be more engaged even though they have to stand and read (the scroll is laid out on table tops)." - Title 1 Teacher

"I liked the interactive exercise that can be used to introduce new text to students. I could immediately see how I could incorporate this comprehension strategy into classroom teaching." - Design Coach; Plainfield, NJ