Text Citation or Link	Rationale for Choosing	Text Frame(s)	Strategies Used and Resource
Guided Thinking Example	How a bacterial cell recognizes its own DNA	This article describes the process of DNA replication and repair by using bacteria versus viruses as an example. It provides important information to understand how the CRISPR system has an impact on our lives now and will continue into the future. Students will be able to apply the information to current and future real world situations.	Cause/Effect Goal/Action/Outcome	Hands-On Reading (Buehl book)

Hands-On Reading is a technical reading strategy that is used for variety types of daily contexts. Hands-On Reading tends to help students focus on coping with certain demands of complex technical texts. This strategy helps students understand the importance of problem solving while they read instead of being overwhelmed by dense writing. It allows students to draw on questioning for working a text technically through their eyes. The advantages of using Hands-On Reading consists of students practicing independent routines during their learning from complex technical texts instead of over relying on their instructors to provide the information for them. It also allows students to become flexible in their approach with text genres since students begin to realize that some texts should be read and reread in incremental segments. Students understand that they do not have to read straight through the text material. Hands-On Reading is more appropriate for complex technical texts for applied reading in the curriculum in the discipline.

Hands-On Reading meets the standards by helping students read and reread the author’s message in order to discern the main ideas. Students have the ability to examine interrelationships of details or ideas with interpreting word meaning. Hands-On Reading also allows analyzing text structure, tracking the author’s perspective and purpose, integrating ideas with visual representation, and using text-based evidence to support the argument. Students have the ability to mentor the reading of complex literary and informational texts to develop collaborative conversations to express and defend their thinking by using visual displays. By using follow-up writing it can provide practice with using text-based evidence from the texts to emphasize analysis and reflection. It also allows the opportunity to build on vocabulary by determining and clarifying key vocabulary. This allows attention to word relationships and acquiring domain-specific vocabulary in the text. It helps build on the student’s reading skills in every discipline.

In order to use Hands-On Reading an instructor must first introduce technical nonfiction that exhibits the following characteristic: terse texts since there is an assumption that the reader will act on the information, the technical texts follow a goal/action/outcome text organization, the texts is laden with disciplinary specific vocabulary, the texts usually are highly visual to gain meaning and functions of some vocabulary, and the texts usually do not motivate or entertain the reading since they are viewed as a means to an end. The reader will then adopt reading strategies that are tailored towards comprehension of technical material by brainstorming with student’s problems. Sometimes students will negative comments regarding the texts like it is not easy to understand, not clearly written, or the visuals are hard to decipher. Students can often get discouraged on the material. The next step is to outline the Hands-On Reading. It is a “start again, stop again” approach that allows students to set aside materials used to attempt to translate instructions into action with returning to the text in order to confirm their understands or they will try to transition into the next stage of reading. It is really important to emphasize the following students for Hands-On Reading to students: size up the task (survey the text to understand a goal and objective), clarify vocabulary (key terms in the text and which ones are important to the student’s learning), scan the visuals (view the visual information to help understand the information), look out for cautions (if steps are ignored this could lead to error), read and apply (read, clarify the message, and apply information), and collaborate (interact with fellow leaners). Finally students will work with partners in order to read and apply information through collaboration to help with their understanding of the complex text.

The article chosen for this assignment is called “How a bacterial cell recognized its own DNA,” which is about bacteria having their own immune system just in case they needed to fight off invasive viruses known as “phages.” Just like immune systems of a human, the first challenge of the immune system for bacteria is to detect the difference between “foreign” and “self.” The text meets all of the demands of the first step needed for the Hands-On Reading approach. When students first look at the article they might get discouraged on the title since it sounds challenging. The students will begin to skim the information and find it confusing and overwhelming or yet a better description would be boring since scientific information is always serious. Students will develop a reading strategy to help with understanding this technical text by using their mobile phones for a dictionary. The students will review the outline of Hands-On Reading to help with developing their strategies for reading complex texts. Finally the students will work in groups to help with collaboration and comprehension of the reading material. Students will be able to understand that bacteria have their own immune system to fight off viruses, but it firsts needs to determine the difference between “foreign” and “self.” All living things are made of DNA and proteins. Phages, which are a type of virus, require a host cell’s replication machinery in order to for them to make copies of themselves. They are constantly finding ways to do this so bacteria require an active immune system. CRISPR is a type of bacterial adaptive system, which is not just important to bacteria, but also plays a major impact on our daily lives and future. It has the ability to “edit” the human genome. CRISPR remembers an infection by grabbing a short sequence from the invading viral DNA and inserts it into the bacterial genome, which form the immune memory. For subsequent infections it uses these sequences to create short strands of RNA that can fit in the genetic sequence of the phages’ kin so protein complexes can attach to the RNA in order to identify the phage DNA to destroy it. Bacteria can suffer an autoimmune disease when bits of self-DNA are grabbed since it would attack its own DNA. It has more than 100 times of self compared to foreign DNA inside of the cell. By CRISPR using proteins of Cas1 and 2 it identified DNA that replicated rapidly that explained how the tactic of phages proved to be unsuccessful. It helps to understand that during DNA replication there are small breaks that occur in the DNA that call up a DNA repair enzyme that can take small bites from the broken DNA. What is leftover from the repair enzyme that nibbled were seen to be a source of viral DNA to create “Chi site.” These are found throughout the bacterial genome, but not often on the viral one so they serve as a “self” marker. The bacterial cell performs the normal DNA replication and repair process in order to identify phage DNA. Through the activity of Cas1 and Cas2 it allows the bacterial immune system adds foreign DNA to its immune “memory” in order to activate its defenses. Students will be able to decipher the process of DNA replication and repair.

I found the Hands-On Reading strategy quite important for guided thinking because it encourages students to understand the importance of problem solving. After reviewing the text it is clear to point out vocabulary terms of the following: DNA, DNA replication, DNA repair, RNA, enzyme, protein, bacteria, immune system, virus, and phages. The article clearly helps students understand how an immune system deciphers between “self” and “foreign.” It helps students develop comprehension of technical texts and provides an opportunity of collaboration between students to help understand the material. I think this is important to develop critical thinking skills. Students will be challenged in the material and be able to use other resources like their mobile phones to help understand vocabulary terms and processes better. I believe students will build on how they process reading material and how it applies to the real world.

Work Cited

Buehl, D., (2014) Classroom Strategies for Interactive Learning, 4^th ed. International Reading Association.

Weizmann Institute of Science. (2015, April 13). How a bacterial cell recognizes its own DNA. ScienceDaily. Retrieved April 18, 2015 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/04/150413130825.htm