Reading Strategies That Improve Comprehension

It's that time again - although I am a few days late - to link up with Teaching Little Miracles for:

If you'd like to catch up from the beginning of this book study, head here:

The Reading Strategies Book - Breaking It Down

Goals 1 and 2

Goals 3 and 4

Goals 5 and 6

Goals 7 and 8

Goals 9 and 10 

Goal 11 - Understanding Vocabulary and Figurative Language
In fact, research shows that if students are truly to understand what they read, they must be able to understand, not only decode upward of 95 percent of the words. (p. 297)

*Strategy 11.1 Retire Overworked Words

This is absolutely a strategy that I use right from the get-go.  My students love to describe a character as nice or kind way too often throughout the school year, and we need to work constantly on using more specific adjectives such as honest, respectful or caring...

*Goal 11.3 Insert a Synonym



Synonyms are words that mean the same.  

I love this strategy, and it explains why I always used my thesaurus every time I needed to write a paper (I LOVED my thesaurus!).

Goal 11.9 Stick to your Story

This strategy comes into play in a big way when we are preparing for our MCAS tests (state testing).  When answering questions that refer directly back to the story, students often invent their own version of what happened or they'll tell a story of what happened to them.  Either way, they're not answering the question ~ either because they didn't understand the story, the question being asked or both.

Goal 12 - Speaking, Listening, and Deepening Comprehension
*Strategy 12.1 Listen with Your Whole Body

This is such a life skill that needs constant review and reinforcement.  I often find myself refocusing my attention when I'm listening to another person.  Having someone listen to you is such a gift.

 Strategy 12.10 Sentence Starter Sticks



In this activity students chose a stick with a sentence starter on it.  They use the sentence starter to begin their answer:

Here's the best part - I took a class years ago and made similar sticks with questions, and I've never used them.  Needless to say, I am bringing them to school this year!

Thank you for checking in today!  I hope you have someone who listens to you with their whole body!

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Moving On With More Reading Strategies

Hello, and welcome to another installment of Teaching Little Miracles' Link-Up::

If you'd like to catch up from the beginning of this book study, head here:

The Reading Strategies Book - Breaking It Down

Goals 1 and 2

Goals 3 and 4

Goals 5 and 6

Goals 7 and 8 

Goal 9 - Determining Key Details

Determining key details is the difference between taking a highlighter to every single word in a textbook, and highlighting just those facts that align to your purpose for reading, or that align to what the author is trying to say. (p. 247)

*Goal 9.1 Compare New to Known

This goal is all about making connections between the text and what you already know in order to create an understanding of the new information.

*Goal 9.5 Gather Up Facts

How I wished someone had taught me this strategy ~ write down what you learned from your reading.  It was so difficult to write a book report because I couldn't remember any details I had read.

*Goal 9.15 Using Analogies

I love analogies and think that they are so fun to do when we have some extra time.  They're like riddles!  This strategy encourages readers to think of why an author would compare two things.

Goal 10 - Getting the Most From Text Features

This goal is HUGE and SUPER IMPORTANT with all the emphasis on non-fiction that happens to be on our state tests!  Over the years, I've tried to add more and more non-fiction books to the mix in my classroom library - although I must admit - most of the books remain fiction ones.  I'm always on the lookout for new non-fiction anyway!

*Goal 10.4 - Caption It!

One year during MCAS testing, a student asked for help (not that I could help) about a question that asked about the caption.  She didn't know what a caption was.  Now I make sure to teach and review captions all the time!

*Goal 10.15 Maps

Maps are educational and fun!  I've spent the last two summer taking professional development that involves maps.  Consequently, I am so happy to highlight this strategy.

 It's also helpful that maps are non-fiction text features, too!

Here's an analogy for you:   Summer is to watermelon as back to school is to:

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More Really Amazing Reading Strategies To Check Out Now!

Happy Last Weekend in July!  I'm delighted to link-up with Teaching Little Miracles for another installment of:

If you'd like to catch up from the beginning of this book study, head here:

The Reading Strategies Book - Breaking It Down

Goals 1 and 2

Goals 3 and 4

Goals 5 and 6

Goal 7 ~ Understanding Themes and Ideas



Right in the introduction to this chapter, Jennifer Serravallo states:

...when it comes to interpreting themes.  I think that interpretation needs to be rooted in the details of the text, but that it's really also about the interaction the reader has with the text.  This means that two different readers reading the same story may interpret them differently, because the prior knowledge and experiences that each of them has is unique. (p. 191)

This quote underlines why it's so difficult for everyone to agree on theme, and then there's always this issue:

*7.2 The Difference Between Plot and Theme

I think this concept presents difficulty for many adults - let alone third graders!  I do appreciate the anchor chart:

7.7 Mistakes Can Lead to Lessons

I think this is one of the best reading strategies and life lessons ever!

Also, if you're looking for a different back-to-school read-aloud,  check out Stuart Goes to School:

Stuart is off to his first day of third grade, and we can definitely infer how he's feeling from the cover!

Goal 8 - Determining Main Topic(s) and Idea(s) in Nonfiction



Non-fiction is so important because it is a huge part of our state tests which underlines the importance of this chapter.  Luckily, most students LOVE non-fiction books!

*Strategy 8.11 - Add Up Facts to Determine Main Idea

When I read this book, I wish someone had taught me this strategy of reading each section and writing down the important information.  I always dreaded book reports because I didn't have any way of remembering what had happened.

I'm also wondering why no one ever taught me the importance and necessity of anchor charts.  Education has come a long way!

*8.15 Why Does the Story Matter?

Biographies are key in third grade both in reading and social studies.  We start learning about important people right from the start so this strategy is a must!

Here's what I'm learning - make these anchor charts and refer back to them often as they have such important information!

Thanks for checking in today as the month of July winds down.

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More Really Practical Reading Goals form the Reading Strategies Book!

Hey there!  It's time for our weekly link-up with Teaching Little Miracles for:

Goal # 5 - Understanding Plot and Setting

Students "have to understand what's going on....to be able to 'make a movie in their mind.'" (p.130)

Strategy 5.2 - Title Power

I love doing this with my students by asking them to predict what the book will be about based on the title.  By keeping the title in mind while reading, students can connect the problem back to the title.

The above book by Verna Aardema is one my favorite read-alouds, and the title helps students make easy predictions about the problem.

Check out the anchor chart from the book (just having access to these helpful and well thought out anchor charts is another benefit of buying The Reading Strategies Book!):

*5.11 - Retell What's Most Important by Making Connections to the Problem

"At and after levels M/N the characters often have multiple problems, both internal and external, and it's more likely that the problem is resolved instead of solved..." (p. 144)

I LOVE this strategy as an adult because not every story has a happy ending.  Sometimes getting to the solution is difficult, and the problem can't be solved the way you had hoped - what a great life lesson!

Have you noticed that some kids lead complicated lives full of multiple problems?  Making connections continues to be a meaningful strategy.

In addition, this strategy highlights the importance of developing those higher level thinking skills throughout school, and through our reading, we can learn important lessons.   The difference between resolved vs. solved is huge and difficult to grasp for many.

*5.16 - Summarizing with "Somebody...Wanted...But...So..."

 Summarizing is one of those extra important skills, and this strategy really breaks it down easily and helpfully with a formula!

 Goal #6 - Thinking About Characters

*6.1 How's the character feeling

 This anchor chart makes me so excited because it's interactive and can be used with multiple stories.  Plus, we all know how much kids LOVE to write on sticky notes!

Again, the prompts for the strategy involve checking the picture for clues on how the character feels as well as noticing what the character says.

*6.9 Text Clue/Background Knowledge Additions

I'm just in love with this anchor chart and making inferences - one of my favorite reading strategies!

*6.12 Empathize to Understand

My favorite book to teach empathy is Just Grace Walks The Dog:

Grace uses her "empathy power" frequently!  

According to my son, Andrew, who just became an official pharmacist, empathy is a key skill in his interactions with people!

Today is a perfect 10 day so I'm hoping to get outside after I finish procrastinating to do my cleaning chores by blogging!  Enjoy your day!

 

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More Practical Reading Strategies and a Great Giveaway!

Happy Friday!  Today I'm linking up with Crystal from Teaching Little Miracles for another installment of:

Goal #3:  Supporting Print Work

*Strategy 3.1 Check the Picture for Help

This is an incredibly helpful strategy!  Many picture books contain tricky words - reluctant is a common one - looking carefully at the pictures can definitely help clarify the general meaning of the story.  I emphasize this strategy often during read-alouds.

*Strategy 3.6  Try, Try, Try Again

I often tell my students to go back and reread - I often wonder if they listen to my advice.  This strategy contains an amazing graphic that I had to share.

This is one BIG advantage of having the book - you have access to these great anchor charts - I LOVE this one!

Strategy 3.7 Slow Down the Zoom, Zoom, Zoom to Make Sense

Now this strategy applies to all subject areas!

Goal # 4:  Teaching Fluency

I always tell my students how my younger son had to read a picture book to his class in middle school with expression as well as talking like the characters.  He chose a perfect book (of course, it helped that I had the book at home!):

The importance of the story is that he read the book out loud to me at least 20 times (maybe more) to get the expression and voices just right.  Reading out loud with fluency involves practice reading out loud to whoever will listen.

*Strategy 4.6  Punctuation at the End of a Sentence

I love to practice this strategy while doing choral reading because it's easier for a student to change their voice when they're reading together.

You can about Goals 1 and 2 here.

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