ce ENSION. a practical classroom guide @coralContents Foreword by Linda Gambrell ‘Acknowledgements Part One: The Background Introduction ‘A model for introducing and teaching reading comprehension strategies Creating a supportive classroom environment for strategy teaching Getting started - some frequently asked questions answered Recording the learning process How to use this book Part Two: The Key Strategies Activating prior knowledge Self-monitoring Predicting © Questioning Making connections Visualising Inferring Summarising synthesising Other Useful Strategies Skimming Scanning Building Vocabulary Knowledge References Photocopy Masters for Activities 12 16 20 23 25 31 45 53 65 79 87 m1 143 149 155 163 178 183Introduction Comprehension is one of the most challenging issues facing teachers of reading today. We know that although many students are accurate and fluent decoders, this does not always translate into having a good understanding of the text. Reading comprehension is important because without it the student is not truly reading. In the past 25 years there has been a growing body of research on reading comprehension. One ofthe most significant findings of this research is that proficient readers are active readers. They actively engage with the text using anumber of strategies to gain meaning from it. So whats it that good readers do? We know that: Before reading, good readers: + activate their prior knowledge + areclear about why they are reading a particular text + know what type of text theyare about to read + preview the text + make predictions + askquestions. During reading, good readers: + construct and revise meaning + monitor their understanding of the text + continue revising and adjusting their predictions and questions + usea variety of strategies to determine the meaning of unknown words and concepts + make connections with ideas in the text + make inferences. Aen reading, good readers: evaluate whether the text met their purpose for reading + revisit their predictions and questions and adjust and revise them if necessary + areable to summarise what they have read + synthesise what they have read.Authors and researchers include from six to 18 strategies as being important for reading comprehension. For the purpose of clarity, the strategies covered in this book have been organised into groups. 1 Nine key strategies that appear to come up the most often in research. 2. Two strategies that are also important but tend to be less well documented. 3 Two setsof strategies that are indispensable to readers at any level: + word attack strategies to help clarify the meanings of unknown words, and + fix-up strategies - what to do if meaning breaks down at word or text level. Reading comprehension strategies Group 1: Keystrategies 1._ activating prior knowledge 2. self-monitoring 3. predicting 4 questioning 5 making connections 6 visualising 7 inferring 8 summarising 9 synthesising Group 2: Other useful strategies 1 skimming 2 scanning Group 3: Additional strategy sets 1 _word attack strategies 2 fix-up strategies Is it possible to teach these strategies to students? There is compelling evidence to say that we can teach these strategies to students. Nell Duke and David Pearson write in What Research Has to Say about Reading Instruction: A large volume of work Indicates that we can help students acquire the strategies and processes used by good readers — and that this improves ‘their overall comprehension of the text, both the texts used to teach the strategies and texts they read on their own in the future... There is a large not overwhelming number and range of techniques that work, yet the use of even one technique alone has been shown to improve students’ comprehension. Teaching what we call collections or packages of comprehension strategies can help students becone truly solid comprehenders of many kinds of text.Explicit teaching is best Research tells us that explicit teaching techniques are particularly effective for comprehension strategy instruction. Explicit teaching requires teachers to tell readers what the strategies are, why and when they should use them, and how to apply them. Itis important to explicitly teach these strategies individually, However the goal for our students is that they have a toolbox’ of strategies that can be activated unconsciously and in unison. These strategies can help them to interact with the text to become more active and engaged readers. The big picture is not just that we teach the strategies in isolation and hope the students catch on. We need to encourage them to be using a variety of strategies simultaneously. A cooperative learning model works well Cooperative leaming groups — where students work with a buddy or in 2 small group of up to four students to complete a clearly defined task ~ have been shown to be an effective way to teach reading comprehension strategies. Cooperative learning groups not only provide opportunities for peer support but are motivating for students, as they know their work and ideas will be responded. to. Teaching reading strategies has cross-curricular benefits Another important point to note is that these strategies are used not only in reading, but across the curriculum. We activate prior knowledge, predict, make connections, infer, summarise and question in many curriculum areas including maths, social studies and science. Teaching these strategies has cross-curricular benefits. This is particularly true for research projects and studies thet involve inquiry-based learning, How many times have we asked students to summarise a story or skim or scan an information text without having actually taught them how to do it? The importance of building vocabulary knowledge One area of teaching reading that has taken a low profile for some time is the role vocabulary plays in reading comprehension. ‘Vocabulary plays a significant role in students’ reading success. Kithout an understanding of the words ina sentence. paragraph. or passage, comprehension cannot occur, and without comprehension, one is ‘not truly literate. = Bleek 8 Wangiert (2000) Research shows that in most cases, the bigger the student's vocabulary, the better they comprehend, One vital area we must attend to as teachers is the building of vocabulary knowledge, particularly in students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, and new learnets of English.Summary + Reading comprehension is important because without comprehension the reader is not truly reading. = Comprehension strategies are not an end in themselves; they are a means of helping students understand what they are reading. * Students who are good comprehenders of text are purposeful and active readers. Reading comprehension can be developed by: = explicitly teaching reading comprehension strategies + using a cooperative learning model to support leamers + encouraging readers to use strategies flexibly and in combination + using the strategies across the curriculum as appropriate, and + building vocabulary knowledge. © What do good readers do? see ee What do good readers do? / EEL wretcotaiendy know about ns topter — | predict this book will be about... because... een een Peet] know what thatfeel ike because... ean make pieces in my ming Pann) Ihink what the authors trying to ell me s+ Peet itr wonder why... predicted ... would happen, but now Ithink... Jen ofthe storys. ‘My idoas have changed ater reading this... ike to find out why... ound this bookuseful for my report because. NNB This poster may be downloaded from the support material section of the CD that accompanies this book. reeA model for introducing and teaching reading comprehension strategies -adapted from Duke & Pearson (2002) ‘What is the most effective way to introduce and teach strategies in the classroom? Here are the five components. 1 An explicit description of the strategy, which includes when and how it should be used (no student help) For example:"Predicting is making sensible guesses about what willhappen next in the text you are reading. tis a useful strategy because it helps you to think about what to expect when you read. Predicting gives you a purpose to keep reading?” 2 Teacher modelling of the strategy in action (think-alouds| (no student help) For example:"I am going to make some predictions about this book. First ofall 1am going to look at the cover. It's called Evil Weasel and it'sgot a cartoon kind of picture of a sneaky looking weasel on the front. | can see by the title and the picture on the front that itis probably fiction book. | predict this story is going to be about an evil weasel who does mean things to people. lalso think from the picture on the front that itis going to have some funny parts in it? & 3. Collaborative use of the strategy in action (now students can start to help! For example:"My prediction about the weasel book was preity good. Now Id like you help me make some predictions. fm going to read this page and at the end ofit I will stop. |want you to think about what will happen next and why you think that... [read text] Okay, now let's hear what your predictions are..." 4 Guided practice using the strategy with gradual release of responsibility For example:"We have been talking a lot about making predictions in reading. Today as you read in your groups, id like you to practise doing this. While you are reading, Id like youto stop after every two pages and use the prediction flowchart to record your predictions for the next two pages ‘coming up. Stop after your frst prediction and talk to a buddy about what your prediction s and why you think that will happen. When you have read the whole story, discuss your prediction chart with your buddy. Discuss whether your predictions were correct and whether your ideas changed” 5 Independent use of the strategy For example:"It’s time for silent reading, As you read today, remember what we've been talking about - making predictions while we read. Practise this strategy by making predictions every two or three pages. Ask yourself why you made the prediction and what made you think that. Check to see if your predictions were correct!”es een ee Modelling Modelling is often the forgotten step of the teaching process. Teachers of younger students tend tobe very good at supporting their learners by articulating what they do as readers. As a teacher of mainly 9-11 year olds, I did not feel at all confident about modelling in front of older students. | assumed the students didn’t need this support. | went straight from telling them what to do, to asking them to apply the knowledge - and forgot the steps in between. Now, having realised the Value of modelling and seeing the engagement on my students faces as they recognise that all readers (even teachers!) have to work at understanding the text, plus some considerable practice, | feel a lot more comfortable with the process of modelling, Good modelling is all about preparation. When | first modelled a strategy | assumed that, being an experienced teacher, | would be able todo it with ease, How wrong | was! The first time did a modelling session, I decided to model the prediction strategy. | had found a newspaper article about Matchbox Toys that | thought would be of interest to the class, and off | went. Being the teacher | am, | started with the best of intentions but found myself being steered in all sorts of directions, unable to control my excitement at all the different possible teaching points | could ram into one lesson. The poor students probably had no idea that my modelling lesson was about prediction - it had becamea hazy mishmash of teaching points that occurred to me as | sat in front ‘of them. So be warned: be prepared and be focused! Placing sticky notes on a text to provide prompts works a treat. It does take time to prepare your’script but once you have a modelling session planned, there is no reason why you can't use it multiple times. For this reason, it is a good idea to choose a text that you have a personal copy of, or photocopy a part of a text so you will always have it to use. Be on the lookout for texts thatJend themselves to modelling particular strategies. Start your own bank of resources by keeping copies ofthe text complete with sticky notes for the modelling session ina resealable plastic bag. Think-alouds Think-alouds (Davey, 1983) are a simple but powerful technique. The reader literally thinks aloud’ ~ articulating their thought processes as they attempt to do something, in this case make meaning from text. When the teacher thinks aloud, it makes the thought processes ofa good reader transparent to students. Remind students to take note of the things you do as you work your way through a text. !tis also important that students practise think-alouds. They are a valuable tool for listening to students’ thought processesand assessing how well they are using particular strategies. 13Some pointers 1 Use awide variety of materials to model: stories, textbooks, articles and visual text such as photographs, graphs, maps and tables. Use think-alouds across the curriculum as appropriate. Select a text that is genuinely challenging for you as a reader. This will give your students a sense of yourthinking processes and how you approach difficult texts, 2. Plan your think-alouds. Write prompts on sticky notes and post them at appropriate points in the text. 3. Read the text aloud, pausing to make comments about what you are thinking in order to ‘comprehend the text. Be careful not to do this too often as it will affect the flow of the text. 4. Unless you are doing a general think-aloud, keep focused on the strategy youare teaching. Ifappropriate, quick references to other strategies taught in the past will help consolidate learning. 5 Keep the modelling session short and’punchy’~ don’t bore the students with long drawn-out | demonstrations. 6 Take a few opportunities to show word attack and fix-up strategies. 7 Remind students thatalll readers get stuck sometimes, but good readers are able to recognise what word or part of the text is confusing to them and then use a fix-up strategy to clarify the problem, Using sticky notes and think-alouds are suitable follow-up, activities for teaching all reading strategies, Examples of think-alouds Here are some examples of think-alouds for a book about the experiences of two men who compete in a challenge to row across the Atlantic Ocean. You could use a think-aloud to demonstrate your thinking as you ovledge and make Make predictions and confirm or revise them: Activate prior kni connections: know the Mianric Ocean Is and America T predicted tr would be really Cold in the Atlantic Ocean but now T know the men aia ‘theie trp between England ber I'm not sure how many iometres that would be. Sou tee a pretty long way, T think ere frriartic Ocean te where the | Franc sunk. It hit an iceberg as ct mist be pretty cold in the | Aeantic Ocean. nds in summer 50 it was actually really not! 44Summarise: Muy summary of what has ls that the men have had lots of challenges caising 4the money to build & boat ‘and preparing for tne tip bot they have overcome trem and are ceacy 10 stact the race. Make connections: T remember going in a cance when we were on holiday once. I+ was quite hard to fow because the cars were. a BF big fer muy hande. My hands got really sore. I can’t imagine how it must feel +o row for such a long time. Visualise: ‘of these two men in this towering above them. Clarify meaning: Tm not sure what this word fartique means - 120] dase cP cong lack of steep, the effects o, te: 6 it says “after tant rowing any we were feeling ontext basa clue. Fangue must be something to do with Being ‘ied because that's how T would be Feeling if T hag rowed a cance for 12 had not had that mu ste book happened so fac in ZT have a pictere in my mind aves fring canoe with hige 0 f fatiqve® I tink Synthesise: Now that I have fead this story, T think T have a better understanding of how some people deal with feally hard sttuations and what makes them keep going Ask question: T wander what they ate on the ‘rip and hoo they, stored their Food. Infer: HF doeant say exactly in the beak, bet I think tne. men were finding tt hacd +o ge along near the end of HE trip because the book, says they didnt tak to each other for three dais, Evaluate and respond toa oa “er was a feat teres story, Tt gave me & ie ses pictuce of what it woul a “yo cow attoss the ss = definitely, dont Rac ail “r 40 ao ther. Fim going 70. oe he Internet and see a ae find ovr what those mer a are doing now. 1516 Creating a supportive classroom environment for strategy teaching Literally hundreds of correlational studies find that the best readers read the most and ‘that poor readers read the least. These correlational studies suggest that the nore children read, the better their fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. — National Reading Panel (2000) Getting to be a good reader is all about time on the task - the more you read, the better you get. So how can we provide the maximum amount of opportunities for students to do this at school? Independent reading — read, read, read! itis important that students have daily opportunities to read independently. Ths is sometimes called SSR (sustained silent reading), USSR (uninterrupted sustained silent reading), DEAR (drop everything and read) and even DIRT (daily independent reading time)! This opportunity is particularly important for students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds as studies show it may be the only opportunity they have to make personal book choices and read independently. Studies also show that giving opportunities for students to talk about their reading increases jon and engagement. Adults often like to do this - many people belong to book clubs and enjoy sharing opinions and deepening understandings by talking about what they are reading. In my own classroom, | was sometimes guilty of using SSR asa time to prepare for the next lesson. knew modelling reading by reading my own book was a good thing to do. | thought it ‘showed students that we value reading — which it does. But we need todo more. In atotally unstructured independent reading time, many students who are not good readers ‘read’ books that are too hard for them and nobody takes any interest in what they are actually reading, This can have little benefit for the students ~ in particular the less able ones. There has been a move towards a more structured or’monitored SSR’ session, where teachers take a more active interest in what their students read and provide opportunities for students to share and recommend what they are reading to others. Some ideas to encourage reading Independent reading + Ensure that students have access toa constantly changing selection of quality books across a number of genres. + Provide a short time (say two minutes each) for students to share their book with a buddy after the independent reading session. + Timetable one day a week (Friday often works) where two or three students are scheduled to present a review of a book they have read. Students or the teacher could develop a list of review Prompts, Books can be recommended and reviews filed in a clear file for other students to refer to.Some ideas for book review prompts 1 Title 2. Author 3. Fiction/nonfiction 4 Tell an interesting fact or tell about the main character/s. Talk about a part in the book you enjoyed. Give the book a star rating 1-5 (Sis highest) and say why you gave it that rating. Other ideas for creating a supportive classroom context ~ adapted from Duke & Pearson (2002) Experience reading a range of different text types for authentic purposes: + reading lots of examples of different kinds of narrative text, if you want students to write narrative text + reading instructions for how to play a maths game before you play it + reading school notices and timetables Creating a classroom environment rich in meaningful print in context: + teacher and students creating labels, signs, lists, timetables, word banks, explanations, writing examples, instructions and topic displays which include both known words and new words used in context Vocabulary building ~ fostering an interest in words and their meanings: + Including more sophisticated words in your day-to-day talk with students ~ “Can you articulate exactly how you did that please?” “Please leave the door ajar to let the breeze in” wed arte prea re) eh mt en ™, teeny ; ‘small minuscule, little of Word alternative chart 716 Who's used the word this Week? “seruae Ml North Africa when oe year ago oclothin eburials «food ‘Aenvebes tt rete ty canter ha tonics cy ae ee reg atte sitcingingets - ‘ee ie Topic word bank chart Encouraging fluency - being able to decode quickly and accurately: + shared and independent reading of poetry cards and shared books + Readers! Theatre + listening and following along to recorded stories Students writing and reading each other's texts and providing authentic opportunities for these texts to be read by people in the community and the wider world: + writing instructions that will be followed by other students, e.g directions to get from their own house to school (as part ofa focus on procedural writing) + writing a letter to the editor of the local suburban newspaper expressing an opinion + peer-editing formats Creating an environment rich in high-quality talk about books: taking a genuine interest in the books students read, and talking to them about the books + asking, and having students develop, a variety of open and closed questions + challenging students to give more information as they answer questions, eg."What makes you think that?”Regularly reading a variety of text types aloud to students: Abalanced programme of reading aloud to students every day for 15 minutes has many benefits. It shows students that we value reading. It exposes them toa variety of authors, text types and new vocabulary and provides a shared experience that we can use as a platform to discuss concepts and ideas Given the constant time pressures of today’s classroom day, reading aloud needs to be planned for. You could plan a read-aloud session with your students first thing in the morning after roll call. This is a great way to start the day, prepare for the reading session, connect with students and know that you have done something worthwhile. balanced read-aloud programme could include: + picture books (sophisticated picture books for older students) + novels + short stories + folk stories or fairy stories ‘+ myths and legends (including some appropriate to the cultures of your students) + poetry + biographies and autobiographies + letters to the editor, magazine articles, etc. + excerpts from books for different purposes, @.g, to show how an author engages the reader at the start of a story or to highlight an author's style. + published work written by the students in your class. 1920 Getting started - some frequently asked questions answered How does teaching reading strategies fit into my literacy programme? Reading strategies are a component of reading, nota whole reading programme. Explicit teaching of reading comprehension strategies gives students information they need to help them to comprehend. Reading strategy instruction needs allocated teaching time and should be woven into your literacy programme. A suggested model could be one reading session a week for explicit instruction. This explicit instruction session could include: = _anexplanation of why the strategy is useful and how to use it asa reader = _amodelling session where you demonstrate how you asa reader think when using the strategy, and + opportunities for students to be involved in having a go themselves in a shared then guided situation. This does not mean introducing a new strategy each week. There will be times when you are working on a strategy long term (summarising, for example) so the weekly session may be used for practice activities only. Other areas of the curriculum provide opportunities to practise reading strategies. For example, predictingjis a useful strategy in maths, science or social studies. Once you have begun to teach the strategy, use the practice activitiesin this book in your guided reading programme to reinforce them. Be careful not to overdo this and make strategy practice boring or too repetitive for the students. Which strategies should I teach first? There appears to be no research to suggest that there is any particular developmental order for teaching reading strategies. Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis (2000) suggest that self- monitoring is a good one to start with. Teaching students to be aware of their own thinking when they read is a great place to start. You may want to introduce or reinforce a strategy that is fairly easy for students to come to grips with, such as predicting, to kickstart their awareness. The introduction of different strategies will depend on your classroom programme. For instance, if your writing focus is information reports, you may want to teach your students how to summarise ‘or skim and scan for information, Plan your strategy teaching alongside your classroom focus so the strategies can be taught ina meaningful context. How long should | spend teaching each strategy? There is no required lenath of time to spend teaching each strateay. The important thing is the explicit explanation of each individual strategy followed by modelling, shared, guided and then independent practice so the students are clear about what the strategy is and why they are using it. The length of time you spend teaching each strategy will also depend on the level and capability of your students, Some students may already understand and be using particular strategies. There is no point in spending time teaching a strategy they are already using proficiently. Ifstudents have good comprehension they will require a range of more challenging texts that extend their reading horizons and allow them to practise strategy use at higher levels. Some strategies will require less modelling and be easier for kids to pick up. Visualising is anexample of this. Summarising, however, is a much more challenging strategy that requires many modelling sessions and lots of practice in a variety of contexts to become proficient at. Should | teach reading strategies to the whole class or in groups? Introduce and model each strategy to the whole class. As is always the case, there will be a range of abilities within the group. Some students will understand quicker than others. In fact, there are likely to be some students who are already using some strategies proficiently. Although it is important that we don't ask students who are already using a strategy successfully to practise incessantly, we do want everyone to be’on the same page’ and using a common language. Students also need to be able to articulate what they are doing and why. No student (or adult for that matter) ever comes to the point of understanding everything they read instantly ~ think of what happens when you try to decipher a legal document or usea ‘help’ box when something goes wrong on your computer! For this reason, there is always a case to be made for strategy teaching and practice. After you have modelled a strategy, support your less able students by withdrawing them into in a small group and working with them. These students will need the whole learning process slowed down - lots more modelling and scaffolding in a small group situation to help get them started. How old do the students have to be before I can start teaching reading strategies?» Research suggests that students are cognitively ready to receive information on reading strategies when they are around7 years of age. Students younger than this tend to have trouble thinking multidimensionally and also have difficulty in retaining strategies. Research also strongly suagests that at this stage the ability to decode the text - to attach phonemes to letters and names to symbols is critical. A degree of fluency and the ability to reason with others is also required. This is not to say that we donot include comprehension strategy Instruction as young readers learn to decode, Comprehension is always a goal in reading, Think-alouds (see pages 13-15 and 49) and the modelling of strategies by the teacher are important at this stage. This can be achieved through shared reading and read-aloud sessions. Some activities in this book are suitable to use as follow-up activities after guided reading sessions - the Story map (page 95) is an example. How do | assess where my students are at? There are many formal tests available to assess levels of comprehension. It is beyond the scope of this book to suggest specific tests, as every country has their own test formats. Formal testing and teacher observations provide data that may show a student's need for improvement in comprehension levels. This book is designed to support the explicit teaching of reading comprehension strategies with a view to improved comprehension. The learning goal for each strategy activity is to practise the strategy purposefully so itcan become assimilated into the student’s bank of knowledge to help them make meaning from text. When trialling the ideas in this book, | found that I began to build a picture of which students were understanding and which ones needed more support, by observing how they coped with practice activities. | made a point of roving around the students and actively listening to their conversations. When | noticed students who were not ‘getting it; | withdrew them for more explicit modelling sessions and support. The products of the activities the students complete provide evidence of their level of understanding. These products can be used to support formal data and provide evidence of learning. By listening to students think aloud (see pages 13-15), and reading their sticky notes and graphic organisers, you can get ‘inside’ the students heads and find out what is really going on. This, to me, isone of the most interesting and rewarding aspects of teaching reading comprehension strategies.Some other important points + Remember that not all reading strategies work for all types of text, + Never ask students to do something you haven't modelled! + The activitiesin this book are great classroom tools; but remember, the points the reading! These activities are intended to focus closely on a particular strategy as part of strategy teaching. Don't kill the enjoyment of reading with too many practice exercises,Recording the learning process Ideas for recording teacher demonstrations and student learning Itis important to keep a record of learning as you teach reading strategies. A record of teacher demonstrations and student products is a useful way for both students and the teacher to revisit and revise learning sessions. This way, the learning is available to be referred to again. Modelling and clemonstrations may be recorded in a number of ways. Some ideas for doing this are: + chart paper - clip together, hang on the wall or make into a book = electronic whiteboard - record and save demonstrations + scrapbook ~ buy a ready-made scrapbook; see ideas laterin this section. Reading strategy mini posters The support material for each strategy contains a mini poster. There is also a ‘Strategies we know’ sign included on the CD. These can be printed and laminated. As you teach anew strategy, post the appropriate mini poster on the whiteboard or make a wall display. Use the display asa reference to remind the students of the strategies % Activating prior knowledg. ‘Synthesising (=i BB won Keep exemplars of student work ‘As you begin to teach the strategies, start to collect examples of work that show how students are using strategies effectively. These can be invaluable for demonstrating exactly what you are ‘on about. You may want to make a file for each strategy and put exemplars and pre-prepared modelling session plans (books or photocopied text with sticky notes attached at appropriate points) into it. 23Some ideas for recording learning in a scrapbook lens POE) Aida Cay Book ° Gradually hand over ‘ownership of the book by having students take responsibility for writing in it. ‘An explanation of what a strategy is, and how reading strategies can help us to better understand what we read. The starter poster for the strategy being taught. A written recap of what you did to model the strategy. ‘An example of the activity the students did 4o practise the strategy. Leave space to odd more practice examples ata later date, Some examples of the | language you might use wa when using the strategy. ID voce space forine students to record when they use the strategy in other situations.How to use this book Read the background information Itis important to read the introductory sections before you give students the activities in this book. They contain helpful background information that will support your strategy teaching. Merely completing practice activities is not an effective way to teach reading comprehension strategies. The introductory sections are: + Introduction = Amodel for introducing and teaching reading comprehension strategies + Geatinga supportive classroom environment for strategy teaching + Getting started - some frequently asked questions answered + Recording the learning process Decide which strategy you are going to teach Self-monitoring is always a good place to start. An awareness of when and what causes meaning to break down is critical to understanding the text. However, the strategy you choose may depend on your classroom programme. If your focus is writing an information report on an animal, you may want your students to learn how to : summarise the information they have gathered. Teaching the summarising strategy would be a logical choice as the students will be practising it in a meaningful context. Use the strategy sections in this book to support your teaching Each strategy section contains: : So a strategy starter poster — this can be used to give the students an explicit explanation of the strategy. There may also be other posters to support the strategy; these will be listed at the beginning of each strategy. . a mini poster — this can be used to develop a wall display that can be referred to as a prompt for both you and the students (see page 23 in ‘Recording the learning process’ section) + anexplanation of the strategy and how it supports comprehension + question stems and examples of the language used when using the strategy + _aselection of practice activities — the activities are loosely organised by level of difficulty; the fist activities in the list are the easiest. . 3° strategy certificates — these can be used to reinforce strategy understanding. Remember to give specific feedback on what the student has done right. For example: really like the way you told me what happened in the story to make you revise your prediction” NB All support material is available on the CD that accompanies this book, o The CDicon indicates material that may be found on the CD only. 25Suggested session times The amount of time you spend cn each part of the process will depend on the length of your teaching blockand the ability and engagement of your students. Session 1 + Use the strategy starter poster to introduce the strategy to the whole class. + Explain how the strategy supports comprehension. + Use the appropriate strategy mini poster and start a ‘reading strateaies we know display ona whiteboard or wall. + Usea suitable text to model how you use the strategy when you read, Session 2 + Choose anether piece of text and a different activity from this book and have the students help you to complete it. Session 3 + Revise the strategy. Use a different text and activity to practise it. + Think-alouds and using sticky notes are always useful to practise strategy use. Revisit and revise the strategy Revisit and revise the strategy during other reading sessions and in other curriculum areas as appropriate. For example, you may be predicting or summarising in maths or social studies, Make the connection that this is the same strategy as we use in reading. As you build students’ knowledge of the strategies, use short pieces of text such as newspaper articles to revise strategy use. This will help students to see how we use multiple strategies to gain meaning from text.Student ability will dictate the number of practice sessions you will need for each student, to assimilate the strategy into their own repertoire of skills. This can be catered for by using the practice activities as starters or follow-ups in your guided reading programme. Remember, reading strategies do need to be explicitly taught — but they are just a part of your reading programme. The goal is for students to be able to use the strategies flexibly to help gain meaning from text. Pat ie top pein edi Aap the achele wot fal akout soreane «de ploys to much video Gawres. Weve other'se? carat at Won af move? 3 What twill hopes “y Ysualising) Bae or + afer cating We wrok Tasvetcle 0d wihy only a hae of deo Gone and g Gy2.gne9 bg she chloe tam St Sabet Gon dons peek har” i ase nation oblbaactl ip cats Sage ed Le Ble} en , ss aR ities onde other veaele Kate's page ayPart Two The Key Strategies Contents Activating prior knowledge 31 Self-monitoring 45 Predicting 53 Questioning 65 Making connections 79 Visualising 87 Inferring 99 Summarising 111 Synthesising 143 Skimming 149 Scanning 155 Building vocabulary knowledge 163Activating prior knowledge Introduction 32 Practice activities for the activating prior knowledge strategy Stand and share 34 Before and after web 35 1 2 3 Drawit! 36 4° Brainstorm it- sortit! 37 5 6 KWL 38 Bus-stop 39 7 Last word 40 8 Tabletalk 417 9 Dot-to-dot connections 42 10 Anticipation guide 43 Other activities that use the activating prior knowledge strategy + Predict the words 56 + Walk and talk 57 + Postcard predictions 60 + Keyword story strips 63 + Question web 70 + Before, during and after (BDA) chart 72 + Apairof shoes 90 + Senses chart 94 + Word sorts 168 + Possible sentences 171 3132 (8) Introduction Proficient learners build on and activate their background knowledge before reading, writing, speaking, or listening: poor learners begin without thinking. = Irvin et al. (1996) What is prior knowledge? Prior knowledge is the unique set of knowledge each individual student brings to the reading experience. It is a combination of the student's attitudes, experiences, and knowledge. By knowledge we mean: + what the student already knows about the reading process + vocabulary knowledge + topicknowledge + concept knowledge + text types or genres and the language features of these. How does activating prior knowledge support reading comprehension? By activating their prior knowledge, students are able to connect with what they already know. This gives them a base on which to build further knowledge. For new learners of English and struggling readers, it is especially important to spend time building the students’ prior knowledge to give them a‘headstart' to comprehending the text. This could be content or vocabulary knowledge, or a combination of both. Some students may have prior knowledge but not make connections to the text so it is important to help students make those links. There may be opportunities for students to build each other's background knowledge by sharing their own knowledge and experiences. For example, one member of the group may have visited or come from a country a story is set in. Language we use when activating prior knowledge + What do | already know about this topic? + What have lead that seems similar to this text? + Dol recognise the author's name? + Whattype of text/genre is this text — article, narrative, letter, poem? + What sort of language features would | expect to findin this text? + Based on my prior knowledge of , My question/s is/are + When hear the word (or phrase) , it makes me think about + The words and pictures remind me of something else that | have read/seen/experienced + The illustrations tell me about the text.@ © Adtivating prior knowledge support material Activating prior knowledge ‘Thinking about whot youalready knw is useful ‘cause lt ges you aba to build new knowledge | Activating | prior knowledge ‘Activating prior knowledge ‘mini poster SM2 IMPRESSIVE | PRIOR KNOWLEDGE! ‘Activating prior knowledge certificate SM3‘es Stand and share Stand and share is a practical way to engage the whole class in sharing responses ina relatively short time. It requires that each student listens carefully to the other ideas being shared so they don’t repeat them. Strategies and skills practised: activating prior knowledge, sharing information, listening Materials: none Student grouping: whole class Procedure 1 Students all stand. 2. The teacher asks the students what they know abouta particular topic. For example “Does anybody know anything about planets?" 3 The teacher then picks a student to share their idea. If someone else in the class has the same idea as the person speaking, they sit down. 4. The student who has shared their idea chooses another student to share their idea until all ideas are shared and all students are sitting. 5. Ideas could be recorded by the teacher as students share. 34(@) Before and after web Students enjoy seeing concrete evidence of their own learning as they complete this popular graphic organiser. Strategies and skills practised: activating prior knowledge, locating information in a text, synthesising Materials: + text at students’ instructional level + Before and after web PM1 (this can be enlarged to A3 size for group or class work) ‘Student grouping: individuals or buddies then small groups Procedure 1. Students write up to eight facts on a particular topic in the inner circle spaces. 2. After reading a text or studying a topic they add the new knowledge to the outside circle (itis not necessary to match the inner circle facts to the outer circle facts). 3. Students share their before and after wheels in a small group. Variation This activity could be used in any curriculum area when starting anew topic, for example-a unit of work on statistics in maths or teaching a text type such as report writing. @ Before and after web mm eno Brooklyn ~ 1 echoes need 40 have | Female Seahorse a te ron ok fe Since Shes! a sheeneta lwild \to stove feed in. oa Seen When ck cea: Seats ecaorses rms | \ ve’ one en Fish Frc water. their tai\s| ete or soe hey ese armas” Beougn ne | Seahorses! [The ridle Male Sea-|Seah< | [estar ieee Sith “hove e eae fet Poe sa9s sa so they | Int fore suck tite led, age Pee whole | ‘Seahorses can [Male Seahorse blend into ther one fess Crate eng) 35(B) Draw it! an alternative to a written brainstorm. Rather than write words, the students draw pictures to show what they know about a word, topic or idea. This can also provide the teacher with information about the level of prior knowledge the students have. Strategies and skills practised: activating prior knowledge, making connections, summarising, synthesising and visualising Materials: + text at the students’ + paper + 2different coloured pens structional level Student grouping: individuals, buddies or small groups Procedure 1 Introduce a word, phrase or concept to the students. 2 Ask them to draw a picture or pictures to show you all they know about the word, phrase or ‘concept. They may add labels to their drawings ~ but encourage them to draw rather then write. 3. Students share their drawings with a buddy or a small group. After teading the text they add to/revise their drawings by using a different coloured pen to add new information. If thereis a lot of new information, a new picture could be drawn. 5 Students orally summarise what they have learned with a buddy. Rebecca's before and after pictures for an article about spiders(8) Brainstorm it - sort it! Brainstorm it - sort itlis a great way to activate prior knowledge. It can also be used to build vocabulary knowledge or as a quick assessment tool after completing a lesson or study. Strategies and skills practised: activating prior knowledge, building vocabulary Materials: + Brainstorm it — sort it! PM2: + paper or pencils for individual or buddy work, or + chart paper and markers for small group or whole class work Student grouping: individuals, buddies, small groups or whole class Procedure 1 Toactivate their schema, present students with: + aword, eg. space + aphrase, eg. leisure activities + a question, e.g."How can we be more environmentally friendly in our school?” or + aconcrete item, e.g. a plastic insect for a study of i of clothing fora study of another country. 2 Asindividuals, buddies, small groups or as a whole class, students brainstorm their prior ects, or a cultural item such as an item knowledge about the topic. * 3. They thensort their words or phrases into categories and justify why they have organised them in this way. Variation Students write their brainstorm words on strips of paper. The strips are then cut up so there is a word on each paper piece. The students sort the words into categories and glue them onto a large sheet of paper. Brainstorm it — sort it! ae Sone at en = wh A ie So ps tet elk Seagate nn th seatepoe abten dient fa frat Ty eg sgh Hay cas mses boc hada aptaon Sedat Rs Gert a Fo on maby gs tn) ————— 3738 fe) KWL | KWL (Ogle, 1986) is a three-column graphic organiser. Students recort 1 Whatwe think we know ~ our prior knowledge 2. Whatwe want to find out - establishing purpose for reading and asking questions 3. Whatwe have learned ~ summarising and main idea NB In column 1 What we think we know'is written instead of’ What we know, so as not to confuse students with potentially wrong information. Strategies and skills practised: activating prior knowledge, questioning, summarising and synthesising Materials: + KWLPM3 + text at students’ instructional level + pencils Student grouping: individuals, buddies, small groups or whole class Procedure 1 Provide a word, phrase or concept and write it in the box provided at the top of the photocopy master. 2 Students record their prior knowledge in the first column. 3° Students decide what they went to know and fill in the second column with their questions. 4. Students read the text or do research on the topic. 5 Students answer their questions from column two, and add any other information that they have learned. 6 Revisit the ‘What we think we know’ column to discuss and clarify students’ previous knowledge if necessary. ; Ses | ‘@ KWL re | we Bees seme Tiger om 2/06 1 SE | What tpe af "Beas ore abled ye oF Ho lo ee poles sal | nC tee, | Bees cllet pollen “Fallen s the Athy Stilt on He Flover ‘Bees make hos |s How he bees colbct | |e Bees collect pallen shen] poten? hey ore inking nesta Bees can sting you ha low ‘uch honey ar a bce mate in | [PH tpn ot hve ie hanes oH hei “Bees (re in hives‘e Bus-stop The bus-stop activity isa great way to activate prior knowledge and get a picture of what students already know about a topic. It can also be used after a study to check understanding. Strategies and skills practised: activating prior knowledge Materials: + chart paper - *sheet per group of students + marker pens - 1 per group Student grouping: groups of three or four students then whole class Procedure 1 Label each sheet of chart paper with a question appropriate to the topic about to be studied. For example, if the topic was'The Rainforest; some questions could be: + Where do you find rainforests? + What animals live in rainforests? + Why are they called rainforests? : 2. Place the pieces of chart paper around the room, Each group starts at a different‘bus-stop’ and records their ideas on a chart 3 After an allocated time the teacher says, Bus-stop”. The groups rotate until all the groups have responded to each chart. s 4 Each group then presents their chart to the whole class. at is happening to Roe aa wh ‘Should we Care! The Rainforests are bang cat denn, uc dello tae 3940 ie Last word Last word takes minimal preparation and provides a platform on which to build knowledge. Itisa Useful tool to gauge students’ knowledge about a particular topic and can also be used to reinforce note-taking skills. Strategies and skills practised: activating prior knowledge, note-taking Materials: + strips of paper + pencils Student grouping: individuals then small groups Procedure 1. Students are given a limited amount of time (say 2 minutes) to write as many words or phrases as they can about a particular topic. This is done individually. 2. Students then workin small groups and take turns to share one word or phrase from their list. 3. Ifanother student in the group has that word they puta tick beside it. If they don’t have the word, they add it to their li 4 Students continue to share a word each until they have finished their list. 5 Thelast student to share a word is the winner.() Table talk This cooperative learning activity encourages both individual thinking and group discussion, and Tequires all members of the group to participate and share their ideas. Strategies and skills practised: activating prior knowledge, building background knowledge, encouraging active listening, and setting a purpose for reading and questioning Materials: + text at the students’ instructional level + small sheets of paper Student grouping: individuals, buddies, small groups, then whole class Procedure 1 The teacher writes a thought-provoking statement or question relating to the text on the whiteboard. For example, “Why should we save endangered species?” 2 Each student has 2 minutes to read the statement or question, reflect, and write a response, 3. Each student then has 3 minutes to share their response with a partner. Partners reflect on what their partner has said then write a response to their partner's statement. ° 4 Pairs combine to form small groups of 4-6 students. All responses are shared within the group and one response is chosen to share with the whole class. 41(8) Dot-to-dot connections This rich activity has many benefits for students. It can be used to introduce a new topic or ina guided reading situation. Students are introduced to new vocabulary and then relate the new words to familiar words. This helps to reinforce the meaning of the new words and put them ina context. Strategies and skills practised: activating prior knowledge, building vocabulary knowledge, making connections, setting a purpose for reading Materials: + text at the students’ instructional level + teacher prepared Dot-to-dot connections sheet + pencils Student grouping: individuals, buddies or small groups Procedure 1 Teacher preparation: Choose 6-8 meaningful words from the text, One or two of these words should be words you would not expect the students to know. In the case of the example below, the words | chose were biodiversity and census. Spend some time explicitly telling the students what the words mean. include some words that are similar but others that appear contradictory or don't seem to fit in, so itis not immediately obvious what the text is about. Write the words on paper, spacing them apart and drawing a dot beside each word. 2. Photocopy enough pages for each student, set of buddies or small group to have a copy each. 3. With the class: Distribute papers to students and have them make connections between the words by drawing a line and writing the connections close to the line. If there is more than one student they may like to write their initials beside their idea. 4 After they have completed their connections the student/s make a prediction as to what the text will be about and explain their thinking, Remember to revisit the predictions after reading! @rredicine Lin, pated betes and stuff \e i scientist Se census Kbit sts May, do a cons TO, 5 Se iF animals are endangft ‘Sophie's connections for an article about discovering a new species of coral2 Anticipation guide Anticipation guides (.£. Readence, 1986) are a useful graphic organiser to activate students’ Prior knowledge and set a purpose for reading. They are most useful when the text contains controversial ideas, opinions or problems. Strategies and skills practised: activating prior knowledge, setting a purpose for reading Materials: Student grouping: in Anticipation guide PM text at instructional reading level iduals Procedure 1 The teacher writes several statements relating to the text in the spaces provided on the Anticipation guide PM4, When writing the statements, consider: + writing statements that focus on the concepts or ideas in the text that you want your students to think about ig statements that students can react to without having read the text + writing statements for which information can be identified in the text that supports and/or opposes each statement. . Before reading the text, the students read the statements and indicate whether they agree or disagree with them. After reading, the students indicate whether they were right or not, and write a short reflection about their thinking. | @ Anticipation guide a | vox How they were built The Colosseum ane David J. Brown pm Aye om ye (— some | ax [or Ietcton | Se | Bs | ' The Colosseum took, J“ = omen ae | around iO years fo build. | * * ee Te | | 2 Roman emperors tea teeuldo, Fetes Sat ete the mney cies | | ey epee eee ort grandiose Pubic buildings.| tg te hmeart yee the 1 [>the Colosseum is made of | ae Ee lq limestone bricks. se EF gia nd or ok = = bE TaagRE ae ane, Ba [|p Tee Gelogeum i a fioute |. Vat [is natn sb badtag’ a | [to the architechural skills of epee fo tte the act | BBE tpt Sr F [7 The Colosseum was builtso | yes | ory [Ree Mba Teint about “ah | [people could watch chariot races} ‘ 1) Neon 43Self-monitoring Introduction 46 Practice activities for the self-monitoring strategy 1 Think-alouds 49 2 Idon’tgetit! 50 3° Strategy log 5146 Introduction Unless students are self-monitoring while they are reading, they cannot truly comprehend the text. Self-monitoring relates to the concept of ‘meta-cognitive awareness,’ which is ‘knowing when what one is reading makes sense by monitoring and controlling one’s own comprehension’. = Warrts & Nedges (1995), p. 153 What is self-monitoring? Self-monitoring plays a crucial part in comprehension. It requires students to be metacognitive - to be aware of their own thinking as they read, Most importantly, itrequires students to realise when they have stopped understanding what they are reading. I think itis news to a lot of students that adult readers get stuck or lose concentration when they read. | explained to my students how, when | am reading my book in bed at night, | can read ‘a whole page and suddenly realise that Ihave no idea about whet is going on, even though | have read the words. |asked them who else had had a similar experience. Practically the whole class agreed they had! | explained to them that this is a common thing that happens to all readers. Good readers know when this has happened ~ a voice in their heads says, “Uh oh, | don’t get this - problem! warning bells! lashing lights! time to stop!” Itis interesting to note that research shows that when students with poor comprehension come toa word or partin the text they don't understand, they just keep reading because they don’t know what to do. Students need to be able to identify exactly where the breakdown in meaning has occurred. This could Be at word, sentence or paragraph level ~“I don't understand what an estuary is” or" don't understand the first paragraph on page 14”: Once they can articulate what the problem is, students can then use a fix-up strategy such as rereading, reading on, stop and think, visualising or adjusting their reading rate (see Word attack poster (SM6) and bookmark (SMT); Fix-up strategies poster (SM8) and bookmark (SM9)). To summarise, self-monitoring is the students’ ability to + be avare when meaning breaks down + identify what it is they don’t understand (word, sentence, paragraph) + use appropriate strategies to restore meaning. How does self-monitoring support comprehension? Self-monitoring supports comprehension by giving the reader control over the reading process. Before reading, they might clarify their purpose for reading and preview the text, During reading, they monitor their understanding, perhaps adjusting their reading speed to fit the difficulty level of the text and using ‘fix-up'strategies to deal with any comprehension problems they may have. After reading, they can monitor their understanding of what they have read,Language we use when self-monitoring, + mnot sure what means. + Idon't get that paragraph. +The author mentions John Davies in Chapter Two, but | can't remember much about him. | think il. go back and reread that chapter to help me understand this part. + [don’t understand what that sentence means. | am going to go back and read it aloud slowly and see if that helps. + Ie lost my concentration. Id better go back and reread that page. + Im going to try and create a picture in my mind to help me understand that bit. © Self monitoring support material Self-monitoring sng bag er of or om nig ‘einen ese ppc tae 4 Salleh seen ener toca ee ees onto aioe eum cnseoet one a cents a Leone rotcce seweyy suche reeoig Self-monitoring strategy starter chart SM4 Self-monitoring mini poster SMS a7EE) Fe = 4 Use te content to guns he mao, + cnt aptreny md 6 Wepre hrtasctor de. — trent rei ti ot Lonerrorreneneery 6 Ueda. eten hana 7 Asef, = = nator Word attack poster SM6 Word attack bookmark SM7 Foxup strategies poster SMB Salmentring ley cha BERIS 8 SIRI z Fic-up strategies bookmark SM9_—__Self-monitoring key chart SM10 SENSATIONAL SELF-MONITORING! Adjusting your Basie & qa Self: monitoring certificate SM11 : ‘monitoring te ‘Adjusting your reading rate poster SM12Think-alouds A think-aloud is when the student literally thinks aloud. They articulate their thoughts as they read. Itis particularly helpful when students need to identify exactly where meaning has broken down in the text. Itis also important that students know that they can use fix-up strategies to restore meaning, More information about think-alouds can be found in the Introduction on page 12, ‘A model for introducing and teaching reading comprehension strategies. Strategies and skills practised: self-monitoring Materials: + Focup strategies bookmark SM + text at the students’ instructional level Student grouping: individuals and buddies Procedure 1. Discuss the think-aloud process with the students. Review the fix-up strategies on the bookmark. 2 Students read the text. 3 When they come to a word, sentence or paragraph they don't understand they stop and tell either the teacher or a buddy exactly where the problem is. 4 Atthis point they could use the Fix-up strategies bookmark (SM9) to try some different x strategies. 5. After they have read the text, they discuss where meaning broke down and which fix-up strategy they tried to help restore meaning. Variation When students become more proficient at identifying and using strategies, photocopy a newspaper or magazine article and have them underline parts of the text and draw lines to the outside of the page noting the strategies they areusing and responses they have to the text. 4950 I don't get it! ‘I don't get it! (adapted from Harvey & Goudvis, 2000) helps students to identify exactly where meaning breaks down for them during reading. Strategies and skills practised: self-monitoring Materials: + textat students’ instructional level + sticky notes + pencils Student grouping: individuals, then buddies or small groups Procedure 1 The teacher explains that the purpose of the lesson is for the students to identify where meaning breaks down for them. It could be at word, sentence or paragraph level. 2. Explain that when they come toa word or part of the text they don’t understand, they will stop and puta sticky note with a question mark at that point. They will then continue to read to see if their question is clarified by further reading. f the question is clarified, they remove the sticky note. If not, the sticky note provides a place-holder to remind them where the point of confusion was. 3. Students read the text. 4. Atthe end of thereading, the students get together with 2 buddy or in a small group to discuss their clarifications and the sticky notes that still remain, indicating the questions and confusions they may still have.Strategy log A strategy log is a useful tool for both student and teacher. Itallows the student to monitor their ‘own reading, For the teacher it provides evidence of which strategies the student is using, whether they are using them appropriately and whether they fully comprehend the strategy’s use. A strategy log is also a good discussion tool for conferencing with students about their reading. Strategies and skills practised: self-monitoring Materials: + text for teacher modelling + text at the students’ instructional level + My reading strategy log PMS + enlarged copy of My reading strategy log PMS for modelling Student grouping: individuals Procedure 1 the students help, briefly revise and record all the reading strategies you have covered. 2. Introduce the idea of a strategy log. Explain that the purpose of the strategy log is to see what» strategies the students ate using to gain meaning from the text. 3 Model the use ofa strategy log by doing a think-aloud — read a short piece of text and discuss and record which strategies you use on the enlarged strategy log. ‘ 4 Students read a text at their instructional level, recording which strategies they use on their strategy log sheet. i @ My reading strategy log ras 1) oe ‘Your nemels Luke ote | | | 1 emacs ae | ewes vera ae 18 [od hn aE [visualising |" Shak the Fe T 19 | crackle on the er’ reading on i Tea pee eens! | rs ee | 51Predicting Introduction s4 Practice activities for the predicting strategy Predict the words 56 Walk and talk 57 Y chart predictions 58 Predict the headline 59 Postcard predictions 60 Character crystal ball 61 Prediction flowchart 62 Key word story strips 63 eVaununs Other activities that use the predicting strategy: *« Dot-to-dot connections 42 + Predict and scan 158 + Possible sentences 171 53o4 3 introduction Simply stated, good readers predict. When students predict they set a purpose for reading and anticipate what they will read. Lubiiner (2001) Predicting is fundamental to conprehension. Good readers anticipate meaning. They do this by predicting what they think is going to happen in the selection and by revising their predictions as they read. — buffy (2003) What is predicting? Predicting is when students use clues such as the title illustrations, blurb, author and text type or what they have read so far to make smart guesses about what is coming up next in the text. How does predicting support reading comprehension? Predictingis a key pre-reading strategy as it helps to set a purpose for reading. Continuing to make predictions and confirming or revising them throughout the reading process encourages students to become active readers who have expectations of the text. This also keeps them actively engaged inthe reading process. This engagement is crucial for comprehension. By thinking about their predictions and confirming or revising them, students remain motivated and focused. Language we use when predicting + I thinkthe text will be about because + predict will happen next. + From what | have read so far, | predict that , + From what | already know about Ipredict + * The picture makes me think that. +The style of this author is so think and revising our predictions Ithought butthen Iread that so now Ithink + I changed my first prediction because it said in the book + My prediction was confirmed in the story because * My prediction was partly right but + lassumed but3 3 Predicting support material Predicting Predicting wselul odin strategy oti help us think about what to expect when we red, What we now otreody (our pir knontedge) help uo pric ‘When me rd Can he Wecan thik sat the Predicting strategy starter chart SM13 Predicting mini poster SM14 EXCELLENT PREDICTING! Predicting certificate SMI5 55.[C3 Predict the words This is a quick starter activity to assist students to focus on the types of words they might expect to see in the text. It also helps orientate students to the text they are about to read and may also be used by the teacher as a quick assessment tool to establish the degree of prior knowledge each student has about a particular topic or concept, Strategies and skills practised: predicting, inferring Materials: + text at the instructional level of the students + paper + pencils ‘Student grouping: individuals Procedure The students read the title of the text and jot down five or six words they predict will be init. They then discuss the words they have chosen with a buddy, justifying why they chose them. As the students read, they tick any of their words that appear in the text. After reading the students discuss the words they chose and revise their predictions. Itis important to emphasise that the aim of the task is not to get all the words right but the ability to be able to justify why they thought the words could be in the text. WS eS 4 Molly’ predictions for an article about the difference between stars and planetsFe] Walk and talk This cooperative learning activity engages students and increases motivation to write good predictions, as students are required to share their predictions ina group situation. Strategies and skills practised: activating prior knowledge, predicting Materials: + text selection or picture book suitable for using the predicting strategy + blank paper about AS size (one per student, plus one per group of four students) + pencils Student grouping: individuals, then groups of four students Procedure 1 Divide the students into groups of four. 2 Show the students the cover of the text or read the title if the text selection is not a book. You may need to give more clues ifthe title doesn’t give too much away. 3 Individually the students write: ‘+ what type of text they think it is (narrative, newspaper report, article, etc.) + their prediction for what the text will be about + one sentence they might expect to see in the text. 4. They then circulate around the room and read their predictions to as many other students as they can. They do not discuss their predictions, just read them aloud at this stage. 5. After about five minutes they return to their groups and jointly writea group prediction. 6 Groups share their predictions, explaining why they came to those conclusions. 7. Teacher or students read the text and confirm or revise predictions.58 FB Y chart predictions This activity requires students to look at a photograph and make predictions and inferences about what was happening before, during and after the photograph was taken. Strategies and skills practised: predicting, inferring Materials: ‘ uring + aselection of newspapers * chart paper picture + marker pens a + scissors + glue sticks . before | afer Student grouping: buddies or small groups Procedure 1 Students find a suitable picture in a newspaper. Encourage them to choose appropriate photographs that include some action or emotion or background details that would give clues. 2. Students use a marker pen to draw a large Y and write before, during and after in the spaces as shown in the diagram above. 3. Students then glue the picture in the middle of the Y shape and use the spaces around it to write what happened before, during and after the photograph was taken. 4 Students get together and share their responses with another set of buddies, stating the basis for their predictions, e,"I thinkthe manis going to board the plane because he has a suitcase in his hand” Variation Studerits write what was happening in the photograph. They then swap their photo with another group of buddies. The next group writes what happened before the photograph was taken, They swap again with a different set ‘of buddies who write what they think will happen after the event in the photograph.[53 Predict the headline Predict the headline is a fun, small group activity that could introduce or reinforce the predicting strategy. It can also be used to introduce the idea of context and how we can use context clues to make predictions. Strategies and skills practised: predicting Materials: + newspapers + photocopied sheet of headlines - one per group Student grouping: small groups of four students Procedure 1 Teacher preparation: Cut out a number of newspaper headlines. Remove an interesting word from the headline, e.g." Swamped at Airport” 2. Glue the incomplete headlines onto a sheet of paper and photocopy one sheet per group of students. Keep 2 copy of the actual missing words to share with the students after they have, completed the task. 3 With the class: Give each group sheet of headlines and ask them to come up with two possible answers. First they try to think of the correct word to fitthe headline; and second, the funniest word/s to fit. 2 4 Discuss the idea of context and how we use it to make predictions. 5 Share the answers. Take a class vote on which is the funniest headline. Variation Students could create their own headline sheets to challenge others to predict the headline. | a putt world of fun Toy Zoe built | _Sap _ goes the power line | ep 1 “Jove ec mp sca sack | | Tey i thetelge Coping wit mens wath Se orev | Pe Seen eel |gg Postcard predictions Postcard predictions are a fun way for students of al levels to practise predicting and inferring. Strategies and skills practised: predicting, inferring Materials: + a selection of postcards or magazine pictures of a variety of different holiday destinations + chart paper to answer questions + marker pens Student grouping: individuals, buddies or small groups Procedure 1. Assign each small group a postcard or magazine picture. 2. Explain that a friend has sent them this postcard. 3 Have them answer the following questions: + Inwhat country do you think the picture in this postcard was taken? Why do you think that? + Have you ever been to a place like this? + What languages might be spoken in this place? + What sort of clothes might your friend wear at this place? + What food might they be eating? + What are some activities your friend might be doing at this place? 60(3 Character crystal ball This activity requires the students to make predictions and inferences to create an epilogue for a character or characters. Strategies and skills practised: predicting, inferring Materials: + narrative text Procedure 1 Students write bullet-pointed statements of what thay know about a character. 2 They then make predictions about what will happen to characters in the story in the future, They could decide what they think the character will be doing in six months, two years, five years and 10 years. 3. The epilogue could be presented as a piece of writing or as a timeline. Bo yearspSemi-Rebre. Shilhelps ext ot chen Panning a» righ lass tn mechanics Head of C-HERU:BHasS bids . fixes 'mobrbikes in spare bine, Working iin PS. Merricel to Kerrey.» kids) Shadjing lave and crime br paws ese Brigenks me Ends characte’ ergsrel all for jams trom the CnEruw Books a[9 Prediction flowchart The prediction flowchart activity focuses on the process of predicting and revising predictions throughout a text. It may be helpful to complete this activity with the whole class using a picture book before students attempt it independently. Strategies and skills practised: making and revising predictions using new information in the text Material + Prediction flowchart PM6 + _apicture book; or a sophisticated picture book for older students ‘Student grouping: individuals then small groups or whole class Procedure 1 Teacher preparation: Read the picture book or text and use sticky notes to indicate appropriate stopping points for students to make predictions. 2 With the class: Discuss why predicting is a helpful strategy for comprehension. (it helps to seta Purpose for reading, orientates the student to the type of text being read and encourages them to think about what might be coming up next.) 3. Discuss what helps us to predict (see the list on Prediction flowchart PM6) 4 The teacher reads the title, shows the cover and perhaps reads the blurb. The students write their own predictions for the book in the first prediction box. 5 Read the story, stopping at the predetermined points you have marked with sticky notes. At each point ask the students to revise their previous predictions and make new ones for the next part of the story. 6 Share the students’ responses in small groups or as a whole class. Fd Prediction flowchart for .. BS Ma Caea, ond the AligtrigmenAnnatelle | eemaan E fhink Thad gS Stary TE Filion becarse oF ME) drawings’ on the The blush tells you Hat Set 90509 ono adnate Cee think the jeans Uae oa ihgga swtoe Lee Rae beer tag oe be Lies pe Bhat 62| Key word story strips In this activity students are required to use key words to create a story. Although narrative text has been used in this example, key word story strips would work equally well with factual text. Strategies and skills practised: activating prior knowledge, predicting Materials: + picture book or factual text + _ list of key words for a story (photocopied in strips) - one per individual, or per set of buddies + exercise books or paper + pencils Student grouping: individuals or buddies Procedure 1 Teacher preparation: read the picture book and make allist of about 10 words that are important to the story. Type these into a text box and duplicate it so you have approximately four lists per A4 page. Photocopy and cut into strips. 2 With the class: Give each individual or set of buddies one strip of words. ‘Ask them to read the words then construct a possible story from it 4 Students either write the words from the list in their story and highlight them or cut thelist into strips and glue the words into their books. = whale mouse ocean boat hurricane friends rescue mammals help aying grateful 63Questioning Introduction 66 Practice activities for the questioning strategy 1 Question cardsor dice 69 Question web 70 Hot-seat character interview 71 Before, during and after (BDA) chart 72 Double entry journal for questions 73 Thick and thin questions 74 Radio reading 75 Question-answer relationships (QAR) 76 @eNansun Other activities that support the questioning strategy + KWL 38 + Table talk 41 * Character inference chart 106, * Current events summary 123 + What's the big idea? 124 652 (introduction Strategic learning during reading is all about monitoring reading and naking sense. Skilled readers know how to monitor and keep track of whether the author is making sense by asking questions . . . = Vatea (2002) What is questioning? Questioning is when the student poses questions before, during and after reading a text. Questioning plays an important part in the process of self-monitoring as students ask themselves, “Does this make sense?” Encouraging students to become aware of and value the questions they ask naturally is a way of helping them to engage with the text. How does questioning support reading comprehension? Asking and answering questions helps to engage the reader with the teat. It provides a purpose for reading and gives the student a reason to clarify meaning. This connection helps to deepen comprehension. Language we use when asking questions: + Iwonder why, where, when, how, if, who, ...? + Whatis going to happen next? + Whatis the author trying to tell me? + Dolalready know something about this topic? + What do | think | will learn from this text? ‘See the QAR bookmark SM22 for more examples of question starters.ad o Questioning support material $9) = Questioning oot odes ak gueston lr dvingond ater theyhoveread ott. Somme te qton anata tet Sones youre owe yur own pornowladge ondots ithe po come pit th Sometimes he uston may tot become y the texto ena yore nd nates ‘foment yo, Questioning mini poster SM17 QUESTION! Questioning certificate SM18 67o Support material for QAR (question-answer relationships) (Bear - what kina of question is it? Think and search phonic emeraay QAR starter poster SM19 QAR student practice sheet M21(9 Question cards or dice Question cards or question dice are simple ways to support students to generate questions. Who? where? and what? are the simplest questions to answer as they are position words that deal with concrete concepts. When? relates to time. How? and why? questions are more difficult as they require verbal reasoning. Set 2 of the question cards can be used in conjunction with set 1 to develop question stems such as whowill? what might? where could? etc. Strategies and skills practised: generating questions Materials: + 2blank dice or * Question cards 1 PM7A © Question cards 2PM7B + cardboard to back question cards Student grouping: individuals, buddies, small groups or whole class Procedure 1. Teacher preparation: Use PM8 and PM9 to make question cards (or write the words on the two blank dice). Laminate the cards and put in a suitable container. 2. With the class: Model how to use the cards or dice by reading a text and using the cards or dice to generate your own questions. 3. Use the think-aloud strategy to model how to generate a variety of question types, both closed and open-ended. The QAR bookmark (SM22) will support students to develop a range of question types. 4. Students work with a buddy or in a small group. 5. Assign each student two question cards that they can use as a question stem to developa question related to the topic or book they are reading.’Who might...” “Where would ...?” They choose another member of the group to answer their question. 6 Alternatively students take turns to throw the two dice to make a question stem and answer it. Where? would Who? coulda What? will When? can How? should why? might 69(9) Question web Question webs are a simple graphic organiser that can be used for many different purposes across many curriculum areas. Strategies and skills practised: question generating Materials: + text st instructional level of students + Question web PMB + QAR bookmark SM22optionel) + pencils ‘Student grouping: individuals, buddies, small groups or whole class Procedure 1 Use the think-aloud strategy to model how to generate a variety of question types both closed and open ended. (The QAR bookmark SM22 may help students to come up with a range of question types.) 2. Students develop their own questions and note themon the web organiser. 3. Further reading is undertaken in order to answer questions. | Question web dn | {' rene WOrTdS srmolleSt Stake enone Willian , Caleb cow 20/0 | 4 | j | TS, the Snot i, Phatend? How 5 the smelkst Snare? va | What county df Mie Aretiey 1S thee coy there, 4g | ted Veg Veneenid IA SO Sera. William and Calebs question web before reading an article titled The world’ smallest snake’9 Hot-seat character interview In this activity, one student becomes a character in the text and is interviewed by other students. Although this activity lends itself to narrative text, it could also be used with factual text. A student could take the role of a survivor from a story about an earthquake, for example. Strategies and skills practised: questioning Materials: + text at the instructional level of the students + QAR bookmark SM22 (optional) Student grouping: small groups Procedure 1 Students read text. 2 One student is chosen to be'in role’ as a character in the story. 3. The other students in the group take turns to ask the character questions relating to events in the story. NB The QAR bookmark SM22 provides question stems to encourage students to ask a variety of different question types. n72 (@@ Before, during and after (BDA) chart This graphic organiser helps students understand the idea that good readers ask questions before, during and after reading. Some of the students’ questions may be answered in the text. They can record these answers next to the questions they have written. Strategies and skills practised: questioning, searching for information in a text Materials: ‘= text at the instructional level of the students + Before, during and after chart PM9. Student grouping: individuals or buddies Procedure 1 Introduce the text, looking at the title, text type, illustrations, etc. 2 Have the students fill out any questions they may have in the ‘before reading’ section of the BDA chart. When introducing the idea of asking questions during reading, it may be helpful to have prescribed places for the students to stop, think and ask questions during reading. They record these on the BDA chart. 3. Atthe end of reading the students think about and record any questions they may still have. @ Before, during and after (BDA) chart = | | wie The Fit Olympic. Maratha yarsenn Tonsthon om 15/5 | Vy. | "during wading 2s ater rading (OP people stil remem) =| Upson ais “ae RAT Tie wai the Fist Pelion fohave a Meco Ow Tl eas noe Qiwhe Fit Thess OF Gigs the olympics? - e Owht wit he do win TWh KAM OF Sos 7 | | hig mate? seat Dill Spitidon Lou's | evel chatge Jobs?(@ Double entry journal for questions Students write down their questions before they read the text and note the answers as they find them in the text. They may keep adding and answering questions as they read. By asking and answering their own questions, students create a purpose for reading and their level of engagement is increased. Strategies and skills practised: asking and answering questions Materials: + text at the instructional level of the students + Double entry journal for questions PM10 + pencils Student grouping: individuals then buddies or small groups Procedure 1 Students use the title, pictures, and their prior knowledge to ask questions about what they are about to read. 2 Students read the text, noting answers to their questions when and if they find them. 3. After they have read the text, buddies or small groups discuss their questions and answers. Puno ®@ Double entry journal for questions ve The worlds smallest Snake =~ Claudia AHicat ‘Yourromens uh vee 28.10. My question [tate teet tye unknown-only 3 ee Pe fe are Be pave been fauna | [wit ever be | Mayoe, because & Sruongeted? deforestation | [Is it venomous? | no | | the |The ,endke 1s 4 [Hie og, © the |r es. ong |What colour. is thel | Snake? iSland where would it ns normally be founds led “eorcades i 7314 Thick and thin questions Thick and thin questions (Harvey & Goudyis, 2000) are terms which help students to understand the difference between open and closed questions. Thick questions deal with large concepts or the big ideas in a text. ‘Answers to thick questions are open-ended and require complex answers. Question stems for thick questions could be: Why? e.g."Whyisit importantto treat your friends well?” What? —e.9.*What would have happened if plastic hadn't been invented?” How? _ e.g,"How would you feel if you had been in Toms situation?” Thin questions deal with specific words or information in the text. ‘Answers to thin questions are closed and can be found in the text. Question stems for thin questions could be: When? e.g.“When was this story set?” Who? eg.“Who is the main character?" Where? e.9."Where would you go to find manatees?” Strategies and skills practised: recognising the difference between open-ended and closed questions, encouraging students to develop deeper level questions, using questioning to facilitate understanding Materials: + suitable text to model the activity + text at the instructional level of the students + sticky notes Procedure oldijocks and the tee bears ) 1 Explain the difference THIC THIN questions between thick and thin SEEN “ -Shouyu geriesoneones hase “HOW many bears lived questions Salter aotees “in he houke? 2. Usea think-aloud to model «After gadocks bate baby WE oes Sia the concept of thick and thin bears inate of going Hace? questions using a picture dpstaits? “Whose paridge did book or short piece of text. ‘ewe a Fey saw Gpidilocks eat"? Record the questions you Goldilocks sepirg in” baby ask, before, during and after as Pa cir bea hie reading the text, on a sheet of = What woud ie hadnt Paper or scrapbook. Indicate Tun anay so quickly? if your questions are thick by using a thick marker pen to write a capital'T; or thin by using a thin marker pen and writing a lower case’: 3. Have students create their own thick and thin questions for the texts they are reading. They could write their questions on wide sticky notes for thick questions and narrower sticky notes for thin questions. 4. Share questions and answers in large or small group discussions. This is a good opportunity to highlight inferential questions.Radio reading Radio reading (Tierney & Readence, 2000) is a cooperative learning activity that requires the students to work in small groups and read a short passage and then develop questions about it. This reinforces comprehension on two levels ~ by requiring the reader to be familiar with the text in order to develop the questions, and by receiving reinforcement from classmates as they answer questions. Strategies and skills practised: close reading, listening, question generating Material + text at instructional level of students + QAR bookmarks 5M22 (optional) + paper + pencils Student grouping: groups of 6-8 students Procedure 1 Divide the class into groups. Provide each group with a piece of text. Have all the members of the group read the entire selection silently. Assign a specific paragraph (or paragraphs) to each group member. 7 Have students prepare questions on their piece of the text. They jot these down on a piece of paper. It may be helpful for students to use the QAR bookmark to support them to develop a range of different question types 6 Have each student read their assigned section aloud and present their questions to other members of the group. 7 Ask group members to respond quickly. Once a que: question, 8 Repeat the process until all the team members have had the opportunity to ask their questions and have them answered. wen in is answered, move on to the next 1816 @ Question-answer relationships (QAR) QAR — Question-answer relationships (Raphael, 1982) is a great way to teach students how to recognise and answer different types of questions. Often students think the answer to a question is always right there in the text and they will find iti they look hard enough. When this is not the ‘ease they become frustrated. QAR teaches students that there are different types of questions and that sometimes we have to use our prior knowledge and look beyond the text for answers. Another benefit of using QAR is that it gives you and the students a vocabulary to use when discussing questions, not only in reading but across the curriculum. Teaching the four basic question types and how to approach answering them is a valuable skill that has long-term benefits for students. The four types of questions are: Right there The answer to the question is literally right there in the text. These questions are sometimes called closed questions or literal questions. The answer to aright there’ question is usually found in one sentence. Some question stems for right there’ questions could be who? where? when? or what? Think and search The answer to a'‘think and search’ question is in the text but may require you to search around. The answer may use different words from the question or come from different places in the text. You will need to piece information together. Author and you The ansWver is notin the text. It will require you to use your own background knowledge plus what the author has told you in the text, to come up with the answer. Author and you’ questions require you to infer. On your own The answer is notin the text. Youneed to use your own background knowledge and experience. You could even answer the question without reading the text. ‘On your own’ questions are big idea questions that must stand alone from the text. NB: ‘On your own’ questions can be a hard concept for students to come to grips with. | explain‘on your own’ questions to my class by saying,”If you went up to someone in the playground and asked an‘on your own’ question, they would be able to answer it. For example if the book you had been reading was about war you could ask, ‘Are there times when war is a good thing?’ This is an example of an‘on your own’ question. ‘How were the soldiers feeling after they were dropped off at the base camp?’is not an‘on your own question, asit requires you to have read the text” Strategies and skills practised: + understanding the concepts of explicit and implicit information + locating information in the text «understanding that there are different question types + identifying question types and responding appropriately to the type of question asked + developing and answering deeper level questionsMaterials: * a sophisticated picture book © QARstarter poster SM16 * QAR teacher modelling sheet SM20 (enlarged to A3 size) © chart paper = QAR student practice sheet SM21 (1 perstudent} = QAR question developing boxes PM11 + aset of QAR bookmarks SM22 ~ 1 per 2 students (laminate to use as an ongoing resource) Student grouping: whole class, buddies then individuals Procedure An example of how to introduce QAR (NB Its probably best to do this over two sessions) 1 Teacher preparation: The teacher reads the picture book and writes down a question that fits each question type. (This is to make sure you have an example of each question type in case the students don't come up with one in each category.) 2. With the class: Read the picture book. 3. After reading the book, ask the class for their questions about the book. 4 List the questions on the chart paper. Add your own questions to the list. Use the QAR starter poster SM19 to introduce the idea of the four different question types. Depending on the level of your students you may want to introduce and practise just one type of question at a time. % 5 Leave the students’ questions for the time being. 6 Introduce the QAR teacher modelling chart SM20 about Tutankhamen, enlarged to A3 size. 7 Read the story at the top of the page and model how you would decide where a question fits. Remember thisis modelling, so you will require no student help at this stage. 8 Have the students work with a buddy to complete the QAR student practice sheet SM21. 9. Go back to the sheet with questions asked by the students. 10 Introduce the QAR bookmarks SM22. The wordsin bold are question stems that the students may like to use and the rest of the sentence is an example of a question using that stem. 11 Have the students work with a buddy to put the questions they asked about the picture book (on the chart paper) in to the correct question types using QAR question developing boxes PM11. 12 Further practice: Have the students develop their own questions that fit the four categories, using other texts. Coming to grips with the different question types takes time. It can be difficult for some students to distinguish between ‘think and search’ and ‘author and you’ questions. Encourage the student to justify their thinking in a logical way. It is well worth the effort to teach students the different question types, particularly having students develop their own open-ended, deeper level’on your own’type questions. °o NB See page 68 for alist of QAR support material 7Making connections Introduction 80 Practice activities for the making connections strategy 1 Sticky notes 83 2. Compare and contrast diagram 84 3 Double entry journal for making connections 85 Other activities that use the making connections strategy = Dot-to-dot connections 42 + Anticipation guide 43 + Think-alouds 49 + Postcard predictions 60 * Senses chart 94 + Keywords aboutme 117, + Saysomething 129 * Personal elines 136 + Possiblesentences 171 192 Introduction When children understand how to comect the text they read to their lives, they begin to make connections between what they read and the larger world. This nudges then into thinking about bigger, more expansive issues beyond their universe of home, school and neighbourhood. — Harvey & Goudvis, Strategies That Mork (2000). p. 68 When information is read in isolation and not connected to existing knowledge, it is forgotten and deered unimportant. Calling on existing knowledge and experiences is crucial if readers are to assimilate new information. = Cris Tovant, from 1 Read It, But I Don't Get Tt (2000), p. 64 What is making connections? Making connections is when students make links or associations between what they read and their prior knowledge. There are three kinds of connections students can make when they read: 1 Text to self connection. A text to self connection is when a student relates what they read to their own personal experiences. An example of this is when a student reads a book about a family moving house, and relates the text to their own experience of moving to a new home. This helps to make the story more meaningful. 2. Text to text connection. A text to text connection is when the student relates what they read to other texts. An example of this could be if a student reads a book about a boy who was always playing tricks on people, and made a connection to a similar character in another book. 3 Text to world connection. A text to world connection is when a student relates what they have read to the wider world. Texts could be in book form or a visual text such as a television documentary or a movie. An example of this might be ifa student saw the movie Whale Rider, in which whales become stranded on a beach, and made a connection to that happening in real There are two things to be wary of when teaching making connections. The first is that students, make connections that are genuinely meaningful to them and don't just make up connections to try to please the teacher. For this reason itis important to reinforce the idea that sometimes we don't make connections, and that's okay too. The second thing is that the connection helps to enhance the students’ understanding. Just because the story has a dog in it doesn’t mean to say that, ifthe student also has a dog, this will help them to understand the story better. Asking questions such as, “Does that help you to understand the story better? Why?" may be helpful. Refer to the list of teacher questions listed further on in this chapter for ideas.ee ‘Making meaningful connections helps students relate the text to their own prior knowledge. The more connections, the more likely the student is to comprehend the text. For example, if a student is reading a book about snorkelling and they have had that experience, they are more likely to make meaningful connections than.a person who has not had that same experience. Making connections helps to deepen comprehension and create personal links with what is being read, These connections impact on a student's motivation to read. How does making connections support reading comprehension? Language we use when making connections: Text to self + That part reminds me of [remember when ‘+ That makes me think about the time when + Melt like (character) when 5 + [hada similar experience + That happened to me once + This sounds familiar to me s + Ithink| would have felt differently from because + know aperson like this character + That partis similar to in my life because + Thisis different from my life beceuse : Text to text + Iread another book like this one + This reminds me of another book | read 4 + Acharacter whois like is from the book. because + Ihave already read about this in : Text to world + Iknow that happens in the real world ‘i + Similar things happen in the real world, like when + Thisis different from things that happen in the real world because 7 + Isawa television programme/film about this topic + Tread a book/article that talked about this: Teacher questions «Does that help us learn more about the story? + Can you tell us why you think that is meaningful? + What can we understand from that connection? + How does the connection help you understand? 81(3e| © Making connections support material = = || S88 making connections |) ses Lan ee |) eens me | | | BF making conne TB) Making connections cecceaayterniecntgd on Ratovalt Making connections mini poster SM24 THOUGHTFUL CONNECTION: Moking connections certificate SM25BY Sticky notes Sticky notes are an invaluable resource for teaching reading strategies. They enable students to make notes and attach them at an appropriate place where they can be referred to easily. Strategies and skills practised: making connections Materials: + textat the instructional level of the students * sticky notes + pencils Student grouping: individuals, buddies, small groups and whole class Procedure 1 Students read the text, recording the connections they make on sticky notes. They indicate ‘what kind of connections they have made by writing TS, TT or TW. 2. Thesticky note is attached to the book where the connection was made. 3. After the reading, students may share their connections with a buddy, in small groups or with the whole class, Be aware that some students may write personal connections they feel uncomfortable about sharing. The choice to share should be left upto the student. L remember when at patie rg horce vt tarp. ; t thnk she might & felé aslwhy her Pra re ra peel(ee Compare and contrast diagram This compare and contrast graphic organiser is a useful format for students to record text to text connections. Strategies and skills practised: making connections Materials: + 2textselections (books, articles, excerpts) at the instructional level of the students suitable for making connections + Compare and contrast diagram PM12 + pencils Student grouping: individuals or buddies Procedure: 1 Teacher or students read both texts. 2 Students use the Compare and contrast diagram PM12 to record the differences and similarities between the two texts. 3. Itmaybe useful for teachers to provide a framework of ‘things to compare’ such as setting, characters, style, etc. | | || Compare and contrast diagram for ... a toe Text 40 text comparison rwarems Taylor a (42. [ee Satine the wate They get older im the doryGoth The Snail and the [the Snail doesn) have The rouse falls into the |mouse are small creatures|q boat saree Bein of the whales [+ the whale ws a [TIS a mouse —_|get_ Stranded [Rump back Ames the mouse as _abaal~ the tog onmals are | 1¥s a shal f [Bimos ‘gets elephants tohadboth whales, The Shiail gets help j [Bens gets skonded by |-Boin of the Stones |frem human: y [The turna ~ [Show that tle Things [+ The whale gets test _| { [lus whale is blue [can ete land_gets_Siranded |) [tney spend time [+ Beth the conate: This whale rey | [apact, ~Ihelp the Wile things|-“The snail leaves i rs) messages. ' | ] q(@2| Double entry journal for making connections ‘When you are teaching a new strategy such as text to self connections, itis easier for students to focus on finding one kind of connection. ‘These graphic organisers allow students to record either textto self, text to text or text to world connections. Strategies and skills pra: making text to self, text to text or text to world connections Materials: + text at the students’ instructional level + Double entry journal: text to self PM13A or + Double entry journal: text to text PM13B or + Double entry journal: text to world PM13C + pencils ‘Student grouping: individuals then buddies or small groups 4 Procedure 1 Students read the text, noting what it says in the text on the left-hand column and their connection in the right-hand column. } 2. After they have completed the chart they share their connections with a buddy or in a small group. lesen ee (B® Double entry journal: text to world ™° | | aera ese [UP easels Seat ate [fiat Ee Rr ie | ei eo Tr the Shry tne Inthe Bleck house Bog) Pee PET os «| ROMS. atenome fetern gd se on a | itary geen Stee ‘wren Willian are Tos om Hye ‘edevt 19 “Unicorns WaE_cape B thet | Apshalia wea he Tow ee” [ioe Tos "aye lene doarieys are ct [aw Argenta hee meen Pence. Fes ame ley Be | da wari wae | | nee read. Te une Gong tee | Teancient Chan oh Jincon tap Chia Hood ay burnt hangs oF feopte Gwened Une |e, ooh. 85Visualising Introduction 88 Practice activities for the visualising strategy Apair of shoes 90 Picture quilt 91 Photo album 92 Nogard drawing activity 93 Senses chart 94 Story map 95 Weekend news 96 Other activities that use the visualising strategy Nausuna + Beginning, middle and end flipcharts 140 + Word map 170 8783 4 Introduction There is an old saying that a picture is worth a thousand words. When it comes to comprehension, this saying night he paraphrased, ‘a visual display helps readers understand, organise, and remember some of those thousand words’. = Duke & Pearson (2002) What is visualising? Visualising is when the reader uses their prior knowledge and experiences to create a mental image of what is happening in the text. Visualising is also sometimes called sensory imaging, creating images, pictures in the mind or'the movie in your head. It may be helpful for some students to actually close their eyes and imagine what is being read. The reader may use all their five senses to make the story come alive. Reading about a boy having a picnic at the beach and imagining the taste of the sandwiches, the sound of the waves, the feeling of the sand and the smell of the salt air connects the reader to the story, if they have had a similar experience. Visualising helps the reader to connect with and become part of the story - which creates that special magic of reading. Itis important that students understand that everyone creates their own unique mental images in their head, There are no right or wrong images, but students must use the clues in the text to create their pictures. Ask the students if the characters in the Harry Potter movie were exactly the way they imagined them, if they had read the books before they saw the movies. The activity on Page 90 in which the students draw a pair of shoes may help students to understand this concept. ng models or dioramasis another way to help students use the information in the text to visualise what they have read. How does visualising support reading comprehension? Visualising supports comprehension as students create their own mental images of what they are reading. By doing this, they feel more connected to the story, enjoy the story more and understand it more deeply. Visualising is also useful for self-monitoring. f the ‘movie in yourhead’ stops, meaning has broken down and you will need to use astrategy to regain understanding. Language we use when visual + Inmy mind I can see + [can imagine + The movie in my head shows + The image | see in my head is + I can just taste the + Icanfeel the + can hear the + Icansmell thera 36 Visualising support material When authon write, they use words to describe ‘hing. The words make a pctare in your mind. ‘retin a piu n your mind oF droing the pte ‘on poper con help you understand whet you ore ‘moding. This trtegy i caledvsulishg. VIVID | VISUALISING! Visualising strategy starter chart SM26 Visualising mini poster SM27 Visualising certificate SM28 89M2] A pair of shoes ‘One concept students need to understand is that we all create our own unique mental images. ‘These are influenced by our own prior knowledge and experiences. NB Itis important to note that when we are visualising from a text, we need to use the clues given bythe author to help us, as well as our own prior knowledge. Strategies and skills practised: activating prior knowledge, visualising Materials: + AS sheet of paper + pencil Student grouping: individuals Procedure 1 Ask the students to create a picture in their minds of a pair of shoes, and draw them. Do not give them any further information 2 When they have completed their drawings, share them, discussing the differences and similarities between their drawings. Hopefully, there will be a range of different types of shoes. 3. Ask the students why they have drawn their shoes in that way ~ is ita pair of shoes they own? A pair of shoes they would like toown? 4 Discuss how we all interpret the same information in different ways. If we are given limited information, we fill the gaps with our own experience and prior knowledge. Variation: This activity would work equally well with a phrase or sentence froma book. For example: “The dancer smiled gratefully as the audience applauded loudly.’ \ ) KAlute eee ee Se J Picture quilt Picture quilts create an attractive display and provide a basis to compare and discuss the similarities and differences between students’ visuelisations. Strategies and skills practised: visualising Materials: + picture book or text selection suitable for visualisation + Picture quilt PM14 + scissors + coloured pencils and/or markers + glue stick + heavy backing paper Student grouping: individuals Procedure 1 Revisit the visualisation strategy and discuss what it means. 2 Askthe students to listen carefully and note the images the book brings up for them. Tell them. to pay particular attention to the way the author describes things in the story. They could do a preparatory sketch as you read. 3 Read the book or text selection. 4. Students choose a part to illustrate and draw a detailed picture of the images that were created intheir minds, inside the template of a quilt piece. 5 Inthe outside border they can write their name and a phrase to describe which part they have illustrated. 6 Cut out quilt pieces and glue together on heavy paper. 7 Write (or have a student write) an explanation of what the activity was about. Visualising quilt for ‘The Best Thief’ by Joe Hayes 1Photo album Reinforce the visualisation strategy by creating a class or group album of students’ visualisations. These could be limited to a drawing of a character or a'setting sketch’ of where apart of the story took place, or a more general drawing that includes both. Mount the pictures in a scrapbook or create a wall display. Strategies and skills practised: visualising, listening Mate + picture book or a section of text suitable for creating images + Photo album PM15 + scissors + markers or coloured pencils + gluestick Student grouping: individual Procedure 1 Before reading the book or text selection, discuss the idea of creating pictures in your mind. Ifyouare reading aloud, it may be helpful to have the students close their eyes to help them visualise as you read. 2 Read the book or text selection. 3. Students choose a part to illustrate and draw a detailed picture of the images that were created in their minds. 4 Whenthe students are familiar with this idea, have them write their own descriptive passages for other students to create visualisations for. ‘Our visualisations of Mary’s garden in The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett.is: Nogard drawing activity Thisis a simple to follow visualisation activity which requires students to listen to a description of an animal and draw it. They may realise after they have finished that they have drawn a dragon - which is nogard spelled backwards! Strategies and skills practised: visualising, listening Materials: + Nogard drawing activity PM16 + pencils + paper Student grouping: individual Procedure 1 _ Explain to the students that they are going to be listening to instructions to draw an animal. Tell them to visualise what you are saying and draw it as accurately as they can. 2 Slowly read the description of the nogard to the students, giving them time to draw. 3. Ask the students what they have drawn and have them compare their drawings in small groups. 4 Points could also be given out for every detail recorded correctly. Have the students swap pictures and mark each other's work. 934 5) Senses chart A senses chart isa graphic organiser that encourages students to think about how text can stimulate all the five senses. It could also be a way of activating prior knowledge for a topic. Strategies and skills practised: visualising, listening, activating prior knowledge Materials: «suitable picture book or section of text + Senses chart PM17 © pencils + markers or coloured pencils (optional) Student grou ividuals, small groups then whole class Procedure 1 Revisit the visualisation strategy. Discuss how we can make pictures in our mind from the words in the text. We can also go even further than that and use all our five senses. Ask the students to think about al their five senses as you read the text. Read the picture book or text. ‘The students write the title of the topic in the squarein the centre. They then complete their senses chart and share their ideas in a small group, and finally each group chooses their best ideas to share with the whole class. ©) Senses chart oan sorsoman fr at if om 13.05 Tek ke 20 prota + felanng Sriag + Splashy ‘People dancing + Slow mation ‘oe == Sent nae ana “seq Bos “be ng ehiben Poteet tthvng sfeodte bing these food 9 li “ae cen “eats “chocolatenn na = Story map A story map is a bird's-eye view of where a story takes place. Rather than answer questions in written or oral form, students record what they know by drawing it. Strategies and skills practised: visualising, inferring Materials: + narrative text suitable for visualising + paper + pencil Student grouping: individuals Procedure 1 Teacheror students read the text selection. 2. Students draw an overview of the setting of the story. Place the emphasis on ‘recording'rather than drawing, Tell students that the activity is not about being a’good drawer; itis about being able to record all they know by using their pencil. 3 Astory map can also be used to retell a story by writing about events that took place at the different places on a story map. Mitchell's visualisation of the setting for Deltora Quest by Emily Roddick 9596 fe Weekend news Weekend news is an activity that uses all the modes of language, gives maximum opportunity for student participation and isa welcome change from the usual news-sharing format! Strategies and skills practised: listening, speaking, visualising, drawing, writing, reading Materials: + Weekend news PM18 + pencils Student grouping: partners, individuals and small groups of 4 students Procedure 1. Students wor weekend, 2 After both partners have shared their news, they visualise their partner’s news and draw a picture of it. They are allowed to continue questioning their partner for details if necessary. 3. When they have finished drawing they write a passage describing their partner's news in the space provided 4 Twosets of partners get together and share their partners'news. pairs and take turns to describe one event that happened to them over the eno vas Caving a Soe tore He we cooing nthe Chl Sie 05 Sot OF He. Con.ther he Keked ‘Me bill “09 Hivh ose could ond all the ‘Bape. all ff he left Side oF he Goel, Goal tt! ene Body Shessed then the Game ended:Inferring Introduction 100 Practice activities for the inferring strategy Character clue bag 102 Inference jigsaw 103 Ithink...Tchart 104 Character quote 105 Character inference chart 106 Real estate inferences 107 Sociogram 108 Nauswne Other activities that use the inferring strategy: + Anticipation guide 43 + Y chart predictions 58 + Guess the headline 59 + Postcard predictions 60 + Character crystal ball 61 + Hot-seat character interview 70 + Question-answer relationships (QAR) 75-77 + Story map 95 + Keywords about me 117 + Point of view chart 146 + Possible sentences 171 + Word investigation chart 172 + Spot the clues! 173100 Introduction When we read, we stretch the linits of the literal text by folding our experience and belief into the literal meanings in the text, creating a new interpretation, an inference. — Keene & Zimsernann, Mosaic of Thought (1997), p. 147 What is inferring? Inferring is being able to’read between the lines’ when the author implies something but doesn't exactly state it. To infer, we need to use both the clues in the text (context, illustrations, etc.) and our own prior knowledge, By using the text and our own prior knowledge, we can interpret what we think the author is really trying to say. We can make inferencesat word level too, by using the context of the text and our own prior knowledge to inferthe meaning of the word. Inferring is closely related to predicting. How does inferring support reading comprehension? Students develop deeper understandings of the text when they ‘read between the lines’ to draw their own conclusions by using prior experience. They create their own unique meaning of the text. As they read, these understandings may be revised as the reader is exposed to new information and confirms or adjusts their thinking. Language we use when inferring + Reading between the lines, I think... + [would expect that... + lalready know that...sol think... + Inmy experience... + [think the author is really saying ‘+ Myconclusion is... because in the text itsays... + The author's clues were... + I think what's really going on is... + Iwonder why... + Iwonder ifA © Inferring support material a Inferring Iafersing is beng abe to sod between the ines’ hes the attr implies something but doesnt exacly Hotei. You ned to we the ese the tert end your Inferring strategy starter chart S29 Inferring mini poster SM30 TE tiem dren A Modetting chart 1 Jack's new labrador puppy, Patch, never left his side. 2 Jan flew into the room with ‘@ huge smile on her face. 3 The old lady's mouth uivered os she slowly got ‘up and left the room. 4 “Get me the chief of police immediately!” shouted the president, as he put the phone down. | | | | | | J} Teacher modelling chart SM31 Inference detectives:Looking for clues SM31 INFERENCE DETECTIVE! Inferring certificate SM32 Th tim digicam = Inference detectives: Looking for clues $M31B 101A Character clue bag Students use their imagination to create or collect a selection of items appropriate toa particular character. These are put in a paper bag. Making an inference bag could also be part of a book assignment for independent readers. Strategies and skills practised: inferring, synthesising Materials: + novel or picture book + paper bag Student grouping: individuals or buddies then small groups or whole class Procedure 1. Students collect or create items that relate to a particular character. Some examples could be: + photographs of the place the character comes from + items that give clues as to what they like to do: e.g. a movie timetable if they like going to the movies or a pencil and paper if they like to draw + abaseball capif they wear one + amagnifying glass - if they have detective tendencies! 2. The students then share their inference bag and other students either guess who the character or the creator explains why each item is important to the character. Variation: Students could create inference bags for themselves as a way of getting to know each other at the beginning of the year. Character clue bag for the character of Jan in The Silver Sword by lan Servailier7 Inference jigsaw This activity is designed to support younger students to make inferences. Strategies and skills practised: inferring Materials: + text suitable for inferring, at the instructional level of the students = Inference jigsaw PM19 + Inference jigsaw PM19 enlarged to A3 size + text for teacher modelling Student grouping: individuals or buddies Procedure 1 Teacher preparation: Modelling — Find a quote appropriate for inferring. Write it into the first jigsaw piece of the enlarged A3 Inference jigsaw PM. 2. Photocopy one inference jigsaw PM per student or set of buddies. 3. With the class: Use a’think-aloud’to articulate to students what you have inferred from the text and why. 4 Students read the text selection at their instructional level and record their inferences on the Inference jigsaw PM as shown below. | Inference jigsaw a) | ven litle 2d ciding feed rnanes Lauren cw WS | eee tne book on revo tea no any “Grade mouth | *Geandma was” suegSed Dropped Ope | _ | ae P «Little tea riding ed “What rood thisks grandma a ars you~ have Joes normal. { pie Took _ - j | OO | 1034 | think... T chart This T chart graphic organiser supports students to make inferences, and to gather evidence from the text to explain why they made them Strategies and skills practised: inferring, note-taking Materials: ‘+ text at the instructional level of the students (suitable for making inferences) + Ithink...T chart PM20 Student groupin: individuals or buddies then a small group or whole class Procedure 1 Students read the text, recording the inferences they make on the | think. ..T chart. They must justify their inference with evidence from the text. Page numbers could also be added to show where information was found to make evidence more explicit. The students write their answers in note form. Full sentences are not necessary. 2. After reading they share their inferences and the reasons why they made them witha buddy, in small groups or with the whole class. @ Ithink ... T chart rica res The en, the wth ood the wachnbe muir (5, Lew:s Ses fiat ee Po ees The one Tey She ala a Etna could ke sastai be bles tes ea nes [Shere Ben doa teak Deby | EAnwd end ole Magyar Me uae ape Te oC he ate wh Desi | ey an fo ay | Fhe viwich t2.phak bet mts] | The Waven were HA They nae the etl food | feepie nd were enemdes of They ld hire Re Wt vnc The ue witeh Pepe to stone | hey aude a plea to aka4 Character quote This activity requires students to find a quote in the text and explain what can be inferred about the character by the quote. Strategies and skills practised: inferring Materials: narrative text Student grouping: individuals or buddies Procedure 1 2 3 Model this activity using suitable quotes, and give the students an opportunity to practise Using quotes that you provide before asking them to doit independently. Characters from traditional tales are suitable for this task. For example: Quote Student responses! think this quote shows that Aniel is quite cunning as he doesn't really like William and he only wants him in the club because he has some walkie-talkies Aniel would like to use. “Why don't we ask William to join our club?” said Aniel suddenly. Ask the students to find a quote in the story that typifies a particular character. Students write down the quote and then their explanation of what it means. Bock: The Bact Beginning By Lemony Snicket quete:"L Guess youve found me out'Olaf said simply: os Fos this quote shows thet Olof, Sd he Knows he is sneal *GOUNE found ime Ut” is a sneak Ky because he eek Cathy 105106 Character inference chart In this activity, students collect a range of information about a character. This information is then used to discuss whether the information they have collected can be found in the text or whether they have inferred it. Strategies and skills practised: inferring, note-taking Materials: + text at the instructional level of the students «Character inference chart PM21 Student grouping: individuals, then buddies or small group Procedure 1. Students read the text selection in its entirety. 2. Students then read the text for a second time using the prompts — facts, quotes, actions and getting inside the character's head — on the Character inference chart PM to gather information. Remind the students that they do not have to write full sentences; rather, just jot down appropriate information in note form. 3 Students then share the information collected and the inferences they have made with a buddy or ina small group. ER Character inference chart st sors Raja = (108 Tacs-wamyornarmomnen? | Qu mts some paviel moved fron Pennsylvania “leis do itl to Anzona JT named cyself eee, Ree ae ie Mee ound ee See “eting inde the ‘hares bead = leap whe vkelele [ESP Jem@qyrares duryng, Rice: Oy [aig Tides bie everyunerd Taelpe ‘others Oe pfeagntere supports. peeple nen Cinnamen went ss ts Caanarnceion ner laexastated ‘Shouvder me ‘nm there | Star gut iS a confident and brave chacacter. She deesm't juhe other people god accepts tr for who they are.FA Real estate inferences Real estate advertisements often include some great examples of inference. Have fun deciphering what the advertisements really mean! Strategies and skills practised: inferring Materials: = examples of real estate advertisements that use inference (for modelling) + selection of real estate pages from magazines or newspapers + chart paper + markers + scissors + glue sticks + pencils Student groupin: Procedure 1 Use examples of real estate advertisements to show how advertisers use inference to influence prospective buyers. Discuss what statements such as ‘handyman’s dream; ‘lifestyle starter’ or ‘entertainers’ delight’ really mean? Explore the idea of a positive spin. 2. Individually or working with a buddy, students take a page of real estate advertisements and find examples of inferring. 3. They then cut them out and glue them onto chart paper and explain what the advertisement is inferring. 4 Asanextension, students could choose one picture of a house and make up their own advertiser's slogan that uses inference. This could then be made into a class real estate page. . There 1s O sROre TA ona TOS Foe grand chularen nei lob A com 3: a ser NN : hose, Peace ful Shade —— ee | \ No bard work, Nok too Cosy. 107| Sociogram —— — —— A sociogram is a graphic organiser that investigates the relationships between people. It may be Used to focus on what can be inferred about characters. Sociograms are suitable for both narrative and factual text. Strategies and skills practised: inferring Materials: + text to summarise = paper + pencils Student grouping: individuals or buddies Procedure 1. After the students have read the text, ask them to think about the different characters or people in thetext. 2. Students then record the characters or people in circles and draw arrows to show the relationships they have with one another. This can be as simple as mother, friend, teacher, etc, or more complex relationships where inferred information is used, afar For Tournes to Tangi wos Lawrence and Reny 108Summarising Introduction 112 Practice activities for the summarising strategy Learning about key words 1 Keywords about me 117 2 Keyword notes 118 3. Selective underlining 119 4 Keyword hunt 120 Note-taking 1 About/point chart 121 2. Tictac-toe note-taking 122 3 Currentevents summary 123 4 What’ the big idea? 124 Summary frames for writing 1 Three-word summary 125 2 One-sentence summary frames 126 3. Summary frames 127-128 Oral summaries Say something 129 Story sticks 130 Jigsaw 132 Text clues 133 Save the last word for me 134 3,2,1 135 Other graphic organisers for summarising Filmstrip summary boxes and strips 131 Personal timelines 136 Story pyramid 137 Bio poems 138 Animal data gathering chart 139 Beginning, middle and end flipchart 140 OuAWNa AuAWNo Other activities that use the summarising strategy: + Key word story strips 63 + Character inference chart 106 + Scanning grid 160 a1Introduction - research suggests instruction and practice in summarising not only improves students’ ability to summarise text, but alse their overall comprehension of text content. . . ~ Duke & Pearson (2002) What is summarising? Asummary is a shortened version of the original text which includes all the main ideas and important detailsand is structurally similar to the original text. Itis one of the most difficult strategies for students to master and one of the hardest to teach. Effective teaching of summarising requires multiple modelling sessions and many opportunities for students to practise. However, itis worth persisting with, as itis an extremely useful strategy for students to master as they go on to study at higher levels. When we ask students to summarise, we often find that they copy out big chunks of text, include unimportant details, or write too much or too little. Students need explicit teaching in order to become proficient at summarising. They need to be able to: + identify the main idea/s + use key information - words, facts and phrases + takenotes ‘+ retell a shortened version of the text in their own words. What's the difference between retelling and summarising? Retelling and summarising are related but not exactly the same. Retelling is orally restating what the student remembers of the text. Itis the beginning stage of summarising and is an important informal assessment tool, particularly for younger students, It requires that students reprocess the text, thinking about the sequence of ideas/events and their importance. Retelling has many benefits for both the student and the teacher. For the student, + provides an opportunity to share what they have read + reinforces the structure of the text type or genre that + provides practice in sequencing the text + develops oral language skills + provides variety from being asked questions. For the teacher, i + isa valuable informal assessment tool that requires little preperation. being retold Here are some examples of different ways to retell: Oral to oral: student listens to a selection and retells it orally Oral to written: student listens toa selection and retells itin writing Reading to oral: student reads a selection and retells it orally Reading to written: student reads a selection and retells it in writing Viewing to oral: student views a visual text (e.g. amovie or TV programme) and retells it orally Vie 1g to written: student views a visual text (e.g. a movie or TV programme) and retellsit in writing.How does summarising support reading comprehension? In order to summarise, the students must attend closely to the text and be able to include information that gives the essence of the text. Summarising also playsa part in the ability to synthesise — if the students are able to articulate the main points and ideas of a text, they are more ready to synthesise. Language we use when summarising + The most important thing to know about is + The main point the author is making is + Inmy own words, the story/article is about + The most important idea in this article/story is + Another name for this story/article could be + The main idea of this textis «The article/story is mostly about + The whole point of this story/article is 4 + If had to explain this to someone else, | would say + Sofarl have learned Other helpful questions to ask when summarising are Who? When? Where? What? How? Teaching summarising Before you start... Two of the most helpful skills for students to acquire in order to be able to summarise are: 1 the ability to recognise key words, facts and phrases, and 2 the ability to take notes. Learning about key word facts and phrases The Key word starter chart (SM36) may be used to explicitly model or revise what a key word is. Also see the ‘Learning about keywords summarising activities later in the chapter for ideas. Learning about note-taking Use the note-taking starter chart to introduce or revise note-taking, Encourage students to understand that it’s okay to personalise their notes; ie. have your own abbreviations, symbols; etc. This is where text messaging type language can actually be useful! Note-taking requires lots of practice and specific feedback as the students develop. 113114 Modelling summarising When you feel confident the students have some understanding of what a key word isand have had some experience at taking notes, it’s time to start teaching summarising. Read the Summarising starter poster SM33 and discuss with the students. Read a selection of examples of summaries to the students. ‘Some ides are: * abook blurb ‘+ ‘about the author’ information in a book + _afilm/television programme blurb from a newspaper + part ofa curriculum vitae. Using a short piece of photocopied text enlarged to A3 size, model how you would summarise a text. Use a highlighter pen to identify key words, phrases and inform. Link the highlighted information together to make a summary. Use the Student checklist for summarising SM35 for students to self-assess their work. Review the checklist with them before they start to write their summaries, to clarify what a good summary contains. Teaching younger students to summarise Itis important for students to know there are different levels of summarisation. Younger students. can be introduced to summarising through retellings, three-word summary (page 125), one- sentence summary (page 126) and summary frames (page 127).— SS Summarising support material Summarising ‘mini poster SM34 SUMMARISING SUPER STAR! EE EE SS = a ee eS ES lClUrcrerhlCUrcaer lca ll eer hl lca el Elot eat anmaing i word Eh suse det te snr El What is a key word? kaye ‘Atay scmaing tat ‘ay worden werd thot tn the mening of tence tp yout ron expla. EB sient ko onmarting react tena SMBS ‘Stroman Sec eestor ore 2 eter ev Oh Gomes 2 fayette i ed eee Sa, ees ed he key mers a these entenes 1 chickens ge os maton op 2 Wight mene ithe 4 Inca tes ima ftw ud Good readers notice kay word at snares rn ey or 1 le fork spo0n impliment eat Student checklist forsummarising Key word sterter chart SM36 Key word practice chart SM37 . G Topic sentence What is a topic sentence The top enc stefani paragraph What does it do? Riteduce the main ia ofthe poarch How do I write a topic sentence? Sumaisehe man de of your paragraph tet he reader now whatyour peragraph il be about ‘Show me an The chee the Worlds eee land nil Ii pecaod for sped though many adaptations. Cheers bods are rarow an lighweght They have log lendet legs and semi- Teves on the feet that ate gripe on rmning ‘hoes. The cher head is mall ndaerodynamicly shaped toallow frit wind esiance Final the cheetah hasan enlarged lier heart lng and vaca system tall ext caygen to Sow through body when traveling a high speeds Note-taking ‘Note-tohing sa fast writing technique. Instead of ‘iting fall setonces you only write key words and information, "Notes con include: ‘grophie orgorisers What really matters is that your notes make sense to you! 116 Topic sentence starter chart SM38 ‘Note-taking starter chart SM39Key words about me Key words about me is a child-centred activity that Introduces the idea of key words. It can also be usedat the beginning of the year to promote self-esteem and develop a positive classroom culture. Strategies and skills practised: developing key words and phrases, promoting positive self-esteem Materials: + photo of child (or a self-drawn portrait) + scissors + markers = paper and pencil Student grouping: individuals Procedure 1. Take photographs of students individually and print. 2 Have students cut out their photo (or their self-drawn portrait) and stick ontoa sheet of paper. 3. They then write eight key words or phrases about themselves, e.g. boy, French, 8 years, blue eyes, blond hair, soccer player. 4 Other students in the class may add positive comments to their key word list. For example: good friend, best goal kicker, tells funny jokes, etc. Key Words abort 17118 Key word notes Key word notes Is a group activity that develops a range of skills necessary for summarising. Strategies and skills practised: summarising ‘ening, visualising, retelling, note-taking, identifying key words, Materials: + text selection + paper and pencil + highlighter pens Student grouping: individuals then small groups Procedure 1. First reading: the teacher reads the text to the students, asking them to close their eyes and visualise the story as itis read. 2. Retelling: the students then take turns orally retelling the text to a buddy. 3. Second reading; the teacher reads the text to the students again. This time they take notes Notes can use symbols, pictures, words or a combination of these. Discuss the idea of abbreviations, e.g. one letter to describe a character: instead of writing Pheidippides, just write eS 4 After the second reading, the students get together in groups of 4-6 and look for words they have all written in their notes. They highlight, underline or circle these words. If they have no words that are exactly the same they look for similar words that are most common in all their sets of notes, e.g. one student may have wide wing span in their notes and another student may have huge wing span. They can be counted as the same. 5 Ask the students what they could call the group of words they have all highlighted. Hopefully they recognise that these are key words and phrases. Optional: All student groups bring their notes to the floor and the teacher and class jointly construct a summary of common key words and phrases. the Legend of the Marathon emerson Kino, worked 10 eweioemainens wy = aOOowSolders ee ravmmawonkme 10 ask sSpartans 40 help @ con ack eKtheniang Sua Pecsians alone at marathone \ | 4 phgiiGASemvoitalantt{e (Goacasolders esait ©) nck 1 Atheis with news of viclory After the ri ©) coltapsedamandeedvedt Lana's key word notes for Legend of the MarathonSelective underlining Selective underlining is an activity that explicitly teaches students how to underline important information such as the topic sentence or key words. After they have underlined the words they can use them to summarise the text. NB Underlining can be either underlining the text or using a highlighter pen. Strategies and skills practised: determining importance, identifying key information, summarising Materials: + photocopies of a text appropriate to theinstructional level of the students = overhead transparency or enlarged photocopy of a different piece of text to model the task + pen or pencil or highlighters Student grouping: individuals Procedure 1 Explain that underlining text and writing notes in the margin are useful ways to highlight and organise information. 2. Use an overhead transparency or an enlarged photocopy of a text selection to model underlining key information (or whatever your focus is). You could also use a highlighter pen to highlight words and phrases, rather than underlining. 3 When main points are not explicit, create your own and jot them in the margins. Variation: Underline the main ideas in one colour highlighter and the details in another colour. Different colours could also be used to distinguish between different viewpoints in a text. Your Brain — how does it work? ia ttc birds, reptiles, fish, and amphibians Wave'a f int But the human) 7. erent from other animals. It is able to thinikjplan, speak and . It is truly an incredible ovgant ‘The human brain is able to fete an astonishing number of tasks at once. a HieatPPte and breathilly. It a huge at of pom ins the world around you from your wi (3 sitiélling, tasting, steht, etc). It controls Ditiioy when you are walking, talking, standing or sitting. It lets you thittk dream, fea8On-and experience emotions. All of these fa8ks are a fd, cbiitfbllett and wegulated by an organ that is about the s ead of cauliflower: Sur brain. The scientifié Stidy of the brait’ and GEREN i is called rieuboscience oy neurobiology! 119Key word hunt ‘The key word hunt graphic organiser is a flowchart that takes the student explicitly through the process of searching for key words, identifying them and then using them to write a summary. It can also be used as an assessment tool to see how well students are grasping the idea of note- taking, finding key words and phrases and writing a summary. Strategies and skills practised: locating key words and phrases, note-taking, summarising Materials: + suitable text to summarise + Key word hunt PM22 © pencils Student grouping: individuals or buddies Procedure 1 Students read the text selection in its entirety to get an overall sense of what the text is about. 2. Students read the text again, noting important details, possible key words, etc, in the boxes on the left-hand side of the graphic organiser. 3. They then write the key words and phrases in the top box on the right. 4 Finally they write their summary using the key words and phrases in the box below that. Key word hunt ares Find the key words And unlock the meaning of the text! re [ending on moon ote 157, ( Vanda on Toly Disk 14GH. Described Surface, being paudered chareal. SieSecepens ort con ty tooreAbout/point chart ‘The ‘about/point chart’ (Morgan, Meeks, Schollaert & Paul, 1986) is a graphic organiser that provides a structure for students to record both the main idea of a text and the supporting details. Strategies and skills practised: recording main ideas and supporting details Materials: + 2short pieces of factual or persuasive text at the students’ instructional level (one for modelling the procedure) + About/point PM23 (1 per student) «© 2copies of About/point PM23, enlarged to A3 (one for modelling and one to summarise student ideas with the whole class) Student grouping: whole class then buddies or individuals Procedure Modelling 1. The teacher reads a short piece of factual or persuasive text to the students using a think-aloud tomodel finding and recording the main points. These are recorded in the The text is ABOUT’ section of the chart. 2 Usea think aloud to model how to find the supporting details in’ The authors POINTS are” section of the chart. Guided practice 1 Give the students a different piece of text at their instructional level. Have them fill out the chart with a buddy. Come together as a class and share answers. Record group consensus on the second enlarged About/point PM. Repeat the procedure with increasingly complex texts. wan ote 15.5, | Tetons Road Safely ABOUT: = €085ing & Coad re 6055 at @ CroSSing if you can POINTS ore: siook both ways befare you crass swalk quickly a¢ross the road «don't run 124Tic-tac-toe note-taking chart Taking notes in a grid form is an easy structure that students can replicate independently. It also gives them an opportunity to decide what headings they will collect information under. Strategies and skills practised: note-taking Materials: + text at the students’ instructional level + Tic-tac-toe note-taking chart PM24 ‘Student grouping: individuals or buddies Procedure 1 Depending on the reading purpose, students decide or teacher directs what the headings will be forcollecting notes. 2. Students read the text, stopping to note information under appropriate headings. Remind the students that they don't have to write full sentences, and that they can personalise their notes using pictures and abbreviations to save time (see Note-taking starter chart). r a el rt |B Tictacctoe note-taking | w Koala Facts mete Ree | | veeromes Yoshie, ate 15-12, Scientific Sie: comes, Name : up to Free Paascolarcterd 35cm long | Easten cinereus | Tg .n,| Australia seigh 6-91 kgs | one of eats leaves] sleeps Cor Australias J of gum »Jup to te | | Farncus trees hours a | ammals [gers water | day Kom its fe Oe on its food! nas sharp Claws a marsypial uses iF claws fo chm trees.Current events summary ‘Students use a newspaper article to practise creating a summary. Collect copies of your local suburban newspaper for students to use - local newspapers are easy for students to handle and are more likely to contain news about their own community that they can connect with. Strategies and skills practised: locating explicit information in a text, close reading, summarising Materials: ‘+ newspaper article (factual report) ~ 1 per student + highlighter pen (optional) = Current events summary PM25 ‘Student grouping: individuals, buddies, then groups of 4 students. Procedure 1 Students select a newspaper article thatis of interest to them. 2. They read it and then briefly discuss the article with a buddy. 3. Students use the event map PM as a structure to record information. They may want to use a highlighter pen to highlight information in the article that is relevant. Students share their event map with a buddy. They then rewrite a summary of the newspaper article in their own words, Students share and evaluate each other's summaries in a small group. Each group chooses their best summary to share with the whole class. Depending on the level of the students, this activity may be best done over two sessions - the first to collect information on the event map and the second to write a summary. eNVauasn roe Summarising, sees nas OMIOC ow 20.05 f — Current events summary PM2s | | i s oe Gs | Wher oi ithoppen? | Yoruory ea Whos per eed ow three? Dr Cucks A skorm tnt the ceca vi) eae curre because A \ off the boat. hit the ShiP- 423194 What's the big idea? What's the big idea? is best introduced in a whole class setting, As students become more proficient in summarising the text, they can complete the activity independently. Strategies and skills practised: locating key words, phrases and information, note-taking, determining importance, summarising Materials: + anewspaper article or similar text + What’ the big idea? P26 + pencils Student grouping: individuals or buddies Procedure 1 Students read through the text once to get the gist of it. 2 They then read it through a second time, noting down information in the appropriate boxes on the What's the big idea? PM. 3 Finally, they summarise their information in 25 wordsin the boxes provided. NB Students don't have to use exactly 25 words, but should aim for a maximum of 25. | @ What's the big idea? nes | Golden. guts de momen ana ‘he et on car hy erase at nent he ution indell twind- Carohine and or Evers- Georgia war Win a god medal wm rowing, | weer The Olympic Gomes In Beynd. wer August 1" 2005 407 Pea wp Becase they bel German and came] First. von They could oot ath tre oh — "eleemitolan any each otner. Een Sui hove | won their saedor | beat) (te _) oerman}( oy) ine} fundreit) CoP) (Co) econ)Three-word summary Three-word summaries are a simple way to introduce the concept of summarising. They require deeper level thinkingas students select and justify why they have chosen the three words that are the most important in the story. Strategies and skills practised: summarising, determining the main idea, just ng a point of view Materials: + story or piece of text to read aloud Student grouping: individuals, buddies, small group then whole class Procedure 1. The teacher readsa story aloud to the students. 2. Individually, the students write down the three words that they think are most important in the story. The words don't have to appear in the story, but must be about ideas of themes that the story or text brings up. For example, for the story’The Ugly Duckling; possible words could be ‘tejectiony‘acceptance, beauty’ Students must be able to justify why they have chosen those words. 3. Allocate some time for students to get together with a buddy to discuss and justify why they have chosen those words. ‘One set of buddies joins another set of buddies and they share their words. 5. Students share their summaries and then come to a consensus about which three words are the most important. 6 Finally the whole class discusses which words were the most popular choices and why. " prejudi + Friendship ammystical ‘Ana and Blake's three-word summary for The Silent One by Joy Cowley 125126 One-sentence summary frames ‘One-sentence summary frames provide a simple structure to support students to summarise t Prefix card check sheet SM48 Suffix card check sheet SM49 | Ecorse Context clues bookmark SM51 WORD | WIZARD! | | Vocabulary certificate SM52Rivet Rivet (Cunningham, 1992) is similar to the guessing game, hangman. This activity may be used to introduce new or key vocabulary and is also helpful as a spelling support. Strategies and skills practised: activating prior knowledge, building vocabulary Materials: * narrative or informational text + highlighter + paper and pen Student grouping: individuals or buddies Procedure 1 Choose a selection of key words from the text or appropriate to the topic you are introducing. 2. For each word, the teacher draws a line to represent each letter of the word. Forexample 3. The teacher slowly writes the letters of the word in the spaces. For example: ¢ @ © The students are encouraged to guess the word at any time. 4 When someone guesses the correct word they must complete the word by calling out the remaining letters. You can also play this game like the Wheel of Fortune television show. Divide the class into teams. Each team has a tur to call out a letter. The teacher fils in all of the blanks corresponding to this letter. The teams keep guessing until one team guesses the word. 167=| Word sorts Word sorts are a great way to introduce new vocabulary and prepare the students for reading. Students literally sort words into different categories and justify their choices. Three types of word sorts are: Open word sorts: The students decide what criteria they will use to categorise the words, Closed word sorts: The teacher decides on the criteria for categorising the words. Writing word sorts: The students have categories on a worksheet. As the teacher calls out words, the students write them in the appropriate category. Strategies and skills practised: activating prior knowledge, setting a purpose for reading, building vocabulary knowledge Materials: + Text at the students'instructional level + small pieces of paperor light card to write words on ‘Student grouping: buddies or small groups Procedure 1 Teacher preparation: Decide whether the word sort will be open or closed. Select 10-20 words. Choose key words that are importantto the topic or reading selection, Include around 3 words that you would not expect the students to know. Write all the words in a list on the computer and duplicate the list so you have 3 on an A4 page. Photocopy the page and cut into strips so each group can cut their words up to sort them, 2 With the class: Hand out the word strips. 3. Spend some time explaining what the new words mean. 4 Students work with a buddy or in a small group assigning the words to the appropriate categories. They must come to a consensus. 5. Each group shares their word sort, justifying how they have sorted the words and how each word meets the criteria. Word sorts can be used to: a + activate priorknowledge 2 to introduce a new topic or reading selection ‘+ practise alphabetical order — useful for dictionary skills + identify and classify parts of speech, e.g, nouns, adjectives, adverbs, etc. + introduce and consolidate new vocabulary. 168=| Word of the week chart Introducing a word of the week chart helps to raise word consciousness. initially the teacher takes responsibility for choosing a new word each week and models how to present the new word. The class then tries to use the word of the week (or WoW word!) in context during that week. Students can then take turns to be responsible for choosing a word of the week. Strategies and skills practised: building vocabulary knowledge, raising word consciousness Materials: = Word map PM45A & 458 + Word of the week chart PM46 + laminator + Kraft knife + ruler Student grouping: individuals then whole class Procedure Teacher preparation: 1 Print the Word of the week chart PM46 onto light card - photographic paper will give a better result. Laminate. 2 Cutaround the edges of the chart using a Kraft knife anda ruler. 3. Cut the blank rectangular spaces in the centre of the chart and attach it to the whiteboard ormake a vaall display. 4. Decide on a word for the week. Try to introduce aword that the students will come across again, this Weel like ‘arbitrary; rather than an unusual word they will never use in the future. It may be fun touse Jackson these words occasionally but it is more valuable es) to introduce words that students will come across “™) again. 5 Complete a Word map PM. With the class: 6 Introduce the new word. Use the word mapas a structure to do this. Give lots of examples of the word's usage. Have the students try to use it in a sentence that helps to understand its meaning. 7 Explain to the students that the class is going to try to use the word in context during the week, in their writing or in general class talk. People who use the word appropriately will have their names written underneath the chart - they could be called ‘Word Wizards’ or something similar. Asa reward, word wizards could leave right on the bell at the end of the day; and the rest of the class leaves after they have gone. 8 After you have modelled the Word of the week chart a few times, assign the students a week to be responsible for finding a new word and introducing it. 169170 Word map This graphic organiser requires students to look at an unknown word in a broader context than just writing a dictionary meaning. The unknown word could be chosen by the teacher as a key word for comprehending the text, or identified by the studentas a word they are unsure of. Strategies and skills practised: building vocabulary knowledge by exploring word meanings Materials: + text at the students’ instructional level + Word map 1 (with explanation) PM45A + Word map 2 (blank copies of word map) PM45B Student grouping: individuals then small groups Procedure 1. The first time students complete this activity, have them use word map 1 (with the explanation and single word map graphic). 2. Discuss the instructions with the students. Have each student choose an unknown word from their instructional text to complete the word map. 3. After they have completed their word map, students get together with others in their reading group and share their word maps. Variation: Jigsaw word maps: Assign each student in the same reading group a different key word to develop a word map for. When the students have completed their own word map, they share with the group before reading the text. The plashe peace on | hod oi sed So ated, | Tieabahon qo eee Somnple 4 helmet te protect] -geqgies your fase Safely glasbes Social I Sawa maa on Js maheceyele with ls viter fo protect nis tree | | The opprestin of a tok acc at Mel vag? vary ba==| Possible sentences Possible sentences (Stahl & Kapinus, 1991) isa cooperative learning activity that builds vocabulary knowledge in a meaningful context and creates a purpose for reading. Strategies and skills practised: predicting, building vocabulary knowledge Materials: + _ information text at the students’ instructional level + paper + pencils Student grouping: buddies or small groups Procedure 1 Teacher preparation: Read the text and make a list of about 10 key words. Choose 2-3 words you do not expect the students to know;and the remaining words should be familiar to the students. 2. With class: Write the words on the whiteboard. Take some time to tease out the meanings of the new words. 4 With a buddy or in small groups, ask the students to find possible pairs of words - words that are somehow related. They then create sentences they might expect to see in the text. They must use two of the words in the list in each sentence. They can use more but the idea isto keep the sentences meaningful. 5 Inaclass group, share some of the sentences the students have written. 6 _IFsome of the words are not used correctly or haven't been used at all, build the students’ knowledge by explaining the meaning of the word. Call for volunteers to help generate anew sentence using the word correctly. 7 Allthe key words must be used before the students start to read. 8 During reading the students keep track of the sentences and confirm whether they are true or not. 9. After reading the text, students revise their incorrect sentences. Lor Foseibie sentences: =a a Va My mam WiReS making & nice cheese cae x a | [eee K.Some pad bacteria sticks on plastic wrappings. 3 ay = R.A creamy liquid is feaped in a large vol : vy K- Seraleleing Solid ground tuilds up Strong Sy masules: = of KR. When Selb and water are mixed together it = MORES a transformation inty brine a wnWord investigation chart Completing a word investigation chart helps students to notice words they don’t know the meaning of. Rather than continuing to read, it requires them to stop and investigate the word more closely. Strategies and skills practised: building vocabulary knowledge Materials: + text at the students’ instructional level + Word investigation chart PM47 + Context clues bookmark (optional) SMS1 Student grouping: individuals, then small groups Procedure 1. Students read text. When they come to a word they are unsure of they note it on their word investigation chart. 2 Theythen complete the graphic organiser, noting whether they have seen the word before, making a prediction about what it means (the Context clues bookmark SMS1 could be used here) and finally finding the word in the dictionary. 3. Students share their charts ina group, discussing which words they were unsure of and how they investigated them. | Word investigation chart ree i eri Sasstving, pre Nibe. winsome. Tiger owe 28/6. (a iremee) te.) em epertin Tigh mon a5) Haan jan 7 | bebe tone whe S| hate get es Rowghy sting wild Fearsome frightening. Goonsdable | fo ele i “Formidable white water i 1 ceald mean oy P| dtace /— |dhtterent or shange, | 5 A plant that tres in| A gucet aneling inl waters “s Fo | Agacinth che oe the phate has [Slvr ohich com | Pree ee ese ihSpot the clues! Research shows that using the context to predict the meaning of a word is the most effective way of finding outits meaning, This activity explicitly tells students what those clues might be. Strategies and skills practised: building vocabulary knowledge Materials: + text at the students’ instructional level + Context clues bookmark SM51 Student grouping: individuals, then groups Procedure 1. Discuss the idea of using context clues to work out word meanings. Model some of your own examples and then go through the examples on the Context clues bookmark. 2. Students read the text. When they come to a word they are unsure of they use the context clues bookmark o try to work it out. 3. When the students have completed the reading, discuss which words they had difficulty with, and how they worked out what the word meant. 173174 =| Dictionary activities Alphabetical line-up For younger students: Make a set of about 30 word cards (1 per student). Write a basic word that you would expect all your students to know on each card. Ensure each word starts with a different letter of the alphabet, e.g. apple, boy. cat, day, eat, frog, etc. Give each student a word card then ask them to line up in alphabetical order. For older students: Make a set of about 30 word cards (1 per student). Write a different word on each card, using words that start with a variety of different letters. Choose some words that start the same letter so that the students will have to look more closely at how to put them in alphabetical order, e.g. character, chase, chocolate, chuckle. Students then line up in alphabetical order. Variation: Play silent alphabetical line-up- the same format as above but with no talking, Dictionary word hunt Students work in their spelling groups. They take turns at being the leader and calling out one word from thei weekly spelling list. The other members of the group try to find the word as quickly as they can. The first person to find it and read the meaning gets one point. Variation: Dictionary guide word hunt Use the same format as above but the students have to find the quide word at the top of the page that their spelling word is on, not the actual word, What's the meaning of this? The students work with a buddy. Each pair of students is given two pieces of card about the same size as a postcard. They find a difficult word in the dictionary. One student writes the word on one piece of card and the other student writes its meaning on the other card. Collect all the cards and redistribute them so that each student has one card. Students then walk around the room reading their cards to other students until they find the person who has the corresponding card that ‘matches theirs. They sit down, When everybody has found their partner, they take turns to stand and share the word and its meaning.Word bluff The teacher divides the class into groups of 3~4 students. Each group chooses 3 words to define. The words should be words they think other students in the class will not know. Each group prepares one true definition of each word they have chosen and two false definitions. Set atime timit. Here is an example: Confluence A. aplace where two rivers meet (true) 8 to influence someone in a negative way Ca flower native to Spain ‘Ask the groups to take turns reading their definitions aloud once only. Other groups choose which of the 3 definitions is the correct one. Each group that chooses the right answer gets a point. The group with the most points wins. Make your own class dictionary Each child makes a page for the class dictionary using their name as the dictionary word. Include the features of the dictionary such as parts of speech, pronunciation (this could be done phonetically) and other dictionary features. Downey, Sam (noun) an 11-year-old who has brown hair and blue eyes. Commonly found playing soccer and riding bikes. Has a good sense of humour (sometimes). (verb) sam; to tell a corny joke, e.g. Enough of the samming, we need to get on with our work. wW5176 Affix cards Explicitly learning common prefixes and suffixes gives students a great headstart for working out the meanings of unknown words, and is a helpful spelling support. Rather than learning these in a list they can invent their own card games ~ perhaps adapting the game’Memory’ Strategies and skills practised: building vocabulary knowledge Materials: + Prefix card check sheet SM48 + Suffix card check sheet SM49 + Affix card templates SMSOA to 501 + scissors + laminator Student grouping: buddies or small groups Procedure 1 Teacher preparation: Photocopy the cards onto light card. Cut the cards and fold in half. You could photocopy the prefix cards in one colour and the suffix cards in another to avoid confusion. Laminate the cards and store in two strong resealable plastic bags. 2. With the students: Students take turns to test each other. The student being tested keeps the card if they get it right. They count their cards at the end then swap and the other buddy is the caller. The person who gets the most cards wins.Photocopy Masters for Activities Ose er eerie Activating prior knowledge 1 Before and after webs 2 Brainstorm it — sort it! 3 KWL 4 Anticipation guide Self-monitoring 5 Myreading strategy log Predicting 6 Prediction flowchart Questioning 7 Question cards 8 Question web 9 Before, during and after (BDA) chart 10 Double entry journal for questions 11 QAR Question developing boxes Making connections 12 Compare and contrast diagram 13A Double entry journal: text to self 13B Double entry journal: text to text 13C Double entry journal: text to world Visualising 14 Picture quilt 15 Photo album 16 Nogard visualising activity 17 Senses chart 18 Weekend news Inferring 19 Inference jigsaw 20 Ithink...T chart 21. Character inference chart Summarising 22 Key word hunt 23 About/point chart 24 Tic-tac-toe note-taking chart 25 Current events summary 26 What's the big idea? 27 Character trait summary frame 28 Compare-contrast summary frame 29 Procedural writing summary frame 30. Main idea summary frame 31 Problem-solution summary frame , 32. Filmstrip summary boxes 33. Filmstrip summary strips 34 Text clues 35 Personal timeline 36 Story pyramid 37 Bio poem 38 Animal data gathering chart 39 Beginning, middle and end flipcharts Synthesising 40 Point of view chert 41 Synthesis eggs Skimming 42 Information text skim Scanning 43 Newspaper scavenger hunt 44 Scanning grid Building vocabulary knowledge 45 Word maps 46 Word of the week chart 47 Word investigation chart 183Aen eric ein Cnr ener eaitd Peer eCnt cadet eee ites Teaching Reading Comprehension Strategies is a step-by-step guide based on the latest reading IEC eu on ee a ea ae Un ao a he practice and her experiences teaching in areal classroom. Basan aOR e rR eC Oe UM ACR US Bilao} aro ce Ic ue en eeu u ei eC aa tet ed SPA UII tel MURMURS acl ee RR ue ran eens gece RS coon REE Se uN ACI Ree ene Ce tg ac | BCE eee eed ee ue Ut ken eC Teaching Reading Comprehension Strategies comes with a CD that provides all photocopy masters and support material in digital format. BUG eete ee 7 CAC ea ee WR eu aule era cram ABOUT THE AUTHOR Sheena Cameron is an experienced classroom teacher who has taught CO eR Ur RRO Poe eu ALE teacher professional development in New Zealand schools and at Kohia Beem Ca ae lel mee cee a UR cis meee a Cue er CUC Euroa nS a ke Seco CAS aD order to trial ideas and keep in touch with the reality of classroom life. Seen tere sa Ra ka The Reading Activity Handbook and Mea Ee agg a ee ee ee ee ee a re ee ee a ee ee a ee ee ee