Supported Reading

Reading Comprehension

Reading comprehension is the ability to process text, understand its meaning, and to integrate with what the reader already knows. Wikipedia

Interactive Read Alouds~

Instructional Focus: Comprehension Strategies

Close Reading is Not Guided Reading

by Donna Whyte

Topics: Early Childhood, English/Language Arts, Classroom Management

Close Reading is often being confused with guided reading. Close reading does not require a before, during and after activity. In fact, a great starting point with young children is to have them look closely at a picture that has no words and to ask you questions about the picture. There are times when you will say, “the picture doesn’t really tell us for sure” — this will be teaching children inferring skills and to question all text.

Tiering Questions and Using Graphic Organizers to teach/reinforce Comprehension Skills/Strategies:

‘Tiering’ is a researched based differentiation strategy. Several years ago when planning with Pre-K teachers in CMS, I created the criteria below as it relates to questions we ask students.

Tier 1 questions are always simple recall questions in which answers may be found directly in the text.
Tier 2 questions are those that require some thinking on the part of the reader, but they may also find a direct reference to the text.
Tier 3 questions are usually open-ended (no right or wrong answer), but students must have a logical answer based on information inferred from the text. They may also be any of the higher level (analysis, evaluative) types of questions where information is inferred from the text.

You may ‘tier’ all your comprehension questions throughout the year using this guide. You may also collect data on student’s abilities to answer questions from the different tiers . I added some key words beside each tier heading for easy reference.

Remote & In Person Interactive Read Aloud Best Practices

Utilize screen sharing of books on slides for maximum student engagement in the virtual classroom.
Introduce minimum new vocabulary words that are critical to understanding the story with visuals before reading and/or with quick asides as the story is read.
Focus on one objective (ODL 18a or 18c) and student learning outcome [SLO] (i.e, notice and use important information from the pictures; identify story related events, identify story related problems and solutions, identify characters emotions by the way they look, act or think, etc.) Comprehension Planning Resource for Read Aloud 1
Provide students a purpose for listening that is related to the outcome.
Plan a different purpose for listening for each read that builds on the same focused objective.
Make a few, short purposeful stops during the reading emphasizing the focus while keeping the flow of the story.
Circle back to the purpose for listening after the story to check comprehension and take notes on student learning outcomes.

A Tree Named Steve Read Aloud with Ms. Glam

Character Emotions instructional focus

demo lesson

Comprehension Supports

Step 1: Exposure & Explanation

Step 2: Recognition & Identification

Planning Resource

Comprehension Planning Resource: Focused Objective & SLO's

Graphic Organizers:

Story Elements Anchor Chart (see above)
The 'picture/word web' organizer is great for supporting students use of new vocabulary or to dig deeper into a theme concept. (Frayer Model)
The 'Story Train' organizer is used for retelling the sequence of a story. (See picture below.)
The 'Somebody Wanted But So' organizer is used to summarize when the story has a clear problem and solution.
The '5 W's' organizer is great for summarizing the details of the story.
Venn Diagram: compare and contrast characters, books, settings, etc.
Graphic Organizer slide presentations

Created by NaKeya Brailsford and Mary Douglas June 2017

Story Elements

A story has five basic but important elements. These five components are: the characters, the setting, the plot, the conflict, and the resolution. These essential elements keep the story running smoothly and allow the action to develop in a logical way that the reader can follow.

Comprehension Focus: Characters

Comprehension Focus: Identifying Emotions/Feelings of Characters

Comprehension Focus: Identifying Character Traits

Comprehension Focus: Problem & Solution

Story Sequencing

Retelling a story in a particular order in which related events follow each other.

Story Sequence - Reading Rockets

Comprehension Focus: Story Sequence

Google Slides for Story Sequence: Teaching with Technology

Summarizing

To give a brief statement of the main points of (something).

Google Slides for Summarizing: Teaching with Technology

!TEMPLATE 5 W's - Summarizing

!TEMPLATE SWBST - Summarizing Stories

Planning Guide for:

READ ALOUD 1 - Comprehension

(FOCUS OF INSTRUCTION: story elements: characters & motivation, setting, story sequence-events, problem-solution, etc.)

Resources: CC Reads, Repeated Interactive Read Alouds in Preschool and Kindergarten, NC Standards Crosswalk, Think Alouds, TSG Bands, Study Guide, story read cards, Seven Strategies to Teach Students Text Comprehension, Pacing Guide, Gradual Release of Responsibility, Google Slides Folder, McClanahan’s Pre-K Supports Supported Reading page

Thinking Maps and Tiered Question Prompts

Using these specific graphic organizers is a wonderful strategy that often gets overlooked (above and beyond). If you choose to use the graphic organizers you can reword the question/prompt to identify the graphic organizer the child should use.

*Frame of Reference

The frame of reference is the box around the map where the students identify the source of their information. You may also have students identify the page and paragraph number directly on the Thinking Map. This strategy supports the Common Core expectation of referencing text when responding to questions/prompts.

Tier 1: (knowledge level; literal ; recall; who, what, where, when; sequence; Circle Map; Flow Map; Multi-Flow Map)

Who was the main character in the story? Circle Map w/*
When did the story take place? (past/present/future, time of day, etc.) Circle Map w/*
Where did the story take place?Circle Map w/*
What did the main character learn?

Tier 2: (classify; compare; contrast; direct text reference; draw conclusions (text clues); why, how; cause and effect; Bubble Map; Double Bubble; Tree Map; Brace Map; Bridge Map)

What was the most important thing that happened? Why? Flow Map w/*
Using three complete sentences, describe a character. Bubble Map w/*
Tell something that happened and give a reason why it happened. Multi-Flow Map w/*
Is the story fiction or non-fiction? How do you know? Bubble Map w/*
How might the main character have responded differently? Multi-Flow Map w/*
What did other characters do to help or hinder the main character? Tree Map w/*
How do you think the author wanted you to feel? Why do you think that? Bubble Map w/*; Multi-Flow Map w/*
Compare the main character in this story with a character from this OR another story. Tell three ways the characters are alike and three ways they are different. Double Bubble Map w/*

Tier 3: (analyze; evaluate; open ended; make inferences (inferred clues) Bubble Map)

Use 2-5 words to describe a character giving reasons for each choice. Bubble Map w/*
How else could the story have ended? Multi-Flow Map w/*
Did you enjoy the story? Tell why or why not.
Write another ending for the story. Illustrate your new ending. Multi-Flow Map; Flow Map w/*
What might be another title for this story? Flow Map w/*
What do you think might have happened to the main character after the story ended? Multi-Flow Map w/*

Anchor Charts and Retell Props

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