Within my classroom, reading comprehension strategies are taught through read-alouds and the reading workshop model. Students learn to use strategies to make sense of their own reading through guided and independent reading practice. Students will confer with a teacher as well as peers to improve their reading strategies. Anchor charts will be created and posted in the room, in their Reading Response Journals, and/or in the "Reading Reminder Binder". We will also focus a lot on text evidence to support our answers to questions. 

The best way to become a better reader is to: read, read, read!!!

Our reading program focuses on the following components:

Using schema (background knowledge)/Making Connections (the process of using what I know to help me understand the text)

Good readers think:

Text to Self: How can I use past experiences and background knowledge to help me better understand the story or

article?

Text to Text: How can I use other pieces of text that I have read to help me better understand the story or article?

Text to World: How can I use my knowledge of what is happening in the world to help me better understand the story

or article?

That reminds me of...

It makes me think of...

I read another book where...

This is different from...

Visualizing (the process of creating mental images while reading)

Good readers form mental images to help them understand, remember, and enjoy texts. Mental images can include sights, sounds, smells, tastes, sensations, and emotions.

Good readers think:

How do the author’s words help me create a mental image of what is happening in the story?

How do my past experiences combined with the author’s words help me picture the story in my head?

What is the movie in my mind as I am reading the text?

I visualized...

I could hear (smell, taste, feel)...

I could picture...

A mental image I had was...

Inferring (the process of using prior knowledge and information in the text to understand implied meanings that are not directly stated in the text)

Making inferences helps readers move beyond the literal to a deeper understanding of texts

Good readers think:

What can I figure out?

What are the characters feeling and how do I know?

Why did the characters make that choice?

Is the author trying to tell me something? What is the author’s message?

Can I determine the meaning of unknown words?

I'm guessing that...

I predict...

It would be better if...

I really liked how...

If I were the main character...

What I didn't like was...

Asking Questions/Wondering (the process of asking questions and searching for answers before, during, and after reading)

What am I wondering while I read?

What am I trying to solve?

How does asking questions make me want to read further?

I wonder...

I was confused when...

I'm not sure why...

I am curious about...

How does...

Why didn't...

Determining Important Ideas (the process of knowing what the main ideas are and what the author considered important)

What is the author telling me?

What is the main idea? What are the supporting details?

What is this MOSTLY about?

The most important ideas are...

So far, I have learned that...

The most interesting points were...

I noticed that...

The story was about...

Synthesizing Information (the process of combining new ideas with what I already know to get something new and different)

How is my thinking changing as I read?

What new information am I getting as I continue reading? How does that effect my overall thinking about what is happening in the story or article?

Now I understand that...

This gives ma an idea...

This compared to...

That was different than...

Understanding Text Structure (the process of understanding that narrative and nonfiction books are set up differently)

Narrative texts have common elements such as characters, setting, problem, and solution. While nonfiction texts generally have common features such as headings and subheadings.

Good readers think:

How is the text set up?

How will the text structure help me understand and think about the information in the text?

Summarizing (the process of identifying and bringing together the essential ideas in a text)

Good readers think:

How can I summarize the important ideas of what I have read and communicate it to others?

How can I get someone interested in a specific book or movie without giving away too much information?

Retelling (the process of identifying and bringing together all the ideas in a text)

Good readers think:

How can I summarize the important ideas of what I have read and communicate it to others?

How can I tell someone exactly what happened in the book or the movie including all the events and specific details from the beginning to the end?

Good readers talk about their reading with others. Please find below prompts to focus your discussions about your reading with family or friends:

Fiction:

*In reading this week, did the setting or any of the characters remind you of people or characters in your own personal life? Cite specific examples from your life and the text to explain how they are the same and/or how they are different.

*Are any of the situations or events similar to your own life? Cite specific examples from your life and the text to explain how they are the same and/or how they are different.

*Does the story or its characters remind you of another story you have read? How are they alike? How are they different? Give specific examples.

*Does the story remind you of a movie? How are they alike? How are the different? Give specific examples.

*If you could change the life or lives of a story character, to make their lives different, would you? What would you change? How would this affect the story? Why would you make those changes?

*If you could change the setting in this story to another setting, what setting would you choose? Would you change just the time period? Or would you change the place, the season, the actual environment-one of poverty, riches, or middle class? Why would you make those changes?

*If you were to put this story into your own life, in the area where you live, around the people and friends that you know, how would the story have to change? How would the people change? Would the setting have to change? Why would these changes have to take place?

*Sometimes we are pulled toward one or two characters in the story. We identify with them or feel sympathy for them. With which characters do you identify in the book, and why do you believe you identify with them?

*Sometimes when we read, certain words or phrases or images stand out. Maybe they are words or phrases that make an impression because of their sound, or maybe the meaning or image they make strikes us. Sometimes we find words or expressions we just do not understand. Share those that you come across and describe why you listed them.

*Now that you are this far into the story, what do you look forward to learning next? Explain.

*What conflicts or problems do you think the characters will face? Support your answer with specific evidence in the text.

*What qualities of your character (loyal, honest, cruel, dishonest, angry, vengeful) will affect how the character handles the problems and conflicts he or she encounters? Explain and use details of experiences from your life or the text to support.

*As you read this week, what surprised you? Explain how this will affect the story or how it changed your thinking about the story.

*What do you wish to learn when you read again? What do you hope will happen in the story or to the characters? Why do you wish for this to happen?

*Are you puzzled or confused about anything in the story? What is it that confuses you, and why do you find it confusing? Explain strategies you are using to “fix-up” your comprehension.

*It is not unusual to wish that our lives were more like the lives of characters in stories. How would you change your own real life to be more like the world of your story? Why would you make these changes?

*Why do you think the author wrote this story? Where did he or she get the idea or the characters? Explain your thinking.

*What message do you think that the author is trying to share? Explain and use examples from your life or text to support.

*Evaluate the message or theme the author is sharing-do you think it is a good message? Did you learn from it? Explain.

*What point of view is this story written from? If the point of view could be changed, would you want it to be? Explain how the current or changed point of view affects or would affect the plot.

*How does the setting of the story influence the mood, character and plot? Use specific examples to support you response.

*How did one of the characters change over time? Cite specific examples.

*Did the author use foreshadowing or parallel plots to convey meaning in your story? Or did he/she use some other unique literary element like flashbacks, tone, bias, dialect, irony/satire, or use of fragments when the story was crafted? How did these elements affect the story?

*Explain how your character(s) deal with diversity (differences/similarities with other cultures than character’s own, ethnicity, and/or conflicts of human experiences). What does this say about people in general?

*Find a cause and effect situation in the text. Describe how this situation could be have had a different outcome. How would the change have affected the story.

*How credible is your story? Do you believe in the characters, the events, the message? Support your stance.

*What do you think the author’s purpose was when writing this text? Explain.

*How does the point of view affect your responses to the characters? How is your response influenced by how much the narrator knows and how objective he or she is?

*Do you think that the author accurately described a particular historical period in the novel? Why or why not?

*List the details that describe the historical time period. Check their validity in a non-fiction text-are the facts reliable? State the sources that either verified the facts or proved the facts false.

*Are there real historical figures whose names you recognize? Find out if they really existed and write five facts about them.

*Do you think the historical figures belong in the period described? Support your stance.

*Explain the characters' involvement in the historical setting and events.

*How are the historical characters important to the action of the novel?

*Does the plot focus on a specific historical incident? Explain.

*Do you think the conflict in the story is real or fictional? Explain. If you think it is real, verify that it is factual in a non-fiction source. Cite the source.

*Do the characters in the novel participate in a well-known historical incident? Explain.

*Do the characters dramatize an eventful moment in history? Explain.

*Why do you think the author chose to write about this particular historical period?

*Why is this book considered a historical novel?

*Do you think this novel is a good or bad historical novel? Base your stance on the previous definition of historical fiction?

*Are there any stereotypes found in your story or is the information presented without bias? Explain.

*Is your text fiction because of inaccuracies (which are proved by your nonfiction research) or is it historical fiction because it is set in a particular time period? Prove with details from both fiction and non-fiction text.

*In your opinion, did the author do his or her homework regarding the portrayal of the setting? Is it presented accurately? Explain your opinion.

*Give some examples of the symbols in your story, and explain your interpretation of the symbols.

*Describe the quest found in the story.

*How does good overcome evil (or evil overcome good) in your story? Give details from the text.

*Give an opinion about the quality of the author's craft? For example, did the author give enough details, figurative language or use other writing techniques that allowed you, as the reader, to clearly form visualizations from the text?

*If you and the author created a movie of this book, do you think the two movies would be exactly the same? What would be the same, and what would be different? Why do you think these similarities would exist?

*If your text is fantasy, how do you know your visualizations are what the author intended? Explain.

*What was your first reaction to your text? Give reasons to support your stance.

* What strategies can be used to read effectively? How do you know these strategies are making you read actively? Give examples from your reading.

*What type of texts are evident every day? List the texts and classify them into genres. Explain how you know the categories they belong in.

*How does descriptive language engage a reader? Give examples from the text.

*How do the elements of a mystery genre engage the reader? Use details from the text to provide examples.

Non-Fiction:

**As you read this week, what surprised you? Explain how this will affect the text or how it changed your thinking about the information.

**What do you wish to learn when you read again? What do you hope the author will include? Why do you wish for this to happen?

**Are you puzzled or confused about anything in the text? What is it that confuses you, and why do you find it confusing? Explain strategies you are using to “fix-up” your comprehension.

**It is not unusual to wish that our lives were more like the lives of people in our books. How would you change your own real life to be more like the one you are reading about? Why would you make these changes?

**Why do you think the author wrote this story? Where did he or she get the idea or the information? Explain your thinking.

**What message do you think that the author is trying to share? Explain and use examples from your life or text to support.

**Evaluate the message or theme the author is sharing-do you think it is a good message? Did you learn from it? Explain.

**What point of view is this text written from? If the point of view could be changed, would you want it to be? Explain how the current or changed point of view affects or would affect the text/information.

**What did you learn today as you read that you did not know before? Explain.

**What surprised you in your reading this week? Explain.

**As you read this week, were any questions that you had answered by what you read? List the questions that you had and the answers that you came up with from the reading. Are you satisfied with what you learned with these answers? Why or why not?

**Did you come across a problem in your reading that you had not considered before? What was the problem? Could you solve it? How?

**Are any of the real life situations or people that you read about in your material this week similar to situations that you have experienced before in life? How were they similar? How were they different?

**What do you think the author’s purpose was when writing this text? Explain.

**How credible is this text? How do you know that the facts are accurate and reliable? Is there a bias or perspective that could be debated by another? Explain.

**How might the text that your reading be helpful for someone? Cite specific examples and situations in your answer.

**What non-fiction text elements are found in your text (pictures, captions, graphs, sub-headings, glossary, index, etc)? How did these elements help you understand the information better?

**How could you use this text to help you understand another text or story? Explain.

**If you could ask the author some questions, what would you ask? Why would you ask these questions? Do you have a prediction of what the answer would be?

**Did your reading cause you to create new questions? What are those questions and where will you seek the answers to those questions?