Standards: Connecticut has adopted the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) as the Connecticut State Standards (CSS).

BIG IDEAS

• Readers know that a reading community can be highly supportive.
• Readers create routines and structures will lead to lots of reading time.
• Readers choose books that are interesting to them.
• Readers preview books before they read.
• Readers must be flexible when word solving and use all three cueing systems simultaneously.
• Readers know that the author's craft is intentional and use it to make sense of what they reading.

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS - Students will keep considering . . .

• How do readers take charge of their reading to read lots of books with fluency, solve tricky words, and understand how the parts of a story fit together?
• How do readers select goals around the kinds of books that will be read (and how), the number of books, and for how long to read each day?
• How do partners work together to share and grow ideas, and to tackle trouble as they read together?

CONTENT OBJECTIVES

Students will be able to . . .

TAKING CHARGE OF READING

Sessions 1-2: Decide what to read and how to read it.

• choose lenses when reading.
• read a variety of texts adjusting voice intonation and mood.
• purposely choose a book and preview to decide how to read it.

Sessions 3-4: Build stamina.

• set goals to read more and more.
• decide what to read and how long to read.
• read in longer phrases.
• read faster and smoother.
• record reading on their log.

Sessions 5-6: Check comprehension as they read.

• stop, think, and retell the big events in order.
• mark places in their books to think and talk about later.
• stop and jot to remember ideas.

WORKING TO SOLVE TRICKY WORDS

Sessions 7-10: Word solve quickly and independently.

• apply what they are learning about prefixes, suffixes, and vowel teams.
• read words part by part.
• use multiple strategies when figuring out unknown words.
• stop reading when something doesn't sound right.

Sessions 11-12: Words can have different meanings

• think about what words mean in the story.
• check themselves for accuracy and meaning.
• try strategies when things don't make sense.

PAYING CLOSE ATTENTION TO AUTHORS

Sessions 13 -14: Author's craft moves

• stop and react to text.
• notice what the author did to get them to react.
• think about "How did the author do this?
• try some craft ideas in their own writing.

Sessions 15-16: Authors choose to fit the story parts together.

• tell how the parts build and connect together.
• retell main events.
• talk about how the ending fits with the story as a whole.
• stop after reading and think "What does the author want to teach me?"

Partners . . .

• push each other's thinking.
• use language to grow ideas "I'm thinking...", " This makes me wonder..."
• support each other with fix up strategies.
• encourage each other to keep trying to figure out.
• work on reading and writing together.
• make suggestions when revising to add craft moves.
• use same book partnerships to support book talk.
• use charts and tools to support each other's thinking.

BIG IDEAS

• Readers of nonfiction must study, notice details, and question texts as they read and put pages together.
• Nonfiction readers preview a text to determine how the text will go and what they will learn about.
• Readers of nonfiction grow their knowledge about a topic when they read multiple texts on the same topic.

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS - Students will keep considering . . .

• How can readers become experts about lots of different nonfiction topics?
• How can readers grow knowledge about a topic?
• How can readers use text features to figure out how parts of a book go together?
• How can readers learn the lingo of a topic and use new vocabulary to talk about their books?
• How can readers grow knowledge from more than one book to learn and talk about a topic?

CONTENT OBJECTIVES

Students will be able to . . .

THINKING AND GROWING KNOWLEDGE

Sessions 1-5: Noticing, Learning From, and Questioning Text

• read to study and notice details.
• identify what the book is teaching.
• stop and notice when they are learning something new.
• put parts of text together to question and grow new ideas.
• notice and use nonfiction text features to plan their reading.

LEARNING THE LINGO OF A TOPIC

Sessions 6-9: New Vocabulary and Tricky Words

• anticipate key words they may encounter about a topic.
• use text features to learn about a topic and grow vocabulary.
• use multiple strategies to solve tricky words.
• put parts of the text together.
• understand and use keywords.

Sessions 10-11: Using Expert Language

• reread like an expert to grow more knowledge about a topic.
• use new topic vocabulary in conversation and in writing.
• ask what is this part teaching me now.
• identify details and main ideas about a topic.

READING ACROSS A TOPIC

Sessions 12-14: Growing Knowledge Across Text

• stop and check for understanding while reading.
• name what they are learning.
• read many books on the same topic to notice what information may overlap.
• reread to make connections.
• add new information to what they already know.
• use examples when talking about a topic.

Session 15: Compare and Contrast

• read across texts noticing what's the same and what's different.
• use examples when talking about texts.

Session 16: Talking Like an Expert About a Topic

• use text features to help determine importance.
• demonstrate an understanding of vocabulary and keywords when talking about a topic.
• synthesize all the information they have learned about a topic.

Partners . . .

• encourage each other to notice more.
• use charts and tools.
• check-in with each other to share new learning.
• ask questions to clarify.

BIG IDEAS

• Characters can be understood by how they respond to problems and challenges.
• Characters have differences in points of view.
• Characters have traits that are developed throughout a story through different scenes and situations.
• Authors teach lessons through character actions and reactions to situations.

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS - Students will keep considering . . .

• What are the things I can do before, during and after reading a book to be a thoughtful reader of characters and stories?
• How can I draw on strategies I know and am learning to continue getting to know characters even when it’s hard to do so?
• How can I use my best inquiry skills to consider the question: “How do characters change and grow?”

CONTENT OBJECTIVES -> . . . in Progress

BIG IDEAS

• Readers have many reasons to reread to gain a better understanding of the book.
• Readers notice special language that an author uses to enhance understanding.
• Readers tackle new vocabulary and tricky words with greater resolve.
• Readers use skills to envision and predict while they read.
• Readers will rehearse and read with voice and meaning.

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS - Students will keep considering . . .

• How can readers read more challenging books with fluency and comprehension?
• How can readers read out loud and silently with fluency in order to better understand what the author intended?
• How can readers understand literary language in their books?
• How do readers tackle new and/or tricky vocabulary as they read?
• How can readers hold onto longer stories?
• How can readers reread in order to get the most out of books?
• How can readers set and reach reading goals?
• How can readers work together in goal clubs to help tackle shared goals?

CONTENT OBJECTIVES

Students will be able to . . .

Sessions 1-5: Reading with Fluency

• read words in phrases, using punctuation appropriately.
• read with appropriate rate.
• notice dialogue tags.
• keep track of dialogue and who is speaking.
• use dialogue and other text clues to know how to read certain parts of a text.
• read with correct rate and expression to help make meaning from text.
• picture what is happening in their text to help make meaning.

Sessions 6-9: Understanding Literary Language

• notice the use of figurative language.
• notice how language is used creatively in their books and ask themselves "What might the author want me to understand?"
• discuss literary language in group conversations.
• understand that when things are being compared in text they are showing how something is alike.

Sessions 10-13: Reading Longer Books

• make a reading plan with a partner.
• set reading goals.
• use strategies to keep track of longer text.
• use self monitoring strategies to notice when meaning breaks down.
• use a variety of fix-up strategies to help make meaning of text.

Sessions 14-16: Goal Setting

• self assess their own reading.
• set reading goals.
• create a plan to achieve reading goals.
• give helpful feedback to group members.
• be active listeners when participating in a group.

Partners . . .

• read to each other to push each other to read more fluently.
• push each other to reread to make their voices sound smoother.
• discuss how language is used in creative ways in their texts.
• help each other keep track of who is talking in their texts.
• support partner talk by reading and discussing the same book.
• help each other keep track of longer more complex text.
• give helpful feedback.
• use tools and charts to support discussion.

BIG IDEAS

• Nonfiction readers understand that they can grow bigger ideas by reading more complex texts and compare and contrast those ideas across texts.
• Nonfiction book club members take turns sharing information, listen to each other, and respond in relevant ways to grow their ideas about a topic beyond fact sharing.
• Nonfiction readers think and then revise their thinking when reading independently and after talking with their clubs.

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS - Students will keep considering . . .

• How do nonfiction readers draw on everything they know about informational reading to understand how the different parts of the books go together, and to assume a teaching voice and stance as they read, so that they share new learning with a reading club?
• How can club members work together to add their thinking to the information learned from the books read as a group?
• How can book club members hold meaningful conversations, make inferences, revise thinking, and grow ideas, in the company of one another?
• How can club members compare and contrast two (or more) texts on the same topic and put together this information to come up with newer, bigger thinking?

CONTENT OBJECTIVES -> . . . in Progress

BIG IDEAS

• Readers of series books understand plot, how characters respond to trouble, and how main characters interact with secondary characters.
• Readers of series books use partnerships and clubs to talk across texts and to build an understanding of story and character.
• Readers of series books read texts closely and consider what an author might be trying to show or do through the study of author's craft.
• Readers of series books share their opinions and love of books with others.

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS - Students will keep considering . . .

• How can readers become experts on series characters and the craft authors use?
• How can readers collect information about the characters in series books?
• How can readers study author’s craft to understand stories and characters even better?
• How can readers share their opinions about books with others?

CONTENT

Students will be able to . . .

Sessions 1-6: Becoming Experts on Characters

• know who the main characters are in a book series.
• pay attention to how characters respond to problems.
• compare how characters are the same across books in a series.
• back up their thinking with text evidence.
• grow ideas about characters.
• predict a character's next steps.
• give details to back up their predictions.

Sessions 7-12: Becoming Experts on Author's Craft

• notice how authors paint vivid pictures with words.
• notice how the author's word choice help a reader understand what is happening in a story.
• stop and notice when author's use literary language and ask and discuss "What does the author really mean?"
• make inferences.
• use post-it notes to mark where they noice literary language and playful language.
• use story structure to make reading plans.
• discuss the lesson learned in a story.

Sessions 13-16: Sharing Opinions

• share their opinions and thinking about stories with other people.
• make book recommendations.
• prepare a thoughtful presentation to share their thoughts about their books.
• back up their thinking about books with text evidence.

Partners . . .

• discuss what they learn about their characters.
• build on each other's ideas about characters.
• be active listerners.
• take turns while speaking.
• help each other notice and name the use of literary language.
• share opinions with each other through mini debates.
• help each other grow their talk.