Comprehension

These station activities are dedicated to developing comprehension. In each station, students create a product to make their thinking visible, and writing is often included. Students whose assessments show they are still learning basic phonics features can listen to texts being read aloud. Labeling pictures with words is always a good beginning strategy for those still learning how to compose responses to reading.

Because students grow as readers when they read, those who have received the syllables phonics unit should be reading the texts themselves and should not be accessing audio versions of texts.

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Background Knowledge

Activating Background Knowledge

Have students activate their background knowledge on a topic before reading about it. They could use graphic organizers like an ABC Chart or KWL Chart, which are included in the activity below.

Sample Activities from the Florida Center of Reading Research:


Read to Learn

Students read a text or select a choice book that builds background knowledge on a topic or thematic unit that is being discussed in class. Topics and themes can be nonfiction or fiction (i.e. "Anyone can be brave" or, "Don't give up when times are hard."). Students should briefly summarize the text or write a brief response to it after each session of reading. Students can discuss the text with others.


Create a Picture Book

Provide students with a text to read that will help build their background knowledge on a topic being read about in class. Have students identify important information from the text and then create a simple picture book with images describing important points from the text and captions that explain them. The book should be designed to help someone learn about the topic in an easier way.

Vocabulary

Say, Spell, Sketch, Respond

Have students work with a partner to read each vocabulary word, write it in sound boxes, and draw a sketch reminding them of the word's meaning. Provide students a prompt to respond to that has the students use a vocabulary word in a response to something read recently in class. For example: In Carla's Sandwich, how does Carla adapt when she is teased at school? Response Frame: "Carla adapts by..."


Categorize

Have students work with a partner to categorize vocabulary words and other terminology discussed in class into categories. They can create their own categories. Have them write the words into categories on separate pieces of paper or on one large piece of paper. Some words can have their own category, if needed. Have them label their categories and write a caption explaining each category. Have partners compare their categories and summarize what similarities and differences they notice among their categories. Another approach could be to provide students the words in categories and have them explain in writing what each category should be and why.

Sample Activities from Florida Center for Reading Research:


Four Square (Frayer Model)

Have students work with a partner to complete a Frayer Model for each of their vocabulary words. Then, they can play a game where they use their Frayer Models to describe one of the words for their partner, and the partner has to guess it. Students alternate guessing the words.

Sample Activities from Florida Center for Reading Research:


Feature Analysis

Have students work with a partner to complete a Semantic Feature Analysis for related vocabulary words. 


Creative Connections

Have students select two vocabulary words that "go together" and use them to create a strong sentence or story. Have students work in partners to swap sentences and then add onto them. Students can give themselves bonus points if they use additional vocabulary words.


Word Web

Have students create "webs" of multiple meaning words. The multiple meaning word goes in the middle, and its definitions go throughout the web. Students should draw pictures of each of the meanings or use each word in a sentence.

Sample Activities from Florida Center for Reading Research:


Affix Flip Book

Have students practice the meanings of the affixes being learned in class, such as in the game below. Then, have them create a picture book where each page includes an affix, a picture showing the meaning of the affix, two sample words that use the affix, and the words used in sentences. See the Flip Book Template & Example for ideas.

Sample Activities from Florida Center for Reading Research:


Affix Monsters & Creations

Have students fold a piece of blank paper into three sections (hamburger style). Provide them with a list of affixes, and have them select three. Model how to create an affix monster or an affix creation from the three affixes that do not seem to go together. They should draw a picture of their monster/creation and explain it in a few sentences. See Example #1, Example #2, and Template for ideas. To extend this activity, have students write a narrative about their monster or a "How To" text about how to use their creation.

Language Structures

Sentence Chopper

Provide students a few sentences from a text they will be reading soon. Have them chop the sentences into subjects and predicates, using the terminology in the "who or what" and "what's happening." See the Sentence Chopper and Sentence Chopper Advanced for templates and examples. 


Highlight

Provide students tricky sentences from a text that will be read soon. Provide them with markers, highlighters, or colored pencils and have them color each of the following sentence parts a different color.


Sentence Builder

Separate a sentence in a text about to be read so that each word is on a different card. Have students build the sentence and answer specific questions about the sentence, such as:


Sentence Hunt

After teaching students about compound or complex sentences, have them search a text they are reading in class to identify those types of sentences. Have them fold a piece of paper in half and write the independent clauses for a compound sentence on each side of the paper. For complex sentences, have them write dependent clauses on one side and independent clauses on the other. Then, have the students explain to a partner why each part of the sentence is important.


Description Hunt

After teaching students about adjectives or adverbs, have them search a text they are reading in class to identify those parts of speech. Have them fold a piece of paper in half and write the descriptor (adjective or adverb) on one side and the word it is describing on the other side. Then, have them illustrate each phrase.


Theatrics

If students need support with the four types of sentences, provide them sentences to read using each sentence's punctuation to affect how they read it. Have students work in partners to categorize the sentences and then read each category together chorally. This will help ensure that the voice inflection. Then, have students pretend they are auditioning for a play. Have one partner mix up the cards and flash them one at a time so the other partner can read them with varying inflections. Then, the partners switch.

Verbal Reasoning

Mark It

Have students write questions they have about a text being read in class in the margins. They could also log questions for an independent reading book in their journals. Then, have them discuss their questions with a partner.  Teach partners to respond with, "Do you have any ideas of what the answer might be?" "Why do you think that?"


Text Says, I Think

Provide students a graphic organizer like Text Says, I Think. Have them revisit a text from class or use their independent reading book to put quotations from the text on one side and what they think the author is trying to make them think or feel on the other side.


Figurative Language Illustrations

Identify figurative language in the class text being read. Have students fold a blank sheet of paper in half and write the sentence or phrase at the top. Have them draw the literal meaning on the left and the figurative meaning on the right. Note: Students do not need to be able to name the types of figurative language to do this activity.


Character Chart

Have students create a character chart with the names and/or images of characters and how they are related. Alternatively, the character chart could include details about the characters. They may draw a line from the main character to her mother and label it "mom" or write a caption under each character explaining who they are.

Sample Activities from the Florida Center of Reading Research:


Compare and Contrast

Compare and contrast two ideas from the text (nonfiction), characters (fiction), or settings (fiction) in a Venn diagram. Have students use text evidence as they describe each one.

Sample Activities from the Florida Center of Reading Research:


Dig Deep

Provide students a higher-level thinking question regarding a text being read in class. Have students use the Dig Deep template to discuss their answers, provide text evidence, and respond to their groupmates.

Literacy Knowledge

Summarize

Have students keep brief summaries of the text they are reading in their journals. At the end of the station time, they should read their summary to a partner and have the partner ask a question about what they wrote. Both partners should have a turn to share. 

Sample Activities from the Florida Center of Reading Research:


Story Structure

Have students work together to complete a story map for a narrative that the class has recently read. Then, they can turn their story map into a skit or a comic strip.

Sample Activities from the Florida Center of Reading Research:


Map It Out

Provide students a graphic organizer based on the organizational pattern of a nonfiction text that the class is reading. Have students work together to complete the graphic organizer and then explain their graphic organizer to another set of partners. Have them discuss how the graphic organizer helps them understand what the text is about. Some examples of graphic organizers can be found here.

Sample Activities from the Florida Center of Reading Research:


Genre Sort

Work with your librarian to provide students a stack of books to sort into the genres they have learned (ex. fiction vs. nonfiction). Have students look through the books and sort them into categories. Then, they should write a few sentences explaining how they knew the fiction books were fiction and the nonfiction books were nonfiction.

Sample Activities from the Florida Center of Reading Research:


Compare and Contrast

Have students compare and contrast two texts that have been read in class or two characters from the same or different texts. Then, have students summarize similarities and differences with a partner.

Sample Activities from the Florida Center of Reading Research:

Reading Strategies

Summarizing

Have students keep brief summaries of the text they are reading in their journals. At the end of the station time, they should read their summary to a partner and have the partner ask a question about what they wrote. Both partners should have a turn to share. 


Organizing

Have students use a pre-made graphic organizer or create their own concept map to organize the information in a text in order to help them learn the content better. Have them use their graphic organizer to explain the text to a partner and explain how the graphic organizer helped or hindered their learning and why.


Questioning

Have students keep a log of questions to ask the author or questions about the text as they read. Then, they can work with a partner to compare their questions, especially if they are reading the same text. The partners should work together to see if they can answer any of the questions.


Literature Circles or Book Clubs

Set up partners or small groups where students select a text to read. Each day as they read, they should keep some kind of log of their thinking. This could include jot notes, a summary, questions they have about the text, a response to the text, etc. Every other day, groups should meet to discuss the text and their thinking. This can be most aligned when the teacher provides a thinking prompt connected to the standards being learned during whole group instruction. Instead of having roles that isolate the reading strategies, students should be encouraged to integrate reading strategies they need when they need them in order to understand the text.