Goals 5 and 6 - The Reading Strategies Book Study

Hello again!

Welcome back to the summer book study. I have been so excited to read the other blogs and hear your favorite strategies each week. It seems like there is always a strategy or two that I overlooked and have to go back and check it out after reading other's thoughts about it! That is EXACTLY why I wanted to do this study and collaborate with you all. :-)

 If you are playing catch up, no worries. 

Here's links to the first three posts:

Getting Started

Goals 1 and 2

Goals 3 and 4

***So I went back to copy these from the previous post, and accidentally deleted it. Can you say mini heart attack? Got it back up though. Whew!***

I'm very excited to start digging into the comprehension goals! I don't know about you, but I have had many little friends over the years who could read wonderfully, but struggled to comprehend. It has been my desire to "unlock" the love of reading for them, which as Serravallo points out, "...that lost-in-a-book, engaged sort of reading that makes reading enjoyable..." can only come if they understand what's going on.

I loved her idea of planting sticky notes inside a text for students as they read to encourage them to stop and jot (respond in writing). She suggested the sticky notes could say:

--Retell the most important events that happened in this chapter.

--Why did that (event) happen?
--Describe the setting. Use as much detail as you can.
--What is the main problem the character is facing?

She also gave a resource for retelling rubrics that you might want to check out. 

Here's a few of my favorite strategies from this goal:

5.3 Summarizing What's Most Essential

Summarizing has always been difficult for my 1st and 2nd graders. They either tell way too much or not enough. 

In recent years, I have resorted to asking them, "What will you tell mom or dad about this story when you go home?" It does help because they realize that their parents have not read the story and need some key details, but I am always looking for ways I can help students with this skill. 

I love the visual! 

5.13 Summarize Based on What a Character Wants

I really liked how this strategy encourages students to think about how each chapter in the book connects back to what the character wants. I think too often some readers have trouble making connections between chapters, and this strategy with the terrific prompts will be very helpful.

Another great graphic on this one--seriously--the visuals/graphics/charts included are amazing!

5.16 Summarizing with "Somebody...Wanted...But...So..."

This one jumped out at me because I use it for writing! 

When I'm trying to teach my littles to write a fiction story, this is one of the strategies I use to try and help them brainstorm.

It makes perfect sense to also use it as a summarizing strategy.

Serravallo says that in fiction comprehension, plot and setting are first, but character is a very close second!

"Characters can become our friends, can help us learn about lives outside of our own, and can help us think differently about or better understand people in our lives." (pg. 162)

After reading the introduction to this goal, I felt challenged to better understand text level. Serravallo explains that understanding will give us a better expectation for my reader's responses.

My favorite strategies from Goal 6:

6.2 What's in the Bubble?

This strategy is all about prompting our students to consider what the character is thinking and/or why they are saying and acting in a certain way.

I'm ordering some of these thought bubble sticky notes (affiliate link) to make this strategy easy to do. :-) I like how these are white...some of the brighter colors make it harder to see the writing.

6.10 Who's Telling the Story?

The example of lesson language in this strategy caught my eye because I remember having the exact conversation with my kiddos reading Horrible Harry this year!

It is so important that readers know who the narrator is and who is speaking by noticing dialogue tags. This strategy had another great visual and some great prompts that I will definitely be using this year!

6.12 Empathize to Understand

Okay, so I chose this strategy because it could serve a dual purpose in the classroom. 

We are lacking empathy in our society today! 

By using this strategy--which definitely would help make meaning of characters' words and actions--we would have a great opportunity to teach our students about empathy and considering other people's feelings...and maybe, just maybe, that lesson would be even more important than a reading strategy. 

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Those are a few of my favorite strategies. 

I want to hear from you! Tell me about your favorites either in the comments below or on our Facebook page.

Don't forget to check out the other blog posts below for more thoughts and ideas!

An InLinkz Link-up

Happy Bday to Me (and Reading Comprehension)!

It's true. Today is my birthday! I sort of have a tradition of celebrating my birthday for an entire week...which basically means I use it as an excuse for the week to not do anything I don't want to do or to do things I don't normally do.

 

Here's a few examples I've used in years past...

 

"I don't want to make supper. It's my birthday."

"I don't want to exercise. It's my birthday."

"I want to take a nap. It's my birthday."

"I'm having dessert. It's my birthday."

 

I know you're thinking these seem very reasonable on my birthday, but these are things I might say several times the week of my birthday. Ha! My husband teases me mercilessly over this, which of course, has prompted me to make it even 'bigger.' I can come up with all sorts of things now... ;-)

 

Maybe I should try...

 

"I don't want to watch another car show. It's my birthday." :-)

 

Anyway, this year has been a bit different because I'm still having the gall bladder/stomach issues. I have to have another test tomorrow... I did make supper for my father-in-law on Tuesday, which was his birthday. I even ate some of it and didn't feel too bad. Tonight the kids are making me grilled hamburgers, fries, and Smores pie.

 

I found the pie on Pinterest. Not my normal request, but I know the kids will love it (since I probably won't eat much of it). I'll let you know what I think.

 

Okay, I really wanted to keep linking up with Kelli for her schedule spotlight series. This week's topic is comprehension.

 

 

 

I'm afraid I might diappoint a little here. We have a basal--which I love--and I base my comprehension strategy and skill lessons off of that each week. I know some of you don't like to be tied to a reading series, but I like the direction it gives me.

 

I'll just share some of my favorite things for a few of the things on Kelli's list.

 

Main Idea and Details - Give students each a picture that leads to one big idea...for example: flip flops, beach ball, sunscreen, and beach towel. Then ask what all the pictures have in common. What is the 'main idea' of the pictures? This really helped my kiddos this last year. I had several different sets of pictures and they had to agree on the main idea. It was very interesting to hear their reasoning.

 

Making Predictions - The biggest challenge I have found on making predictions is getting the kids comfortable with making an incorrect prediction. They always want to be right! I keep reminding them it is just a guess of what we think will happen next.

 

Making Inferences - Kristi does an amazing job with this. The first time we teach it each year (with the basal we spiral back around several times within the year), she has her room all decked out with "bird prints" and bird seed...all leading to a paper bag and a note. Of course, I try to copy her because she is the Super Teacher! I have seen a crime scene pin on Pinterest that looks pretty fun too.

 

Summarizing - I like to ask, "When you go home tonight and tell your mom or dad about the story, what will you say?" It really helps them get the idea that they have to make it SHORTER!

 

Visualizing - "Take a picture in your mind. What do you see?" This seems to work well for me. A lot of times when I'm reading during story time after we've focused on visualizing, I will read a few pages without showing the pictures. They love trying to visualize what is happening and then check to see if they were right.

 

That's all I've got today...after all it is my birthday! Hee hee...

 



P.S. Did you notice we are really close to some follower milestones? Almost 400 on Bloglovin' and almost 200 on Google!!! Kristi and I are thinking...giveaway! Stay tuned for the details...