Curated OER
Out of the Dust: Questioning Strategies
Bloom's Taxonomy is a great way to address the many levels of comprehension. With explanations and examples of each level, you can create questions that focus on knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.
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Dandelion Wine: Vocabulary Strategy
Prior to reading chapter 17 of Dandelion Wine, partners look up and illustrate level three words found in Colonel Freeleigh’s many allusions. Pairs then share with the whole class. Detailed instructions for the activity are included.
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Flipped: A Before Reading Strategy
Prior to reading Flipped, Wendelin Van Draanen’s young adult novel about teen romance, class members engage in an anticipation guide activity. Individuals post their responses to a series of prompts, and after reading all the responses,...
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Read it Like You Mean It!
First through third graders observe and demonstrate a variety of reading expression strategies. First start by reviewing some common digraphs and the sounds they make. Then listen to the teacher read different sentences with and without...
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Close Reading
Eleventh graders read and study Hamlet. Then they are introduced to close reading as a means of understanding what is being read--not only understanding the printed word, but also the nuances and connotations of language as it is used by...
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Reading Rainbow
Beginning readers observe and demonstrate a variety of reading expression strategies. They listen to the teacher read the book Ten Hungry Monsters both with and without expression, and discuss the difference. Then it's their turn! Have...
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Jump Ship To Freedom: A Mindwing Lesson
Focusing on chapters 1-4 from the book, Jump Ship to Freedom, this helpful resource outlines critical thinking questions using evidence from the text to deepen overall reading comprehension. Note: Familiarity with mindwing concepts is...
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Third Grade Fluency Lesson
Third graders read passages of text in an effort to improve their fluency and reading comprehension. In this language arts instructional activity, 3rd graders read passages that are at their reading level, and attempt to increase their...
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Let's Read For Speed!
Explore reading for fluency and speed with your class. They discuss reading faster, smoother, and with more expression. Practice reading with fluency using one minute timed reads. They read "Tin Man Fix-It." and record how many words...
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Book Talk Fun!: Growing Independence and Fluency
Master reading fluently and with emotion and expression! Young learners read and reread the book Tiki Tiki Tembo by Arlene Mosel to practice this strategy. The remark on the end punctuation to help them decide how to read the sentence.
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The Sun Also Rises: A Close Look at the Cloze
A passage from Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises offers class members an opportunity to demonstrate their reading comprehension skills.
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The Kite Runner: Cloze Procedure
A passage from Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner is the text for a cloze reading activity designed to determine the comprehension skills of class members. The resource includes the worksheet, an answer key, and step-by-step directions.
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Guided Reading with Jazz Baby
Jazz music and musicians are the focus of this language arts lesson. Young readers independently read the book Jazz Baby. To build fluency and independence they read silently, but are guided by directive comments from the teacher. They...
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Building Fluency
As your youngsters begin to recognize the letters of the alphabet and their correponsding sounds, there are some they will be more familiar with than others. Cement their letter associations using this quick strategy, shown here with the...
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Questioning
Practice making predictions by looking at the cover of a book. You can use The Hungry Thing, as suggested here, or any other book you may be reading in class. Use the predictions to talk about good reading strategies. A chart is included...
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Active Reading
In this active reading worksheet, students develop strategies to make text relevant to their own lives and experiences. Students make a list of active reading objectives and then list strategies to use to reach the objectives.
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Introduce: Comprehension Strategy: Comprehension Monitoring
Help readers develop awareness of comprehension issues and employ tools for better understanding. The best way to begin this strategy is to model it through a think aloud. Choose a book scholars will also be reading, preferably one they...
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Phineas Gage: Notecard Vocabulary Strategy
Understanding the vocabulary in a text, especially a text like Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science that includes quite a few technical terms, can be the key to understanding the text as a whole. Learners focus on...
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Unwind: Vocabulary Strategy, Creating an Unwind Glossary
Prior to reading Unwind, Neal Shusterman's 2007 young adult science fiction novel, class members research the common definition of words drawn from the novel that will come to have a very different meaning to them as they are drawn into...
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Tunes for Bears to Dance to: Vocabulary Strategy
To prepare for a reading of Robert Cormier's Tunes for Bears to Dance to, kids research vocabulary drawn from the novel and share their findings with their groups.
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Unwind: Directed Reading Thinking Activity
To generate interest in reading Neal Shusterman's young adult science fiction novel Unwind, class members engage in a Directed Reading-Thinking Activity (DRTA) that asks them to examine the front and back covers, the blurbs, and "The...
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Reading Comprehension Worksheet: Compounds & Elements
In this reading comprehension worksheet, students read several short paragraphs about compounds and elements and then answer several questions about the text.
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Tunes for Bears to Dance to: Graphic Organizer Strategy
"What are Henry's options?" "What do you think Henry will do?" To better understand the central conflict for the main character in Robert Cormier's Tunes for Bears to Dance to, class members engage in a compare-and-contrast activity that...
Novelinks
The Joy Luck Club: Writing Strategy
Readers of The Joy Luck Club, use a double-0entry journal to record and reflect on passages from Amy Tan's novel.