Second Grade Reading Units of Study 2010-2011
2nd grade
Reading
August
Launching: Readers Build Good Habits
September
Tricky Word Strategies
Choice or Combonation Story Elements
October
November
and/or
Characters Go On Journeys Nonfiction (Centers)
Reading about a topic (pets, weather) to get an idea
December
Tackling Tough Parts
January/February
Character Study: A Journey Through Friendship
February/March
April
May
Reading and Role Playing (Reader’s Theater) Nonfiction Reading (centers or not)
Reading as a Researcher
Experts in a Series
August- Launching: Readers Build Good Habits Overview of Unit:
In this unit, you will be teaching your students about the expectations, routines, and sturctures for reading workshop time.
Most of your teaching during this unit will tend to fall into one of these broad categories or bends in the road: o Readers will understand the expectations for independent reading workshop time. o Readers will know how to take care of books. o Readers will learn strategies for working and talking to a reading partner. o Students will learn the system for checking out books, taking them home, and bringing them back. o Teacher will assess all readers to determine reading levels.
Teaching Points:
Readers have reading identities and share them with each other… o Readers think about and share their favorite reading memories. They think of a time reading felt good to them, close their eyes, visualize that memory and make a sketch of that time. They draw everything they see in their mind. Readers can also write a sentence or two about that time on that picture. o Readers learn about themselves as readers. They think about what kinds of books they really love to read. They choose new books that remind them of their favorite books. o Readers choose great books to read. o They look at the front cover and ask themselves, “Is this something that I’d be interested in reading?” If it is they start reading that book. If it isn’t they choose another book. o They look at the pages (doing a picture walk), and ask themselves, “Is this something that I’d be interested in reading?” If it is they start reading that book. If it isn’t they choose another book. Readers take care of the books and the classroom library… o Great readers take care of their books. o They turn the pages at the corner so they won’t rip them. o They carefully put them in their baggies, backpacks, and desks. This will keep them from getting ripped, torn, or bent. o They carefully put them back in the baskets so they don’t get ripped, torn, or bent. o They return them from home so they can take new books home to share with their families. Readers understand the reading workshop procedures so that all readers can do their best work… o Readers get prepared for reading workshop. They get their books, pencil, post-it notes, and Kleenexes before coming to the carpet, and they take it to their reading spot. o Readers show that they’re really listening during the mini-lesson. They sit on the rug, crisscross, hands in their lap, with their eyes on the teacher. They only talk when the teacher asks them to. o Readers don’t interrupt conferences. They figure out a way to solve their problem and keep working. o Bathroom-use the bathroom before reading workshop
o Torn book- give it to teacher or put it in the hospital bin at the end of workshop o Tricky word-try your best and then mark it for partner time o Someone is talking- motion for them to be quiet o Post-it notes/Pencil/Kleenexes- make sure you have all supplies before reading begins o Readers move back to their reading spots quickly after the mini-lesson. They get up, go to their seat, choose a book and start to read right away. o Readers have private reading time. They read quietly to themselves (staying in their spot), not bothering or talking to anyone. o During partner time readers sit side by side with ONE book in the middle and their other books beside them. (Continue to discuss management issues during mid-workshop and teaching share time.) Readers stay focused on their reading… o Readers get their minds ready to read their books. They look at the front cover, read the title, and think, “Hmmmm….what might this book be about?” o Readers keep reading the whole time. After they finish one book, they choose another book of interest and keep reading. o After readers finish a book they go back and retell the story using the pictures. Make sure you include the characters names, problem, and solution. (Or touch each page and say the main thing that happens on each page.) o After readers finish a book they go back and find the most important picture or part. They mark it with a post-it and think about why it is the most important. Then they are able to share it with their partner during partner time. o Readers love to reread their books. They study the pictures more closely, look at all the small details, and notice new things in the pictures so that they can understand the story better. o Readers love to reread their books to get a better understanding of the story. They reread their books and notice when they realize something new. o Readers get ready for partner reading time by reading and thinking about what they might share with their partner. They can use post-it notes to mark the pages they want to talk about. Readers think and talk about books with others… o Partners take turns with books so both people can get a chance to go first. They say, “You can read first this time. I’ll read first next time.” o During partner time readers sit side by side with ONE book in the middle and their other books beside them. o Readers begin partner time by retelling their books. They retell the story using the pictures. Making sure they include the characters names, problem, and solution. (Or touch each page and say the main thing that happens on each page.) o After readers retell their book to their partner, they can share various parts of their book. o They turn to the page they felt happy, sad, excited, scared, grossed out, or other feeling and explain why they felt that way. o They turn to their favorite page and share what that part made them picture in their mind. o They turn to their most important part and tell why they think it is important. o They turn to a part that was confusing and read it with their partner to see if they can help figure out the tricky part. o They turn to a place that reminds them of something in their life. They say to their partner, “This reminds me of__________ because________.”
September- Tricky Word Strategies Overview of Unit:
This unit is designed to provide an opportunity very early in the year for teachers to revisit the strategy work children learned in the previous year but may have forgotten, and it gives students time to learn more sophisticated strategies that will help them read more challenging books. Most of your teaching during this unit will tend to fall into one of these broad categories or bends in the road: o Strategies for decoding tricky words that may often be polysyllabic o Strategies for figuring out the meaning of unfamiliar words and phrases
Alignment with Standards: 2.1.3 2.1.7 2.1.11 2.2.9
Decode regular words with more than one syllable Understand and explain common synonyms Know and use common word families when reading unfamiliar words. Use context to understand word and sentence meanings.
Teaching Points: *Children that are having trouble with sight words could have sight word phrases or word rings in their shopping bags to practice during reading time.
o Readers check themselves (self-monitor) as they read. o o o
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They notice when they hit a hard word. They do not just pretend they didn’t see it and mumble past it. They stop and try to figure it out. They make sure the word they tried not only makes sense but also looks right (matches the letters). They make sure they understand the story by checking to see if they can retell it. Retell across your fingers saying cue words such as first, then, next, after that, and finally. Touch each page and retell the big thing that is happening. They use a “stop and think” post-it. When you begin reading put a post-it a few pages ahead and when you come to that post-it you should stop and think about what you have just read.
o Readers can figure out a tricky word by o o o
looking at the picture for a clue and asking themselves what might make sense. looking at the first few letters, making those sounds. Then they look at the picture and ask themselves what would make sense that starts with __? looking for familiar word-parts, such as blends and digraphs (sp, fr, th, ch etc) or spelling patterns (ack, ick)
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looking for compound words. They look to see if there are two words within one larger word. reading through a word, part by part, from left to right. They do this by breaking the word up into syllables. Look at the vowel and a couple letters after it. Then they blend the parts together and ask themselves does this make sense? For example ill-us-tra-tion or im-por-tant looking for familiar endings such as ly, ed, or ing. Once you know the familiar ending you can cover it up, read the word, and put the ending back on. playing with the sounds in your mouth. You can try both vowels sounds; short or long; and see what makes sense. putting your finger on the tricky word, reading on and then going back to see what would make sense.
o Readers figure out the meaning of tricky words. o o o o
We pause when we come to a new word and consider what the word or phrase means. We think, “Have I seen or heard this word before? If so, how was used?” We re-read the section before the tricky word, and then we read ahead. Then we ask ourselves, “Now that I know a little more information, what does that word mean?” We look at the picture and think, “Is there anything in the picture that would be a clue to the meaning of this word?” We collect unfamiliar words and replace them with synonyms. We do this by putting in a word we know that makes sense with the rest of the sentence. The class could make an unfamiliar word chart on which kids collect new words and tell their meanings.
o Readers can help their partner with tricky words by o
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offering helpful prompts rather than simply calling out the word in question. They can do this by suggesting to try the word part by part (syllables), trying different vowel sounds (short or long), etc. (refer to tricky word chart) suggesting they pause and think what the word might mean, go back and re-read and ask what would make sense, or replacing it with a synonym. (refer to tricky meaning chart)
Keep other goals alive! Fluency
o Readers practice fluency by o o o
using familiar books. reading books at a lower level. re-reading parts of your book.
o Readers use the punctuation to read with fluency by o o o
scanning ahead and looking at the end marks and making your voice reflect the different types of end marks from the start of the sentence. pausing at each comma. pausing at each end mark.
o Readers read dialogue fluently by o o o
noticing the dialogue tags. They change their voice according to how the character said it. (whispered, shouted) reading in the voice of the character, and having different voices for different characters. reflecting the tone of the scene. i.e. scary or exciting voice.
o Readers read fluently with phrasing and intonation by
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reading in meaningful chunks or phrases. They do this by reading the smaller words faster and putting stress on the important words. knowing when to pause for emphasis. They do this by pausing where there are commas, punctuation, or ellipsis.
October- Story Elements Story Elements Overview of Unit:
In this unit of study, your readers will learn how to use story elements to further support their understanding of texts. You’ll also spend some time revisiting strategies to read with fluency because many of the students in your class are likely to be reading silently and you will want to ensure that the reading voice in their heads is a fluent one. Most of your teaching during this unit will tend to fall into one of these broad categories or bends in the road: o Paying attention to particular elements in the setting. o Paying attention to the problem and the conclusion in the story. o Paying attention to change in time. o Reading with fluency
Alignment with Standards:
2.1.6 Read aloud fluently and accurately with appropriate changes in voice and expression. 2.3.5 Confirm predictions about what will happen next in a story. 2.7.8 Retell stories, including characters, setting, and plot.
Teaching Points: Setting:
o Careful readers can notice the setting by paying attention to specific place words that tell a reader where the action is happening
o Readers can find the scenes in their book by first thinking where is the setting or the place my story is happening (the city) and where do they go (laundry mat, the park). They can then write the different scenes on a post-it to share later with their partner.
o Careful readers pay attention to the setting by noticing when the scene changes in the book. o Careful readers notice when the scene changes by paying attention to the illustrations, location words and phrases
o Readers pay close attention to where the characters go.
This can help you make connections between other books about the character. Do they always go to the same place when things go bad, etc. Problem/Solution
o Readers try to figure out the problem in their book right from the start. o o
They do this by reading the title and looking closely at the cover and asking, “What might be the problem in this story?” They look for places where the main character has some sort of negative feeling.
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They read the first page, stop and ask, “Did the author tell me the problem in the story? Are there clues to what the problem might be? They do this after each page until they’ve discovered the problem.
o Careful readers can share parts of their books with their partner by o o
putting a post-it on places where the problem emerges. putting a post-it on places where the solution happens.
o Readers can predict what the problem might be by noticing that some events in a story recur, and this can lead to a problem
o Readers know that characters usually try and try to solve the problem in the story before it is actually solved. Readers pay attention to all of the attempts that characters make to solve the problem before it is actually solved. They read a few pages, stop and ask, did my character do anything in this part to try and solve the problem?
o Readers know that there is typically a turning point in all stories…the part right before the problem is
solved. Readers find the turning point by o finding the page where the problem is solved and then checking the pages right before and asking, What happened right before the problem was solved that caused it to get solved? What was the turning point? o finding where the problem is at its worst…often, where the character is feeling the strongest emotion…or where things just seem to be piling up or getting out of control. They do this by asking, where is the character feeling a strong emotion? Where is the part where things seem like they can’t get any worse?”
o Readers pay attention to how the character is feeling at each attempt to solve the problem.
They reread their book or skim back through, stopping at each attempt to solve the problem and ask, In this part, how is my character feeling? They can keep track of this by writing how their character is feeling at each part on a post-it.
o Readers notice how character feelings often change throughout the attempts to solve a problem. Post-its
They do this by rereading their emotion post-its and saying, In the beginning _______ felt ____. At the end they felt _____. o o o
Time
Where the problem is revealed On all the places where the character attempts to solve the problem On the turning point
o Readers realize when time changes or passes by o o o o Fluency
noticing when their characters are in different clothing. noticing when the pictures go from day to night. noticing when books go back in time. The book can use words or phrases like, A year ago, Long ago, yesterday, etc. paying attention to language. For example, text that states: “Later that day, early one morning, meanwhile, or the next thing that happened was…”
o Readers practice fluency by o o o
using familiar books. reading books at a lower level. re-reading parts of your book.
o Readers use the punctuation to read with fluency by o o o
scanning ahead and looking at the end marks and making your voice reflect the different types of end marks from the start of the sentence. pausing at each comma. pausing at each end mark.
o Readers read dialogue fluently by o o o
noticing the dialogue tags. They change their voice according to how the character said it. (whispered, shouted) reading in the voice of the character, and having different voices for different characters. reflecting the tone of the scene. i.e. scary or exciting voice.
o Readers read fluently with phrasing and intonation by o o
reading in meaningful chunks or phrases. They do this by reading the smaller words faster and putting stress on the important words. knowing when to pause for emphasis. They do this by pausing where there are commas, punctuation, or ellipsis.
OctoberCharacters Go On Journeys Overview of Unit:
In this unit of study, your readers will learn about characters in a new way. They will focus on the characters traits and motivations while concluding what the character’s personality is like and what their actions and interactions reveal about them. Then, too, readers will learn that charcters go on journeys that are external and internal. Teaching readers how to infer will be a great support for this reading work.
Alignment with Standards: 2.1.6 2.3.5 2.7.8 2.3.7
Read aloud fluently and accurately with appropriate changes in voice and expression. Confirm predictions about what will happen next in a story. Retell stories, including characters, setting, and plot. Identify the meaning or lesson of a story
Teaching Points: **The unit may begin by reading aloud a book such as Where the Wild Things Are In that story, Max goes on a journey to a far away place where wild things roam. He learns to tame them and he plays with them, but in the end, decides he would rather be back home. You might use that book (or another) to explain to your second graders that some grown ups ssay that all stories are accounts of a character who goes on a journey. Sometimes these journeys are to far away places and sometimes simply to grandma’s
house (as in Little Red Riding Hood). As the character takes these journeys, they experience a sequence of events, events that can be retold on a timeline. So this is a way to talk about story structure. Then of course, you will want to teach your second graders that the journeys of the characters are not always external ones. Characters go from feeling one thing to feeling another thing. This will inevitably support inferential reading. o Readers pay attention to the setting of the story as the character goes on an external journey. They do this by noticing where the story is taking place (the setting). Begin by naming the setting in the beginning of the story, the middle of the story, and the end of the story. o Readers notice when the time changes in the story (in relation to the setting) and name the specific time things happen to the character by saying things such as, “Right before dinner he…, and hour later he…, and late that night he…” o Readers respond to the text in order to relate to our characters and become invested in their journeys. o We do this by stopping and thinking about what is happening, what the character is saying and doing and then we jot down on a psot-it what that makes us think. o Good readers make predictions about what their character will do next. One way they can do this is by putting themselves in the character’s shoes and thinking…”What would I do if I were____?” o Good readers retell as they read and not just after finishing the book. One way to do this is to start with what they character did and then say what they did to get it. Mark these actions with post-its as you go. o Good readers pay close attention to the reactions we have as we read about the journeys our characters take. We do this in order to better relate to them and form predictions about how their journeys will unfold. o Good readers pay close attention to the details of our character. Specifically, we pay close attention to the authors’ descriptions about our characters. We can do this by recording details about our characters on post-its in our books. o Good readers deeply invest ourselves in our new book by considering the relationship our main characters have with secondary characters. We can do this by talking long with our book clubs about how these relationships affect our main characters’ journey. o We are all motivated by different wants and needs. Good readers investigate the wants or needs that motivate our main characters to go on their journeys. We can do this by using post-its to mark places in our books where we see possible sources of motivation.
o Readers pay close attention to the character’s wants and needs as the story progresses…the wants and needs that motivate our character to go on his journey. These wants and needs may change as the story progresses. Good readers pay attention to the changing wants and needs that motivate our characters. We do this so we can learn how our character is changing as a person. o Readers pay close attention to what characters want and what they did to get it by jotting on post-it’s the wants and then listing out the steps the character took to get it. Readers do this in order to learn more about the character’s personality and how they are changing/learning. o Readers respond to our characters’ actions and behaviors to form deeper understandings of their journeys and the text as a whole: o Good readers respond to our characters’ behavior by asking the question, “Why is my character behaving this way?” Then, we can talk long with the members in our book clubs about our characters’ behavior. o Readers keep track of behavior patterns if they notice that the characters repeatedly behave in a certain way, but are not quite sure why they are behaving this way. Jot these noticings on postits. o Sometimes, our characters behave in a way that does not quite fit with what we already know about them. Good readers ask ourselves, “How does my character’s behavior fit with what I already know about him/her?” Partners can use charts or post-its to track our characters’ actions. o Sometimes, our characters’ behavior and thoughts do not always match. Good readers often compare our characters’ behaviors to their thoughts so we can get a fuller sense of who our characters truly are. o Readers respond when our characters behave in a way that is different than how we would behave in a particular situation. We can talk long with our partners about how we might react in situations that our characters are faced with. o Readers critically consider the major changes and turning points in our characters’ journeys to better synthesize across the text: o Readers look to figure out what type of journeys our characters are embarking on: a man’s journey home or a stranger comes to town. We do this by paying attention to the elements of the story. o Readers determine what is important in books by looking for changes our characters go through. We do this so we know what is worth thinking and talking about in our books.
o Readers investigate the changes characters go through throughout their personal journeys. One way we can do this is by investigating and talking about these changes with our partners using conversational prompts. For example: “_________ was__________ at the beginning of the
story and now he/she is_________.”
o Readers consider the emotions our characters feel during major changes or turning points throughout their journeys. We do this to understand how our characters may be growing and changing. Readers can use a character sketch to track these emotions at major turning points. o Readers respond to our characters’ emotions during major turning points along their journeys. We do this by asking ourselves, “What from my life relates to this? How are my experiences the same or different from my main characters’ experiences?” Readers can use conversational prompts to talk long about this with our partners. For example: “I am like/not like ________
because in my life I have also/have not experienced____________.”
o Readers reflect back on the changes our characters go through. We do this to form an understanding of the lessons or characters have learned. We strategically discuss these changes with our partner. o When we come to the end of our characters’ journeys, good readers go back and further explore the relationships our characters have formed throughout their journeys. We can ask ourselves, “What was the purpose for these relationships and what did our characters learn from them?” We can talk long with our partners about these relationships. o Readers make connections between how a main character is similar to characters in other stories we have read. We can do this by revisiting our post-its to track where we think our characters’ actions compare to other characters we have read about. o Sometimes, readers do not relate to our characters or the journeys they embark on. When this happens, one thing readers can do is think about something similar we or someone we know has experienced. Readers can do this by thinking about the major lessons from the book and writing short connections in our reading notebooks about how this journey connects to our lives. o Readers look for hidden meanings in the stories and we ask ourselves, “What is the author really trying to tell us about our character’s journey?” This helps us form deeper connections with the text. o Readers think deeply about the endings of our characters’ journeys. We do this to form opinions about why the journeys ended the way they did. We ask ourselves, “Why did the story end this way? How does this fit with what I already know about my character?”
o Readers compare the journeys the characters went on by creating T charts with external and internal journeys listed. Partnerships can share with other partnerships. o The last week of this unit you may choose to organize some bins with books that have similar “journeys” in them. For example: a bin with books called “friendship journeys” (Frog and Toad, Henry and Mudge)
November- Nonfiction Centers
(Reading about a topic to get an idea)
Overview of Unit:
In this unit of study, students will work in reading non-fiction books of interest. These topics could be: weather, space, pets, snakes, or ocean life. As a culminating activity the children will become teachers themselves, teaching other children about what they have learned. In this unit the teacher should choose a subject to use for modeling. This could be the same topic your most struggling readers are in, to offer them more support. Most of your teaching during this unit will tend to fall into one of these broad categories or bends in the road: o How to get ready to read nonfiction o How to gather information in nonfiction books o How to grow BIG ideas (inferential thinking) o How to deal with increasing difficulty o How to change their thinking
Alignment with Standards:
2.1.7 Understand and explain common synonyms 2.2.1 Use titles, tables of contents, and chapter heading to locate information in text. 2.2.11 Identify text that uses sequence or other logical order. 2.2.2 State the purpose for reading. 2.2.3 Use knowledge of the author’s purpose to comprehend information text. 2.2.4 Ask and respond to questions to aid comprehension about important elements of information texts. 2.2.5 Restate facts and details or summarize the main idea in the text to clarify and organize ideas. 2.2.6 Recognize cause and effect relationships in a text. 2.2.7 Interpret information from diagrams, charts, and graphs. 2.2.9 Use context to understand word and sentence meanings. 2.2.10 Draw conclusions or confirm predictions about what will happen next in a text by identifying key words. 2.7.2 Ask for clarification and explanation of stories and ideas. 2.7.9 Report on a topic with supportive facts and details. 2.7.11 Report on a topic with facts and details, drawing from several sources of information.
Teaching Points: o
Readers get ready to read nonfiction books by o Looking at the cover and thinking, “What do I know about this already? What do I think this book might be about? Does this book remind me of any other book I know?”
Starting with an easy book that they feel comfortable reading. They open the book and look at the font, the beginning sentences, its features and length and then ask themselves, “Does this feel like a book that I should read to get started? Or does this feel like a book that I should read when I am more of an expert?” o Thinking about what they already know about their topic and what more do they want to learn. o Skimming and scanning the text. Readers flip through the pages looking at pictures, reading the headings, noticing charts, diagrams, and captions, so that they will know what to expect in their books. o Deciding where to start reading when there are many different features on the page. Readers usually start with the biggest font and the print that is on the upper left of the page. o Noticing if a book has time order words, such as: first, next, and last. This helps the reader know that the book will be organized by time. Readers gather information in nonfiction books so they can learn and be able to share it with a partner by o Noticing if their book has headings or subheadings. If it does then they read them first and then think, “Oh, this part will be about ____.” o Writing a post-it at the end of the main section about the big idea. “This part taught me ______, or I learned _______ in this part.” o Noticing if their book does not have a heading. If it doesn’t then they read the section and then ask themselves, “What would make a good title for this part? Or What is this part mostly about?” Then they can create post-it for this section. o Creating post-its on the BIG and NEW things they are learning. o Creating post-its where they have feelings such as being surprised, pleased, or disappointed by something they read. Wow…, I can’t believe…, This part makes me ___ (sad) because___. Readers get big ideas from their nonfiction books by o Reading all the parts of the page first. And then they think, “This page is mostly about ______.” o Reading the whole section of their book. And then they think, “This section is mostly about _____.” o Comparing information across books. Readers look for things that are the same and different in each of their books. They can say things like, “Well in this example I see________ and in this one you see the same thing, but it is slightly different because ________.” o Noticing when one book says something different than another book, and they can reread the parts to think about why there is different information in the texts. o Noticing or wondering about things when they read, then they can add their thoughts by saying things like, “I notice that ____and it makes me think_____. or “I’m wondering why_____. My idea about that is ____.” o (when) they make connections between books by saying things like, “This reminds me of ___ because ____.” Readers notice when things don’t make sense “Uh oh”. They keep reading when their books get harder by o Using the pictures to help them make meaning. They can ask themselves, “Can I learn anymore information by looking at the picture?” o Rereading to increase their understanding. o Talking to a partner to clear up confusions and then getting right back to work. o Reading on to see if the text makes more sense later. o Retelling often with a partner. o Reading parts aloud so they can use their smooth readers voice as a way of making sure their books are making sense. o
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Figuring out the meanings of italicized or bolded words. They do this by pausing for a second to consider what the word or phrase means. They do this by thinking have I seen or heard this word before; if so how was used. re-reading the section before and reading ahead. Then they ask themselves now that I know a little more information what does that word mean. collecting unfamiliar words and replacing them with synonyms. They do this by putting in a word they know that makes sense with the rest of the sentence. o Making sure that they understand what they are reading. They can do this by using illustrations, other picture they know, and their imaginations, to create movies in their minds as they read. (You can teach your readers to envision using gestures and/or facial expressions to act out the nonfiction information they are learning.) o Readers change their thinking as they read more nonfiction books by o Adding on to what they already know. They can think, “What have I learned here that is new? or I didn’t realize that, that’s new information for me.” o Revising what they already know about a topic. They can say, “I thought that ____, but now I know _____. o Critiquing the information using what you already know by saying “I don’t think _____ is true, because ______.” o
December- Tackle Tough Parts of Texts Overview of Unit:
In this unit of study, your children will learn that reading is all about making sense of the story. It is all about making meaning. If any of us read a book without making that movie in our mind’s eye, if we just motor through the words, then we really aren’t reading at all. Most of your teaching during this unit will tend to fall into one of these broad categories or bends in the road: o
Readers self check while they are reading to hold on to the meaning of the text.
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Readers notice when things don’t make sense. They listen to themselves read. When things get confusing they are proud to say “Uh Oh”. They roll up their sleeves and get to work.
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Readers check themselves (self-monitor) as they read.
Teaching Points: o Readers notice when things don’t make sense. are proud to say “Uh Oh”.
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Readers can begin by reading books that are really easy for us.
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We listen to ourselves read. When things get confusing we
We notice what the story is about are able to retell it with ease. We notice who the characters are and what importance they have. We notice when we have thoughts about what we are reading, such as “Wow” or “I can’t believe…”
We notice when we are picturing the story in our mind. Readers can remember what it felt like to read easy books. Then when we are reading harder books we will notice when we just can’t hold onto the meaning. We say “Uh oh! This doesn’t make sense.”
We place a post-it on that part and compare the feeling of understanding and the feeling of confusion. Then share it with our partner during book talk time.
We place a post-it on that part and think, “Why did I loose meaning?” Then share it with our partner during book talk time.
Readers notice when things don’t make sense. We listen to ourselves read. When things get confusing we are proud to say “Uh Oh”. We roll up our sleeves and get to work. (Chart: Strategies Readers Use When We Get Confused) o We notice when we are no longer picturing what is going on in the story. Readers then go back and re-read and try again to understand what’s going on. o We notice when we are not able to retell the story or part of the story. Readers then go back and re-read and make sure we are able to retell the story or part of the story. o We notice when our minds are focusing on other things as we read (like recess, or the scrape on the knee). Readers then go back and re-read the part or whole story that they missed due to “daydreaming.” o We can re-read a part out loud to ourselves because that can help clear up confusion.
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After reading the first chapter or two, we can go back and re-read the beginning of a book to get a better understanding. Reading partners can discuss parts of the book.
o o o o o o
We can tell our partners about what we pictured as we began the book and how that movie changed as we read on. We can talk about the characters in our books and their friendships. We can share places where we felt as if the text wasn’t making sense, where we needed to do some extra work and how we solved those difficulties. We can help re-work tricky parts of the text and or words. We can talk about interesting new words. We can work on rereading our books or part of our books smoothly.
We need to go over word-attack strategies again that are still difficult for children (such as looking at chunks, looking at the vowel plus some of the letters after the vowel, and recognizing parts of words we have seen before). We need to be sure that while we are using word-solving strategies, we are simultaneously accumulating meaning across the text.
~These teaching points are from the September unit. Reteach as necessary.~
o Readers focus on meaning and sentence structure while using rapid word solving skills, such as… o o o o o
o o o
looking at the picture for a clue and asking themselves what might make sense. looking at the first few letters, making those sounds. Then they look at the picture and ask themselves what would make sense that starts with __? looking for familiar word-parts, such as blends and digraphs (sp, fr, th, ch etc) or spelling patterns (ack, ick) looking for compound words. They look to see if there are two words within one larger word. reading through a word, part by part, from left to right. They do this by breaking the word up into syllables. Look at the vowel and a couple letters after it. Then they blend the parts together and ask themselves does this make sense? For example ill-us-tra-tion or im-por-tant looking for familiar endings such as ly, ed, or ing. Once you know the familiar ending you can cover it up, read the word, and put the ending back on. playing with the sounds in your mouth. You can try both vowels sounds; short or long; and see what makes sense. putting your finger on the tricky word, reading on and then going back to see what would make sense.
o Readers figure out the meaning of tricky words. o o o o
o
We pause when we come to a new word and consider what the word or phrase means. We think, “Have I seen or heard this word before? If so, how was used?” We re-read the section before the tricky word, and then we read ahead. Then we ask ourselves, “Now that I know a little more information, what does that word mean?” We look at the picture and think, “Is there anything in the picture that would be a clue to the meaning of this word?” We collect unfamiliar words and replace them with synonyms. We do this by putting in a word we know that makes sense with the rest of the sentence. The class could make an unfamiliar word chart on which kids collect new words and tell their meanings.
Readers always check themselves to make sure their reading makes sense. o When solving a word, we think about what would make sense, sound right in the sentence, and match the letters. o We anticipate what word might come next. We think about the meaning of the sentence(s) and think what would make sense. o As we read, we look across a few words and get ready to read the part that is coming next.
January/February- Character Study This unit is a sample unit available on the TC website, called
A Journey Through Friendship
Overview of Unit:
This unit of study is a thematic unit on friendship that encourages students to follow the friends in their series books through journey consisting of good times and bad times. It is a way for students to dig deep into reading skills that promote the exploration of character relationships. Specifically, this unit focuses on enhancing students’ use of envisionment, inference, and synthesis. Students will also be expected to personally respond to the friends in their books, comparing those friendships to their own. In this unit of study, you may choose to group your students by level around baskets containing multiple books all about the same character. For example lower level readers may be reading Biscuit books and higher level readers may be reading Pinky and Rex books. Most of your teaching during this unit will tend to fall into one of these broad categories or bends in the road: o
Using own experiences to learn about characters’ friendships
o
Figuring out if characters are having good times or bad times in their friendships
o
Noticing how friends change and develop over time
o
Noticing how friendships are similar and different across different books within a series
o
Alignment with Standards: 2.3.1 Compare plots, setting, and characters presented by different authors. 2.3.5 Confirm predictions about what will happen next in a story. 2.3.7 Identify the meaning or lesson of a story.
Teaching Points: Bend #1
One of the things we notice about main characters are the people in their lives, such as their friends. Characters in books often go through good times and bad times with their friends, just like we do with our friends. Thinking about our own friendships helps us to imagine, or envision, the way the characters in books act and feel towards their friends. Readers get ideas about characters and their friendships. o We compare the characters’ friendships to our own friendships. This helps us decide if the characters are having a good time or a bad time with their friends. o We can spy on the friends in the book and picture how they act in our minds. The way the friends in our book act can tell us if our friends are having a good time or a bad time.
o
o
Readers pay close attention to how the friends in our books sound when they are talking to one another. We can listen in on the conversations that friends have to find out if it is a good time or a bad time, and then decide how we think their talking might sound. When friends are going through a bad time, readers notice how characters react. We picture in our mind how each friend behaves.
Bend #2
When friends are going through good times and bad times, each character tells us a lot about themselves and their friendship in the way that they react. Often times, characters act one way to conceal their true emotions. Readers consider what friends are really thinking and what the motivations for the actions are. Readers figure out if characters are having good or bad times in their friendship. o Readers think about how their characters are feeling during a good time or a bad time. We spy on our characters’ actions and figure out what these actions tell us about how our characters are feeling. o The way friends talk to each other changes when they are having a good time or when they are having a bad time. Noticing these changes can help us to see how our characters are feeling towards each other during these times. Readers may place post-its on pages where the way characters talk to each other is a reflection of how they are feeling towards one another. o Readers notice when friends act a certain way to try to cover-up how they are really feeling. We notice when what friends are doing and saying may not match up with what they’re really thinking inside of their minds. o Readers stop and think why characters are acting a certain way. o Readers notice when there is a change and things don’t seem right between the friends in their book. They look for evidence that things are different and then ask themselves why things may be different between these characters. Bend #3
When readers are reading a book, we pay attention to how friendships change and develop over time. We consider how the beginning of the book connects to the middle of the book and then to the end. Readers look back at how friendships have changed. We think about how to put those changes into words by talking to others, such as our reading partners. Readers notice how friends change and develop over time. o Readers look for clues that let us know that a bed time is coming and mark these “seeds of trouble” with a post-it so that we can reread them when the bad time comes. o Readers think about what caused a bad time in their character’s friendship. We do this by noticing changes in the friendship and thinking back to when seeds of trouble (that we marked with a post-it) first appeared. o When readers think about bad times in friendships, we don’t just think about what caused the bad time, but we also think about why it has happened. We do this by thinking about how characters actions and words affect each other. (Example: Bad time is caused by someone calling their friend a name. But think, WHY did he call him a name?) o Readers pay attention during bad times and anticipate that a good time will follow. We do this by noticing how the problem is solved and placing a post-it on the page so we can go back to it during book talk time. o Readers think about how the end of the book fits with the beginning. We do this by rereading the ending and thinking about what has happened from the beginning to the end of the book and about the journey that the friends in the book have taken.
Bend #4
When readers are reading a series, we notice how friendships are similar and different across different books within that series. We think about the changes that friends go through and how reactions to gook times and bad times may have stayed the same or changed. o o o o
Readers notice similarities and differences in friends in different books from the same series. Readers notice, across a series, how the way our characters respond to problems with their friends may stay the same or change, depending on the problem. When reading books in a series, readers consider how the friendships in their books are similar and/or different to our own friendships. Readers take the time to realize what types of problems friends from different series usually have and how they differ from friends from another series.
February/March- Reading and Role Playing Overview of Unit:
In this unit of study, children will pretend that they are the characters in the stories that they’re reading. You’ll need to show them there is a thin line between reading and drama. When we read we become the character, seeing through his or her eyes, experiencing all that the story brings. This involves teaching the skills of envisionment, fluency, phrasing, and prosody (inflection). The link between envisioning and fluency will be most obvious during partnership work when children reread sections of their books aloud to each other and as they read, they add gesture and intonation. “Second graders, I was watching TV over winter vacation with my daughter and guess what show I saw? Little Bill! I couldn’t believe it. It was the episode The Meanest Thing to Say. What a coincidence! Right after we studied and read so many Little Bill books”… This introduction is from pages 48-49 of 08-09 calendar. It includes a dramatic read aloud using the book stated above.
Teaching Points: o
o
Readers read the story as if they are the main character. o They can read a little bit of their book and stop and ask themselves, Has my character had a strong feeling? If so they can place a post-it note there and write how the character was feeling. (excited~scared) o We can go back to those places where the character had a strong feeling and make our voice in our head match the tone of that feeling. o We can go back to those places where the character had a strong feeling and make our gestures and facial expressions match that feeling. o We pay attention to what the character does and how they do these things. We look for clues about the characters gestures. Such as the way they walk, sit, or close the door. And then picture that in our mind and think “What feeling matches that expression?” “Why are they doing that? Are they bored, or tired? o We pay attention to how the character talks, the words they choose, their tone of voice and the emotional cues the author adds with dialogue; shouted, whispered, or yelled. o The book does not always come and say how the character is acting. We have to figure out how we think the character sounded or acted based on what we know about real life situations. o We put ourselves in the characters’ shoes by thinking has anything like this ever happened to me? Or have I seen anything like this before? If so, we picture in our minds what it sounded like and looked like. o We can act out part of the story not only with the voice in our head but with our fingers being the characters. o We can predict and act out with might happen next based on what you know about the characters and the story so far. Partners read the story as if they are the main character. o They first meet with their partner and tell them how they think the character feels in the part and why. “I think in this part she is sad because she was left behind…” o Then they read aloud that part of their book using a tone of voice, gestures, and facial expression match that feeling.
They read the same section, taking turns, practicing how to make their voice and actions reflect the main characters feelings. Every time each partner gets better and better. Listening partners can help their partners become the main character of the story. o After their partner reads aloud their section they can help their voice sound like the main character by giving them a suggestion. “You said she was scared, but your voice could sound like this…”Then read that section out loud. o After their partner reads aloud their section they can question the feeling that the partner is acting out. And give them their idea on how the character might be feeling. Then they would read that part again reading it with a different tone and facial expression. o If your partner chooses a spot where there is not much feeling, then you can help them choose a part of the story that shows more emotion or where the character has a stronger feeling. Together as partners you can act out the new part. Readers envision what is going on in their books by o making a movie in their minds that include the characters, the actions, the setting, and the sounds of the scene. o slowing down their reading and imagining what they see, hear, smell, taste or feel. o thinking what is happening between the pictures by asking themselves, “Who isn’t in the picture, and what might they be doing?” o referring to any illustrations, the chapter titles, the cover picture, and other resources to jump start their mental pictures of the story. Then they ask themselves what is going on in this part of my story When readers lose their mental picture they re-focus by o going back and re-reading parts in order to picture the story again. o going back and looking at what is happening in the pictures. Readers practice fluency by o using familiar books. o reading books at a lower level. o re-reading parts of your book. Readers use the punctuation to read with fluency by o scanning ahead and looking at the end marks and making your voice reflect the different types of end marks from the start of the sentence. o pausing at each comma. o pausing at each end mark. Readers read dialogue fluently by o noticing the dialogue tags. They change their voice according to how the character said it. (whispered, shouted) o reading in the voice of the character, and having different voices for different characters. o reflecting the tone of the scene. i.e. scary or exciting voice. Readers read fluently with phrasing and intonation by o reading in meaningful chunks or phrases. They do this by reading the smaller words faster and putting stress on the important words. o knowing when to pause for emphasis. They do this by pausing where there are commas, punctuation, or ellipsis. o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
If your children need more work on getting to know your character, refer to the teaching points in the appendix.
April- Non-Fiction Reading as a Researcher (Centers or Not) Overview of Unit:
In this unit of study, one idea would be for the class to study a topic from your Science standards. Think of the topic as the big umbrella you might be studying and then smaller categories underneath it organized into baskets of books. You can decide the baskets or have the children help you sort them into topics. Another idea is for children to use these teaching points within their regular non-fiction that they shop for. Children will also need time in their just-right chapter books. You will want to try to give them fifteen to twenty minutes a day for this work. Most of your teaching during this unit will tend to fall into one of these broad categories or bends in the road: o How to get ready to read nonfiction o How to gather information in nonfiction books o How to grow BIG ideas (inferential thinking) o How to deal with increasing difficulty o How to change their thinking
Alignment with Standards: 2.1.7 Understand and explain common synonyms 2.2.1 Use titles, tables of contents, and chapter heading to locate information in text. 2.2.11 Identify text that uses sequence or other logical order. 2.2.2 State the purpose for reading. 2.2.3 Use knowledge of the author’s purpose to comprehend information text. 2.2.4 Ask and respond to questions to aid comprehension about important elements of information texts. 2.2.5 Restate facts and details or summarize the main idea in the text to clarify and organize ideas. 2.2.6 Recognize cause and effect relationships in a text. 2.2.7 Interpret information from diagrams, charts, and graphs. 2.2.9 Use context to understand word and sentence meanings. 2.2.10 Draw conclusions or confirm predictions about what will happen next in a text by identifying key words. 2.7.2 Ask for clarification and explanation of stories and ideas. 2.7.9 Report on a topic with supportive facts and details. 2.7.11 Report on a topic with facts and details, drawing from several sources of information.
Read Aloud o These read alouds could be done as interactive read alouds during Science time and/or your regular read aloud time. Then you can refer back to them during your mini-lessons. Some things to model throughout your read alouds might be: o Engagement: getting them excited about the topic o Previewing the text o Monitoring for comprehension o Using fix-up strategies o Using all information on the page o Noticing new information o Making post-its o Having an emotional response
Teaching Points: o
o
Readers get ready to read nonfiction books by o Looking at the cover and thinking, “What do I know about this already? What do I think this book might be about? Does this book remind me of any other book I know?” o Starting with an easy book that they feel comfortable reading. They open the book and look at the font, the beginning sentences, its features and length and then ask themselves, “Does this feel like a book that I should read to get started? Or does this feel like a book that I should read when I am more of an expert?” o Thinking about what they already know about their topic and what more do they want to learn. o Skimming and scanning the text. Readers flip through the pages looking at pictures, reading the headings, noticing charts, diagrams, and captions, so that they will know what to expect in their books. o Deciding where to start reading when there are many different features on the page. Readers usually start with the biggest font and the print that is on the upper left of the page. o Noticing if a book has time order words, such as: first, next, and last. This helps the reader know that the book will be organized by time instead of by sections or chapters. o (done later in the unit) looking at a big book to see if part of it may be helpful to their research. They do this by looking at the table of contents, reading the chapter titles to see which part of the book may be helpful towards your research. thinking of key words that might describe your topic, and finding them in alphabetical order in the index. Then you can turn to those pages to read more about your topic. Readers gather information in nonfiction books so they can learn and be able to share it with a partner by o Noticing if their book has headings or subheadings. If it does then they read them first and then think, “Oh, this part will be about ____.” o Writing a post-it at the end of the main section about the big idea. “This part taught me ______, or I learned _______ in this part.” o Noticing if their book does not have a heading. If it doesn’t then they read the section and then ask themselves, “What would make a good title for this part? Or What is this part mostly about?” Then they can create post-it for this section. o Reading the text first and thinking, “What is this mostly about?” Then looking at the picture and figuring out if the picture is an example of this or if it is something else. If it is something else, ask yourself, “Why is this here?” Sometimes you have to keep reading as the picture might go with something later in the text.
After reading the text and looking at the picture, readers read the caption, the small text under the picture, and think “What new information did I learn and how does it go with the rest of the information on the page?” o Creating post-its on the BIG and NEW things they are learning. o Creating post-its where they have feelings such as being surprised, pleased, or disappointed by something they read. o Paying attention to new words they are learning that seem really important to their study. Then they can (write this word on a post-it along with an explanation or picture to describe the meaning.) add it to the whole class word chart. Readers get big ideas from their nonfiction books by o Reading all the parts of the page first. And then they think, How do these facts all fit together. How does what I just read go with the rest of the information on this page? o Reading the whole section of their book. And then they think, “This section is mostly about _____.” o Comparing information across books. Readers look for things that are the same and different in each of their books. They can say things like, “Well in this example I see________ and in this one you see the same thing, but it is slightly different because ________.” o Noticing when one book says something different than another book, and they can reread the parts to think about why there is different information in the texts. o Noticing or wondering about things when they read, then they can add their thoughts about what they notice or wonder by saying things like, “I notice that ____and it makes me think_____. or “I’m wondering why_____. My idea about that is ____.” o (when) they make connections between books by saying things like, “This reminds me of ___ because ____.” o Making connections about how things in the world work. Sometimes when one thing happens it causes other things to happen. So when we are reading we can look for these cause and effect connections. We can do this by paying attention to what is true and what happens because that is true. Readers keep reading when their books get harder by o Using the pictures to help them make meaning. We can ask ourselves, “Can I learn anymore information by looking at the picture?” o Rereading to increase their understanding. o Talking to a partner to clear up confusions and then getting right back to work. o Reading on to see if the text makes more sense later. o Retelling often with a partner. o Reading parts aloud so they can use their smooth readers voice as a way of making sure their books are making sense. o Figuring out the meanings of italicized or bolded words. They do this by pausing for a second to consider what the word or phrase means. They do this by thinking have I seen or heard this word before; if so how was used. re-reading the section before and reading ahead. Then they ask themselves now that I know a little more information what does that word mean. collecting unfamiliar words and replacing them with synonyms. They do this by putting in a word they know that makes sense with the rest of the sentence. o Making sure that they understand what they are reading. They can do this by using illustrations, other picture they know, and their imaginations, to create movies in their minds as they read. o
o
o
(You can teach your readers to envision using gestures and/or facial expressions to act out the nonfiction information they are learning.) o Readers change their thinking as they read more nonfiction books by o Adding on to what they already know. They can think, “What have I learned here that is new? or I didn’t realize that, that’s new information for me.” o Revising what they already know about a topic. They can say, “I thought that ____, but now I know _____. o Critiquing the information using what you already know by saying “I don’t think _____ is true, because ______.”
May- Become Experts in a Series Overview of Unit:
In this unit of study, groups of students with similar reading levels will read multiple books in a series. They will be learning to think across books and talk well about texts. Most of your teaching during this unit will tend to fall into one of these broad categories or bends in the road: o Strategies for becoming familiar with characters o Making connections across books in a series o Strategies for accumulating text
Alignment with Standards: 2.3.1 Compare plots, settings, and characters presented by different authors 2.3.5 Confirm predictions about what will happen next in a story. 2.3.7 Identify the meaning or lesson of a story.
Teaching Points: o
Readers decide who is the main character and who are the secondary characters by o Noticing which character is named in the title of the book or shown on the cover, and noticing who the other characters are o Noticing which character is talked about the most, and noticing who the other characters are o Noticing which character the book is mostly about, and noticing who the other characters are
The teacher could add these strategies to a chart titled, “What kinds of things might a reader post-it?” after each one is introduced. o Readers become familiar with the characters in a series by o Reading a little and asking themselves “How does my character feel and why do they feel this way.” o Reading a little and noticing when characters change and thinking why they changed. What happened right before the character changed his or her ideas or feelings? o Noticing the difficulties the characters face and how they solve their problems o Noticing when they have a strong reaction to the text or when a character has a strong reaction. o Noticing the relationships that characters have with other characters o Noticing the lessons the characters learn and what happened that taught them the lesson o
Readers accumulate the text across chapters or pages by o Looking at all the post-its and coming up with a big idea about the character. Knowing all the things about my character what kind of person is he or she. What do I expect him or her to always do, say, or act?
o
Readers add on to their thinking by asking themselves
o o o
Why do I think this? What’s my idea here? I think ___ because___.
o
Readers accumulate information about the characters across books by o Noticing if the second book takes place at the same time as the first book o Noticing if the characters are getting older o Noticing if the character’s family has changed in any way o Noticing if the characters learn from the problems they’ve had in one book to help them with their problems in the next book o Noticing similar things that happen in different books
o
Readers notice when secondary characters affect the main characters in the stories by o Noticing if the main character has a strong feeling about something another character says or does o Noticing if the main character changes because of something another character says or does After noticing the effect, then readers get ideas o By wondering why the secondary character had this effect on the main character.
o
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Readers predict how the upcoming book in the series might go by o Thinking about what types of problems the characters usually have and how they solve them o Thinking about patterns in the characters behaviors o Thinking about how the characters get along
o
Readers notice warning signs that a problem is about to begin by o Noticing recurring causes and effects in their books
o
Readers get big ideas from their books by o Noticing something about a character and asking themselves what does this make me think about ____? How does this change my thinking about ____?
o
Readers back up their ideas about characters or stories by o Using examples from the book
Conversation Prompts I agree/ disagree I didn’t hear you can you say that again Can you tell me more about that I would like to say more about that I would like to add on to what you were saying I noticed that Another example is Why do you think that is important What do you mean
Appendix 1
Comprehension/Fluency Strategies Teaching Points:
o Readers react and talk back to the text by o o o o
noticing when they get a feeling as they read such as, that was a funny part. Then they can add a post-it to that part and share it with their partner. saying what the book makes you think such as “Wow that is interesting.” paying attention to when they are confused with cues such as, wait a minute or what did that mean questioning things that happen or things that their characters do. They might say “Why did that happen? or How did they do that?”
o Readers predict as they read by o o
using what they know from the story to think what might happen next. thinking about the kind of story they are reading such as a silly, sad, or scary story). Then they think how might these affect the rest of the story?
o Readers can predict the problem by o
noticing events in a story that reoccur. Then they think what might the problem be?
o Sometimes readers change their predictions as they read by o
noticing when the story is different than what they expected. Readers say to themselves, “I thought…..was going to happen, but not I think…because…”
o Readers make connections by o o
reading a little and then remembering when something like that happened to you or someone you know noticing when the book remind them of another book they’ve read or heard read-aloud.
Character Centers Teaching Points: Inferring the Character’s Traits
(Finding a word that describes the kind of person that character is) Readers get ideas about the character’s traits by o Paying attention to what the characters say and do and thinking about what these things teach us about the characters o
Noticing how the character interacts with others and thinking what kind of person would do that
o
Paying close attention to the places where a character is talking and then thinking about what kind of person would talk like that
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Naming the character’s action and adding what it teaches you about the character
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Paying attention to how characters solve their problems and thinking about what this says about the character.
o
Stopping after chunks of text and asking themselves “What is going on with my character so far?” or “What do I know about my character so far?” and then thinking “___ is the kind of character who ____ “
o
Characters, like real people, are complex. There is more to them than just one character trait. Readers find out new things about their characters by reading on, noticing more things that the character does, and trying to come up with many words to describe the kind of character he is.
Inferring the Character’s Feelings Readers get an idea about how the character is feeling by o
Thinking about what is happening, looking carefully at the character’s face in the picture, and pretending we are the character
Inferring the Character’s Motivations Readers notice a character’s actions and stop to think about his motivations by o
Reading a little, noticing when the character does something, and then thinking, “Why is the character doing this?”
o
Noticing the cause and the effect of the character’s actions
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Paying attention to the character’s decisions and thinking about why he made that decision
o
Paying attention to what the characters say to others and how they say it
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Paying attention to places in their books when the character acts “out of character” and figuring out why he/she might be acting differently than normal
Readers make Connections about characters from one book to another by o
Using ideas about the characters to predict what they might do next (in other books)
o
Noticing other characters that have similar traits (for example characters that are bullies, friendly, compassionate…)
Develop a Theory about a Character (Conferring with Readers, p.186) When you have a lot of ideas about a character, you can put all of your ideas together and form a big theory about him as a character. When you build a theory about a character, you put together all the different ideas that you have about the character by noticing patterns in the way the character acts. Finally, you retell the main events of the story in a way that makes sense to someone who hasn’t read the book before. Readers add-to or revise their theories as they read by o
Looking for more evidence to support their theory
o
Getting new evidence that doesn’t support the theory
o
Keeping track of theories, and the evidence to support them, in a T-chart
Support Ideas with Evidence from the Text Readers hold on to their ideas about a character by o
Putting a post-it on the pages where they have an idea
o
Jotting quick notes on post-its and leaving them on parts that go together. You might write, “This part is like page…”
o
By using symbols such as “Annie=uptight” or “Henry=disappointed”
Readers not only have ideas about their books, but they also provide evidence, or proof, from the text. Readers prove their ideas and theories with evidence from the text o
by adding the word because ( “___ is the kind of character who ____ because ____“)
Accumulating and Synthesizing the text o
Readers notice when the character seems to change by connecting the pages within the book with words like… “At first he/she was… But later in the book he/she…”
o
Readers identify the lessons their characters learn by asking themselves, why did the characters change, and what did they learn as a result of their problems?
Determining Importance Readers decide, “What are the important moments in the character’s life?” by o Noticing when you get a strong feeling about the character- or places where the character has very strong feelings about a situation, event, or another character o
Paying attention to where the character experiences conflicts or problems
Prepare for Partner Work Readers prepare for discussions with their partners by using post-its to mark places in the text… o
Where the characters act out of character
o
Where the character surprised you
o
Where the character acts like another character
o
Where the character changes
o
Where the character reminds you of your own life
o
Where the book resembles another book
o
Parts of the book that hold significance for both the reader and the character
Just-Right Fiction Books in Theme Based Centers Teaching Points: To begin this unit have different level texts out on a table, with readers who belong with those texts. Also have some bins or empty baggies for them to store them in. After your first few mini-lesson they can sort these books into different categories. o Readers can sort books into similar categories by o looking through different books and thinking which books have similar topics. o looking through different books and thinking which books have characters that have similar problems. o looking through different books and thinking which books have similar settings. o looking through different books and thinking which books have similar big ideas/lessons. Have the children pick one theme-based center, per group, that is at their level. o
Readers make connections between books by o Finding places in the book that remind them of another book and then putting a post-it to mark the pages that are alike. o Asking themselves, “How do these books go together?”
o
Readers can notice how their theme-based centers are different by
o o
re-reading a few different books and thinking how are the characters different. They can write this on a post-it to share during partner time. re-reading a few different books and thinking how is the setting different. They can write this on a post-it to share during partner time.
o
Readers make personal connections to books by o Thinking of what the book reminds you of in your own life and then and asking yourself how this connection helps you understand the book better. “This reminds me of ___, and I understand this book better because___.”
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Readers talk about their book with their partner by o saying “I wonder why…” o saying “I bet ____ is true because…” o saying “Why would…” o saying “How could…”
o Readers back up their ideas about their stories by using examples from the book. You can move your children into their second theme-based center and highlight some reading comprehension strategies… o
Readers react and talk back to the text by o noticing when they get a feeling as they read such as, that was a funny part. Then they can add a post-it to that part and share it with their partner. o saying what the book makes you think such as “Wow that is interesting.” o paying attention to when they are confused with cues such as, wait a minute or what did that mean o questioning things that happen or things that their characters do. They might say “Why did that happen? or How did they do that?”
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Readers envision what is going on in their books by o making a movie in their minds that include the characters, the actions, the setting, and the sounds of the scene. o slowing down their reading and imagining what they see, hear, smell, taste or feel. o thinking what is happening between the pictures by asking themselves, “Who isn’t in the picture, and what might they be doing?” o referring to any illustrations, the chapter titles, the cover picture, and other resources to jump start their mental pictures of the story. Then they ask themselves what is going on in this part of my story.
