1. Determining Importance
Searching for Meaning
Determining Importance

2. “If we want children to be deeply engaged in conversations about issues of great significance in books, we must not only teach them how to read, but show them how to reason.” Ellin Keene

3. “We have an abundance of information, but information alone is meaningless. It has to be thought about and organized and then internalized, and then maybe you will end up with knowledge.” 7 Keys to Comprehension, Susan Zimmermann

4. How Do I Determine What Is Important When I Read?

5. Clue One: Readers determine what is important based on their purpose for reading.
When reading difficult text without a purpose, students express complaints such as
I just say the words so I can be done.
I can’t relate to the topic.
I daydream and my mind wanders.
I can’t stay focused.
I get bored.

6. Why Is It Important to Have a Purpose?
Read “The House” and circle with pencil whatever you think is important.
Read the piece again and use a pink highlighter to mark places in the text that a robber would find important.
Read the piece a third time and mark with a yellow highlighter any places in the story that a prospective home buyer might think are important.
What did you notice about the three times you highlighted?

7. Clue Two: Readers determine what is important in text at the word, sentence, and text levels.
Word Level: Contentives are words that hold the meaning in any sentence.
Sentence Level: There are usually key sentences that carry the weight of meaning for a passage or section.
Text Level: There are key ideas, concepts, themes in the text.

8. Clue Three: When determining importance in informational text, think of the following:
What clues does the author provide to allow the reader to construct meaning from the text?
What clue words will help me when I read?
Which information is unimportant and which ideas are key to constructing meaning?

9. “I read everything the same way
“I read everything the same way. It doesn’t matter if it is my science book or Sports Illustrated. What’s the point? Reading is reading.” Luke, grade 10, I Read It, but I Don’t Get It

10. Fiction
Nonfiction
Not a real story-the story is make-believe
Pictures are drawings
Stories have a beginning, middle, and ending
Tell a story
Characters are people and animals
The story is real-it actually exists
There are photographs in the book
Tells us information
Teaches us something
Has lots of convention-photographs, labels, types of print (bold), close-ups, etc.

11. Getting My Mind Ready to Read:
Applying Comprehension Strategies to Fiction and Nonfiction
Strategy
Getting My Mind Ready to Read Fiction
Getting My Mind Ready to Read Informational Text
Guessing/
Predicting
What will probably happen in this story?
What will I probably learn from this text?
Connecting
What experiences have I had or what other books have I read that might relate to this story in some way?
What do I already know about this topic?
Questioning
What will the problem be?
How will the problem get solved?
What questions will this text probably answer? Are there subheadings that I can turn into questions?
Determin-ing Importance
What other clues do I notice in this story that can help me: Do I know anything about the author or the topic?Are there many pages?
What clues do I notice in the way this text is written that might help me: Subheading? Bolded or italicized words?

12. What Does Content Area Reading Require?
Knowledge of specialized vocabulary
Background knowledge
Study and memory techniques
Comprehension strategies for nonfiction texts
Monitoring meaning
Knowledge of sources and the reliability of them
The ability to overcome a personal lack of interest in the subject area and/or reading and writing to learn.
Tools for Teaching Content Literacy by Janet Allen

13. Which Nonfiction Features Signal Importance?
Fonts and effects
Cue words and phrases
Text structures
Graphics
Text organizers
Illustrations and photographs

14. Nonfiction Conventions
Purpose
Photographs – pictures in the book
Labels-words that identify parts of a picture
Types of print- ways words are written
Captions-speech bubbles
Close-ups-photographs
Helps reader understand what something looks like
Helps the reader identify the parts of a picture
The words are bigger so you know that they are more important
Helps reader understand the photo
Helps reader see small details

15. Four Secrets to Figuring Out Main Idea
Put yourself in the author’s place.
Examine the words and phrases (the details) for clues to what is important.
Ask questions about what, in your experience, the clues combined seem to say about what is valued.
Decide what the main idea is by saying, “If I had written this and said things this way, what would that say about what I thought was important?”

16. How Does Overviewing, Skimming and Scanning the Text, Help Understanding?
Activating prior knowledge
Noting characteristics of text length and structure
Noting important headings and subheadings
Determining what to read and in what order
Determining what to pay careful attention to
Determining what to ignore
Deciding if the text is worth careful reading or just skimming

17. Tools for Teaching Content Literacy by Janet Allen
Skimming and Scanning
First Impressions
Fast Facts
Final Thoughts
Tools for Teaching Content Literacy by Janet Allen

18. What Guidelines Are There for Highlighting the Text?
Look carefully at the first and last line of each paragraph. Important information is often contained there.
Highlight only necessary words and phrases, not entire sentences.
Don’t get thrown off by interesting details.
Make notes in the margin to emphasize a pertinent highlighted word or phrase.
Note cue words.
Pay attention to nonfiction features.
When finished, no more than half the paragraph should be highlighted.

19. Do I Really Have to Teach Reading?, Cris Tovani
Highlight and Revisit
Quote highlighted
Reason for highlighting
New or deeper thinking
Do I Really Have to Teach Reading?, Cris Tovani

20. Text Codes l – Important L- Learned Something New
*- Interesting or important information or face
AHA!- Big Idea Surfaces
S- Surprising!
S!!!- Shocking
!!!- Exciting

21. WOW!

22. Discerning What Is Interesting from What Is Important
What’s Interesting
What’s Important

23. Sifting the Topic from the Details
*Record headings
Details
*Include details supporting the topic
Personal Response
*Add to the back of sheet when students are ready

24. Reading Persuasive Material Carefully to Form an Opinion
Evidence For
Evidence Against
Personal Opinion

25. Clue Four: When determining importance in fiction, think of the following:
Notice what the character says or does that provides what is important to him/her.
Pay attention to the actions, motives, and feelings of the character.
Think about what the author did to make the character believable.
Decide which characters are primary and which are secondary. Compare and contrast those characters.
Notice when the setting changes in a story.
Decide if the setting is an integral part of the story or if it could have taken place anywhere.

26. Determine the theme(s) of the story.
Determine which details contribute to the problem and/or the solution to it.
Pay attention to the conflict. Characterize it as character vs. character, character vs. nature, character vs. society, or character vs. self.
Notice the clues that the author provides to let the reader know what is going to happen next.
See if and how the author builds suspense.
Decide what seems realistic and what does not.

27. Think of the tone of the story.
Contemplate what the author’s purpose was for writing the story.
Decide from what point of view the story is told.
Think about the plot structure and characterize it as episodic, progressive, or are there parallel plots that build at the same time.
Constructing Meaning by Nancy Boyles

28. Strategies That Work by Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis
Identifying the Theme
Theme
Evidence for Theme
Strategies That Work by Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis

29. Determining Important Events Important Event Evidence from the Text
Strategies That Work by Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis

30. Character’s Motivation Evidence from Text
Character Analysis
Character’s Motivation
Evidence from Text
Strategies That Work by Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis

31. What Is Important in the Text?
What is important and what is interesting to me?
What is the author’s message? What is he trying to say?
I Read It, but I Don’t Get It by Cris Tovani

32. Clue Five: When Determining Importance in Poetry, Think of the Following:
Note any clues in the title that may help determine importance.
Think about the poet and any other works that may provide information about the poet’s style.
Conclude what you think the poet’s purpose was.
Determine the meanings of key words
and phrases.

33. Determining Importance in Poetry (continued)
Construct meaning from any use of figurative language.
Decide upon messages or themes of the poem, whether they are overtly stated or hidden.
Reflect upon feelings after reading
the poem.

34. How Do I Know If a Student Has Successfully Solved the Mystery of Determining Importance in Reading?

35. Assessing with the Major Point Interview for Readers
Are there some parts of this text that are more important than the others? Which ones? Why do you think they were the most important?
What do you think the author thought was most important so far in this text? Why do you think so?
We have just discussed important parts of the text. (Restate child’s response.) What do you understand now that you didn’t understand before?

36. “Good strategy lessons are not over until students have discussed their learning process.”
Nancy N. Boyles