Comprehension Strategies Scott Foresman Reading Street Grades 4 and 5

Answer Questions -Who or what is the question about? -Where can you look to find the answer to this question? There are two sources for finding answers to questions- text knowledge (in the book) and background knowledge (in your head). This is called Question-Answer Relationships (QAR). In the Book: -Right There, The answer is in the one spot in the text and usually easy to find. -Think and Search, The answer is in the text, but not in one spot. You need to search for the answer and put the information together. In My Head: -Author and Me, The answer is not in the text, but the author gives clues about the answer. You use what you’ve read and what you already know. -On My Own, The answer is not in the text at all. You think about what you already know and use background information to answer the question. Good readers ask questions before, during, and after reading. THINK ALOUD -What type of question is this? -Where should I look to find the answer? -How did answering this question help me understand what I’m reading? Activity: (Active Participation, Turn and Talk) Ask students to choose a trade book and write questions to ask you or a partner about it. Have students indicate what kind of question each one is and how to find the answer.

Ask Questions -What do you want to know about ________________________? -What questions do you have so far? -What questions do you have about the ____________________ in this selection? Use the words who, what, when, where, and how to ask your questions? -Do you have any questions after reading? Questions Before, During, and After Reading -Signal Words, Questions begin with who, what, when, where, why, and how and focus on predicting, setting a purpose for reading, or identifying important ideas. -KWL, Students list what they already KNOW and what they WANT to learn. After reading, students list what they LEARNED. -Story Structure, Questions are based on setting, characters, plot, and theme. -Question Stems, Generic question stems relate to a variety of texts and include What is the main idea of ___________________? and How are ­­­­­­­­­­______________ and ______________ alike? THINK ALOUD -Even before I read, I can ask questions. I can preview text features to make predictions and identify the topic. I can think about what I already know. -As I read, I keep asking myself questions, such as, “What does this mean?” and “Is this important? Why?” -After I read, I ask questions about the most important things I read, what I learned, and what else I would like to know. Activity: (Active Participation, Turn and Talk, Unison Response) RECIPROCAL TEACHING, Model questioning for students and then have students generate questions about the text. Have volunteers ask the questions for classmates to answer.

Graphic Organizers -What kind of graphic organizer could you use to help you understand this selection? How will it help you keep track of information? -What graphic organizer would best show ______________________? Graphic Organizer Purpose KWL Activate prior knowledge and set purpose Story Map Record literary elements and story structure Time Line Record sequence of events Venn Diagram Compare and Contrast Vocabulary Frame Predict and check word meaning A graphic organizer is a visual and graphic display that depicts the relationships between facts, terms, and or ideas within a learning task. Graphic organizers are also sometimes referred to as knowledge maps, concept maps, story maps, cognitive organizers, advance organizers, or concept diagrams. THINK ALOUD -When did this event happen? -If we don’t know the exact date, can we figure out whether it happened before or after another event? -Where should we put it on the timeline? Why?

MONITOR COMPREHENSION Monitor and Fix-Up -Does the story or article make sense? -What don’t you understand? -Do you need to reread, review, read on, or check a reference source? -Do you need to read more slowly or more quickly? -How has you understanding changed? -What is a ________________? Where could you look to find out? Monitor Comprehension -Think about whether you are understanding what you are reading. -Ask yourself, “Does this make sense?” and “What is this story or article about?” Fix-Up Strategies -Summarize by writing notes and making an outline. -Adjust your reading rate. -Read on to find out if you’ll figure things out. -Reread and review what you’ve read. -Get help from someone else -Use features such as heading, captions, and illustrations to help. -Check reference sources such as dictionaries and encyclopedias. -Skim and scan to figure out what the selection is about. -Think how your reading connects to what you already know. THINK ALOUD For a Non-Fiction Article: -Headings and subheadings tell me what each section is about. -I’ll write each heading and subheading in an outline format beginning with Roman Numerals for the main headings and using letters for the subheadings. -I can add details under each subheading by using numbers and letters. MONITOR COMPREHENSION Questions to ask while reading a fiction text: -Who is the story about? -Where does the story happen? -When does it happen? -What happens in the beginning of the story? In the middle? At the end? Questions to ask while reading a non-fiction text: -What is the author trying to tell us? -What does this mean? -Does this make sense? -Do I understand this? *Use sticky notes when asking questions!

Predict/ Confirm Predictions -What do you think this story or article will be about? Why do you think as you do? -What do you think you will learn from this selection? -Do the text features help you predict what will happen? -Based on what has happened so far, what do you think will happen next? -Is this what you thought would happen? -How does ______________ change what you thought would happen? Predicting is a process of telling what you think will happen, checking to confirm whether your prediction is correct, and changing it based on new information. Before Reading -Look at pictures, headings, and other details to determine the topic. -Predict what you think the selection will tell you. -Have students justify their predictions. During Reading -Revise your prediction if necessary based on new information. -Predict what might happen next based on what has already happened. After Reading -Look back at the selection and review your prediction. -Confirm whether your prediction is correct, incorrect, or partially correct. THINK ALOUD -What is likely to happen? -What clues in the text helped me make my prediction? -Was my prediction correct, partially correct, or incorrect? Activity Listen to this story: Jack and Jill didn’t study for their test. Instead, they decided to play ball. What might happen next?

Preview -What do the photographs, illustrations, or graphic sources tell about the selection? -What do you want to find out? What do you want to learn? Previewing a text allows the reader to prepare for what they are going to read. It also helps set a purpose for reading. *Skim and Scan to get an idea of what the text is about. Skimming is looking quickly to get a general idea. Scanning is looking to find specific information. *Use text features, such as illustrations, photographs, headings, boldface or italic type, and so on, to get an idea of content. *Relate to prior knowledge as you think about what you already know and what you would like to learn. Use a strategy such as KWL or SQP3R (Survey, Question, Predict, Read, Recite, and Review) *Set a purpose for reading to provide direction and focus. *Ask questions to focus reading on specific information. THINK ALOUD -What do I learn after skimming the text? -Is any of the text written in boldface or italics? If so, what does this tell me? -Is the text fiction or non-fiction?

Prior Knowledge -What do you know about _________________? -Have you read stories or articles by this author before? -How is this selection like others that you have read? -How is this like something that happened to you? -What does this remind you of? -How does your prior knowledge help you understand ________________? -Did the text match what you already knew? What new information did you learn? Activating prior knowledge is a strategy readers use before and as they read to think about what they know about a given topic based on personal experiences and what they have read. Use a KWL Chart -Preview a text and identify what you KNOW. -Set a purpose for reading based on what you WANT to know. -Review what you have LEARNED. Make Connections -Text-to-Self occurs when readers think of their own lives. -Text-to-World occurs when readers recall people, places, and things from the wider world. -Text-to-Text occurs when readers recall something they’ve read before.

Prior Knowledge THINK ALOUD -What do I know about this topic and author? -What have I seen that is similar to these illustrations? -What can I predict about the characters based on other people I know? Based on similar characters I have read about? -How is the setting of this selection similar to places in the world I have seen?

Story Structure -What is the problem in this story? -What is the high point of this story? In every story, characters have conflicts and there is a rising action (events that cause complications), a climax, and a resolution in which the conflict is resolved. Story structure includes the characters, setting, plot, and theme of a story. Before Reading -Preview. Look for clues to the characters, setting, and plot. -Make predictions and ask questions about where the story takes place and what might happen. During and After Reading -Identify the problem or conflict in the story and notice how the characters react to it. Look for foreshadowing. -Pay attention to the rising action in the middle and identify the climax and resolution at the end. -Summarize the theme of the story. As you read, use a graphic organizer to record the title, characters, and setting. Continue reading and list important events that take place leading to the resolution of the problem.

Story Structure THINK ALOUD Before Reading Ask: -Is this selection fiction or non-fiction? -What clues to characters, setting, and plot can I see? During Reading Ask: -What is the conflict or problem? -What events form the rising action in the story? -What event marks the climax? After Reading Ask: -How are the events linked? -What might be the theme of the story?

Summarize -What two or three important ideas have you read so far? -How will summarizing help you remember important ideas? -How do the text features help you summarize? Summarizing means picking out the important ideas in a story or article and restating them in your own words. Writing a Summary -Make sure you understand the selection. Reread if you don’t. -State the main ideas, including the author’s main point. Don’t include unnecessary details. -For fiction, think about story elements. -For non-fiction, think about the text structure. -Write a few sentences that tell the main ideas in your own words. -Reread your summary to see if it reads smoothly. THINK ALOUD For non-fiction ask: -What is this selection about? -How is it organized? -What are the main ideas? -Which information is NOT important? Why? For fiction ask: -What are the goals of the characters? -How did they reach their goals? -In what order did the events occur?

Text Structure -How has the author organized his or her writing? -What clues tell you that ___________________ is the text structure. -How does the text structure help make things clearer? Text structure is how a selection is organized. Non-fiction texts are often organized by sequence or by description or definition. Text Structure -Sequence The events are told in the order in which they occurred. -Description or Definition Important ideas are listed and described. -Comparison and Contrast The text describes similarities and differences. -Cause and Effect The text shows how events happen because of other events. THINK ALOUD Before reading ask -What is the topic? -What text features are there? -Is there a pattern to the way the information is given? During reading ask -What clue words help me recognize text structure? -What graphic organizer can I use to show the structure? After reading ask -How can I use the graphic organizer to summarize? -How does knowing the text structure help me remember what I read?

Visualize -When you read this, what do you picture in your mind? -What do you hear, see, or smell? -What do you think _______________ looks like? -How does “becoming the character” help you visualize? Visualizing is creating pictures in your mind. When you visualize, good readers use all five senses (hear, see, smell, taste, touch). The reader can see what is happening, smells the smells, feels the textures, and hears the sounds described in the text. Let’s talk about the words imagery and sensory details. Before Reading -Visualize to activate prior knowledge. -Relate what you see in the text to things you’ve seen before. During and After Reading -Use details from the text to create pictures. -Revise and refine mental pictures based on new information. -Relate what you read in the text to things you’ve seen before. -Visualize to help recall text.

Visualize THINK ALOUD Before reading ask -What previous experiences can I visualize about this topic? During reading ask -What do the details help me see in my mind? -What sounds do I hear? -Which details help me picture what is happening? -What do I picture the next step in this process will be? Activity: (Active Participation, Turn and Talk) Read a picture book to students. Have them describe the images they see without showing them the pictures. Turn and talk. Then share and compare visualizations with the pictures.