1. ACTIVATOR: What do you do when you do not understand what you are reading?
Ask students to write on an index card individually. Next, pair with one other person and share response. Then, share out whole class. Ask students: Have you ever read every page of a chapter and still had no idea what you read?

2. Do they do more than read black letters on a white page?
What Good Readers Do
Do they do more than
read black letters on a white page?
As you begin, instill the need for ALL readers—even adults– to tackle different pieces of text in different ways. Reading is a life-long skills is not simply about reading black letters on white piece of paper. There is so much more THINKING and QUESTIONING that should take place. Have fun with students talking about listening to the voices in your head! That is what good reader’s do! And it all begins with A PURPOSE for reading.

3. Good readers . . . Have Purpose for Reading
Read to get meaning
Read to “find” something
Read with a pencil and interact with the text
Helps you determine WHAT is important.
Story to set up the learning: What if one of your parents asked you to go search for something in your bedroom. All they said to you was “go find it!” How easy would it be to find “it” when you don’t know what “it” really is?? That is exactly why you need a purpose for your reading in your classes. You need to know what it is teachers want you to find, look for, or answer.

4. Good readers . . . Think about what they already know (prior knowledge)
Relate ideas in text to ideas in the world and own beliefs
Relate what they are reading to own life

5. Good readers . . . Make sure they understand what they read
Recognize when what they read is difficult
Recognize when they “stop paying attention”
Identify when vocabulary is a problem
Identify parts of a text that confuse them (self-monitoring)

6. Time to Practice Read xxx (teacher fill in the title)
Read the purpose for reading written at the top of your paper
Find an answer to the purpose for reading and record your answer on ____________
Teachers: Provide the SAME article to students but give ½ the class one purpose and the other ½ a different purpose. Keep the article short and simple to read. The objective: Students will not know there were 2 different purposes. You will prove your point about reading to find answer to the purpose. Discuss the answers from several students and ask them to come up with conclusions—don’t’ GIVE them the teachable moment. Let them find it in small groups. (2 min. max for this collaborative discussion)

7. How does a good reader know when he is no longer reading effectively or paying attention to the text? Good question!
Ask students:

8. If one of these things happens as you read, it is time to stop and fix it!
The inner voice in your head stops having conversations with the text
The camera inside your head shuts off and you can no longer visualize what is happening
Your mind wanders away from the text
You cannot remember or retell anything you read

9. If one of these things happens as you read, it is time to stop and fix it!
You can’t answer questions or find evidence to support your purpose for reading
Characters are reappearing in the text and you cannot recall who they are

10. And when good readers don't understand, they . . . use Fix-Up Strategies
Realize when they stop paying attention
Reread
Change reading rate (speed)
Write their questions as they read

11. Pay attention to pictures and text features
Use these features to help them
Headings
Bold-faced and italicized text
Charts, graphs, pictures
Chapter summaries

12. Form pictures in their minds and make inferences
Use personal examples of content presented in text
Connect to something similar you read or saw before

13. Draw conclusions: Question Author’s Purpose
Determine “why” author is writing passage
Think about point of view
Think about the intended audience

14. Evaluate Enjoyment Know why book does or does not appeal to them
Know whether or not they would recommend book

15. Try to figure out new words
Use context clues when don’t know meaning
Use root words or affixes to gather meaning

16. Use a variety of strategies
Main idea
Facts & details
Understanding sequence
Cause & effect
Compare & contrast
Making predictions
Word meaning in context
Draw conclusions/inferences
Facts & opinions
Author's purpose
Figurative language
Summarizing
Strategy = an intentional plan that readers use to help themselves make sense of their reading. It is a skill—just like riding a bike, learning to swim, etc. This class is going to help you learn strategies that will help you read difficult text, answer questions in ALL your classes. What we learn in here you take with you into your content classes. Pretty cool, right??!
The 12 Reading Comprehension Strategies

17. Good readers practice!
Ask students: What do you think PRACTICE will look like? Talk to a partner (30 seconds)

18. Why Literacy?
Literacy is the ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, compute, and communicate using visual, audible, and digital materials across disciplines and in any context.
Day 2: Activator suggestion –Ask students to work in grps of 3-4 and define “literacy” by providing this prompt Literacy is the ability to______
Allow 2-3 minutes. Share responses.
Impress upon students how much there really is to “literacy” and why it is so important in middle school, but also why in high school, college, the work force, etc. Ask students: What are you noticing about this definition? (Model for students at least one thing YOU notice so that they are comfortable with what you want them to do). Suggest: Allow students to talk to a partner (45 seconds). Share responses.