In this 2 week course, meeting twice a week for 30 minutes, students will learn and practice basic comprehension strategies. I am currently a 3rd grade public school teacher and have 5 years reading instruction experience. I have spent the last three summers teaching reading to learners who are at risk for the upcoming school year. I have great knowledge in what it takes to give readers authentic reading experiences as well as how these strategies will be tested by state wide examinations. I majored in Education and specifically American Literature, which consisted of many hours of reading, analyzing, researching and discussing literature. 

Each class will be a 30 minute class on a different reading strategy with modeling from the teacher, reading a variety of texts in a group and discussions about comprehension questions. Students will read aloud every class to practice fluency, which is another very important reading skill to obtain. 

Lesson Topics:

1. Predicting- When students make predictions about the text they are about to read, it sets up expectations based on their prior knowledge about similar topics. As they read, they may mentally revise their prediction as they gain more information. In this lesson students will learn how readers make a prediction before reading then check after reading to see if their prediction was correct. 

3. Visualizing- Good readers make a movie in their mind while they read. If they don't the comprehension is lost. Students will read a short fiction story and explain what they imagined in their mind.  

4. Questioning- When readers question the text before, during, and after they read, they attend more closely to the text, clarify meaning, make predictions, and focus their attention on what’s important. In this lesson students will read a fiction short story and practice how to ask the text questions as you read. 

5. Determining the Main Idea- Students need to prioritize what they read. Prioritizing is determining the main idea. In this class we will read a short non fiction article and using think-pair-share determine the main idea. Students will work as a class to determine the main idea of various nonfiction texts.


When the two weeks are over students will have practiced each of the reading comprehension skills above. Students may then take the class every 3 weeks as the readings will continue to change. Once the students feel comfortable with their reading comprehension, students may enroll in my book club where we will be reading Third Grade Angels by Jerry Spinelli. In this class we will be putting our comprehension skills to the test by reading a chapter book. Students will be introduced to new comprehension skills, comprehension text dependent questions, lively discussions and more. I look forward to teaching your child the basics of reading comprehension, as it is so important in all academic subjects. I am an energetic and hands on teacher. I will assist your child every step throughout the way. All students will be able to speak and ask questions during class. Students will be able to talk to one another about the reading and share opinions. The only thing students should be able to do is read a basic picture book. I will be able to turn those picture books into chapter books!