Thinking While Reading: Reading Strategies

Students will be presented weekly with a new reading strategy to help build their comprehension while reading. Following a brief lesson, the students will participate in an engaging and interactive read aloud where they will answer questions, participate in discussion, and explore the text in a deeper way. After the read aloud students will then express their thoughts and ideas about the text in a fun and meaningful way.  

Through the use of live video meetings, lively discussions, and interactive read aloud prompts and questions students will delve deeply into reading comprehension focusing on a new skill per week. 

Class Time will be structured in the following way:

Week 1: Introductions and class expectations will start each of our weekly classes. The teacher will then lead an engaging and interactive mini lesson of the reading comprehension skill making and confirming predictions, using a combination of lecture, visuals, and student involvement. We will make predictions about the book's events and characters (before reading, during reading, and following the reading) all while utilizing the weekly skills taught in the mini lesson. Following the interactive read aloud, there will be a short time for students to discuss and ask each other questions in regards to the book, as the teacher facilitates, monitors, and guides students through their discussion.

Week 2: Introductions and class expectations will start each of our weekly classes. The teacher will then lead an engaging and interactive mini lesson of the reading comprehension skill visualizing, using a combination of lecture, visuals, and student involvement. Students will create meaningful visuals throughout and after the reading of our book in order to describe important events from our interactive reading, all while utilizing the weekly skills taught in the mini lesson. Following the interactive read aloud, there will be a short time for students to discuss and ask each other questions in regards to the book, as the teacher facilitates, monitors, and guides students through their discussion.

Week 3: Introductions and class expectations will start each of our weekly classes. The teacher will then lead an engaging and interactive mini lesson of the reading comprehension making connections, using a combination of lecture, visuals, and student involvement. We will practice making relevant connections (text to text, text to self, and text to world) before our reading, during 
the reading, and following our reading, all while utilizing the weekly skills taught in the mini lesson. Following the interactive read aloud, there will be a short time for students to discuss and ask each other questions in regards to the book, as the teacher facilitates, monitors, and guides students through their discussion.

Week 4: Introductions and class expectations will start each of our weekly classes. The teacher will then lead an engaging and interactive mini lesson of the reading comprehension skill asking and answering questions, using a combination of lecture, visuals, and student involvement. Students will practice developing questions and finding their answers within the text to aid their overall comprehension of a text. Students will develop questions about the book's events and characters (before reading, during reading, and following the reading) all while utilizing the weekly skills taught in the mini lesson. Following the interactive read aloud, there will be a short time for students to discuss and ask each other questions in regards to the book, as the teacher facilitates, monitors, and guides students through their discussion.

Week 5: Introductions and class expectations will start each of our weekly classes. The teacher will then lead an engaging and interactive mini lesson of the reading comprehension skill inferring, using a combination of lecture, visuals, and student involvement. Students will utilize their own schema and the text clues in order to create meaningful inferences about the book's events and characters (before reading, during reading, and following the reading) all while utilizing the weekly skills taught in the mini lesson. Following the interactive read aloud, there will be a short time for students to discuss and ask each other questions in regards to the book, as the teacher facilitates, monitors, and guides students through their discussion.

Throughout this course of this five-week class, students will enjoy wonderful selection of children's books, while also learning important reading comprehension skills and how to communicate ideas about literature.