Teaching Strategies
What can be said about reading for comprehension? It's a skill that students struggle to learn. It's hard for students to stay actively engaged when reading to be able comprehend a text. I struggle when teaching reading comprehension! If these are some of your thoughts when approaching reading comprehension, then you are not alone. I stand with you, yelling "how do I get my students to understand?" while pulling my hair out!
When we want students to comprehend while reading a text, what we really want them to do is think. Think about the events that are happening in a story, how the characters feel, what's going to happen next, whether the events occurring in the story are normal, funny, or weird, and what connections can be made from this text to real life. In order for all of this to occur we have to teach and encourage our students to be "reading detectives".
Retelling
The first step in teaching and encouraging your students to become reading detectives is to help them apply a skill that they have been using since they were able to talk, which is retelling. Students are able to retell an event that happens on the playground, or what Johnny was doing to Tommy behind your back. When it comes to retelling a story that has been read, students often draw a blank. When retelling a story, students should be able to use characters' names, tell where the story takes place, and tell about the important parts of the story. When good reading characteristics are taught, students will become better thinkers and readers. 16
The first chapter of The BFG is a great place to start getting your kids to use those retelling skills that they already possess. During this chapter Sophie is awake during the witching hour because the moon is shining on her through the window. When she gets out of bed to close the curtains, she sees something tall, black, and skinny. When reading aloud the first chapter of The BFG, be sure to pause after each event that happens. Remember, you are laying the foundation for your students so that they will have an understanding of what is going on in the story. You want to be sure to get an answer to the following question—as it pertains to the events that occur in the story—from your students when reading: Who is the character in this story? What is wrong with Sophie? Where is Sophie? What time of day is it? What was Sophie supposed to be doing? What did Sophie do?; and What did Sophie see? Explain to your students that good reading detectives are able to listen for clues, ask and answer questions that will help them to be able to tell what is going on. Once your students have answered these questions from hearing the text, you are ready to go back and read the first chapter again without stopping. After re-reading the first chapter, use chart paper to create a story board, and fill it in with your students. After the storyboard is complete ask students to tell you what has happened in the story. Encourage students to use retelling terms such as, first, next, then, and last; use the story board to remind students of character names and the setting when retelling what has happened in chapter one of the story.
Any Thoughts?
In addition to retelling a story, we want students to be great thinkers when they are reading or listening to a story. We know students can tell you the important events that have happened in a story, but can they react to events in a story, paint a picture, make predictions, or make connections within a text?
Have you ever read a book to your kids, during which you come across a humorous part? Did you laugh? How about your students, did they laugh? Sometimes students don't know how to react to events that happen within a text. In order to get the appropriate reaction we have to teach students that they must always be paying attention, and thinking about what's going on in a story. Great reading detectives are able to react to events. 17
In order for students to learn how to react to a text we have to guide their thinking by planting little, tiny thinking seeds. Let's reuse chapter one of The BFG. Sophie is awake because she could not sleep. It's the middle of the night, everything is still, and everything is silent. No sounds could be heard outside. The window curtains are wide open and the light from the moon is shining in on her, which prevents her from going to sleep. 18 After reading this you should start to get a feeling of alarm, suspense or fright, but whatever your reactions I think it's safe to say that we feel that something is not right. The feeling that you are getting while reading this portion of chapter one is the same feeling that your students should be getting as well. When teaching students to react to what is being read to them, you have to make them aware of the feelings that they are having. A way to teach students to bring those feelings forward is to pause when reading and say "boys and girls, I have a funny feeling about what we just read. Do you have a funny feeling too?" After students have responded to your question, you and your students should be good reading detectives and discuss the feeling that you both are having, and what clues from the text have guided you towards that feeling. 19
Great reading detectives are always thinking and on the look-out for clues when reading. In order to gain an understanding of a text, students must always be thinking and asking themselves questions. Asking questions while reading helps students to understand meaning, and make predictions. The end goal is for the students to ask themselves these questions while reading to gain an understanding, but for now we are going to have to model the thinking process until they get into the swing of things. Let's reuse the same passage from chapter one of The BFG. When going back to plant a thinking seed, you are going to have to go back and pull out the little details that describe the setting at this time in the passage. You may start by asking your kids what's going on right now in the story? What does Sophie see? What does Sophie hear? What time of night is it? Why is Sophie awake? These are all the questions you want your students to generate and answer in order to have a reaction to this text. When you and your students have reviewed what is happening in the story, you should say to your students "boys and girls, I have a funny feeling about what's happening in the story." "Does this sound right to you (go through a quick list of what we know is happening)?" Then ask your students how they feel about what's happening in the story. Eventually, if this technique is used consistently, students will begin to raise their hand and tell you when they are having a funny feeling. 20
Painting a Picture
When I read a story to my students that is full of vivid details I want to pause, put my hands in the air very dramatically and say "picture this…". "Picture this" is exactly what we want our students to do when they are reading a text. Teaching your students to paint mental pictures of a text when reading keeps them actively engaged in the text.
Teaching your students to paint mental pictures when they are reading can be a daunting task for the simple reason that you have to remember to model this activity whenever the opportunity presents itself. You will want to model how you are using your sense of touch, taste, smell, sight, and hearing to bring the author's words to life. Let's stay in chapter one of The BFG, but this time we will look at a different passage. It is the witching hour, and everything is still. Sophie has gotten out of her bed to close the curtain. Before closing the curtain she peeks out of the window. The silvery moon is shining down on the village streets, the houses look bent and crooked, and everything looks pale and ghostly, and milky-white. 21 The author, Roald Dahl, uses great describing words that appeal to your sense of sight, and hearing. While we are able to pick out these describing words, and use them to paint a picture, our students cannot. After reading this passage, ask your students to put on their reading detective hats and re-read the passage again. Ask students to listen for the words that describe the sounds that Sophie could hear, and what her village and houses looked like. Remind your reading detectives that they are listening for shape and color words. A great way for you to get students to understand the terms bent, crooked, and deathly still is to have them act them out. Ask your reading detectives to describe what the houses look like, what the streets look like, what the sky looks like. Ask your reading detectives to close their eyes and listen as you paint a picture. Start by saying "I am imagining", or "I can picture how," and begin to describe the scene in your own words. When you are done it would be a good idea to take chart paper and draw a picture of what the kids have described so that they are able to see that words can come to life. 22
Making Predictions
Making predictions is another skill that our students use several times throughout the day. Students may walk outside for recess and look up and see clouds in the sky and say "oh I think that it is going to rain". They were able to use what they know about the weather and make a guess as to what will happen in the near future. Since this skill is naturally embedded within a child, we have to pull it out and show them how to apply it when they are reading.
As you help your students develop their thinking skills as readers you will find that they will start to wonder why things are happening. When the students start to question why things are happening, they going to want to know what happens next. Sometimes when students make predictions they come up with these far-fetched ideas as to what will happen next that have absolutely nothing to do with what's going on in the story. When making predictions, you will want to ask your students: What has happened so far in the story? What information has the author given us in the story? What is the problem in the story? Let's go to a passage at the end of chapter one where Sophie is looking out of the window down the street. It's dark, the houses look slanted, and everything is a pale, ghostly, milky-white color. Down the street, Sophie sees something tall, something skinny, and something black walking towards her home. 23 The question that you will be asking your students is, "What did Sophie see?" Before your students can answer this question and make their predictions there is some information that the author has given us to base our predictions on. Have your students put on their reading detective hats and listen to the passage again. Explain to your students that we need to solve this mystery: what did Sophie see coming down the street. The first step is to gather information. Ask your students, "What information did the author give us?" It would be a good idea to write on the board the three things that Sophie saw so students can see it, and you can make reference to it. It very important that students understand that predictions are based on your past experiences, and the information that is given in the text. Repetition is key. You will need to continue to reiterate to your students the three things that the author has told us that Sophie saw out of the window. You will need to say to your students, "We know that Sophie saw something tall, black and skinny. What is something that could be tall, black, and skinny that you think Sophie could see coming down the street? 24
Connecting the Dots
All great reading detectives should be able to make text-to-self connections when reading. Making these types of connections when reading helps students to understand the story and the characters better. Students are more likely to stay engaged in a story if they can recall a memory or past experience that is similar to the events that are happening in a story.
In order for your students to make connections with the text, more of those thinking seeds have to be planted, and the question "Has anything like this ever happened to you?" must be asked. Since students are recalling a memory or event that has happened in the past, they should start their response to your question with "This reminds me of". By doing this students are reminding themselves that they are talking about an experience that they have already had, and not something that is going to happen, or couldn't happen at all. Let's look at the first line in chapter one of The BFG, which says "Sophie couldn't sleep." 25 After reading this single line you're going to have to guide your reading detectives into recalling a time when they haven't been able to fall asleep. You may want to say something like;" It's late at night and you are lying in your bed. Your mom and dad, brothers and sisters are sleeping, but you are the only one awake. Has this every happened to you?" When students raise their hands to respond with their connection to the text, prompt them to start by saying "This reminds me of a time when I couldn't sleep because." Adding "because" to their response statement is going to get your reading detectives to connect to the character's problem because it is now a shared experience. Adding "because" also prompts your reading detectives to ask themselves the question;" Why couldn't Sophie go to sleep?" 26
Healthy Conversation
Having a classroom discussion with first graders has to be the hardest task that I have faced as a teacher. Whenever we start discussing a text, situation, or an event, it seems as if everyone wants to talk at the same time, and then go off into their "I" stories that have absolutely nothing to do with the topic that is being discussed. If this scenario sounds vaguely familiar to you, then you must be pulling your hair screaming " why won't you just listen."
Listening is a skill that must be taught, and is very hard for children to master, especially when they have to listen to each other. Listening is an active task. In order for a listener to be able to respond to a speaker and be able to make connections, they must think about the speaker's words, and what the speaker is saying. 27
In order to grow great thinkers while reading, it is up to us to teach our students how to be great listeners. You can model great listening skills for your students, and the perfect time to model these skills is during whole group reading time. Great listeners look at the speaker while he/she is talking, and nod and smile to show that they are listening. Listeners are also great thinkers. They are thinking about what the speaker is saying, and using that information to paint a picture in their minds. Great listeners also ask questions in order to be sure they understand what the speaker is really saying: Can you say more?[] I don't understand. Can you explain? —and Could you repeat that? 28
Now that our Children have become great listeners, we are ready to begin having healthy conversations about The BFG. When having conversations about books in the classroom, you have to remember to let the comments of your students drive the conversation. Your job is to make sure that the conversation stays in its lane. When having healthy conversation in the classroom it is important to remember that everyone is free to speak (one at time), and that you want everyone to participate. A healthy conversation has one central idea, and stays with that idea. Last, conversations about a book are only about that book. 29
The BFG is a great book to use to reinforce conversational skills. As you continue to read, you and your students will find that Sophie has been kidnapped by a giant, and taken to Giant Country. Sophie fears that the giant is going to eat her, but is pleasantly surprised to learn that he a big friendly giant (The BFG) who does not eat people. Chapter seven begins with The BFG learning that Sophie is an orphan who never knew her mom and dad, and has been treated badly at times. We also discover not only that The BFG is a friendly giant, but that he "blows" good dreams to sleeping boys and girls in Sophie's village. He goes on to explain that there is a place called Dream Country where he uses his enhanced sense of hearing to catch dreams. 30
Conversation about this chapter can begin by stating what we already know about The BFG. We know that The BFG is a good giant, and doesn't like to see people being hurt. How do you think The BFG is feeling as Sophie is telling him about her life at the orphanage? Have your students turn to their listening partner and discuss their thoughts. We know that The BFG is a sensitive giant who laughs one second, and cries the next. What do you think Sophie is thinking as The BFG responds to her story about living in the orphanage?
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