* Something new*

We are trying to restate facts we learned using our own words. Such as reading from the book: “When their lungs finally finish growing, frogs can live in water and on land.”

Students could restate the information learned as: “Frogs can live on both land and water once their lungs have grown.”

Reading is expected every night. Students have a reading assignment at school they bring the books home and re-read that same assignment at home. This is done to build fluency and because every time you read something you should learn something different than the last time. You may understand it better or have a different question about it, or see it from a different perspective.

          - Latest Strategy discussed and demonstrated

Reading Comprehension
We have talked about many strategies for understanding the text we are reading. We focus on a special strategy each day to try to find in our text. Good readers employ these strategies without thinking because they are engaged and engrossed in the subject matter. They can be explicitly taught to build reading comprehension. Here are some of them.

• Visualize - picture in your mind what is happening. If this is a book with many pictures, it is hard to do. All readers of Harry Potter had a picture of Hogwarts and the many scenes from the books that were created before there were the movies. Now as you read them you may have replaced your pictures with those of the actors and sets. Create your own mind pictures of what the character's house, school, or setting is.
• Background knowledge - what do we know already about the book (setting, characters, etc.) before we read it. This includes all of the connections readers have: text to self, text to text, text to world.
• Asking questions - as we read we should be wondering what is going to happen?, why did something happen? why does the character feel that way?, what would I feel like if I were in that situation?
  • Predicting, confirming, and rejecting - again, what do I think will happen?, did it happen?, because of that, NOW, what do I think will happen?
• Inferring - Sometimes the author tells the reader exactly why something happens, sometimes the author implies something and the reader must figure it out. Try to understand why a character does what he does. "Bobby looked around the corner and then ran home." Did Bobby run because he saw something scary; a bully, a big dog, or did he see Joey and realize he was late for a friend coming over? This leads to: What would I do if I were that character? Would I react the same or differently?
  • Another question to ask is: what does the author want me to know? "Bobby shrugged his shoulders." Does the author want me to know he doesn't care, or is he pretending he doesn't care, or is it how Bobby reacts to all situations and is part of his mannerisms?
• Determine important ideas (and distinguish from just interesting information) - Sometimes the author will describe something and the reader must determine if it is important to know. Have you ever read something but missed the point because you focused on the interesting? "When he explored the rim of the volcano, the scientist wanted to protect himself from toxic gases and wore a red hazard suit ." Ask what should you know or learn from reading that? A child should understand that protection from toxic gases near volcanoes is needed. If the answer is: wear a red suit, be sure to ask why so that she can elaborate on the intended understanding and important idea.
• Synthesize - Tracking your understanding as you go to find overall meaning. Also be able to summarize the meaning of the text. What is it the author wanted you to know from reading the text. This is different than a retell. It is taking the important information and putting it into a smaller package. Sometimes it is a moral or a lesson learned from the story. You can retell The Boy Who Cried Wolf  in full detail or summarize that the author wanted you to know that when someone tells lies that person is not trusted or believed.
• Use fix-up strategies. Good readers are aware of when they understand what they are reading and when they don't understand what they are reading. The most important and easiest of the strategies is to re-read. Find where you lost the meaning and go back. Other problem-solving strrategies include skipping ahead, asking questions, and reading the passage aloud (it naturally slows a reader down as well).