When students shrug in response to “What’s the main idea?”
Posted on October 27, 2023Share This Content
close reading informational texts
Observing for what students are “not saying” during conferences
Posted on March 11, 2019During conferences, while I do listen to what students are saying, I also listen for what they are NOT saying. This is why. Frequently when you ask a student to tell you what they have learned from a complex informational source (or a part of a source), they will talk about content they understood without …Read more
Share This Content
Do you have high-reading kinders you need to challenge?
Posted on October 18, 2016Some our of kindergarten students read above grade level. How do we keep them challenged? A colleague of mine, Lisa, engaged a small group in close reading of an informational text about energy with great success. Here are some photos and tips she shared with me. Just some background. These nine students were reading at …Read more
Share This Content
Liberate your students! In the beginning, give them the main idea!!!
Posted on September 25, 2015Do your students hesitate when you ask, “What is the main or central idea of this source?” Why? There may be a couple of reasons. Many students have not had enough experience with identifying main ideas to identify them easily. And they may have only a superficial understanding of key vocabulary in a main idea. …Read more
Share This Content
Tip #3 for Locating Paired Informational Texts – By Same Author
Posted on May 28, 2014What do you notice regarding the similarities in the types of details included in these sentences from two different books by Seymour Simon? Your backbone, or spine, is a flexible column of bones that runs down the middle of your body. It is made up of a chain of thirty-three small bones called vertebrae, which …Read more
Share This Content
Lesson: Teaching Term Perseverant Through… Part 2
Posted on April 16, 2014Lesson Experience – Even when definitions of vocabulary words are carefully planned for discussion during close reading, these definitions can be problematic… In a blog entry from last December about a lesson experience, I discussed the needs of a specific group of 6th graders I worked with in an urban school. Many seemed to lack …Read more
Share This Content
Choosing info text excerpts for close reading
Posted on October 29, 2013Close reading can be powerful experience that moves readers into deeper understanding of a content area concept or theme. But we can’t “close read” everything so how do we make decisions about which excerpts are worthy of close reading? Here are a few suggestions. If you are just working with ONE (well-written) text (versus a …Read more
Share This Content
Please don’t overdose on “close reading”
Posted on September 30, 2013I have been asked several times recently, “How often should teachers engage students in close reading?” I don’t have an easy answer on this. I’d like to start by saying that close reading of an excerpt of informational text should be part of a larger integrated unit of study. These units need to be filled …Read more
Share This Content
PARCC’s 3rd grade sample test items – make time to read and this is why…
Posted on August 28, 2013This is a quick and dirty summary of the newly released PARCC sample test items. If you are in one of the 19 states that will be taking the PARCC tests in 2014-2015, thought this might help you think about what our students will be facing. Third Grade Sample Items – summary and a few …Read more
Share This Content
Intriguing Notices as Mini-Lessons
Posted on August 2, 2013I’m always intrigued by the notices posted around us. Many are perfect for mini-lessons focused on close reading of informational text. Check out this one I saw in a restroom in Chico, CA. For a close reading exercise, I would put this on the document camera or Smart board and ask students some of the …Read more
Share This Content
Are your students regurgitating facts from a text without really thinking about the big ideas being conveyed? A few weeks ago a teacher and I conferred with a student reading a book called Gorillas (Pioneer Valley series). When we asked the student, “What’s the main idea?” They shrugged. Here’s a version of what happened during …Read more