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QUESTIONING:

1. INTRODUCTION TO EFFERENT QUESTIONING-Teacher introduces what the students will learn and why. “We are learning to develop different types of questions to help guide our thinking when reading.”-Teacher explicitly outlines what a question is. -Teacher and students explore the nature of questioning and the teacher points out the value of questioning whilst reading.-Teacher points out that there are different types of questions. Efferent (who, what, when, where), Aesthetic (questions about the reader’s thoughts and feelings) and Critical / Analytical (questions that interrogate the author).-Teacher may share the assessment rubric with students and point out to them that in order to achieve an ‘A’ grade; they will need to formulate at least two of each of the above question types at different points throughout a text that they read.-Teacher explains that the initial focus will be on efferent questions.-Teacher explains what efferent questions are and demonstrates how to formulate them.-Teacher displays a poster that outlines efferent questioning and informs the students that it is ok to refer to the poster as they move through the learning experience. -Teacher introduces the book, “The Dream of The Thylacine” to students.-The teacher demonstrates how to generate an efferent question that this book could answer. For example, “This book could answer the question, “What is a Thylacine?” The information that I used to generate this question was the word “Thylacine” from the book title.” (In this way the teacher demonstrates not only the formulation of the question but also the fact that it was the information from the text that led to the formulation of the question.)-The teacher invites students to generate an efferent question that the text might answer.Examples may include: “Where does a Thylacine live?” “What does a Thylacine dream about?”“When did the Thylacine live?” (If students have difficulty with this then the teacher can further demonstrate how to generate efferent questions.)-The teacher shows the students video footage of ‘the last’ Thylacine and introduces a website that provides information about the Thylacine before reading the text. (Click on Links Below)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vqCCI1ZF7o http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/articles/tasmaniantiger/ -Teacher reads the text, “The Dream on the Thylacine” to students.-Students generate efferent questions about the text and the information that they have looked at so far.-The teacher points out that, “Efferent questions are important because they are related to the facts within texts. If people don’t understand the facts, then they aren’t going to understand what they are reading.” -Teacher reminds students that there are two other types of questions that they will learn about as a class, Aesthetic and Critical / Analytical questions. -The teacher asks students to reflect upon the learning experience in their ‘comprehension strategies’ learning journal. The teacher asks students to write down what they understand an efferent question to be and why it is important to be able to ask and answer efferent questions. Students are also required to write an example of an efferent question in their learning journal. Students are allowed to converse with peers as they formulate their journal entries.

-WALT Wall Posters

-‘Types’ of question posters

-‘The Dream of the Thylacine’ by Margaret Wild and Ron Brooks (Preferably an enlarged copy)

-You –Tube footage of ‘The last Thylacine’

-Link to Australian Government website featuring information about the Thylacine

-Efferent and Aesthetic Questioning Worksheet

-‘Comprehension Strategies’ Learning Journal

Amiee Satchell

http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/articles/tasmaniantiger/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vqCCI1ZF7o

2. INTRODUCTION TO AESTHETIC QUESTIONING-Teacher asks students what comprehension strategy they have started to learn about and why. -Students take out their ‘comprehension strategies’ learning journals and review what they learned in the previous session. -The teacher reinforces the importance of efferent questioning and informs students that they will now move on and explore ‘Aesthetic’ questioning. -The teacher informs students that aesthetic questions are questions that ask the reader to express their thoughts and feelings about a text. The teacher tells students that they could be thought of as ‘opinion’ questions. (The teacher may briefly explain the difference between ‘fact’ and ‘opinion’ or explore the nature of ‘opinion’ depending on the student group and time constraints.)-The teacher shows the students the ‘Aesthetic Questions’ poster. The teacher points out that the questions ask the reader what they ‘think’ about the text.-The teacher informs students that they are going to once again read the text, ‘The Dream of the Thylacine’ and that they will be asking and answering aesthetic questions about the text. The teacher points out to students that they will be allowed to use questions from the poster if they want to because they are only just beginning to learn about this type of questioning.-The teacher reads, ‘The Dream of the Thylacine’ and demonstrates how to develop an aesthetic question based on the text. For example: “If you were the author, which part of the story would bring you the most pride?”-The teacher asks the students to talk through / justify possible responses to this question with a partner before asking students to offer / justify responses in front of the group. -The teacher records these responses and they are discussed by the class.-The teacher points out that this question (“If you were the author, which part of the story would bring you the most pride?”) is an aesthetic one because it asks the reader (them in this case) to express their thoughts and feelings about a text).-The teacher then explains that the students will work in pairs to complete the next activity. The teacher will read the text again (if required) and students will (either) create (or copy from the poster), an aesthetic question that their partner will answer. (This work will be completed on the same worksheet started when the students developed efferent questions in the previous session)-Students complete the activity.-The teacher asks for pairs to share an aesthetic question and answer. The class discusses these questions and answers. -The teacher reminds students that they have so far been introduced to aesthetic and efferent questions. The teacher refers the students back to the comprehension strategies ‘WALT’ wall and reminds students ‘why’ they are learning about ‘questioning’.-At this point, the teacher may once again refer to the assessment rubric with students and point out to them that in order to achieve an ‘A’ grade in regards to using this comprehension strategy; they will need to formulate at least two of each of the question types at different points throughout a text that they read.-The teacher asks the students to reflect upon the learning experience in their ‘comprehension strategies’ learning journal. The teacher asks the students to write down their own definition of what an ‘aesthetic question’ is and to have a go at creating their own aesthetic question. -Students break into pairs (or small groups) and discuss what they will write in their learning journals.-The teacher then asks students to think about and write down what they see as the difference between efferent and aesthetic questions. -The teacher asks students to share their responses and the class develops a shared understanding of the differences between efferent and aesthetic questioning.-The teacher asks the students: “Which type of question is harder to develop and answer?” This encourages discussion about the fact that aesthetic questions require students to utilise higher order thinking skills than efferent questions. However, the teacher must reiterate the importance of efferent questioning, as without an understanding of the facts, students cannot move on into higher order questions.

-WALT Wall Posters


-‘The Dream of the Thylacine’ by Margaret Wild and Ron Brooks (Preferably an enlarged copy)

-Efferent and Aesthetic Questioning Worksheet


3. INTRODUCTION TO CRITICAL / ANALYTICAL QUESTIONING-Teacher asks students what comprehension strategy they have started to learn about and why. -Students review teacher feedback written in regards to their definition of what an aesthetic question is, and their attempt at formulating an aesthetic question (in their ‘comprehension strategies’ learning journal from the previous comprehension strategy session). -Teacher reviews the difference between aesthetic and efferent questions and reminds students that they will have many more opportunities to generate and answer these questions because the more they do this, the better they will become at it.-Teacher informs students that today they will focus on the third type of questioning; ‘Critical / Analytical’ questioning.-At this point, the teacher may once again refer to the assessment rubric with students and point out to them that in order to achieve an ‘A’ grade in regards to using this comprehension strategy; they will need to formulate at least two of each of the question types at different points throughout a text that they read.-Teacher explains what critical / analytical questions are and that they are questions that ‘interrogate’ the author.-Teacher reveals the poster that outlines examples of critical / analytical questions and points out to the students that these questions basically investigate what the author has written, how ‘well’ they have written it and why they have written the text. “The reader questions what the author has written. They ‘interrogate’ the author.”-The teacher and students read the report at culture.gov.au on the ‘Tasmanian Tiger’. They then once again view the silent clip of the Tasmanian Tiger.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vqCCI1ZF7o http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/articles/tasmaniantiger/-The teacher then reads the text ‘The Dream of the Thylacine’ to the students.-The teacher demonstrates to students how to formulate a critical / analytical question. For example: “What is the author’s point of view?”-The teacher asks the students to talk through / justify possible responses to this question with a partner before asking students to offer / justify responses in front of the group. -The teacher records these responses and they are discussed by the class.-The teacher points out that this question (“What is the author’s point of view?”) is a critical / analytical one, as it requires the reader to ‘interrogate’ or question the author.-The teacher then explains that the students will work in pairs to complete the next activity. The teacher will read the text again (if required) and students will (either) create (or copy from the poster), a critical / analytical question that their partner will answer. -Students complete the activity.-The teacher asks for pairs to share an aesthetic question and answer. The class discusses these questions and answers.-The teacher and students discuss the fact that critical / analytical questions require higher order thinking skills to develop and answer.-The teacher refers back to the WALT wall and reminds students that they have now been introduced to the three types of questioning and why.-The teacher reminds students that they will have more opportunities to practise generating and answering all three types of questions so that they can get better at using questioning to guide their reading.-The teacher asks students to reflect upon the learning experience in their ‘comprehension strategies’ learning journal. Students are to write a definition of what they understand about critical / analytical questioning. They are to generate their own critical / analytical question based on the text read. Students are encouraged to talk with a partner whilst they formulate their journal entry.-Teacher provides written feedback in student ‘comprehension strategies’ learning journals.

-WALT Wall Posters


-‘The Dream of the Thylacine’ by Margaret Wild and Ron Brooks (Preferably an enlarged copy) -‘Comprehension Strategies’ Learning Journal

-You –Tube footage of ‘The last Thylacine’

-Link to Australian Government website featuring information about the Thylacine

-Critical / Analytical Questioning Worksheet(If teacher desires. However, work could be completed in ‘comprehension strategies’ learning journals)

http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/articles/tasmaniantiger/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vqCCI1ZF7o

4. “I WONDER” STATEMENTS -The teacher refers students to the WALT wall. -Students review the last entry in their ‘comprehension strategies’ learning journals and reflect on any teacher feedback given.-The teacher explicitly demonstrates how to generate ‘wonderings’ (and classify them as efferent, aesthetic or critical / analytical wonderings) when reading. The teacher does this orally and in writing, beginning thoughts with, “I wonder...” -The teacher guides students to wonder about world or life things, story events and ideas presented in texts.-The teacher then models ‘Wonderings’ as a text is read in line with the ‘Wonderings BLM’.-Students then work in pairs to complete a ‘wonderings’ activity, Utilising the ‘Wonderings BLM’.-Students read a text and complete The ‘Wonderings BLM’.-Students then classify their wonderings as efferent, aesthetic or critical / analytical wonderings.- Prior to the completion of the learning experience, students reflect on the types of ‘wonderings’ that they formulated and answered in their ‘comprehension strategies’ learning journals. Students note the types of ‘wonderings’ that they used most frequently and set goals to use different types of questions in the next questioning learning experience.-The teacher calls the group back together and the class discusses what they have achieved during the learning experience. Some students share their goals for the next ‘comprehension strategies’ learning experience.-The teacher refers students back to the WALT wall and closes the lesson.

-WALT Wall Posters


-Demonstration Text

-‘The Story of Pompeii’(Student Activity Text)

-‘Wonderings’ BLM


5. PAIRED QUESTIONING-The teacher refers students to the WALT wall. -Students review the last entry in their ‘comprehension strategies’ learning journals and reflect on any teacher feedback given.-The teacher explicitly demonstrates how to use the paired questioning strategy when reading.-Students then work in pairs to complete a paired questioning activity.-In pairs, each student reads the title or subtitle of a manageable section of text.-Students then put the reading materials aside. Each student asks a question that comes to mind related to the title or subtitle. The partner tries to give a reasonable answer to the question.-Students silently read a predetermined section of the text.-After reading, the students take turns asking a question about the reading. One student asks a question first; the partner answers, using the text if needed. Then they reverse roles. Students continue this process until the text is finished.-Students analyse their questions and class them as efferent, aesthetic or critical / analytical.-After they have finished reading the text, one partner tells what he or she believes to be the most important ideas in the text and explains why. The partner agrees or disagrees with the choices and offers support for his or her thinking.-Prior to the completion of the learning experience, students reflect on the types of questions that they formulated and answered in their ‘comprehension strategies’ learning journals. Students note the types of questions that they used most frequently and set goals to use different types of questions in the next questioning learning experience.-The teacher calls the group back together and the class discusses what they have achieved during the learning experience. Some students share their goals for the next ‘comprehension strategies’ learning experience.-The teacher refers students back to the WALT wall and closes the lesson.

-Demonstration Text

-Student Activity Text

-WALT Wall Posters


-Paired Questioning Poster

-Paired Questioning BLM


6. QUESTION AND ANSWER RELATIONSHIP (QAR)-The teacher refers students to the WALT wall. -Students review the last entry in their ‘comprehension strategies’ learning journals and reflect on any teacher feedback given.-The teacher models and explains QAR.-The teacher introduces the QAR concept and terminology. -The teacher explains that there are two types of information:1. In the book – The answer is found in the text 2. In my head – The answer requires input from the student’s understandings and background knowledgeExplain that there are two types of QARs for each kind of information:1. In the book:- Right There: the answer is stated in the passage -Think and Search: the answer is derived from more than one paragraph but is stated in the text2. In My Head: -On My Own: the answer is contingent on information the reader already possesses in his or her background knowledge-Author and Me: the answer is inferred in the text, but the reader must make connections with his or her own prior knowledge-The teacher uses a ‘think aloud’ to practice using QAR with a text. The teacher models choosing the appropriate QAR, giving the answer from the source, and writing or telling the answer.-The teacher introduces short passages and related questions.-Groups or individuals work through the passages and questions. Students answer the questions and tell the QAR strategy that they used.-Any justifiable answer should be accepted.-Give immediate feedback to students where possible.-Students then practise QAR with increasingly longer and more challenging texts.-Prior to the completion of the learning experience, students reflect on their use of QAR in their ‘comprehension strategies’ learning journals. Students note the types of QARs that they used.-The teacher calls the group back together and the class discusses what they have achieved during the learning experience. -The teacher refers students back to the WALT wall and closes the lesson.

-Demonstration Texts

-Student Activity Texts

-WALT Wall Posters

-‘QAR’ Posters

-‘QAR BLM’



7. THICK AND THIN QUESTIONS-The teacher refers students to the WALT wall. -Students review the last entry in their ‘comprehension strategies’ learning journals and reflect on any teacher feedback given.-The teacher begins by explaining and modelling thick and thin questions.-The teacher explains the difference between thick and thin questions. THICK QUESTIONS: The BIG picture and LARGE concepts. Answers are involved, complex, and open-ended.THIN QUESTIONS: Specific content or words. Answers are short and close ended.-The teacher guides students to create thick and thin questions by reading a portion of a text and prompting students with stems such as, “Why...” or “What if...” for thick questions and “How far...” and “When...” for thein questions.-The teacher discusses thick and thin questions in relation to efferent, aesthetic and critical / analytical questioning.-Students read a text or text selection and create thick and thin questions based on what they are reading. They may write their questions in their ‘comprehension strategies’ learning journal. Alternately they may write thin questions on small pieces of paper and thick questions on larger pieces of paper. -Students then share their questions with a partner or a small group. -Students reflect on the learning experience in their ‘comprehension strategies’ learning journals. Students reflect on whether they have written more thin or thick questions and why this may be. Students think about thick and thin questions in relation to efferent, aesthetic and critical / analytical questioning, Students set themselves goals in regards to writing more thick questions during the next learning experience. -The class reconvenes and students share their questions and goals for future learning.-The teacher provides feedback to students about their questions.-The teacher refers students to the WALT wall before closing the lesson.

-Q-Matrix

-Sentence Stems

-Demonstration Texts

-Student Activity Texts

-WALT Wall Posters

-Thick and Thin Question Posters



Resources highlighted in grey indicate that the teacher needs to complete this resource or find a suitable resource for their student cohort.

This applies to all activities / strategies outlined throughout the program.

All other mentioned resources (excluding the learning journal which would simply be an exercise book) can be found in the resource sections of the program or the Six Strategies poster and WALT Wall sections of the program.

PREDICTING:

1. INTRODUCTION TO PREDICTING-The teacher informs students that they will be focussing on a new comprehension strategy; ‘Predicting’.-The teacher refers students to the WALT wall and explains that the students will be learning to use prediction as a strategy to guide their thinking whilst reading. -The teacher explains that prediction requires students to use information from a text to anticipate what they will read and that as students read, they will continually be making predictions and confirming or rejecting those predictions. -The teacher explains to students that when they confirm or reject a prediction, they change their thinking and are better prepared to think about what will happen next. This is important for comprehension.-The teacher informs students that he or she will now model the completion of an activity that can aid with prediction.

PREDICT-O-GRAM -The teacher introduces the text to be read to the students.-The teacher selects vocabulary from the story to stimulate predictions. Vocabulary should represent the story elements: characters, setting, problem, action and solution.-Students must decide which story element the word tells about and the teacher writes each word on the predict-o-gram in the appropriate place.-Teacher and students then read the story.-The teacher and students revisit the original predictions and make changes as necessary. -The teacher and students use the resulting information in the predict-o-gram to summarise the story.-The teacher refers back to the WALT Wall poster and points out to students the ways in which their predictions helped to guide their thinking whilst reading.-The teacher then asks students to work in pairs to complete a predict-o-gram based on another text. -Students follow the process and share their results in small groups.-Students then reflect on their experiences in their ‘comprehension strategies’ learning journal.-Students write down the strategy that they are learning to use, whether or not they were successful in using it and why it is important / beneficial to use it.-The teacher refers students to the WALT Wall and closes the lesson.-Teacher provides feedback to students via journal entries.

-Prediction posters

-WALT Wall posters

-Demonstration text (Narrative)

-Student Activity Text.(Narrative)

-Selected vocabulary from demonstration text.

-Predict-O-Gram Proforma

-‘Comprehension Strategies’ Learning Journals

2. ANTICIPATION / REACTION GUIDE-The teacher refers students to the WALT wall. -Students review the last entry in their ‘comprehension strategies’ learning journals and reflect on any teacher feedback given.-The teacher explains to students that they will be learning how to create and use an anticipation / reaction guide to help them become better at making predictions.-Prior to the lesson, the teacher will have created three to five general statements for the students to respond to with agree or disagree. These statements should be intuitively sound but can be disconfirmed by reading the text or that appear intuitively incorrect but may be proven true by reading the text.-Students indicate whether they agree or disagree with the statements by placing a mark in the appropriate column.-The teacher and students read the text to confirm or disconfirm their original responses.-After the text has been read, the teacher and students revisit their predictions and modify them if necessary.-The students then work in small groups to complete an anticipation / reaction guide.-The students follow the steps as outlined by the teacher in the demonstration.-Small groups then present their ‘guides’ and findings (confirmations / disconfirmations) to the class, discussing how ‘predicting’ helped to guide their thinking as they read. -The teacher provides feedback to students at the completion of each presentation.-Students reflect on the learning experience in their ‘comprehension strategies’ learning journals. They outline the activity that they have participated in, including how to complete an anticipation / reaction guide and how it can help to guide a reader’s thinking whilst reading.-The teacher refers students to the WALT Wall before closing the lesson.

-Prediction posters /WALT Wall posters

-Demonstration text (Expository)

-Student Activity Texts.(One per small group)(Expository)

-Three to five general statements from the texts for the students to respond to with ‘agree’ or ‘disagree’.

-Anticipation / Reaction Guide BLM


3. PREREADING PLAN-The teacher refers students to the WALT wall and explains that the students will be continuing to use prediction as a strategy to guide their thinking whilst reading. -The teacher explains that prediction requires students to use information from a text to anticipate what they will read and that as students read, they will continually be making predictions and confirming or rejecting those predictions. -The teacher begins by providing students with a cue word or idea to stimulate thinking about the topic.-The teacher informs students that they will learn how to create and use a prereading plan to help them become better at making predictions.-The teacher and students work together to brainstorm words or concepts related to the topic. These are all written down (on a poster or the board).-After all the words and ideas have been listed, go back to each word and ask the contributor why he or she suggested the word. At this point, the teacher and students can clarify ideas or elaborate on concepts.-The teacher and students then read the text.-After reading, the group revisits the original list of words and revise and change as necessary. -The teacher asks students to reflect upon how a prereading plan can help to guide their comprehension.-Students then work in pairs to complete a prereading plan for a text. (The teacher will provide the cue word or idea to stimulate thinking about the text.)-Students then read the text and follow the prereading plan activity as demonstrated by the teacher.-Students then reflect on how a prereading plan can help to guide their reading (in their ‘comprehension strategies’ learning journal).-Students are invited to share their reflections with the class.The teacher refers students to the WALT Wall before closing the lesson.-The teacher provides written feedback in response to entries in student ‘comprehension strategies’ learning journals.



-Student Activity Text( (Expository)(With cue words or ideas)

-Prediction posters

-WALT Wall posters

4. SEMANTIC MAP-The teacher refers students to the WALT wall. -Students review the last entry in their ‘comprehension strategies’ learning journals and reflect on any teacher feedback given.-The teacher explains to students that they will be learning how to create and use a semantic map to help them become better at making predictions.-The teacher begins by explaining and modelling semantic maps.-The teacher selects the main idea of a text or passage and writes it up for students to see. The teacher puts a circle around the main idea.-Students and teacher brainstorm subtopics related to the topic. The teacher uses lines to connect these to the main topic.-Students and teacher then brainstorm specific ideas or vocabulary related to each subtopic. These ideas are recorded beneath each subtopic.-Students and teacher read the text and revise the semantic map to reflect new knowledge. -The teacher points out to students the ways in which the semantic map helped to guide their thinking while reading.-The students then work in small groups to create semantic maps based on a different text for each small group (following the same procedure as the teacher did when modelling the activity).-The students present their semantic map to the class. They discuss the reflection of new information gained from the text and talk about the ways in which the creation and use of a semantic map can help to guide their thinking whilst reading. -The teacher provides feedback to the students as they make their presentations.

-Prediction posters

-WALT Wall posters


-Student Activity Texts.(One per small group)(Expository)

-The main idea of each text.

-Anticipation / Reaction Guide BLM

5. QUESTIONING THE TEXT-The teacher refers students to the WALT Wall.-The teacher explains that students will learn a strategy called ‘Questioning the Text’ that will improve their ability to make predictions about texts.-The teacher explains that this strategy can be used prior to and during reading.-The teacher and students move through the strategy, using the ‘Questioning the Text’ BLM.-The teacher demonstrates how to answer the questions by thinking aloud and choosing relevant questions from the list both before and during reading.-The teacher and students discuss the information compiled as a result of this activity.-The teacher and students discuss how this activity can help to guide thinking whilst reading.-Students work in small groups to use ‘Questioning the Text’ to predict prior to and as they are reading.-Students discuss the information compiled as a result of the activity.-Students reflect in their ‘comprehension strategies’ learning journal on the usefulness of the activity and whether or not it helped to guide their thinking. -Students reflect on the positives and negatives of the strategy and think about what they must do in order to become a more effective ‘user’ of this strategy.-The teacher refers students to the WALT Wall before closing the learning experience.

-Questioning the Text BLM



-Student Activity Text( (Expository)

-Prediction posters

-WALT Wall posters

Please note that activities can be repeated if required.

MAKING CONNECTIONS:

1. INTRODUCTION TO MAKING CONNECTIONS-The teacher informs students that they will be focussing on a new comprehension strategy; ‘Making Connections’.-The teacher refers students to the WALT wall and explains that the students will be learning to use ‘Making Connections’ as a strategy to activate prior knowledge and better understand the text.-The teacher explains that ‘Making Connections’ requires students to connect with information from a text (at three different levels: text-self, text-text, text-world) and that as students read, they will continually be ‘making connections’ and that this will enhance their understanding of the text. -The teacher informs students that he or she will now model the completion of an activity that can aid with ‘making connections’. The teacher explains that this is an activity that is engaged in prior to reading a text.PROBABLE PASSAGES (This activity allows students to begin ‘making connections’ and builds on their ability to use ‘prediction’ as a comprehension strategy.)-The teacher introduces key vocabulary (chosen to represent various elements of the story) to the students.-Students use the key vocabulary to create probable sentences to predict each element in the story (using a story frame)-Students share their predictions with the class.-Students read the story to confirm or modify their original predictions.-Students then work in small groups to complete the task after being provided with a new story frame and vocabulary selection (made by the teacher).-Students reflect in their ‘comprehension strategies’ learning journal on the usefulness of the activity and whether or not it helped to enhance their understanding of the text and guide their thinking. -Students reflect on the positives and negatives of the strategy and think about what they must do in order to become a more effective ‘user’ of this strategy.-The teacher refers students to the WALT Wall before closing the learning experience.

-‘Making Connections’ Posters.

-WALT Wall Posters

-Story Frame


-Demonstration Text(Narrative)

-Student Activity Text (Narrative)

2. CODING THE TEXT-The teacher refers students to the WALT wall. -Students review the last entry in their ‘comprehension strategies’ learning journals and reflect on any teacher feedback given.-The teacher explains to students that they will complete an activity that will further enhance their ability to use ‘making connections’ as a comprehension strategy when reading. The teacher explains that this activity is completed as a text is read.-The teacher begins by explaining and modelling ‘coding the text’.-The teacher uses a read-aloud and ‘thinking aloud,’ to model examples of ‘making connections’ for the students. These may include text-text, text-self and text-world connections and a few words to describe each connection.-Students then work in small groups to read a short text and they code the text. Students share their ideas with the class.-Students code their text using sticky notes to record their ideas. They can use these notes as the basis for small and / or large group discussions.-Students and teacher engage in a class discussion about how coding the text’ helps the reader to ‘make connections’ with the text.-The teacher refers students to the WALT wall before asking them to make an entry into their ‘comprehension strategies’ learning journal.-Students reflect on the activity in their ‘comprehension strategies’ learning journal. They write about how ‘coding the text’ helps them to ‘make connections’ with the text. Students evaluate their ability to make connections with the text at the three levels and set goals to enhance their ability to make connections. (Perhaps they need to work on making connections at the TEXT-WORLD level. Perhaps they were very successful at making connections at the TEXT-SELF level.The teacher should determine the code and display it where students can see it. A suggested code is: T-T (Text-Text) T-S (Text-Self) and T-W (Text-World)


-WALT Wall Posters

-Sticky Notes


-Demonstration Text(Narrative or Expository Text)

-Student Activity Text (Narrative or Expository text)

3. CONNECTION STEMS-The teacher refers students to the WALT wall. -Students review the last entry in their ‘comprehension strategies’ learning journals and reflect on any teacher feedback given. Students review the goals that they set in the previous session.-The teacher explains to students that they will complete an activity that will further enhance their ability to use ‘making connections’ as a comprehension strategy when reading. The teacher explains that this activity is completed after a text is read.-The teacher begins by explaining and modelling connection stems.-The teacher reads a text aloud. After reading the text, the teacher shows students a sentence stem and ‘thinks aloud’ about the process they use for completing it. The teacher uses text support and personal experiences to explain the connection.-The teacher reads another text aloud and guides students to complete the stem orally with a partner.-Students share their completed sentences with the teacher.-Students then read a short text in pairs and work together to complete a sentence stem that the teacher has set. (Alternatively the teacher may provide a list of sentence stems for students to choose from.)-Students share their completed stems through discussion. Alternatively they may write their completed stem in their ‘comprehension strategies’ learning journal.-The teacher refers students to the WALT wall before asking them to make an entry into their ‘comprehension strategies’ learning journal.-Students reflect upon the activity in their ‘comprehension strategies’ learning journal and describe how the use of sentence stems can help them to ‘make connections’ with a text. Again, students evaluate whether they are any closer to achieving the goal that they set in the previous session. Students decide whether they are more adept at ‘making connections’ text-text, text-self or text-world. Students set a new goal or decide to continue working towards the previous goal that they had set.-Sample Sentence Stems:-That reminds me of...-I remember when...-I have a connection...An experience I have had like that...I felt like that character when...If I were that character I would...


-WALT Wall Posters


-Demonstration Texts(Narrative or Expository Text)


-Sentence Stems Poster

4. THE CHARACTER AND ME-The teacher refers students to the WALT wall. -Students review the last entry in their ‘comprehension strategies’ learning journals and reflect on any teacher feedback given. Students review the goals that they set in the previous session.-The teacher explains to students that they will complete an activity that will further enhance their ability to use ‘making connections’ as a comprehension strategy when reading. The teacher explains that this activity is completed after a text is read.-The teacher begins by reading a text aloud and engaging in a ‘think aloud’ as they model how to complete a ‘character and me’ analysis using the ‘character and me’ BLM. The teacher makes explicit the fact that they are doing this using information from the text and drawing on their own background knowledge and experiences.-The teacher then reads another text to students and invites the students to select a character from the story and compare this character to themselves using the ‘character and me’ BLM.-Students share their findings with the class.-Students then read a text independently and select a character from the story and compare this character to themselves using the ‘character and me’ BLM.-Students are invited to share their work with their classmates.-The teacher refers students to the WALT wall before asking them to make an entry into their ‘comprehension strategies’ learning journal.-Students then reflect on the activity in their ‘comprehension strategies’ learning journals. They evaluate their ability to make connections with a character in a text. -Students reflect on how a connection with a character can enhance a reader’s understanding of a text.


-WALT Wall Posters


-‘The Character and Me BLM’

Demonstration Texts(Narrative Text)

-Student Activity Text (Narrative text)

5. DOUBLE-ENTRY JOURNAL-The teacher refers students to the WALT wall. -Students review the last entry in their ‘comprehension strategies’ learning journals and reflect on any teacher feedback given. Students review the goals that they set in the previous session.-The teacher explains to students that they will complete an activity that will further enhance their ability to use ‘making connections’ as a comprehension strategy when reading. The teacher explains that this activity is completed before, during and after a text is read.-The teacher begins by explaining and modelling Double-Entry Journals. (Double-Entry Journals may be kept in the back of students’ ‘Comprehension Strategies’ learning journals.)-The teacher provides students with a Double-Entry Journal and explains how to use the journal. The teacher models the procedure and provides examples of reflective comments that are text-text, text-self and text-world.-Students listen to the teacher read a text (or part of a text).-Students select a key event, idea, word, quote or concept from the text and write it in the left column of the paper.-In the right column, students write their response or connection to the item in the left-hand column.-Students then read a text (or part of a text) and make a new entry in their Double-Entry Journal.-Students and teacher reflect on the ways in which the Double-Entry Journal enhances students’ abilities to ‘Make Connections’ with texts. Students and teacher discuss the links between ‘making meaning’ and ‘Making Connections’.

-‘Double entry Journal’ BLM-‘Making Connections’ Posters.

-WALT Wall Posters




Please note that activities can be repeated if required.

VISUALISING:

1. INTRODUCTION TO VISUALISING-The teacher informs students that they will be focussing on a new comprehension strategy; ‘Visualising’.-The teacher refers students to the WALT wall and explains that the students will be learning to use ‘Visualising’ as a strategy to bring a text to life and engage their imagination. -The teacher explains that ‘Visualising’ requires students to create mental images as they read. The teacher explains that students will continually be picturing what is happening in their mind as they are reading and that this strategy will enhance their understanding of texts as they will bring texts to life and ‘see’ what is happening in their mind.-The teacher informs students that he or she will now model the completion of an activity that can aid with ‘visualising’. The teacher explains that this is an activity that is engaged in during and after reading a text.

DRAWING CONNECTIONS(An adaptation of this exercise could be to follow the same process but to have students represent their ‘visualisations’ rather than their ‘connections’.)-This activity allows students to build on their prior knowledge of ‘making connections’ whilst introducing them to a new strategy, ‘visualising’.-The teacher begins this activity after referring students to the WALT wall and then explaining and modelling ‘Drawing Connections’ as an activity.-The teacher reads a section of text and engages in a ‘think aloud’ about a connection that they can make. -The teacher demonstrates how to draw visual representations (pictures, shapes, lines) to communicate their connection(s) with the section of text.-The teacher then writes a sentence or a paragraph explaining the connection(s) that they have made. (The teacher engages in a ‘think aloud’ as they complete their paragraph or sentence.-The teacher then reads another section of text to the students and asks them to create visual representations of their connection(s) to the text.-The students then write a sentence or a paragraph explaining their connection(s).-Students work in pairs or small groups to share their connection(s).-Students then read a text independently and create visual representations of the connection(s) that they make with the text. Students write a sentence or a paragraph explaining their connection(s).-Students share and provide explanations of their visual representations / connection(s) within small groups. The teacher chooses one representative from each small group to share their visual representations / connection(s) with the class.-Students reflect on ‘visualising’ as a strategy in their ‘comprehension strategies’ learning journal. Students reflect on whether they were able to create mental pictures of what was happening in the text as they read and upon how successful they were in regards to making and representing their ‘connections’. Students reflect on whether or not they are able to use ‘visualising’ effectively to engage with texts and think about what they must do in order to become a more effective ‘user’ of this strategy.-The teacher refers students to the WALT Wall before closing the learning experience.

-WALT Wall Posters

-‘Visualising’ Posters




2. GUIDED IMAGERY-The teacher refers students to the WALT wall. -Students review the last entry in their ‘comprehension strategies’ learning journals and reflect on any teacher feedback given.-The teacher explains to students that they will complete an activity that will further enhance their ability to use ‘visualising’ as a comprehension strategy when reading. The teacher explains that this activity is completed before and after a text is read.-The teacher begins by explaining and modelling the activity.-The teacher begins by asking students to close their eyes and create pictures in their minds.-Students work in pairs and describe to each other what they ‘see’ when the teacher provides a verbal stimulus of things that the students are familiar with such as a favourite pet, a fireworks display or a game of football. (Time must be provided for students to elaborate on their mental pictures.)-The teacher then previews with students, the text that will be read next with a focus on illustrations, charts or any other graphics.-The teacher guides the students to think more deeply about the topic that they will be reading about. (The teacher may ask students to close their eyes, breathe deeply and relax as they do this.) -The teacher provides a detailed description of the setting, the action, sensory images, emotions etc. -Students share the pictures that they made in their minds with a partner before writing down (about) or drawing the mental image(s) that they developed throughout the activity.-The teacher then reads the text to the students. -The students review their images (or descriptions) and modify their writing and / or drawings as dictated by ‘new’ information from the now completed text.-Students discuss their drawings and / or writing with a partner and describe any modifications that they made and explain why they made them.-The teacher asks some of the students to share this information with the class.-Students then preview a text in pairs or as individuals. They complete an initial ‘visualisation’ before completing the text and modifying their drawings and /or writing.-Students identify the information or parts of the text that caused them to make modifications to their drawings and / or writing and discuss this with their partner.-Pairs join up with another pair and share their drawings and / or writing and discuss their modifications.-Students then reflect within their ‘comprehension strategies’ learning journals upon the activity and whether or not it has improved their ability to use ‘visualising’ as a comprehension strategy. -Students compare this entry with their previous journal entry and judge whether or not they are now better able to create mental images when reading and how this impacts upon their understanding of texts and their ability to engage with texts.-The teacher refers students to the WALT wall before closing the lesson.

-WALT Wall Posters


-Verbal stimulus on a topic that is familiar to students (read activity for clarification)

-Demonstration Text(s)(Narrative or Expository Text)

-Student Activity Text(s) (Narrative or Expository text


3. SKETCH TO STRETCH-The teacher refers students to the WALT wall. -Students review the last entry in their ‘comprehension strategies’ learning journals and reflect on any teacher feedback given.-The teacher explains to students that they will complete an activity that will further enhance their ability to use ‘visualising’ as a comprehension strategy when reading. The teacher explains that this activity is completed after a text is read.-The teacher begins by explaining and modelling the activity.-After reading or viewing a text, the teacher asks the students to sketch what the text ‘means to them’.-The teacher encourages the students to experiment with their sketches and reminds them that there are many ways to represent personal meanings. (The students may use pictures, shapes, lines, charts etc when creating their ‘sketch’.)-Students then gather in groups of four. Each student shares their sketch. As each sketch is shared, the other students give their interpretation of the sketch. Once each group member has given their interpretation, the artist shares his or her interpretation. This is repeated until each group member has shared their sketch.-Each group then makes a short presentation to the class on the different / similar interpretations of the text of each artist in the group. The students read their text to the class before sharing their interpretations. Students in the class then speculate (after prompting from the teacher) upon why there may have been different / similar interpretations among the same group members.-Students then reflect within their ‘comprehension strategies’ learning journals upon the activity and whether or not it has improved their ability to use ‘visualising’ as a comprehension strategy. -Students reflect on the fact that readers of the same text may interpret the text in differing ways and why this may be the case.-Students compare this entry with their previous journal entry and judge whether or not they are now better able to create mental images when reading and how this impacts upon their understanding of texts and their ability to engage with texts.-The teacher refers students to the WALT wall before closing the lesson.

-WALT Wall Posters





-One student activity text per group is required. Each group

will need a different text.

4. GALLERY IMAGES-The teacher refers students to the WALT wall. -Students review the last entry in their ‘comprehension strategies’ learning journals and reflect on any teacher feedback given.-The teacher explains to students that they will complete an activity that will further enhance their ability to use ‘visualising’ as a comprehension strategy when reading.-The teacher explains that this activity is completed after a text is read.-The teacher begins by explaining the concept of using images to represent information. The teacher then shows examples of different images representing content area concepts (these examples should relate to the students’ studies in other key learning areas) such as timelines, diagrams, charts etc.-The teacher reads an expository text to the students.-The students work in groups or pairs. They are given a section of the text to read and then represent in images.-Each group or pair is responsible for presenting and explaining their images to the class. (A class ‘gallery’ of these images can then be developed to display the images.)-The teacher asks students to reflect in their ‘comprehension strategies’ learning journals about how developing the images enhanced their understanding of the content.-Students then read a text independently before individually creating their own ‘mini’ gallery outlining content area concepts that relate to their studies across the key learning areas. -Students present their ‘mini’ galleries to the class and discuss the content area concepts.-Students reflect on ‘visualising’ within their ‘comprehension strategies’ learning journals and discuss how this strategy enhances their understanding of texts.

-WALT Wall Posters



-Demonstration Text(Expository Text)

-Student Activity Text(s) (Expository text

MONITORING:

1. INTRODUCTION TO MONITORING-The teacher informs students that they will be focussing on a new comprehension strategy; ‘Monitoring’.-The teacher refers students to the WALT wall and explains that the students will be learning to use ‘Monitoring’ as a strategy to think about (monitor) what they are reading.-The teacher explains that ‘Monitoring’ requires students to think about what they are reading and that this strategy will allow students to identify when they do not understand what they have read. Students can then work to correct any misunderstandings and maintain meaning whilst reading.-The teacher informs students that he or she will now model the completion of an activity that can aid with ‘monitoring’. The teacher explains that this is an activity that is engaged in whilst a text is read.

SAY SOMETHING-The teacher refers students to the WALT wall.-The teacher models reading a text with a designated stopping point. -At the stopping point the teacher ‘thinks aloud’ and says ‘something’ about what has been read. (The teacher may encourage students to use what they now know in regards to questioning, predicting, making connections and visualising to develop ‘something’ to say.)-The teacher continues to read and stops at the next designated point. The teacher asks students to ‘say something’ in front of the group. The teacher responds to what each student ‘says’, perhaps commenting on whether they have used one of the strategies learned so far, or whether they are beginning to ‘monitor’ or ‘summarise’ what they have read.-The teacher continues to read on, stopping at the next designated point. The teacher asks students to turn to another student and ‘say something’ to each other about what has been read.-The teacher then asks students to think about this activity and comment on how ‘saying something’ helps them to ‘monitor’ or ‘remember’ what has been read.-Students are then allocated a text and read in pairs. The students decide on and stop at a designated stopping point and then ‘say something’ about the text to their partner. -Pairs then choose the next stopping point and read up to this point before stopping to say something. The teacher may encourage students to think about which ‘strategy’ they are drawing upon to develop something to ‘say’.(The teacher points out to students that it is ok to say that they don’t understand what they have read. In this case, students must take steps to understand what has been read and then attempt to say something about it again.)-Students continue to read to designated points and to ‘say something’ until the text is completed.-Students complete an entry in their ‘comprehension strategies’ learning journals about what it means to ‘say something’ and how this activity helped them to remember what they were reading.-Students assess how effective they were at completing the activity and set goals for the next ‘monitoring’ session. For example, students may endeavour to pay closer attention to what they are reading or to reread if they don’t understand what has been read.

-WALT Wall Posters

-‘Monitoring’ Posters




2. READ, COVER, REMEMBER, RETELL-The teacher refers students to the WALT wall. -Students review the last entry in their ‘comprehension strategies’ learning journals and reflect on any teacher feedback given.-The teacher explains to students that they will complete an activity that will further enhance their ability to use ‘monitoring’ as a comprehension strategy when reading.- The teacher explains that this is an activity that is engaged in during and after reading a text. -The teacher explains that this strategy is designed to help readers slow down and read for meaning. -The teacher begins by reading a fairly small amount of text, then covering the print with his / her hand. While the teacher’s hand is over the print, they engage in a think-aloud, taking a moment to wonder:“What did I learn?” “What is important?” “What key words and ideas should I remember?”-The teacher then ‘retells’ what has been read based on these questions.-The teacher explains that at this point, students would need to make a choice between retelling and rereading. Students must be aware of why they are rereading.-The teacher points out this process using the Read, cover, remember, retell poster and displays posters for the students to refer to as they complete the activity.-Students then work in pairs to complete the activity using set texts.(This strategy ensures that students quickly learn that if they are unsure and need to recheck the content, they follow the strategy used by good readers and reread the section to give themselves another chance to absorb the content. This pause in reading, followed by self questioning, generates a mid stream retell and solidifies content ‐ ‐understanding. The deliberate steps form a routine in which pausing, thinking, self questioning, and summarising become naturally integrated into reading.Patterned Partner Reading provides a structure for reading interactively with another and promotes strategic reading.)-Students reflect on the activity in their ‘comprehension strategies’ learning journal and rate the effectiveness of the activity as a tool for improving their ability to ‘monitor’ their reading.-Students assess their own ability to ‘monitor,’ deciding whether or not they have made improvements since the previous session and what they can do to use the strategy more effectively in future reading sessions.-The teacher refers the students to the WALT Wall before closing the learning experience.

-WALT Wall Posters



-Read, Cover, Remember, Retell posters.

Demonstration Text(Narrative or Expository Text)

-Student Activity Text(s) (Narrative or Expository text)

3. CODING STRATEGY-The teacher refers students to the WALT wall. -Students review the last entry in their ‘comprehension strategies’ learning journals and reflect on any teacher feedback given.-The teacher explains to students that they will complete an activity that will further enhance their ability to use ‘monitoring’ as a comprehension strategy when reading. The teacher explains that this activity will help students to become reflective readers who pause and weigh what they are reading against their prior knowledge.- The teacher explains that this is an activity that is engaged in as a text is read. (Because students need to write their reflections next to what they are reading, it works best to have students read from photocopies. An alternative is to have students paper clip two cm wide strips of paper down the margin of each page they read or place sticky-notes down the side and then place their ‘codes’ on these pieces of paper.)-The teacher explains that as students read, their task is to stop at each sentence or paragraph and indicate their reactions to what they are reading with a code. For example: = I already knew that +=New Information ! = Wow ? = I don’t understand-The teacher reads a section of text and engages in a ‘think-aloud’ as the text is coded using the above example.-The teacher then explains the next step in the activity which requires students to meet with a partner and share and compare the codes that they have each marked (as they have read the same text).-Students then meet with a partner and are assigned a text to read. Students read the text independently and mark the text with the appropriate codes. Students then meet with their partners to share and compare their coding. -Students discuss what they perceive to be the most important ideas from their reading.-Students then reflect on the activity in their ‘comprehension strategies’ learning journal and write about how this strategy helps them as a reader. -Students review previous journal entries and think about how they have improved their ability to ‘monitor’ what they are reading and how ‘monitoring’ helps them to better understand what they have read.-Students may continue to code texts using their own codes and thinking about ways to deal with sections of text that they do not understand.

-WALT Wall Posters


-‘Coding’ Posters


Demonstration Text(Expository Text)

-Student Activity Text(s) (Expository text)

4. PATTERNED PARTNER READING (See pattern posters in the resource section for further explanation of each activity.)

-The teacher refers students to the WALT wall. -Students review the last entry in their ‘comprehension strategies’ learning journals and reflect on any teacher feedback given.-The teacher explains to students that they will complete an activity that will further enhance their ability to use ‘monitoring’ as a comprehension strategy when reading. - The teacher explains that this is an activity that is engaged in as a text is read.-The teacher demonstrates the activity by choosing a volunteer to be his / her partner as the text is read. The teacher and student volunteer determine how much of the text they will read and then commence reading.-The teacher conducts a ‘think aloud’ as she / he reviews the options presented on the ‘Pattern Posters’.-The teacher and student volunteer complete a ‘Pattern Poster’ activity.-The teacher explains that at the conclusion of each pattern poster, an entry is to be made in students’ ‘comprehension strategies’ learning journals outlining the activity, how successful the students were at completing the activity and how the activity relates to ‘monitoring’ and any other ‘comprehension strategies’ that they have learned to use. -The teacher then explicitly points out how to complete each Pattern Poster activity.-Students then choose a partner, a text and an activity. They complete the activity and their journal entry.-Students complete a final journal entry outlining the purpose and benefits of ‘monitoring’ including a brief assessment of their ability to ‘monitor’.-The teacher refers students to the WALT Wall before closing the lesson.

-WALT Wall Posters


-‘Pattern’ Posters




SUMMARISING:

1. INTRODUCTION TO SUMMARISING-The teacher informs students that they will be focussing on a new comprehension strategy; ‘Summarising’.-The teacher refers students to the WALT wall and explains that the students will be learning to use ‘Summarising’ as a strategy to, ‘Identify the most important points and say them in our own words’. -The teacher explains that ‘Summarising’ requires students to think about what they have read and that this strategy will allow students to gain a deeper understanding of texts.-The teacher informs students that he or she will now model the completion of an activity that can aid with ‘summarising’. The teacher explains that this is an activity that is engaged in after a text is read. WHAT IS IMPORTANT?-The teacher explains to students that not all events and characters are of equal importance in a story. -The teacher reads a text or a selection of text to the students and engages in a ‘think aloud’ to evaluate the comparative levels of importance of characters and / or events. The teacher completes the ‘What is Important?’ Organiser / Worksheet as he / she conducts the think aloud.-Students then work in small groups to read a text (same text for each group) and complete the ‘What is Important?’ Organiser / Worksheet.-Groups then present their ‘What is Important?’ Organiser / Worksheet to the class and discuss the final product.-The class discusses any discrepancies between the groups levels of ‘importance’ and rankings related to characters and events.-As students begin to evaluate comparative levels of importance, nuances of understanding begin to emerge. The most important question that groups must be able to answer as they make their presentations is, ‘Why do you think so?’-The teacher discusses what a ‘summary’ is with the students and asks the students how this activity relates to a summary and how it could help students when summarising what they have read.-Students then work with a partner to read a text and complete the ‘What is Important?’ Organiser / Worksheet. Students then compare their work with that of another pair who have read the same text and discuss any discrepancies. The pairs must come to an agreement on their rankings. They will do this by asking the question, ‘Why do you think so?’ of themselves and their peers and studying the most convincing answer.-Students then work independently to read a text and complete a ‘What is Important?’ Organiser / Worksheet. -Students reflect on this activity in their learning journals. They write about the activity and how it relates to and can help with summarising a text.-The teacher refers students to the WALT Wall before closing the learning experience.

-WALT Wall Posters

-‘Summarising’ Posters

-‘What is Important?’ Worksheet


Demonstration Text(Narrative Texts)

-Student Activity Text(s) (Narrative texts)

2. KEY WORD STRATEGY-The teacher refers students to the WALT wall. -Students review the last entry in their ‘comprehension strategies’ learning journals and reflect on any teacher feedback given.-The teacher explains to students that they will complete an activity that will further enhance their ability to use ‘summarising’ as a comprehension strategy when reading. The teacher explains that this is an activity that is engaged in as and after a text is read.-The teacher begins by explaining and modelling the ‘Key Word’ Strategy.-The teacher reads a text aloud to the students and engages in a ‘think aloud’ as she or he selects key words from the text. (The teacher writes these words on sticky notes and places them on the page or beside the text that is being read.-After the text has been read, the teacher arranges the words in an order that supports a cohesive summary and gives an oral summary. The teacher then models how the summary would be written. The teacher points out the fact that the key words are being used in the summary.-Students discuss this strategy within a whole group setting and describe the ways in which the strategy could assist them when summarising.-Students then work in pairs to read a text, highlight the key words, give an oral summary and record their summary. -Students are required to share their summary with the class.-Students then read a text independently and write a summary using the ‘Key Word’ strategy.-Students reflect on how this activity has helped them to write cohesive summaries in their ‘comprehension strategies’ learning journals.-The teacher refers students to the WALT wall before closing the learning experience.

-WALT Wall Posters





3. PARTNER RETELLING-The teacher refers students to the WALT wall. -Students review the last entry in their ‘comprehension strategies’ learning journals and reflect on any teacher feedback given.-The teacher explains to students that they will complete an activity that will further enhance their ability to use ‘summarising’ as a comprehension strategy when reading. The teacher explains that this is an activity that is engaged in as and after a text is read.-The teacher begins by explaining and modelling partner retelling as a class.-The teacher reads a text to the class. (Students are reminded to keep in mind the learning that took place in the previous sessions in relation to ‘What is Important?’ and ‘Key Words’.)-The teacher explains to the students that they will be retelling the story and divides the class in half so that there is a storyteller group and a listening group.-The storytellers work in teams to reread the text and remind each other of the focus points for this retell. -The listeners also reread the text and decide upon and record what they believe to be the most important retell elements of the story. -The students are then matched with partners, a story teller and a listener. -While the teller talks, the listener records the elements of the story that are provided without assistance.-When the storyteller is finished, it is the job of the listener to give clues about any remaining items or elements that have not been checked off on their list.-Students then reflect on this activity as a part of class discussion and talk about how this activity improves their ability to summarise texts that they have read.-Students then repeat the activity in pairs. Students read a text independently and follow the steps above.-Students reflect on the level of success that they experienced when completing the activity independently and set goals for improvement when summarising in the future.-The teacher refers students to the WALT wall before closing the learning experience.

-WALT Wall Posters



Demonstration Text(Narrative Texts)

-Student Activity Text (Narrative texts)

-‘Partner Retelling’ Worksheets

4.BOOK REVIEWS-The teacher refers students to the WALT wall. -Students review the last entry in their ‘comprehension strategies’ learning journals and reflect on any teacher feedback given.-The teacher explains to students that they will complete an activity that will further enhance their ability to use ‘summarising’ as a comprehension strategy when reading. The teacher explains that this is an activity that is engaged in after a text is read.-The teacher begins by explaining what a book review is a shares examples of book reviews from newspapers, magazines, bookstore newsletters etc.-The teacher then reads a text with the students and models (using a think-aloud) how he or she would create their own book review.-The teacher explains that they are writing in a ‘conversational’ style. (As if they were talking to someone who is interested in reading the book.)-The teacher repeats the above steps if required.-Students then work in pairs to read a text and develop a book review. Each pair then joins another and shares their book review.-The teacher asks students to share their book reviews with the class.-Students then read a text independently before creating their own book review.-Students reflect on the activity in their ‘comprehension strategies’ learning journal and describe the similarities between summaries and book reviews.-The teacher refers students to the WALT wall before closing the lesson.

-WALT Wall Posters


-Book Review Sample and Proformas




References:

Guided Comprehension: A teaching Model for Grades Three to Eight Maureen McLaughlin and Mary Beth Allen 2002 International Reading Association

Revisit Reflect Retell Time-Tested Strategies for Teaching Comprehension Linda Hoyt 2009 Heinemann

NSW Department of Education and Training, Comprehension Strategies Booklet 2010

Amiee Satchell

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