three-tier model of school supports - nie rocks!nierocks.areavoices.com/files/2010/12/rti.pdf ·...

Response to Intervention (RTI),Common Formative Assessments, &SMART Goals Using the Newspaper

Three-Tier Model of School Supports

Phonemic Awareness • PhonicsFluency • Vocabulary Development

Text Comprehension

Instructional Activities For Grades K-12, ESL,and Adult Literacy Programs

Written by: Dr. Darla ShawPublished by: Newspaper in Education Institute

2

Newspaper in Education Institute / Dr. Darla Shaw

Definition of RTIResponse to intervention integrates assessment and intervention within a multi-level preven-

tion system to maximize student achievement and to reduce behavior problems. With RTI, schools identify students at risk for poor learning outcomes, monitor student progress, provide evidence-based interventions while adjusting the intensity and nature of those interventions depending on a student’s responsiveness, and identify students with learning disabilities. (Source: National Center on Response to Intervention)

RTI Related to CFA and SMART GoalsEducation today is all about differentiated learning linked to performance-based assessment.

The newspaper, which provides non-fiction material on many reading levels with timely, relevant topics, can be an excellent resource to help students reach educational goals.

There is a strong effort to develop CFA (Common Formative Assessments), which include pre- and post-tests that replicate what students experience in their standardized tests. These tests can include multiple choice, short answer and essay questions and need short focused passages that align with different formats and literacy elements. The newspaper is a natural source for the types of read-ing that students need in order to develop the various components of comprehension, vocabulary, fluency, decoding, etc.

Along with the Common Formative Assessments, newspapers also work well with goal set-ting for literacy. Teachers often use the SMART format for goal setting as it helps build mastery on both a short and long term basis. SMART stands for goals that are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely.

This RTI Guide provides elements for both CFA’s and SMART goals imbedded within the structure of each lesson. Each lesson and/or activity can be used as a CFA and/or may be used in a diagnostic profile for an individual child. Each lesson is based on specific national literacy standards and involves small specific application elements that can be measured and are attainable. Using the newspaper helps make the application and mastery more realistic and timely.

Mini Lesson/Activity Sheets: Suggested UsesThe mini lesson/activity sheets can be used in all three levels (Tiers I – III) of the Response to Intervention Model. They can be used in a variety of ways.

Uses for Activities and WorksheetsWhole group skill-based instructionSmall remediation groups with specific deficitsSpecial needs assignments linked to running recordsIndividual tutorial assistanceSkill-based homework assignmentsCFA – Common formative assessments / pre & post testingDevelopment of personal word workbooksReinforcement work at learning centersIndependent selection work


3


Response to Intervention (RTI) OverviewWith national, state, and local educational agencies reformatting special education programs through the use of RTI (Response to Intervention Program), schools are looking at students, data collection, and use of resources differently. The goal of these educational agencies is to reduce the number of students in the typical special education programs. They are also looking at collecting regular data on students as soon as they enter school so that teachers can begin necessary interventions immediately. With this early data col-lection and systematic and explicit literacy instruction, fewer students should need intense special educa-tion instruction.

Response to Intervention is for all students, not just students in need. It includes high quality instruc-tion that is research-based and geared to meet the specific needs of the students. It includes multi-tiered instruction, giving the lower levels more intensive and explicit instruction than the other levels. To mea-sure the progress of all students, the program also includes ongoing assessments of all types. The students are being evaluated on a bi-weekly basis with updated changes being made in their programs, and pos-sibly tier levels.

In RTI, parents play a pivotal role. They view the continuous data collection and learn how they can help at home to better ensure success.

To insure that all students, not just special needs students, are given the best possible instruction, educa-tional agencies are suggesting tiered levels of instruction programs.

On tier or level one, students who are on or very near mastery level are given both whole group and small group instruction in the five key areas: phonemic awareness, decoding, fluency, vocabulary development, and comprehension. State mastery tests, diagnostic reading tests, running records, other informal reading inventories, and cloze tests determine the student levels. These assessment pieces are all part of an exten-sive and systematic data collection system.

On tier or level two, the students are somewhat below mastery level and need more intense and explicit skill development in specific areas. These students also receive whole and small group literacy instruction, but have additional daily work in small groups as well. At regular intervals, the teachers will administer CFA (Common Formative Assessments/pre and post tests) to regularly track the achievement level of these students. Students will not remain in one tier for any specific period of time, they can move from tier to tier depending on the skill area and acquired proficiency.

On tier or level three, the students are usually struggling and are well below the mastery level. For these “students at risk” both tier one and tier two will be in place. However, at this point the special education teacher, literacy leader, and/or other help provider, will be called into the mix to further help these very needy students. A specialized program will be developed using all the resources that the school has to offer.


In education today, we rely on multiple resources to teach both subject matter and process. For this reason the newspa-per, magazines, the Internet and trade books are becoming of more value while the textbook is losing ground.

Newspaper usage is particularly important for the following five reasons that link to RESEARCH-BASED READING.

1. Newspapers bring up to date coverage of critical issues to every area of the curriculum.

2. Expository, persuasive, and narrative newspaper pieces can serve as excellent models for writing.

3. As a low or no cost consumable product (often sponsored by the newspaper), newspapers can be cut up, marked on and taken home for interactive learning and family usage.

4. By getting students in the daily reading habit, newspapers help people become life long learners.

5. Newspaper usage is a part of RTI/RESEARCH-BASED READING that brings critical thinking into the 21st century.

This RESEARCH-BASED READING GUIDE is devoted to successfully combining newspaper usage with instruc-tion in the five following areas:

Phonemic Awareness, Phonics Instruction, Fluency Training, Vocabulary Development & Text Comprehension/ Constructing Meaning

The earliest level of concentration in RESEARCH-BASED READING is phonemic awareness. This is followed by pho-nics instruction. Here students need to be trained to see the relationships between letters and sounds for decoding new words, learning to spell properly, and learning how to alpha-betize.

The newspaper is an excellent resource for both phonemic awareness and phonics instruction as the children can locate, highlight, cut, paste, and manipulate various letter combinations. Unlike a workbook where a child can only write, circle or underline, newspaper usage builds early criti-cal thinking skills. With the newspaper, students can go beyond the workbook page to develop new word patterns and see numerous applications.

The textbook is a closed source. The newspaper assignments are structured but open-ended so that children can explore, attempt, share, produce, and explain. There is more to learn-ing phonetically than just being able to identify a word cor-rectly.

Fluency training is probably the reading skill least addressed in the classroom. With this skill, students’ oral reading sounds almost as if they were speaking. They rapidly group words for better comprehension and read quickly, accurately, and with expression. On the other hand, without fluency training students tend to read slowly, inaccurately, and usual-ly word by word. Their reading is often choppy, and plodding with an emphasis on completion instead of comprehension.

To address the need for fluency instruction, this guide has incorporated exercises for various types of reading: skim-ming, scanning, and reading words in phrases. It has also provided the students with individual activities for timed readings, rereadings, and taped readings. To further address the fluency issue, students are also given newspaper related exercises that require a cooperative experience such as choral reading, paired reading or reader’s theater readings.

Fluency building is best taught through modeled readings, listening, strong decoding skill lessons, and phrase reading exercises. These skills cannot be taught in an isolated man-ner through a workbook. They are, however, taught effectively through a curriculum related newspaper article. The teacher can choose an appropriate article, focus on vocabulary and decoding and then model the phrase reading and fluency component while students listen.

Vocabulary development is another crucial RESEARCH-BASED READING skill. Without knowledge of word mean-ings the student is greatly hampered in understanding any material. To date the most effective ways of developing an enriched vocabulary are through use of the dictionary, knowl-edge of word parts, and getting meaning from words in context. These methods are still effective today but there is also a focus on choice of words to learn, “working the word” through looking at many different components of the word, not just the definition, and visualization and vocalization.

Newspaper usage is vital to vocabulary development. The words found in the newspaper are the commonly used words of the day. These words are content related and their mean-ings can usually be determined through context due to the structure of a newspaper article.

Through repeated use of cut out newspaper headlines and sentences, students can begin to use context clues to deter-mine meaning. They can also cut out new words, old words with new meanings, or words that they now feel more comfortable using in their own writing. As with phonemic awareness and phonics instruction, vocabulary development requires a manipulative element in the beginning stages. Eventually students can use the newspapers to develop their own content-based analogies, but in the beginning they need to highlight, cut, paste, draw and put words in a simple sen-tence. Vocabulary development is no longer just for reading.

4

Content Overview cont’d

Content Overview cont’d

Copyright 2010, published by the Newspaper in Education Institute.All rights reserved. Printed in the Unites States of America.

The activities pages may be photocopied by teachers for classroom use. Any other reproduction of this book, in whole or in part, requires written permission of the publisher. Address inquires to: Doug Alexander, Newspaper in Education Institute, 7009 Varnum Street, Landover Hills, MD 20784

Mission Statement of the Newspaper in Education InstituteThe Newspaper in Education Institute develops partnerships between NIE programs and non-profit, public sector and corporate organizations to implement educational initiatives supporting use of the newspaper in the classroom to teach state and/or national standards. NIEI partners develop projects that inspire students to achieve academic excellence and build good character, and support the efforts of educators to improve literacy/reading skills and increase standardized test scores.

Written by Dr. Darla Shaw.

It has now been expanded to include a listening, a speaking and a writing stance.

Phonics, fluency, and vocabulary development are not iso-lated skills. These skills are all a part of the bigger picture, text comprehension. In text comprehension we have the following six elements:

1. Monitoring: being able to perceive reading problems and having strategies to address these problems.

2. Using graphic organizers to collect necessary information and taking this information to an application stage.

3. Regularly summarizing and asking questions about what is being read for purposes of clarification.

4. Knowing when information is text explicit (directly stated), text implicit (implied) or scriptal, (not found in the text at all but based on prior knowledge and experience) and knowing how to make use of each.

5. Knowing story structure guidelines for both fiction and non-fiction so that mental and visual clues can be devel-oped.

6. Learning to work in groups to share information and take part in open-ended discussions.

Text Comprehension Instruction can be linked to practically any newspaper article and text comprehension instruction is imbedded in every activity in this RESEARCH BASED READING GUIDE.

For monitoring and reflection students are asked to keep a newspaper journal along with the explicit exercises.

For using graphic organizers and story structure students are given detailed black line masters with every activity.

For text explicit, implicit and scriptal and questioning, stu-dents are given or asked for questions on different levels.

For reading for a purpose students are given specific rubrics that are linked to national standards in English.

For working cooperatively, many of the newspaper exercises have been adapted to pairs or group work.

Good readers are purposeful and active. They have strate-gies from which to work and know how to reflect on various types of readings. These readers are able to utilize all their senses when they read. They are also able to utilize the tal-ents of other people in cooperative learning situations.

Readers do not come by these above-mentioned skills easily. They develop these skills through daily practice with real life materials. Give your students the opportunity to build their text comprehension skills in a meaningful way. Encourage them to use the newspaper and other real life materials in connection with research based reading. With continued and structured practice, students will benefit greatly. They will become the independent, resourceful, and critical read-ers of the 21st century.

5



LUCKEE Newspaper Approach to RTI

Key components in the RTI process are the use of research-based, non-fiction, and authentic materials on a variety of levels. What resource could be more compatible with RTI than the newspaper, both print and e-edition?

The literacy portion of RTI focuses on phonemic awareness, decoding, fluency, vocabulary development, and comprehension. These are areas that Newspaper in Education (NIE) Programs have been involved with for three decades. Schools and the newspaper realize that literacy efforts needs to be authentic, leveled, motiva-tional, integrated, engaging, and manipulative. For this reason NIE and RTI work well together.

The newspaper can fill the classroom need for large group instruction, small group instruction, individual instruction and common formative assessment. The chosen articles can be short, relevant, and structured around a specific skill. The articles can be used for cutting and pasting of letters and sounds, read alouds for students just developing a skill, and/or taken to the critical thinking level for the better readers.

Learning can be enhanced using wordbooks and journals when students organize them as they use the newspaper to locate, underline, cut and paste, and apply and evaluate the skills being developed.

To remember the Newspaper Link to RTI, remember being LUCKEE.

LOCATE letters, sounds, letter combinations, key vocabulary words, articles for rereading, and articles where various comprehension skills can be applied.

UNDERLINE the key letters, sounds, letter combinations, key vocabulary words, articles for rereading and articles where various comprehension skills can be applied.

CUT and PASTE all of the above material and put in a wordbook and/or literacy response journal of some type.

KEEP an ongoing wordbook for use in reading and writing. Keep an ongoing journal where various aspects of vocabulary development, fluency and comprehension skills and strategies can be recorded and built upon.

EXPAND upon the wordbooks and journals. Apply the information to new venues. Utilize what has been learned in both reading and writing.

EVALUATE and talk about how successful you have been in learning a particular skill.

6

PHONEMIC AWARENESS/PHONICS

ALPHABET ACROSTICS ACTIVITY 1

Phonemic Awareness/Phonics: English Standard #3/Textual Features.Knowing the alphabet and being able to alphabetize are lifelong skills. They are used in learning to read and reading to learn. For this exercise students will go through the newspaper and locate at least one word for each letter of the alphabet and paste this word on an acrostics sheet.

DECODE ADOBE ACTIVITY 2

Phonemic Awareness/Decoding: English Standard #3/Word Identification/Letter Sorting-DecodingOnce students know the difference between vowels and double vowels, consonants, blends and diagraphs, they are ready to decide if the vowel sound is long or short.

FAMILY TREE ACTIVITY 3

Phonemic Awareness/Phonics: English Standard #3/Word Identification Strategies.Words usually belong to a word family. These word families are made up of similar sounds and letter combinations. These word families sometimes include prefixes and suffixes. Students will create a family tree by searching through the newspaper for words that include prefixes, root or family words, and suffixes.

FIX IT ACTIVITY 4

Phonemic Awareness/Decoding: English Standard #3/Word Identification/Letter Sorting-DecodingWhen you are reading along and encounter a word that you can’t pronounce (a tricky word), you need not get upset or panic. You just need to know a number of “fix it” strategies so that you can figure out the word.

HOMONYM HANDS ACTIVITY 5

Phonemic Awareness/Phonics: English Standard #6/Applying Language Structure.Homonyms are words that sound alike but are spelled differently and have different meanings. They are words that cause trouble in reading and spelling. In order to practice this skill students are going to look through the newspaper for words that they know are homonyms.

RHYME TIME ACTIVITY 6

Phonemic Awareness/Phonics: English Standard #3/Sound-Letter Correspondence.Part of learning to read is being able to tell words that have similar endings or suffixes. In some cases suffixes, or endings, are exactly the same. In other cases they are similar and rhyme. In this exercise students are going to look through the newspaper and find words with endings that rhyme.

RULE TOOL ACTIVITY 7

Phonemic Awareness: English Standard #3/Word Identification/Letter SortingKnowing your single and double vowels (diphthongs), consonants, consonant blends, and diagraphs will help you become better at decoding new words. Most of the words in our language follow a pattern. By learning a few basic rules, you can become a much better reader.

Table of Contents

7

Table of Contents cont’d Table of Contents cont’d

8


VOWELS GO WALKING ACTIVITY 8

Phonemic Awareness/Decoding: English Standard #3/Word Identification/Letter Sorting-Decoding.Once you know that the vowels are A, E, I, O, U, and sometimes Y, you need to know the long sound for each of the vowels. The long sounds are easy as they are just the letter saying its own name. What is more difficult is deciding if a vowel in a word should be long or short. This activity provides a few rules to help with this problem.

VOWEL QUEST ACTIVITY 9

Phonemic Awareness/Phonics: English Standard #6/Application of Language Structure.An important part of phonics is the ability to locate and make the proper sounds for vowels. To be able to decode, students must be able to determine which vowels are long and say their own name and which vowels are short. In this exercise students will collect words with both long and short vowels.

WORD SCRAMBLE ACTIVITY 10

Phonemic Awareness: English Standard #3/Word Identification.Making and breaking words is a key way for students to become phonemically aware of various combinations of letters and sounds. By taking a word and looking at all the little words that students see within the word, they can begin to identify word elements in the words they have selected.

FLUENCY

DRAMATIC READING ACTIVITY 11

Fluency: English Standard #12/Written and Spoken Language for a Particular Purpose.To become a more fluent reader you need to be able to read out loud with the proper emotion. You also need to use punctuation to help you better understand the event and the character being written about. The newspaper is an excellent source for a reading as it involves emotional stories and all types of punctuation.

ECHO, CHORAL, DUAL, PAIRED & SHARED READING ACTIVITY 12

Fluency: English Standard #12/Written and Spoken Language for a Particular Purpose.Fluency requires practice, practice, practice. To keep from getting tedious, it is good to vary the type of oral strategies that are used for this practice. In this activity are some of the oral strategies that students may enjoy that also help to develop fluency.

FLUENCY RATE ACTIVITY 13

Fluency: English Standard #12/Written and Spoken Language for a Particular Purpose.Almost all the standardized reading tests today include a fluency component. Readers are timed for one to five minutes and asked questions on the reading. If the reader gets a comprehension score of at least 8o percent, the fluency rate would be fairly high. If the reader achieves a comprehension score below 80%, the student may have been reading too rapidly and/or not focusing on retaining important content information.

PHASE READING ACTIVITY 14

Fluency: English Standard #12/Written and Spoken Language for a Particular Purpose.Fluency is all about reading words in groups, stopping at the proper points, and not having to stop to decode unfamiliar words. In order to keep reading flowing and without hesitation, you need to look over the material and work on the “tricky” words first. Then you need to remember to try to read words in phrases and not syllable by syllable or word by word.

9


READER’S THEATER ACTIVITY 15

Fluency: English Standard #12/Written and Spoken Language for a Particular Purpose.Reader’s Theater readings help to build fluency. These readings can easily come from newspaper articles that have a number of quotes. Students will find an interesting article that involves several people who give quotes about a particular issue and turn it into a reader’s theater play.

READING RATE ACTIVITY 16

Fluency: English Standard #4/Adjustment to Purpose.To become a fluent reader students need to be able to read in phrases. Reading word by word slows readers down. Students need to keep reading until they get to the end of the paragraph. This exercise will help students build their reading rate through repeated readings of the same article and keeping a graph to make them aware of their reading speed.

READINGS REPEAT ACTIVITY 17

Fluency: English Standard #4/Adjusting For Purpose.In order to build fluency, you need to be able to identify the words in the selection that are going to be “tricky” for you. You need to be able to read these words and then read the section several times until you become more fluent.

SCAN AND SEARCH ACTIVITY 18

Fluency: English Standard #4/Adjusting Communication Skills.Scanning is having one’s eyes glance over the article looking for one particular piece of information in that article. The teacher will choose an article or page from which to form questions for the students. Students will answer by scanning for a particular person, place, thing, or number to answer the question(s).

SKIMMING THE SURFACE ACTIVITY 19

Fluency: English Standard #3/Applying Strategies.Skim reading is when you read to preview, get an overview or a general impression of a news article. For this activity students are going to choose an article with at least five paragraphs and are going to carefully read only the first sentence of each paragraph to determine the basic components of the article.

TOPICAL ELEVATOR ACTIVITY 20

Fluency: English Standard #1/Understanding of Texts.Paragraphs are built around one particular topic. If students can identify that topic it will help them to be better readers. For this exercise students are going to choose a newspaper article to read and make note of the topic of each paragraph.

VOCABULARY

CUBING A WORD ACTIVITY 21

Vocabulary Development: English Standard #12/Using Written and Visual Language/Reinforcement.It is not enough to see new word and go to the dictionary. We must try to work with the word in as many ways as possible. We try to look at the word from many different angles for context clues, prior knowledge and other links that help make the word your own.

DEFINITION POEM ACTIVITY 22

Vocabulary Development: Standard #12/Using Written and Visual Language/ Working a Word.For a Definition Poem, you select an interesting new word from a newspaper headline or article and feature it as the topic of a poem. By having to deal with the word in so many ways to develop the poem, chances are you are never going to forget the meaning of the word or its many components




FOUND POETRY ACTIVITY 23

Vocabulary: English Standard #2/Reading Different Genres.To build vocabulary and use words in a different way, Newspaper Found Poetry is fun. For this exercise students are going to use the entire paper to find words, phrases, parts of headlines, photos, cartoon characters, or anything else in the newspaper that excites them and encourages them to write a poem.

NEWSPAPER HEADLINE WORD SORTS ACTIVITY 24

Vocabulary Development: English Standard #12/Reading Different GenresStudents will decode and understand new words encountered in their reading materials, drawing on a variety of strategies as needed, and then use these words accurately in speaking and writing.

NEWSPAPER VOCABULARY BINGO ACTIVITY 25

Vocabulary Development: Standard # 12/Using Written and Visual Language/ Word ReinforcementBy cutting out “tricky” words from the newspaper and putting them in different places on a bingo card, you can have fun while learning the meaning of new words. Prior to pasting the words on the card, spend time with each new word, learning to pronounce it, learning what it means, thinking about how you can remember it, and creating a visual memory of the word and its meaning.

RAINBOW CHAIN ACTIVITY 26

Vocabulary: English Standard #2/Using Written and Visual Language/LinkageTo remember new vocabulary words, it is important to make connections, develop visualizations, look at the word from differ-ent perspectives and use the word over and over until it becomes commonplace.

VOCABULARY CHARADES ACTIVITY 27

Vocabulary Development: Standard #4/Vocabulary Adjustment/ Feeling a WordIf a student can act out the meaning of a word without saying anything, he/she has a good understanding of the word. For the observer, the results are equally good.

VOCABULARY CREST ACTIVITY 28

Vocabulary Development: Standard #2/Using Written and Visual Language/GradablesStudents will describe and analyze how the English language has developed while being influenced by other languages.

VOCABULARY GRADABLES ACTIVITY 29

Vocabulary Development: Standard #2/Using Written and Visual Language/GradablesWord choice is an important skill in writing today. You don’t want to use the same word repeatedly, you want to be able to choose the word that truly best fits the meaning in your sentence. Use the newspaper to locate gradient words. These are words on a continuum that can be similar in meaning but have a slight shade of difference.

WINDOWING A WORD ACTIVITY 30

Vocabulary Development: Standard # 12/Using Written and Visual Language/ Visualization of a WordAs with all of the other vocabulary activities, you need to try every method that you’ve learned to make a word your own. You need to think about its word parts, its derivation, when and where you have heard the word before, how it would appear in context, and what it might look like in a graphic.

WORD CUBE SPLASH ACTIVITY 31

Vocabulary Development: English Standard #4/Vocabulary AdjustmentStudents will acquire and use correctly an advanced reading vocabulary of English words, identifying meanings through an understanding of word relationships.

10 11



WORD KITE ACTIVITY 32

Vocabulary Development: English Standard #12/Using Written and Visual LanguageIn order to master the meaning of words, students need to have one or more association(s) with a word, be able to visualize the word and what it means, be able to define it and talk about its possible opposite meaning, and use it in a sentence. In this exercise students will develop the four facets of vocabulary word development.

WORD LADDER ACTIVITY 33

Vocabulary Development: English Standard #4/Vocabulary AdjustmentStudents need to know how to use context clues to find the meanings of new words. Students will look at the words and phrases in back of the new word, as well as in front of the new word to find a definition that will fit.

COMPREHENSION

ANNOTATION NOTATION ACTIVITY 34

Constructing Meaning: English Standard # 12/Exchange of InformationTo become more thorough readers, students need to mentally organize the information that they read and take notes on this information. In this exercise students will mark up the reading with symbols and transfer this information to their journal, helping them to remember the material in an organized fashion.

CHARACTER SNAPSHOT ACTIVITY 35

Constructing Meaning: English Standard #3/Applying Strategies.Students will identify, analyze and apply knowledge of the structure and elements of fiction and provide evidence from the text to support their understanding.

COMPARISON AND CONTRAST CIRCLE ACTIVITY 36

Constructing Meaning: English Standard #9/DiversityBeing able to compare and contrast people, places, and objects is a critical thinking skill. For this activity, students will find one newspaper article where there is a discussion of two items or ideas, or find two companion newspaper articles to compare and contrast.

FACT WHEEL ACTIVITY 37

Constructing Meaning: English Standard #3/Applying Strategies.Students will identify the basic facts and essential ideas in what they have read, heard, or viewed.

FIVE FINGER AND HAND (5W’s & H) SUMMARY ACTIVITY 38

Constructing Meaning: English Standard #3/Applying Strategies.The newspaper is an excellent resource for learning to summarize because it covers the 5W’s and H of any event. Students will use the fingers and hand graphic organizer and look for the WHO/WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, WHY and HOW of a news article to write a com-prehensive summary.

H2Q: HEADLINE TO QUESTIONS/SQ3R ACTIVITY 39

Constructing Meaning: English Standard #7/Posing QuestionsTurning newspaper headlines into one or more questions helps students to focus their reading. Students will use this technique for posing questions as part of the SQ3R: Survey, turn headlines into Questions, Read to answer the questions, Recite your answers and Review.

10 11



HOUSE OF FACTS ACTIVITY 40

Constructing Meaning: English Standard #7/Gathering InformationFacts are of little use unless they are organized and categorized. Students will predict some of the categories of information they may find in an article before beginning to read.

INFORMATION CHART ACTIVITY 41

Constructing Meaning: English Standard #7/Gathering InformationStudents will write compositions with a clear focus, logically related ideas to develop it, and adequate detail.

MIND MAPPING ACTIVITY 42

Constructing Meaning: English Standard #11/Participating in a Literary Community.When reading fiction or non-fiction it is important to try and get into the mind of the character. Students will better understand the story if they understand the characters in the story and what they might be thinking. For this exercise students are going to try and think what might be going through the mind of the character(s) at different points in the article.

NEWSPAPER LITERACY CIRCLES ACTIVITY 43

Constructing Meaning: English Standards 4, 6, 11Literacy Circles help students take part in open-ended discussions in the future and write a better-developed essay on open-ended questions. When using Literacy Circles with a newspaper article(s), students can elect to take on any of the following roles: summarizer, discussion leader, open ended questioner, connector, predictor, vocabulary person, quote person, historian, time or geography tracker, illustrator, etc.

NEWSPAPER THINK ALOUD ACTIVITY 44

Constructing Meaning: English Standards 6, 11, 12To become actively involved in a Newspaper Think Aloud, students must see the technique modeled on a number of occa-sions. A student is very vulnerable when thinking aloud and there must be an element of trust from both the teacher and the class when the process is taking place. No one can make fun of or disagree with what is going through a student’s mind as he/she struggles with bringing meaning to the article. This activity helps students realize that a reader must be actively engage in reading to get maximum comprehension from the article.

OPINION OVAL ACTIVITY 45

Processing Meaning: English Standard #4/Adjusting CommunicationA good reader needs to know when they are reading opinions and not just facts. Without a good understanding of opinion statements, a reader may easily be swayed by a reading. This exercise will help students better locate opinion statements and utilize opinions in their own persuasive writing.

ORGANIZATIONAL PATTERN ACTIVITY 46

Constructing Meaning: English Standard #1/Understanding Different Types of Texts.When reading news articles or other non-fiction there is almost always an organizational pattern that can be found. Students will explore these types of organizational patterns: Chronological order, compare and contrast, cause and effect, problem and solution, and descriptive examples.

PERSUASIVE P ACTIVITY 47

Constructing Meaning: English Standard #12/Persuasive WritingWhen good writers construct a persuasive piece they look at both sides of the issue and incorporate these elements in their writ-ing. Students will uncover both the cons as well as the pros of a topic.

12


13




PHOTO FACTS ACTIVITY 48

Constructing Meaning: English Standard #12/Visual Language.It is just as important to be able to “read” photos and graphs, as it is to read the written word. Students will see how many facts or inferences they can actually list from a photo or graph.

POSSIBLE CATEGORIES ACTIVITY 49

Constructing Meaning: English Standard #8/Use TechnologyWhen using the Internet or looking for resources, students need to know the names of a variety of categories to access the information. After students read an article, they will make note of at least three Internet categories they might access for more information on the topic of the article.

PREDICT AND PROVE PYRAMID ACTIVITY 50

Constructing Meaning: English Standard #3/Applying StrategiesAn important pre-reading skill is prediction. Before carefully reading an article, students will utilize as many clues as they can from the headline, pictures, and captions to predict what is going to happen. They will then read to find out if their predictions were correct or not.

Q.A.D. (QUESTION, ANSWER, DETAIL) ACTIVITY 51

Constructing Meaning: English Standard #3/Applying StrategiesStudents will pose questions, listen to the ideas of others, and contribute their own information or ideas in group discussions and interviews in order to acquire new knowledge.

QUICKWRITE CONFIRMATION ACTIVITY 52

Constructing Meaning: English Standard #1/Acquiring New InformationBefore students begin to read an article they should have some questions to read for in their mind. They will choose an article on a subject where they have some previous knowledge. Good readers keep these facts and questions in their mind as they read to confirm or reject their previous ideas, and answer new questions.

STAIRWAY TO QUESTIONS ACTIVITY 53

Constructing Meaning: English Standard #7/Developing Research QuestionsIt is as important for students to be able to ask questions as it is to answer them. In fact, it is more difficult to formulate a ques-tion than answer one. In this exercise students will choose a newspaper article to read and formulate their own questions on three different levels: literal, inferential, and evaluative.

T FOR THREE ACTIVITY 54

Constructing Meaning: English Standard #2/Reading Many GenresA good reader is always linking to another reading or event when reading. This linking brings greater meaning to passages. Usually readers link in three important ways: Text to Self, Text to Text, or Text to World. Students will choose articles that link to themselves in these three ways.

THE THREE R’S: READ, RETELL, AND REFLECT ACTIVITY 55

Constructing Meaning: English Standard #6/CritiqueThe 3 R’s in this exercise are Read, Retell, and Reflect. This is the process that is used to improve comprehension. Students will underline key passages that they will need to remember from the article for retelling and reflection (or focus).

12


13



14


ALPHABET ACROSTICS ACTIVITY 1

Phonemic Awareness/Phonics

English Standard #3: Textual Features/Alphabetization

Knowing the alphabet and being able to alphabetize are lifelong skills. They are used in learning to read and reading to learn. For this exercise you will go through the newspaper and locate at least one word for each letter of the alphabet and paste this word on an acrostics sheet. An acrostic is a series of letters going vertically down the page with related words linked to the beginning letter. The words you choose for the acrostics may be familiar or unfamiliar. If the word is unfamiliar, you should look it up in the dictionary and place the meaning in brackets. You don’t have to do the letters in order. Try and see how many you can get from the front page of the newspaper alone.

1. I looked at the front page of the newspaper and began to cut out words that had the first letter of the 26 letters of the alphabet.

2. I found the various letters of the alphabet, cut them out, and pasted the entire word in the blank beside the letter on the reverse side of this sheet.

3. If I didn’t know the meaning of the word I pasted, I looked it up in the dictionary and put the meaning in brackets beside the word.

4. If I couldn’t find a particular letter with a cut out word, I left it blank and asked someone to help me, or inserted a word that I already knew.

5. Once my alphabet acrostic was complete I read my words to a partner.

6. Next I listened to my partner read his/her list of words.

7. Finally my partner and I used our two lists of alphabet acrostics to write three sentences for our journals. If we couldn’t find all the words we needed for the sentences, this was O.K. Our three sentences were the same in both journals.

15



ALPHABET ACROSTICS

16


Phonemic Awareness/Decoding

English Standard #3Word Identification/Letter Sorting-Decoding

Once you know the difference between vowels and double vowels, consonants, blends and diagraphs, you are ready to decide if the vowel sound is long or short. To help you with this process you will need to put the letter V over vowels in a word and the letter C over the consonant(s). Then by following the rules listed below you can begin to decide if the V is long (says its own name) or if the V is short (has a special sound). Examples of short vowels are in the following words: short a (apple), short e (egg), short i (igloo), short o (ostrich), short u (umbrella)

Short Vowel Rules

1. A vowel between two consonants is usually short and called a closed syllable: pin, cap, hot, bug, bed. Think of two consonant people circling and protecting the vowel, keeping it short.

2. A vowel before two or more consonants is usually short as well: wish, graph, much, itch

3. A vowel followed by double consonants is usually short as the double consonant is split into two syllables: blotter (blot/ter), lettuce (let/tuce, happen (hap/pen), hospital (hos/pit/al), cinder (cin/der), bumper (bum/per) Again the vowel is protected on both sides by the consonants and stays short.

On the other side of this sheet you are going to paste or write words from the newspaper that follow the three rules found above. You are going to be looking for small, three-letter words with a vowel in the middle. These will be closed syllable words and have a short vowel sound. Put a C (for consonant or consonant blend such as sh, ch ph, gr, bl) or V (vowel) over letters

Next you are going to look for words with four or five letters with a vowel in the middle. These words will also be closed syllable words and have a short vowel sound. Put a C or V over letters

Finally you are going to look for longer words with a double consonant in the middle. When you split the word in half between the two double consonants, the first half of the word will have a closed syllable with a short vowel sound. Put a C or V over letters.

DECODE ABODE ACTIVITY 2

17


Find words in the newspaper that fit the three rules and paste or write them below.Mark C (consonant or consonant blend such as sh, ch ph, gr, bl) or V (vowel)

and with longer words also mark the syllable split.

DECODE ABODE

Short Vowel: Rule 1 Short Vowel: Rule 2 Short Vowel: Rule 3

CVCpin

CVCwell

CVCCblotter

CVCcap

CVCwish

CVC / CVCVlettuce

CVChot

CVCgraph

CVC / CVChappen

CVCbug

CVCmuch

CVC/ CVCcinder

CVCbed

CVCitch

CVC / CVC / VChospital

18

FAMILY TREE ACTIVITY 3


English Standard #3: Word Identification Strategies/Word Division

Words usually belong to a word family. These word families are made up of similar sounds and letter combinations. These word families sometimes include prefixes and suffixes. Prefixes come before the root or family elements and suffixes come afterwards. Complete the family tree on the reverse side by searching through the newspaper for words that include prefixes, root or family words, and suffixes.

1. I cut out of the newspaper eight words that included a prefix, a root/family word, and a suffix.

2. I cut each of the eight words into three parts, prefix, root/family, and suffix.

3. I pasted each of the eight words on the family tree. The prefix was placed on top of the word prefix. The root word was placed on top of the word root. The suffix was placed on top of the word suffix.

4. I copied the eight prefixes in my journal and predicted a possible meaning for each prefix.

5. I copied the eight root/family words in my journal and predicted a possible meaning for each root word.

6. I copied the eight suffixes in my journal and predicted a possible meaning for similar suffixes

7. I used a dictionary or other resource to check the meanings of my predictions.

8. I made three new words from mixing prefixes, root words, and suffixes from the family tree. I placed these new words in three different sentences in my journal.

19


FAMILY TREE

20 21


FIX IT ACTIVITY 4



When you are reading along and encounter a word that you can’t pronounce (a tricky word), you need not get upset or panic. You just need to know a number of “fix it” strategies so that you can figure out the word. It is almost like working on a puzzle and trying out different ways to come to a solution.

Shown below are the five fix it strategies that you can use before you ask someone for help on decoding a par-ticular word. You can use the strategies outlined below in any order. Sometime you may have to use only one. In other cases, you may have to use all five strategies before you get the correct word.

Fix It Strategies for Decoding

1. Look at any pictures. See if an illustration can help you figure out the word.

2. Reread the sentence. See if by rereading you can figure out what the “tricky” word may be.

3. Use your beginning sounds. Sound out the beginning part of the word you do not know. This may give you a clue as to possible words it may be.

4. Find small elements or word chunks that you already know in the word. Use these chunks to help you build the word and pronounce it properly.

5. Use context clues. Ask yourself, “If you put a blank in the space where the ‘tricky’ word was found, what word could you insert?” Does this word link to illustrations, make sense, have the right begin-ning sound and word chunks? If you can answer “yes” to all of these questions, you probably have uncovered the proper pronunciation of the “tricky” word.

Cut out the bookmark on the reverse of this sheet and begin to make use of the strategies on this aid when you come to a “tricky” word.

Now go to the newspaper and find at least 3 “tricky” words in 3 different sentences. Examine each “tricky” word carefully to decide which strategies will work best to help you decode the new word. Over the new word put the number of the strategy or strategies that helped you to decode the word. Include the strategy numbers in order to help you understand the thought process that you needed to go through.

20 21


FIX IT STRATEGIES

1. Look at Visuals

2. Reread the Sentence

5. Use Context CluesDoes it make sense?

Does it look right?Does it sound right?

3. Use Beginning Sounds

4. Find Family Chunks

22

HOMONYM HANDS ACTIVITY 5

23



English Standard #6: Applying Language Structure/Pairing Words

Homonyms are words that sound alike but are spelled differently and have different meanings. They are words that cause trouble in reading and spelling. In order to practice this skill you are going to look through the newspaper for words that you know are homonyms. You are then going to cut these words out and paste them on one of the pairs of hands on the reverse side of this sheet. You can find the matching homonym in the newspaper or just write it out on the second hand. For example, if you found the word “here” in the newspaper you would cut it out and paste it on one hand. Then you would find or write the word “hear” on the other hand. Working in student pairs also helps you to build skills in this activity. When the activity is complete you can cut up different pairs of hands and connect them for a border around the classroom or for your room at home.

1. I looked in the newspaper for words that I knew were homonyms.

2. When I found a homonym I cut it out and pasted it on one of the hands on the reverse side of this sheet.

3. If I could not easily find the matching word in the newspaper I just wrote the matching word with a pen or pencil on the blank hand.

4. When I found a word that has three homonyms (example: there, their, they’re) I added a third hand and recorded the word.

5. When I had trouble finding new homonyms I worked with a partner.

6. At the end of the session, I shared my homonyms that no one else had mentioned, with the class. I also explained to the class the meaning of each homonym.

7. I cut out homonym pairs from the black line master and added them to a homonym border.

8. I went to my newspaper journal and used three sets of my homonym

HOMONYM HANDS

24


RHYME TIME ACTIVITY 6

25



English Standard #3: Sound-Letter Correspondence/Rhyming Words

Part of learning to read is being able to tell words that have similar endings or suffixes. In some cases suffixes, or endings, are exactly the same. In other cases they are similar and rhyme. Knowing rhyming words is not only for poetry. It is also important to know when you come upon an unfamiliar word. In this exercise you are going to look through the newspaper and find words with endings that rhyme. You are going to paste them on the face of a clock. If you can’t find twelve rhyming words you can divide the clock into parts and have several rhyme patterns.

1. I looked in the newspaper for words with a common ending where I could find rhyming words. (For example,….at,….in,….et,….or,….un,….ing, etc.). I underlined the rhyme portion of the word with a colored pencil.

2. I cut out the words with the endings that rhymed and pasted them next to each other at different hours on the clock (on the reverse side of this sheet). I started with one o’clock.

3. If I could not find twelve rhyming words for one ending I started another series of rhyming words.

4. After I completed my clock with one, two, or three sets of rhyming words I read my words to a partner. I wanted to see that I had recorded my words correctly.

5. Then I listened to my partner’s list of twelve words and helped him/her correct their work.

6. Finally I went to my newspaper journal and tried to use my set of rhyming words in a poem.

7. I shared my poem with the class.

RHYME TIME

26



RULE TOOL ACTIVITY 7

Phonemic Awareness

English Standard #3Word Identification/Letter Sorting

Knowing your single and double vowels (diphthongs), consonants, consonant blends, and diagraphs will help you become better at decoding new words. Most of the words in our language follow a pattern. By learning a few basic rules, you can become a much better reader. To master the rules for V’s and C’s, use the boxes on the worksheet.

Vowel Rules1. The vowels are A, E, I, O, U, and sometimes Y2. Vowel diphthongs, or vowels that work in pairs are: io, ea, ou, au, oo, ai, ay, ee, oi, and ow. Sometimes we

use key words to remember these sounds.

Consonant Rules1. The consonants are all of the single letters that are not vowels. 2. Blends are consonants that belong together and work as a team: bl, cl, fl, gl, pl, sl, br,cr, dr, fr, gr, pr, tr, sc, scr,

sm, sn, sp, squ, st, sw. Even though these pairs work together you can hear both sounds in the blend. 3. The following consonant diagraphs also work as a team and don’t like to be separated; ch, ph, th, wh, ng, sh.

These pairs have two letters with one sound.

Using the five-column worksheet on the back of this sheet, locate newspaper words for vowels, vowel pairs, consonants, consonant blends and consonant diagraphs. Keep the following in mind.

1. Consonants are all the single letters of the alphabet except for A, E, I, O, U and sometimes Y. 2. Two and sometimes three letter consonants that stay together in a syllable are blends or diagraphs. The

diagraphs have only one sound. In the blends you can hear two sounds. 3. When you have two vowels together in the middle of a word/syllable they act as a pair and say their own

name or have a specific sound.4. Words that usually do not follow any of the rules above are probably sight words and need to be memorized

on their own.

If you have space at the bottom of your word worksheet, try and replace the letter before the vowel(s) or consonant(s) with other letters. This will help you make new words.

27 27


RULE TOOL

Aa

Ee

Ii

Oo

Uu

Yy

io

ea

ou

au

oo

ai

ay

ee

d.

f.

g.

h.

j.

k.

l.

m.

n.

p.

q.

r.

s.

t.

v.

w.

x.

c.

b.

z.

fl.

gl

pl.

sl.

br

cr.

dr.

gr.

pr.

tr.

sc.

scr.

sm.

sn.

sp.

squ.

st.

cl.

bl.

sw.

ph

ch

th

wh

ng

sh

VOWELS VOWEL PAIRS CONSONANTS CONSONANTS BLENDS

CONSONANTSDIAGAPS

28


VOWELS GO WALKING ACTIVITY 8



Once you know that the vowels are A, E, I, O, U, and sometimes Y, you need to know the long sound for each of the vowels. The long sounds are easy as they are just the letter saying their own name. What is more difficult is deciding if a vowel in a word should be long or short. Below are a few rules to help you with this problem.

Rules for Long Vowels

1. If you see two vowels together in the middle of a word, the two vowels together take on the long sound of the first vowel. To help remember this rule we say, “if two vowels go walking, the first does the talking.” This means that the second vowel is silent and lets the first vowel do all the work. Examples for this rule include: meat, rain, dear, bail, leap, keep.

2. Another rule to help you know if the vowel is long or not is to see if there is a vowel followed by a consonant(s) and then has a final e at the end of the word. Think of the e as the silent ending. This final e is never heard, but it makes the vowel before it long. It makes the vowel say its own name. To help us remember this rule we say that “if a single vowel is walking and gets separated from his little brother Ed by a consonant, we can hear Ed calling out the name of his sib-ling as a long vowel.” Some examples for this rule include: wave, pine, date, dope, cute, ripe.

To develop your personal word worksheet for these two vowel rules, you are going to look at the graphic at the back of this sheet and try and find newspaper words to fit each category.

First you will look for words that include double vowels together like: io: national and lion ea: teach, bread, great ou: ounce, though, soup, would au: because, laugh oo: moon, book ai: pain, said ay: play ee: see, been oi: coin, oil ow: own, cowNext you will look for one-syllable words that have a vowel surrounded by syllables with an e at the end.

29


30

VOWELS GO WALKING

CVVCMeat

CVVEWave

CVVCRain

CVCEPine

CVVCTear

CVCEDate

CVVCBail

CVCEDope

CVVCLeap

CVCECute

CVVCKeep

CVCERipe

io:

ea:

ou:

au:

oo:

ai:

ay:

ee:

oi:

ow:

SPECIAL DOUBLE VOWELSSPECIAL DOUBLE VOWELSSPECIAL DOUBLE VOWELS

VOWEL QUEST ACTIVITY 9

31



English Standard #6: Application of Language Structure/Discriminating Between Long & Short Vowels

An important part of phonics is the ability to locate and make the proper sounds for vowels. To be able to decode you must be able to determine which vowels are long and say their own name and which vowels are short. Some rules to remember are:

When a vowel is surrounded by two consonants in the same syllable it is usually short because it is a closed vowel.

When a vowel is left open at the end of a syllable it is usually long because it is an open vowel.

1. I searched for both long and short A vowel words in a newspaper article.

2. I cut and pasted the long vowel words that say their own name, on the left side of the large V on the reverse side of this sheet.

3. I cut and pasted the short vowel words on the right side of the large V on the reverse side of this sheet. I looked for vowels that were surrounded by consonants on both sides of the syllable when looking for short vowels.

4. I found five long vowel words and five short vowel words for A.

5. I recorded my long and short A vowel words in my journal. I put each one in a sentence.

6. After I completed the A sheet for my journal I took four other V black line masters and filled out one for e, another for i, and the last two for o, and u.

VOWEL QUEST

32


WORD SCRAMBLE ACTIVITY 10

Phonemic Awareness

English Standard #3: Word Identification/Letter Sorting

Making and breaking words is a key way for you to become phonemically aware of various combinations of letters and sounds. By taking a word and looking at all the little words that you see within the word you are beginning to identify word elements. Complete the reverse side of this sheet by choosing one interesting eight-letter word from the newspaper and seeing how many words you can make from this word. (After you have done this exercise once, you can expand the exercise by finding a word with more than eight letters from which to form new words.)

1. I found an eight-letter word in the newspaper and cut out each letter.

2. I then spread the eight letters out in front of me and moved the letters around until I found a two-letter word that I could make from the eight letters.

3. I recorded the two-letter word on the second line of the word scramble.

4. I then spread the letters out again and looked for a three-letter word. When I found this word, I wrote it on the third line.

5. I continued with a four-letter word, then a five, six, and seven. If I could not find a word with a particular number of letters I went on to the next combination. If I didn’t know how to spell a word I used the dictionary.

6. I added to the bottom of the page any other words that I could make from the original word. The number of letters in these words could range from 2 to 8.

7. As I entered the words in my journal, I placed them by categories: nouns, adjectives, verbs, prepositions, pronouns and adverbs.

33


33


WORD SCRAMBLE

34 35


DRAMATIC READING ACTIVITY 11

Fluency

English Standard #12Oral Language Fluency/Prosody

To become a more fluent reader you need to be able to read out loud with the proper emotion. You also need to use punctuation to help you better understand the event and/or the character being written about. The newspa-per is an excellent source for a reading as it involves emotional stories and all types of punctuation.

Dramatic Readings from the Newspaper

1. Choose an article from the newspaper that is interesting to read to the group. Make certain that the article has quotes and will have an emotional basis: joyful, depressed, angry, frightened, brave, bossy, excited, delighted, nervous, sensitive, hopeful, etc.

2. With a pen or highlighter, mark all punctuation in the article: commas, periods, question marks, excla-mation marks, quotation marks, ellipsis marks, parenthesis, italics, boldface type, underlining, all caps, etc.

3. Now that you are aware of the content of the article, the emotions involved in the article and the punc-tuation, your oral practice reading can begin.

4. After reading, listen to comments from your partner as to how you might be able to improve upon your use of punctuation or your emotional reading.

5. Perform your practice reading before a small group. Let them determine the emotion that you are try-ing to bring forth by looking at the sheet on the back of this exercise. They may also choose another emotion, but need to justify their thinking after making the choice.

Proper use of the voice, combined with using punctuation in the correct manner, helps you to read with greater fluency and prosody (emotion). Below are the areas of punctuation that need emotion to be addressed in fluency.

Punctuation Aids

1. Commas , : pause at a comma2. Periods . : pause a bit longer for a period.3. Question mark ? : raise your voice at the end of the sentence to indicate a question4. Quotation marks “ ” : speak like the character when reading his/her quote5. Exclamation point ! : express the ending with strong feelings of joy, fear, anger, horror or surprise6. Ellipsis ….. /Dash — : pause a bit longer for an ellipsis or a dash7. Parenthesis ( ): pause before and after a parenthesis8. Italics, Boldface, underline, ALL CAPS: Stress these words.

34 35


Chose and paste a newspaper article below that has quotes and an emotional focus such as being joyful, depressed, angry, frightened, brave, bossy, excited, delighted, nervous, sensitive, hopeful, etc.

With a pen or highlighter, mark all punctuation in the article: commas, periods, question marks, exclama-tion marks, quotation marks, ellipsis marks, parenthesis, italics, boldface type, underlining, ALL CAPS, etc.

Now read the article in a dramatic fashion using your voice to express the emotion of the story and using the punctuation marks properly such as to pause, raise your voice, express surprise, stress words, etc.

DRAMATIC READING

36 37


ECHO, CHORAL, DUAL, PAIRED & SHARED READINGS ACTIVITY 12

FluencyEnglish Standard #12Oral Language Fluency Drills

Fluency requires practice, practice, practice. To keep from getting tedious, it is good to vary the type of oral strategies that are used for this practice. Below are some of the oral strategies that students may enjoy that also help to develop fluency.

Oral Fluency Activities

Echo Reading: Select an article to read from the newspaper, probably three or four paragraphs. Decide which part each student will read. The student should read a passage for the entire group and then stop to receive their response. Each student should have a chance to be the single reader and a part of the echo group.

Choral Reading: Select a newspaper article that you think would sound good as a choral reading, where everyone reads out loud together. It is good to follow up reading with a discussion or a reader response journal entry.

Dual Reading: For this reading two students work together and read in unison. They read continuously. If one reader has trouble, the other person tries to bring that reader along with his/her reading.

Paired Reading: For this reading two students work together in a pair but do not read in unison. Instead the students alternate sentences, paragraphs or pages. They assist each other if one of them is having difficulty. Reading can be repeated if students need more practice.

Shared Reading: For this reading, the teacher reads from the newspaper and leaves sections of the article for the stu-dents to read. Words can be on an overhead, a word worksheet, or on the whiteboard.

A regular plan for oral fluency exercises can be developed. For example, students might do shared reading on Monday, paired reading on Tuesday, echo reading on Wednesday, dual reading on Thursday and choral reading on Friday.

1. Paste an article from the newspaper, one that is comprised of several paragraphs, on the back of this sheet. Then work with a partner to read the article in unison, by alternating sentences or paragraphs, by reading and repeating in echo format, or by combining with another group for choral reading

2. If you have any trouble reading the article, work on trouble spots first and then reread with your partner.

36 37


Paste newspaper article below.

Comments / Challenges Reflections

ECHO ______________________________ ________________________________ ______________________________ ________________________________ ______________________________ ________________________________ ______________________________ ________________________________

CHORAL ______________________________ ________________________________ ______________________________ ________________________________ ______________________________ ________________________________ ______________________________ ________________________________

DUAL ______________________________ ________________________________ ______________________________ ________________________________ ______________________________ ________________________________ ______________________________ ________________________________

PAIRED ______________________________ ________________________________ ______________________________ ________________________________ ______________________________ ________________________________ ______________________________ ________________________________

SHARED ______________________________ ________________________________ ______________________________ ________________________________ ______________________________ ________________________________ ______________________________ ________________________________

OTHER ______________________________ ________________________________ ______________________________ ________________________________ ______________________________ ________________________________ ______________________________ ________________________________

ECHO, CHORAL, DUAL, PAIRED & SHARED READINGS

38 39


FLUENCY RATE ACTIVITY 13

FluencyEnglish Standard #12Oral Language Fluency Dependencies

Almost all the standardized reading tests today include a fluency component. Readers are timed for one to five minutes and asked questions on the reading. If the reader gets a comprehension score of at least 8o percent, the fluency rate would be fairly high. If the reader achieves a comprehension score below 80%, the student may have been reading too rapidly and/or not focusing on retaining important content information.

Reading fast and not comprehending is not a skill. Fluency is always linked to comprehension and practice. For example, if you read 10 pages during your silent reading time and your friend only read five pages, you would be reading twice as fast as your friend and covering twice as much material. This figure is important because the student that reads more pages with comprehension is going to be a better reader than the student who has read and comprehended fewer pages. Reading is a practiced skill like any other. The more you work on the skill, the more proficient you will become.

What Influences Reading Speed?

1. Purpose: What is your purpose for reading? Is it to get an overview, to memorize, to aim for 80% comprehension, to find a specific fact?

2. Difficulty of Reading Level: Is the material you are trying to read on your own independent level, on an instruc-tional level where you may need help, or on a frustration level that is way beyond where you can read comfortably. The text format and sentence structure may also be too difficult for you.

3. Difficulty of Content: Is the subject matter one in which you have little background or prior knowledge?4. How you are feeling at the time: Are you alert and ready to read or a bit tired and unfocused?

To compare your reading speed with others your age and to see if you have achieved a certain level of competency in fluency, you are going to find an article in the newspaper that is on your independent, or easy-to-read level. A way to find this level is to look at a paragraph and put up a finger every time you come to a hard word. If you have more than five fingers up after the reading, it is too difficult for your independent level.

Finding Your Reading and Fluency Rate

1. Read your independent reading level article, of several hundred words, for one minute. Have someone time you while you read out loud.

2. When you have finished, count the number of words that you correctly read in one minute. Check out this number with the chart on the back of this sheet.

38 39


40 41

Gra

dePe

rcen

tile

Fall

WC

PM*

Win

ter

WC

PM*

Sprin

gW

CPM

*Av

g. W

eekl

yIm

prov

emen

t**

1

90 75 50 25 10

81 47 23 12 6

111

82 53 28 15

1.9

2.2

1.9

1.0

0.6

2

90 75 50 25 10

106

79 51 25 11

125

100

72 42 18

142

117

89 61 31

1.1

1.2

1.2

1.1

0.6

Gra

dePe

rcen

tile

Fall

WC

PM*

Win

ter

WC

PM*

Sprin

gW

CPM

*Av

g. W

eekl

yIm

prov

emen

t**

3

90 75 50 25 10

128

99 71 44 21

146

120

92 62 36

162

137

107

78 48

1.1

1.2

1.1

1.1

0.8

4

90 75 50 25 10

145

119

94 68 45

166

139

112

87 61

180

152

123

98 72

1.1

1.0

0.9

0.9

0.8

5

90 75 50 25 10

166

139

110

85 61

182

156

127

99 74

194

168

139

109

83

0.9

0.9

0.9

0.8

0.7

6

90 75 50 25 10

177

153

127

98 68

195

167

140

111

82

204

177

150

122

93

0.8

0.8

0.7

0.8

0.8

7

90 75 50 25 10

180

156

128

102

79

192

165

136

109

88

202

177

150

123

98

0.7

0.7

0.7

0.7

0.6

8

90 75 50 25 10

185

161

133

106

77

199

173

146

115

84

199

177

151

124

97

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.6

0.6

2006

Has

brou

ck &

Tin

dal O

ral R

eadi

ng F

luen

cy D

ata

Jan

Has

brou

ck a

nd G

eral

d Ti

ndal

hav

e co

mpl

eted

an

exte

nsiv

e st

udy

of o

ral

read

ing

fluen

cy. T

he re

sults

of t

heir

stud

y w

ere

publ

ishe

d in

a te

chni

cal r

epor

ten

title

d, "O

ral R

eadi

ng F

luen

cy: 9

0 Ye

ars

of M

easu

rem

ent,"

whi

ch is

ava

ilabl

eon

the

Uni

vers

ity o

f Ore

gon’

s w

ebsi

te, b

rt.u

oreg

on.e

du/te

ch_r

epor

ts.h

tm,

and

in T

he R

eadi

ng T

each

erin

200

6 (H

asbr

ouck

, J. &

Tin

dal,

G. A

. (20

06).

Ora

l rea

ding

flue

ncy

norm

s: A

val

uabl

e as

sess

men

t too

l for

read

ing

teac

hers

.Th

e R

eadi

ng T

each

er. 5

9(7)

, 636

-644

.).

The

tabl

e be

low

sho

ws

the

mea

n or

al re

adin

g flu

ency

of s

tude

nts

in g

rade

s 1

thro

ugh

8 as

det

erm

ined

by

Has

brou

ck a

nd T

inda

l's d

ata.

You

can

use

the

info

rmat

ion

in th

is ta

ble

to d

raw

con

clus

ions

and

mak

ede

cisi

ons

abou

t the

ora

l rea

ding

flue

ncy

of y

our s

tude

nts.

Stu

dent

s sc

orin

g10

or

mor

e w

ords

bel

ow th

e 50

th p

erce

ntile

usi

ng th

e av

erag

e sc

ore

oftw

o un

prac

ticed

rea

ding

s fr

om g

rade

-leve

l mat

eria

ls n

eed

a flu

ency

-bu

ildin

g pr

ogra

m. I

n ad

ditio

n, te

ache

rs c

an u

se th

e ta

ble

to s

et th

e lo

ng-te

rmflu

ency

goa

ls fo

r the

ir st

rugg

ling

read

ers.

Aver

age

wee

kly

impr

ovem

enti

s th

e av

erag

e w

ords

per

wee

k gr

owth

you

can

expe

ct fr

om a

stu

dent

. It w

as c

alcu

late

d by

sub

tract

ing

the

fall

scor

e fro

mth

e sp

ring

scor

e an

d di

vidi

ng th

e di

ffere

nce

by 3

2, th

e ty

pica

l num

ber o

fw

eeks

bet

wee

n th

e fa

ll an

d sp

ring

asse

ssm

ents

. For

gra

de 1

, sin

ce th

ere

isno

fall

asse

ssm

ent,

the

aver

age

wee

kly

impr

ovem

ent w

as c

alcu

late

d by

subt

ract

ing

the

win

ter s

core

from

the

sprin

g sc

ore

and

divi

ding

the

diffe

renc

eby

16,

the

typi

cal n

umbe

r of w

eeks

bet

wee

n th

e w

inte

r and

spr

ing

asse

ssm

ents

.

*WC

PM

= W

ords

Cor

rect

Per

Min

ute

**Av

erag

e w

ords

per

wee

k gr

owth

ww

w.re

adna

tura

lly.c

om


PHASE READING ACTIVITY 14

FluencyEnglish Standard #12Oral Language Fluency Strategies

Fluency is all about reading words in groups, stopping at the proper points, and not having to stop to decode unfamiliar words. In order to keep reading flowing and without hesitation, you need to look over the material and work on the “tricky” words first. Then you need to remember to try to read words in phrases and not syllable by syllable or word by word. Breaking down sentences or paragraphs into syllables and individual words slows down reading and hinders comprehension.

The newspaper is an excellent tool to help you learn to move your eyes along and begin to read in larger and larger phrases. For this exercise you are going to need a newspaper, a thin line marker or a highlighter, and a sense of risk taking.

Mark and Read in Phrases

1. Remember you are taking a risk with this exercise and there are no absolute wrong or right ways to com-plete this exercise.

2. As you silently read a passage from the newspaper, circle or highlight two or three words as you read. The motion of circling or highlighting groups of words with your hands helps your brain to better under-stand the concept of reading words in groups, moving along in a fluid way, and not rereading until you have completed the entire passage.

3. Instead of circling/highlighting groups of words as you read silently or orally, you may prefer to put a dash after groups of words or underline the words. It does not matter if you circle, highlight, dash or underline. What matters is that your hand becomes like a machine that keep your eyes moving along in a fluid manner.

4. Remember that once you start with a particular rhythm in the circling, highlighting, dashing or underlin-ing, you should stay with that pacing. When you reread you can change the pacing to faster or slower.

This activity may seem “crazy” at first but it is no different from tracing letters in the air to remember how to spell. When you physically involve the body, you are helping to mentally reinforce what needs to be learned.

1. Before you start the actual reading, try out the circling, highlighting, dashing, underlining, or other mark-ing system to see which style best meets your needs.

2. The marking of words does not necessarily have to be the exact groups of words that you are reading. The marking merely helps you to remember to read words in groups and keep moving along at a fluid rate.

3. By doing this exercise for five minutes a day for several weeks, you are going to see that you are no lon-ger reading words individually, but in groups

4. When choosing reading material to mark, select fairly easy reading matter. The reading matter should be on your own independent reading level.

40 41


Paste a news article below that you can read fairly easily. Go through the article circling, highlighting, dashing, or underlining phrases and sections of words, which stand out to you. Then practice reading the article with a focus on reading phrases, not syllable or words.

Write in or circle your response.

I like the _______________ marking the best because:

I was able / not able to keep my reading flow going.

I understand / do not understand the value/importance of reading in phrases.

I need help / do not need help with marking and reading phrases.

PHASE READING

Paste News Article

42


READER’S THEATER ACTIVITY 15

43


Fluency

English Standard #12: Written and Spoken Language for a Particular Purpose

Reader’s Theater readings help to build fluency. These readings can easily come from newspaper articles that have a number of quotes. Just look for an interesting article that involves several people who give quotes about a particular issue and turn it into a reader’s theater play. The narrator(s) would read the non-quote paragraphs and then students in the class would be selected to read for people in the article. Readers can mark up the article so that they eliminate the name of the actual person and the word “said.” The narration parts can also be shortened so that the other readers have more to say. Additional lines can be added for each reader as long as they are in alignment with the text.

1. I chose an article from the newspaper that was interesting and had several people who were quoted in the story.

2. Along with my friends, I selected a role, either to be a narrator or one of the people in the story.

3. I went through the article and marked my part. If I was one of the people in the story, I eliminated my name and words like “said.” I just read the words in actual quotes.

4. I practiced my oral reading along with the narrator(s) and other people in the story.

5. When we all felt comfortable with the reading, we presented the reader’s theater adaptation of the article to the entire class.

READER’S THEATER

44


READING RATE ACTIVITY 16

45


FluencyEnglish Standard #4: Adjustment to Purpose/Building Fluency

To become a fluent reader you need to be able to read in phrases. Reading word by word slows you down. You also want to keep reading until you get to the end of the sentence. You don’t want to continually go back and reread before you get to the period. Building your reading rate through repeated readings of the same article and keeping a graph will make you aware of your reading speed. You can also read articles on a similar or different difficulty level. However, your reading rate will change with the difficulty level of the reading. Reading is like training for a sport or to be a musician. If you don’t practice on a regular basis you are not going to get better at it. Athletes and artists often keep records of their progress and that is what you are being asking to do here.

On the reverse side of this sheet it will tell you how to determine reading rate.

1. I chose an article to read that I would not have great difficulty reading.

2. I read the article the way that I would normally read so that I would get 70 – 80% comprehension. (I checked this comprehension by recording five facts from the article.)

3. As I read the article I had someone time me for one minute. When the person said, “stop,” I marked the spot where I stopped reading.

4. To find my reading rate I did the following: First I counted the number of words in the first five lines and divided by five to find the average number of words in a line for that particular article. It did not matter if the number came out exactly. Next I counted down the number of lines I had read and multiplied this number by the number of words in a line. (I had just determined this number by counting the words and dividing by 5.)

5. I now had my reading rate for that particular timed reading. It was the number of words per line, times the number of lines read.

6. I continued to practice reading this article or read articles on a similar or different reading level. To check my comprehension level I tried to give back 5 facts from the reading of the article.

7. One week later I tried the same exercise with the same article or articles on a different reading level. I kept recording my scores on the chart. I indicated if the articles were easy reading, more difficult, or very difficult.

8. I looked for a trend in my reading rate. I recorded my observations in my newspaper journal. I discussed when and how I was able to read more quickly, what seemed to slow me down, the amount of practice I needed, etc. I saw that when I read articles on a more difficult level I had to slow down my speed. I saw that when I came to easier articles I could speed up.

READING RATE

46


Determining Reading Rate

1. Be timed for one minute 2. Mark the line where you stopped reading after one minute 3. Count the number of words in the first 5 lines you read 4. Divide this number by 5 to get the average number of

words per line 5. Count down the number of lines read 6. Multiply the average number of words per line times the number

of lines read 7. This number is your approximate reading rate for one minute

Please note: if material was easy to read, your rate should be higher. If material was hard, your reading rate should be lower.

Reading Rate Chart/Words Per Minute (wpm)

100-185 wpm – slow185-215 wpm – low average

215-230 wpm – average230-300 wpm – good

300-350 wpm – very good350-500 wpm – excellent


READINGS REPEAT ACTIVITY 17

FluencyEnglish Standard #12Oral Language Fluency Rereader

In order to build fluency, you need to be able to identify the words in the selection that are going to be “tricky” for you. You need to be able to read these words and then read the section several times until you become more fluent.

It does not matter if you are reading silently or out loud, you need to know the proper pronunciation of the words, when and how to use punctuation properly, and how to read in phrases that flow. Building your fluency is very important. When your fluency improves, your comprehension will improve as well. When you struggle with words and/or punctuation, you lose the meaning of what you are trying to read.

To Build Fluency1. Choose a reading that is not too easy; it should be a little challenging to read the first time.2. Before doing a careful reading, go through the passage and circle words that may cause you dif-

ficulty in the reading. Use your fix it strategies to work on the “tricky” words or ask someone for help.

3. Note the time on your watch when you are beginning to read. Note the time on your watch when you end the reading. Record these times.

4. Look at the reading again and see if you can improve upon the areas that caused you difficulty.5. Read the passage for the second time. Note the time at the beginning and at the end of the

reading. Hopefully, the time for the second reading is better than the first. 6. Again, reexamine the passage and deal with areas that are difficult. Then begin your third timed

reading. Note how long this reading took and compare it to the two other reading times.

When you are practicing reading the same passages over and over again, it is like practicing a piece on the piano or a tennis swing. You need constant repetition to get your mind and body in the fluency mode. By rereading the same passage, and using the strategies to improve your reading, you’ll get better and better with each new reading.

Keep the Following In Mind1. Choose material on an instructional or easy reading level that is a little challenging but not over-

whelming. One to three paragraphs usually works well. 2. Reread at least three times, or more, to keep the flow going. Do it all in the same sitting. 3. Prepare for the reading by using strategies or asking for help on “tricky” words, and having a

record chart and watch handy. 4. On the chart, record your three reading times as well as information you learned about yourself

in regard to the readings.

47 47


READING REPEAT

Paste a news article, below. Make it one that is a little challenging to read at first. Record the number of words in article or section you will read repeatedly. ________

Record your reading times below.

READINGS REPEAT

48

Start Time End Time Total Reading Time Time Difference/Comments

TITLE OF READING I

First Reading

Second Reading

Third Reading

TITLE OF READING II

First Reading

Second Reading

Third Reading

TITLE OF READING III

First Reading

Second Reading

Third Reading

SCAN AND SEARCH RUBRIC ACTIVITY 18

49


Fluency

English Standard #4: Adjusting Communication Skills/Scanning

Scanning is having your eyes glance over the article looking for one particular piece of information in that article. Think of using the phone book. You don’t read the phone book; you scan for names and numbers. Complete the black line master on the reverse side of this sheet by listening to teacher questions and scanning for a particular person, place, thing, or number. Note the key word that you hear in the question to make your scanning easier.

1. I wrote the five questions dictated by the teacher on the black line master. These questions will be answered in a news article that I will scan.

2. I noted the key word(s) in each article in the proper column.

3. As my teacher timed us for …… minutes, I tried to locate the specific answers in the news article by scanning the article, not reading it.

4. I circled answers on the actual newspaper article, later transferring them to the black line master.

5. I skipped questions I was having trouble with but went back if I had time.

6. After the timed scanning session was over, I checked my answers, looking more closely for key words when I had to change an answer.

7. I summarized what I had learned about scanning in my journal.

SCAN AND SEARCH

50


Dictate Questions AnswersKey Words

Timing:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

SKIMMING THE SURFACE RUBRIC ACTIVITY 19

51


Fluency

English Standard #3: Applying Strategies/Skimming

Skim reading is when you read to preview, get an overview or a general impression of a news article. You may skim to see if the article has the needed information. You may skim to see if you are interested in reading the article. When you skim you read the first sentence of the paragraph more carefully than the rest of the article as that sentence tells you what is in that paragraph. If you decide to read the rest of the article, you then look at key elements such as nouns, verbs, words in bold print or italics and anything else that is important that catches your eye. When you are skimming you are not looking for details you are not reading every word, and you are not reading slowly. For this activity you are going to choose an article with at least five paragraphs and you are going to carefully read only the first sentence of each paragraph.

1. I chose a news article with at least five paragraphs.

2. I read only the first sentence of the first paragraph and recorded the key ideas on the handle of the skimmed milk pitcher on the reverse side of this sheet under P.l.

3. I read only the first sentence of the second paragraph and recorded the key ideas on the handle of the pitcher under P.2.

4. I read only the first sentence of the third, fourth, and fifth paragraphs and recorded the key ideas on the handle of pitcher under P.3, P.4, and P.5.

5. If I felt I needed to skim any more of any one paragraph, I did so and added information.

6. I took the key elements of information from the pitcher handle and created a summary in the center of the skimmed milk pitcher.

SKIMMING THE SURFACE

52


TOPICAL ELEVATOR ACTIVITY 20

53


Fluency

English Standard #1: Understanding of Texts/Finding Topic Sentences

Paragraphs are built around one particular topic. If you can identify that topic, it will help you to be a better reader. If you can identify the topic, it will also help you to know when to slow down and read carefully or when to skip that paragraph. A good reader knows what he/she is looking for when they read. They have established a purpose. For this exercise you are going to choose a newspaper article to read and make note of the topic of each paragraph. In some cases, the topic may be the same or similar in several paragraphs. You are going to record your topic statement on the bottom floor of the elevator with related details listed in the elevator car above. You are going to start on the first floor of the elevator.

1. I found a newspaper article to read that had more than five paragraphs.

2. After I read each paragraph I decided on the topic of the paragraph and wrote that topic on the elevator floor on the black line master. I started with the first floor.

3. I then added one or two important details following each topic to the elevator car above the floor portion.

4. If some paragraphs covered the same topics as previously, I made a note of this on the elevator floor.

5. After completing six to eight paragraphs from an article by giving a topic and then one or two related details, I turned to my newspaper journal.

6. In my newspaper journal I used the information from my topical elevator to write a summary of the newspaper article I had just read.

Topic 4

54


TOPICAL ELEVATOR


CUBING A WORD ACTIVITY 21

Vocabulary Development

English Standard #12Using Written and Visual Language/Reinforcement

It is not enough to see a new word and go to the dictionary. We must try to work with the word in as many ways as possible. We try to look at the word from many different angles for context clues, prior knowledge and other links that help make the word our own.

We can also verbalize what we are thinking to help reinforcement what is going on in our mind. For example, once we have a new word to learn and/or “cube” we begin to talk the word through the thinking process as out-lined below.

Cubing a New Word

1. Once you have chosen a new word to learn you turn to the cube cut out on the back and fill in each of the six surfaces with information that will help you retain meaning(s) for the word.

2. On one surface of the cube, you write your newly chosen word. 3. On another surface of the cube, you write a definition for the word4. On a third surface of the cube, you use the new word in a sentence5. On a fourth surface, you create, or pull from the newspaper, an image context clue to the new word6. On the fifth surface, you talk briefly about a brief connection you have with the word.7. On the sixth surface, you talk about types of people that might use the word.

You can also vary what you want on each surface depending on the grade level, the content, fiction or non-fiction, and prior knowledge.

Once you have filled out all six surfaces of the cube with information, you are ready to cut out the flat page image, and then fold and tape it into a cube. Now as you hold the cube in your hand you have the key word facing you and you speak in the following manner:

Reading the Cube Example1. My chosen word is shrub2. My picture for the word is a little, bushy tree by the side of the house3. My definition for shrub is a small woody bush, smaller than a tree4. My connection to shrubs is that I have to prune or clip them from time to time5. The people who talk about shrubs are people who care for lawns, gardeners, and home owners6. My sentence is, “The shrubs around my house are dying from lack of water.”

55 55


CUBING A WORD

Word Sentence

Image

Definition

Connection

Tap

e o

r Glu

e H

ere Tap

e or G

lue H

ere

People that use word

Bo

tto

m fl

ap

Tap

e o

r g

lue

her

e

56 57


DEFINITION POEM ACTIVITY 22


Standard #12Using Written and Visual Language/ Working a Word

For a Definition Poem, you select an interesting new word from a newspaper headline or article and feature it as the topic of a poem. By having to deal with the word in so many ways to develop the poem, chances are you are never going to forget the meaning of the word or its many components.

When you are developing a Definition Poem you are also learning to become a better writer through being more descriptive, using alternative terms, thinking about different types of usage, linking to emotions and feelings, and categorizing.

Developing a Definition Poem

1. Locate a word you truly want to remember for the focus of your Definition Poem.

2. Look the word up in the dictionary and record its meaning.

3. Quickly write down all the ideas and visualizations that come to you, now that you have seen the word in connection with the proper meaning(s).

4. On the first line of your poem, use the newspaper cutout of your word.

5. On the second line of your poem, describe the word, rename it or give it a synonym.

6. On the third line of the poem, tell where it would be found or a setting connected to the word.

7. On the fourth line of your poem, add a phrase of additional information.

8. On the fifth line of the poem, tell your connection to this word or how you feel about the word.

9. On the last line of the poem, use emotional words connected to the previous line.

On the other side of this sheet you will find a model of a Definition Poem. This poem should be read to the class, discussed, and posted for others to see. These poems also work well when put in a class poetry book. It is interested how many of the words you will master once you hear the poem, see it posted and then put it in a class book. The next step is to see if you can utilize the words in your own writing.

56 57


DEFINITION POEM

______________________________________________________________________________________________Name it

______________________________________________________________________________________________Describe it, rename it

______________________________________________________________________________________________Tell where it would be found

______________________________________________________________________________________________Tell more about it

______________________________________________________________________________________________Use emotion words to tell how you feel about this word

______________________________________________________________________________________________Explain why you used the emotion words above

Example:

Eagle

Our national bird

Soaring near mountains and trees

King of the air

Awesome predator

Respected and feared by all

58

59


Vocabulary

English Standard # 2: Reading Different Genres/Gathering Seed Ideas

To build vocabulary and use words in a different way, Newspaper Found Poetry is fun. For this exercise you are going to use the entire paper to find words, phrases, parts of headlines, photos, cartoon characters, or anything else in the newspaper that excites and interests you. When you are attracted to a word or photo you are going to cut it out and place it in front of you on your desk. When you have collected 15 to 20 words, phrases, or photos you are going to try to use some of these cut out pieces to inspire you to write a poem. You do not need to use all of the material that you cut out. You can also add whatever you want once you get your idea started. The Found Poetry pieces are for inspiration, motivation, and con-tent.

1. I went through the entire newspaper cutting out 15 to 20 interesting pictures, words and phrases.

2. I spread my cut out pieces in front of me on my desk and from them drew inspiration for a poem. All of the ideas from the poem did not have to come from the cut out pieces. All of the cut out pieces did not have to be used in the poem.

3. If I cut out a word that sounded interesting but I didn’t know the meaning of the word, I looked it up in the dictionary.

4. I began to write my poem in any format that would be accepted by my teacher.

5. I read my poem to another student to get feed back on my writing.

6. I revised and edited my poem.

7. Now that I had my final draft, I pasted the cut out words and photos that I used on the top of the black line master.

8. When I copied my poem on the bottom section of the black line master I highlighted the “found” words or phrases.

9. I practiced reading my poem out loud.

10. I read the poem to my entire class and read them the Found Pieces that I had started with, the pieces that inspired and motivated me to write.

FOUND POETRY ACTIVITY 23

60


FOUND POETRY


61 61

NEWSPAPER HEADLINE WORD SORTS ACTIVITY 23

English Standard #12Using Written & Visual Language/Reinforcement

In this exercise, students will decode and understand new words encountered in their reading materials, drawing on a variety of strategies as needed, and then use these words accurately in speaking and writing

WORD SORTING FOR VOCABULARY REINFORCEMENT

Students will decode and understand new words encountered intheir reading materials, drawing on a variety of strategies asneeded, and then use these words accurately in speaking andwriting.

DIRECTIONS

We often learn new words by putting together parts of words previously learned. Cutout four commonly used words that you know from newspaper headlines. Paste thesefour words in different parts of your Word Sorts Box. Then see how many other wordsyou can make from these four root word parts. For example, if you cut out the wordmap, you could remove the consonant “m” and make new words such as sap nap,tap, rap, trap, cap, gap, lap, etc. Once you find your key headline word you caneither remove the beginning, the middle, or the end to make new words.

RUBRICS

1. I have cut at least four key words from the newspaper head-lines in order to make new word families.

2. I have pasted each of the headline words in a separate part of the Word Sorts Box.

3. I have chosen to remove either the beginning, the middle, orthe end of the newspaper title words.

4. I have added new letters to the root word part of the title wordto make new words.

5. Optional – I have taken one new word from each section of thecross to develop into a sentence. I will have four new sentenceswhen I am finished.

6. I have proofread my sentences.

NEWSPAPER HEADLINE WORD SORTS

Myself Teacher Peer

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

31



Cut and PasteHeadlineWord:

Family Words:


Family Words:


Family Words:


Family Words:

3262 63



NEWSPAPER VOCABULARY BINGO ACTIVITY 25


Standard # 12Using Written and Visual Language/ Word Reinforcement

Mastering a new vocabulary word takes at least six successful “visitations” or meetings for an average student. For students from another country or with learning problems, the number of “visitations” must be greatly extended.

By cutting out “tricky” words from the newspaper and putting them in different places on a bingo card, you can have fun while learning the meaning of new words. However, prior to pasting the words on the card, spend time with each new word, learning to pronounce it, learning what it means, thinking about how you can remember it, and creating a visual memory of the word and its meaning.

Playing Vocabulary Bingo

1. From the front page of the newspaper, choose, as a class, 24 new vocabulary words to study.2. Cut out the words from the newspaper for future use on the Bingo Board. List the word on the class-

room white board and talk about each of their meanings. With 24 words, you might want to review only six new words each day for four days.

3. Make certain to look back at the article to use context clues as well as the dictionary to discover the meaning of the words. Students can also work in groups to develop meanings for the words.

4. Once you have taken up to four days to go over all the relevant new words from the front page, paste the cut out words around the free spot on the bingo card. Students should paste the words in any order they wish, so that each bingo card is unique.

5. At the end of the week, the words should be reviewed and then it is time to play Bingo with pennies, little pieces of paper, or chips.

6. The teacher will keep a master card, and call out the definition for any of the words. If the students recognize the word from the definition, they will cover the word, but keep quiet.

7. The teacher keeps reading out definitions as clues to each of the vocabulary words until someone in the class has a straight line (horizontal, vertical or diagonal) and can call out “Bingo.”

8. In order, to win the game, the student who called out Bingo must now read each of the words in the straight line and give the definition. If the student has an incorrect definition or covered a word that was not defined, that student is not a winner. The game will continue until someone can give all the correct definitions for the words given by the teacher.

62 63


FREE

NEWSPAPER VOCABULARY BINGO CARD

64 65


RAINBOW TRAIN ACTIVITY 26

Vocabulary

English Standard #2Using Written and Visual Language/Linkage

To remember new vocabulary words, it is important to make connections, develop visualizations, look at the word from different perspectives and use the word over and over until it becomes commonplace.

With rainbow chains you are using a small sentence strip or manipulative to review the word in a number of situations. You are also finding a linkage or connection to words from other individuals.

Making Your Sentence Strip

1. Use the sentence on the back of this sheet as a model for other strips.2. Choose a word from the newspaper that is unfamiliar to you and put it on the word portion of the

strip. 3. In the box next to the word, make a simple drawing or graphic to help you remember the word. (If

you find an image in the newspaper that helps remember the word, paste it on the strip)4. On the line for meaning, write a brief definition found in the dictionary.5. Below the meaning, write a sentence with your new word included.

Now that your sentence strip is complete, you are ready to play the Link It Game.

Playing the Link it Game

1. One person starts off talking about their new word, the graphic, and the meaning of the word.2. The first person in class who thinks he or she has a word that can link in some way to the first word,

talks about their new word and its linkage to the first word. The first strip is then stapled or taped into a loop and the second strip is looped though it and stapled or taped. As more loops are added it becomes a word loop chain.

3. The game continues with people constantly trying to get rid of their sentence strip by linking to the previous word in the chain.

4. As each new word is linked, the sentence strips made into circles and put through the previous circle, makes one giant rainbow chain.

5. Words can be color coded for parts of speech. The chain can be hung from the ceiling or undone for use in a vocabulary center.

64 65


Cut out strips, find new vocabulary words in the newspaper to place on the strip, make a drawing or graphic (or image from newspaper) to help remember the word and meaning, discuss one word at a time, and connect each new word to the chain until all the words have been discussed and linked. Then hang the chain for future reference.

RAINBOW TRAIN

Dra

win

g or

Gra

phic

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

___W

ord

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

_Def

init

ion

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

___S

ente

nce

Dra

win

g or

Gra

phic

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

___W

ord

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

_Def

init

ion

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

___S

ente

nce

Dra

win

g or

Gra

phic

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

___W

ord

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

_Def

init

ion

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

___S

ente

nce

66 67


VOCABULARY CHARADES ACTIVITY 27


Standard #4Vocabulary Adjustment/ Feeling a Word

Most of the activities that have been devised for vocabulary development have to do with finding the mean-ing through word part clues and context. To remember the word, it is suggested that you draw a related picture, put the word in a sentence, list your connections to the word, talk about where and when the word is used, talk about the word chunks, and come up with a variety of synonyms.

All of the above listed strategies are excellent. However, one of the best strategies to help students remem-ber words is to link them to art, drawing and acting. If a student can act out the meaning of a word without saying anything, he/she has a good understanding of the word. For the observer, the results are equally good. If the observer can understand what the person is acting out and create a link to the new word, chances are good the observer will maintain the mental image of the action and remember the word and its meaning.

Using Charades for Vocabulary Development

1. Select an interesting word from the newspaper that you want to remember.2. Use context to try to uncover the meaning and then check with the dictionary.3. Decide how you can act out the word so that people will remember the word and remember the

meaning. 4. Practice with a friend to see if your actions are coming across to another person.5. After practicing, perform the word for the class. The class will have a list of words on the board

from which to choose, so they will not just be guessing blindly.6. When someone has guessed the word correctly, ask them how they made the connection between

what you were doing and the new word. 7. Have everyone in the class act out your motions for the word so that they will be reinforcing the

connection between word and its meaning.

When you are acting out the meaning of your word use the following techniques.

1. Act out the physical motions linked to the word.2. Put your hand to your ear for “sounds like.”3. Act the word out in parts, putting up fingers for the various parts.

66 67


Act out your word without speakingBelow are a few standard Charade signals that may help. You are welcome to act any way that makes sense to try to help other students guess your word. For example, for the word runway, you might show there are two syl-lables and split the word into run and way. Then you could look like you are running to get that across. The way part might be harder. You could do letters near the end of alphabet for w & y and at the beginning for a. After students get run, acting like a plane taking off might help them get the word.

Number of syllables in the word: Lay the number of fingers on your arm.

Which syllable you’re working on: Lay the number of fingers on your arm again.

Length of word: Make a “little” or “big” sign as if you were measuring a fish.

“Sounds like”: Cup one hand behind an ear, or pull on your earlobe.

“Longer version of”: Pretend to stretch a piece of elastic.

“Shorter version of”: Do a “karate chop” with your hand.

A letter of the alphabet: Move your hand in a chopping motion toward your arm (near the top of your forearm if the letter is near the beginning of the alphabet, and near the bottom of your arm if the letter is near the end of the alphabet).

“Close, keep guessing!”: Frantically wave your hands about to keep the guesses coming, or pretend to fan yourself, as if to say “getting hotter”.

“Not even close, I’ll start over”: Wave hand in a wide sweep, as if to say “go away!” Alternatively, pretend to shiver, as if to say “getting colder”.

“A synonym”: Clasp your hands together and then, rotating your clasped hands from the wrists, simulate mul-tiple figure 8’s.

“The opposite” or “the antonym of what you are saying”: Form each hand into a hitchhiker’s thumb sig-nal, then with the backs of the hands facing away from you, cross your forearms and make the thumbs travel in opposing directions, thus “opposite”.

“On the nose” (i.e., someone has made a correct guess): Point at your nose with one hand, while pointing at the person with your other hand.

“Stop yelling at me, all of you! I can’t hear any of your guesses.”: Throw your arms down to your sides, like a mummy, and jump up and down 3 times like a little baby. Alternatively, use your fingers to plug your ears so as to impair your hearing, and shut your eyes until the guessing has ceased.

VOCABULARY CHARADES

68


Students will describe and analyze how the English language hasdeveloped and been influenced by other languages.

DIRECTIONS

Using a designated or self-selected newspaper article, select one unfamiliar word thatyou will remember by making a vocabulary crest. Place this word in the middle of thecrest sheet. You will also need a dictionary to help you with making this product.

First see if you can find out the country where the word originated and place this inthe “pointy” portion of the crest. Next, fill in the definition of the word in the appropri-ate place and then place possible suffixes for the word in the box next to the defini-tion.

Now it is up to you to make your own illustration to help you remember the meaning of the word. Also, think of people or places that might make use of this word. Put thisinformation and illustrations in the designated places on the crest.

Next, place your new word in a sentence along the side of the crest.

Finally, orally share your new word with your classmates and place your crest on theworking word wall so that other students may make use of your word in their writingand speaking.

RUBRICS

1. I have selected a new word from a newspaper article andlooked it up in the dictionary.

2. If possible, I have placed the country of origin for the newword on the crest.

3. I have written my own definition for the new word on the crest.

4. I have written various suffixes for the new word on the crest.

5. I have drawn a picture to help me remember the word on mycrest.

6. I have noted people who might use the word on the crest.

7. I have put my new word in a sentence of my own along theside of the crest.

8. I have orally shared the various elements of my new word withmy classmates and placed my completed crest on the workingword wall.

VOCABULARY CREST

Myself Teacher Peer

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

29

VOCABULARY CREST ACTIVITY 28

69

English Standard #4Vocabulary Adjustment/Proper Placement

In this activity, students will describe and analyze how the English language has developed and been influenced by other languages.

DIRECTIONS FOR MAKING A VOCABULARY LIST

Students will describe and analyze how the English language hasdeveloped and been influenced by other languages.

DIRECTIONS

Using a designated or self-selected newspaper article, select one unfamiliar word thatyou will remember by making a vocabulary crest. Place this word in the middle of thecrest sheet. You will also need a dictionary to help you with making this product.

First see if you can find out the country where the word originated and place this inthe “pointy” portion of the crest. Next, fill in the definition of the word in the appropri-ate place and then place possible suffixes for the word in the box next to the defini-tion.

Now it is up to you to make your own illustration to help you remember the meaning of the word. Also, think of people or places that might make use of this word. Put thisinformation and illustrations in the designated places on the crest.

Next, place your new word in a sentence along the side of the crest.

Finally, orally share your new word with your classmates and place your crest on theworking word wall so that other students may make use of your word in their writingand speaking.

RUBRICS

1. I have selected a new word from a newspaper article andlooked it up in the dictionary.

2. If possible, I have placed the country of origin for the newword on the crest.

3. I have written my own definition for the new word on the crest.

4. I have written various suffixes for the new word on the crest.

5. I have drawn a picture to help me remember the word on mycrest.

6. I have noted people who might use the word on the crest.

7. I have put my new word in a sentence of my own along theside of the crest.

8. I have orally shared the various elements of my new word withmy classmates and placed my completed crest on the workingword wall.

VOCABULARY CREST

Myself Teacher Peer

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

29


VOCABULARY CREST

Nation of Origin

Sentence

Definition

WORD

Suffixes

Illustration Users

30

VOCABULARY CREST

70 71


VOCABULARY GRADABLES ACTIVITY 29


Standard #2Using Written and Visual Language/Gradables

Word choice is an important skill in writing today. You don’t want to use the same word repeatedly and you want to be able to choose the word that truly best fits the meaning in your sentence. Use the newspaper to locate gradient words. These are words on a continuum that can be similar in meaning but have a slight shade of differ-ence.

Creating a Gradable Line for Vocabulary Development

1. Take two opposites like slow/fast, beautiful/ugly, dark/light, fat/thin, tall/short, smart/dumb, big/little, hot/cold, happy/sad, rich/poor, old/young, new/old, etc.

2. Use the gradable line on the back of this sheet to record information regarding varying degrees of vocab-ulary definitions.

3. For example: put red-hot on one end of the line and subzero on the other end of the line. Then find words from the newspaper or other places to put in between. Red-hot, boiling, hot, warm, lukewarm, tepid, cool, cold, freezing, subzero. Do the same with magnificent to hideous: magnificent, gorgeous, beautiful, pretty, attractive, plain, ugly, repulsive, hideous

4. After making the gradable line, talk about the slight differences between each of the words and when one word would be more effective to use than another word.

Making Use of Gradable Lists

Keep a list of gradable words in a vocabulary journal to use with your writing. These lists will help to vary your writing and bring new richness to your text.

It is also fun to take the gradable words and put them on separate slips of paper. Then have a word sort to see if you can put them in the proper order. If there is a problem with the order, ask people to explain their thinking.

You can also give each student a different gradable word and then ask them to stand in order in front of the room. Once the order for the students has been established, students can also use their particular word in a sen-tence and talk about how they are going to remember the exact meaning.

70 71


Create a continuum of words that go from one extreme to the other placing a word on each line between the two. You may place as many words as you can think of that fit between the extremes, but must place them in order from one extreme to the other.

Continuum of Words Between the Extremes

VOCABULARY GRADABLES

Extreme Words Extreme Words Extreme Words Extreme Words Extreme Words

Red Hot Magnificent

Subzero Hideous

Red Hot Magnificent

Boiling Gorgeous

Hot Beautiful

Warm Pretty

Lukewarm Attractive

Tepid Plain

Cool Ugly

Cold Repulsive

Freezing Hideous

Subzero

72 73


WINDOWING A WORD ACTIVITY 30


Standard # 12Using Written and Visual Language/ Visualization of a Word

As with all of the other vocabulary activities, you need to try every method that you’ve learned to make a word your own. You need to think about its word parts, its derivation, when and where you have heard the word before, how it would appear in context, and what it might look like in a graphic.

This activity is focused on using a graphic presentation to learn new words. You are going to use a graphic of a window on the back of the sheet, and include everything that you can find out about the word to make the word come alive.

Windowing a Word

1. Using the graphic of a window from the back of this sheet, determine a definition of your word through context or another method. Check out your word prediction with the dictionary defini-tion.

2. Now in each pane of glass you are going to superimpose words that will help you remember the proper meaning of the word. For example:

a. the definitionb. antonyms, synonymsc. word parts or chunks that are helpfuld. any personal connections that you have to the worde. people or places where the word might be usedf. how you could use the word in a sentenceg. crazy way of remembering the meaning of the wordh. story related to the wordi. how you would introduce the word to another personj. song in which the word was part of the lyrics k. part of a gradable line l. prior knowledgem. image you find in the newspaper or that you create

Include as much “window pane” information as possible. Then you can begin to show and tell your word to the class. These word windows also make excellent bulletin board displays.

72 73


WINDOWING A WORD

Definition

Word Part/Clue Chunk

Song Lyric

Related Story

Antonym

Connection

Gradable Family

Prior Knowledge

Synonym

Users of Word

Crazy Link

Image

74 75


WORD CUBE SPLASH ACTIVITY 31

Students will acquire and use correctly an advanced readingvocabulary of English words, identifying meanings through anunderstanding of word relationships.

DIRECTIONS

Using the word cube splash graphic organizer and any newspaper, begin to look forwords in titles that are made up of prefixes, root words, and suffixes.

Cut out these words in their two or three parts (prefix, root word, and suffix) and paste in the appropriate part of the word cube. After pasting the word parts to thegraphic organizer, put the part of speech of the word in the side block and the defini-tion for the word on the top of the block. You should make use of a dictionary whenyou need help. (A sample block is already on your graphic organizer).

Finally, you will orally share at least one of the words from your word cube splashwith the class and then place it on the working word wall for others to use in theirwriting.

Optional – After completing three to five word cube blocks, turn the paper over andplace each of the words from the front of the sheet in a complete sentence.

RUBRICS

1. I have selected at least three words that have a prefix, rootword, and a suffix, or at least two parts.

2. I have cut these words into the two or three parts given aboveand placed them in the appropriate boxes on the graphic organizer.

3. I have used the dictionary to help me find the definition of theword and its part of speech.

4. I have placed the part of speech and vocabulary definition on the appropriate part of the word cube.

5. I have shared my words with the class and placed them on theworking word wall.

6. Optional – I have used each of the words on my graphic organizer in a complete sentence and placed these sentences on the back of the sheet.

WORD CUBE SPLASH

Myself Teacher Peer

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

2374 75

English Standard #4Vocabulary Adjustment/Word Segments

In this activity, students will acquire and use correctly an advanced reading vocabulary of English words, identifying meanings through an understanding of word relationships.

DIRECTIONS FOR SPLASHING WORDS IN SEGMENTS


WORD CUBE SPLASH

SAMPLE

UN EMPLOY

The state of being unable to secure paid employment.

MENTN.

24

WORD CUBE SPLASH

76


WORD KITE ACTIVITY 32

77



English Standard #12: Using Written and Visual Language/Working a Vocabulary Word

In order to master the meaning of words you need to have one or more associations with a word, be able to visualize the word and what it means, be able to define it and talk about its possible opposite meaning (antonym), relate it to words with the same or almost the same meaning (synonym), and use it in a sentence. This form of vocabulary development is called working a word, not just defining it. Choose one interesting, new word from a newspaper headline and complete the word kite on the reverse side of the sheet. Don’t hesitate to use the dictionary for confirmation of word meaning.

1. I chose a word I didn’t know from a headline and cut it out and pasted it on the word portion of my kite.

2. From the context of the word I decided on a possible meaning and wrote it in pencil in the proper place on the reverse side of this sheet.

3. I checked the possible meaning with a dictionary. If I was correct in my meaning, I wrote the meaning in pen. If I needed to change the meaning, I erased my prediction and then wrote the dictionary meaning in with a pen.

4. Then in the synonym/possible antonym portion of the kite, I added information I knew about my new word.

5. Next I went to the visualization portion of the kite and drew a picture that would help me remember the meaning of the new word.

6. Lastly, I used my new word in a sentence to show my knowledge of the word.

WORD KITE

78


WORD LADDER ACTIVITY 33

79



English Standard #4: Vocabulary Adjustment/Using Context to Determine Vocabulary

When you are reading you usually don’t have a dictionary with you to locate the meaning of words you don’t know. For this reason you need to know how to use context clues to find the meanings of the new words. To find context clues you look at the words and phrases in back of the new word, as well as in front of the new word to find a word(s) that “will fit.” To practice finding meaning from context clues choose two newspaper headlines that include words that you don’t know. Then use the reverse side of this sheet to “ladder” these words.

1. I found two headlines with one word each that I did not know.

2. I cut out the headlines with the new words and put them to one side.

3. I underlined the new word in each headline, cut it out and pasted it on the top rung of the ladder.

4. For a meaning for the new word under headline one, I looked ahead and behind the new word for clues to the word meaning.

5. From this “context clue reading” I predicted two or three possible meanings for the new word.

6. I placed these possible meanings on the ladder rungs underneath the new word.

7. I now used the dictionary to check the meaning and put the correct meaning on the last

rung of the ladder. If I correctly predicted a meaning, I put a ★ beside that meaning.

8. I repeated the procedure above for headline number two.

9. After finding a proper meaning for the two new words, I added these two new

Table of Contents

80


1 2

ANNOTATION NOTATION ACTIVITY 34

81


Constructing Meaning

English Standard # 12: Exchange of Information/Note Taking

To become a more thorough reader you need to mentally organize the information that you read and take notes on this information. By learning to mark up the reading with symbols and transferring this information to your journal, you are helping to remember the material in an organized fashion. The symbols that you use are not as important as the fact that you are always looking for big main ideas, subheadings under the main heading, and details that relate to the sub headings. Of course, key vocabulary words must also be noted. Use the symbols on the reverse side of this sheet to help you better understand how to annotate and turn the annotations into usable notes.

1. I chose a newspaper article to read and annotate.

2. I looked for big main idea statements in the article and boxed them.

3. If the main idea statement was not stated directly, I wrote one of my own in the margin of the newspaper.

4. Next I went back through the article and looked for subtopics under the main headings. I put these sub topics in brackets.

5. After the subtopics I looked for details that linked to the subtopics and drew a line under these details.

6. Finally, I went through the reading and circled any key words that I needed to remember. I also looked up words I didn’t know in a dictionary.

7. After making the proper notations on the newspaper article, I transferred the information from the boxed main idea blocks to the black line master.

8. I followed this procedure by transferring bracketed and underlined information to the back of this sheet.

9. Finally, I added key vocabulary words to the reverse side of this sheet.

10. After looking at the transferred or downloaded information, I retold the three levels of information I had gathered. Then I worked the information into a summary statement.

ANNOTATION NOTATION

82



CHARACTER SNAPSHOT ACTIVITY 35

83 83

English Standard #9Construction Meaning Character Analyst

In this exercise, students will identify, analyze, and apply knowledge of the structure and elements of fiction and provide evidence from the text to support their understanding.

DIRECTIONS FOR CREATING A CHARACTER SNAPSHOT

Students will identify, analyze, and apply knowledge of the struc-ture and elements of fiction and provide evidence from the text tosupport their understanding.

DIRECTIONS

To better understand the character of real people written about in the newspaper, youare going to use the character sketch graphic organizer along with a designated orself-selected newspaper article(s). Feature stories work well with this activity.

As you read the article, highlight or underline any information about the person thatcan be seen from the outside. For example, 6’5” tall, red hair, etc. Then reread thearticle looking for characteristics that are not just physical in nature. Circle or high-light in another color, the clues to these characteristics. For example, bravery shownwhen the boy risked his life to rescue the dog, etc.

Now transfer the information gathered to either the outside (physical characteristics)of the body or to the inside (intangible part of the body).

Finally, in one or more paragraphs, write a character study of the person being dis-cussed in the newspaper article. Make certain to include information from the charac-ter sketch graphic organizer.

RUBRICS

1. I have selected an appropriate newspaper article(s).

2. I have read the article looking for physical characteristics, underlined them, and added them to the outside portion of the character sketch.

3. I have read the article looking for clues about the personal characteristics of the person in the news and added themto the inside portion of the character sketch.

4. I have retold the information from the character sketch graphic and combined this information in a one or more paragraph essay.

5. I proofread my paragraph for spelling, usage, and grammar.

CHARACTER SNAPSHOT

Myself Teacher Peer

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

39


CHARACTER SNAPSHOT CHARACTER SNAPSHOT

OUTSIDETRAITS:

HairEyes

HeightAge

ClothesVoice

MannerismsHabits

INSIDE TRAITS:Write adjectivesthat describeinner qualities,then give reasonsfor each choice.

He listened topeople’s stories.He was carefulnot to frightenanimals.

Example:Sensitive

4084


COMPARISON AND CONTRAST CIRCLE ACTIVITY 36

85



English Standard #9: Diversity/Comparing and Contrasting

Being able to compare and contrast people, places, and objects is a critical thinking skill. For this activity you will need to find one newspaper article where there is a discussion of two items or ideas, or find two companion newspaper articles. Companion news articles have the same topic but different viewpoints, or different topics but similar characteristics. Finding the proper articles will be skill development in itself. Remember, when you are comparing you are looking for similarities between items, and when you are contrasting you are looking for differences.

1. I found one newspaper article with people, places or items to compare and contrast. If I could not find one newspaper article for comparison purposes, I chose two different articles that had a common link.

2. As I read the newspaper articles, I began to underline important information on the topic(s).

3. After looking at the underlined information that I thought was important to remember, I began to use the black line master on the back of this sheet.

4. At the top of the two circles I put the title or topics of the two items to be compared.

5. Then I took all the information that was directly stated in the article about the two topics and what they had in common, and recorded this information in the center C.

6. Next I began to infer and included common characteristics of both topics that would be true, but were not directly stated. I also placed these characteristics in the center C.

7. I then began to look for information for the topic listed on the right hand side of the C. I listed all information specific to that topic in the area below the topic heading.

8. I then reversed what I was doing and began to look for information that related directly to the topic on the left hand side of the C. I now began to record information specific to that circle on the left hand side of the C.

9. To put my information to work I now completed a comparison and contrast summary in my newspaper journal. I used the following model:

Paragraph one: introduction. Paragraph two: information from the inner circle; what the two topics had in common. Paragraph three: information from the right hand side of the circle; facts specific to the first topic. Paragraph four: information from the left hand side of the circle; facts specific to the second topic. Paragraph five: summary statement.

COMPARISON AND CONTRAST CIRCLE

86



FACT WHEEL ACTIVITY 37

87 87

English Standard #12Exchange of Information/Notetaking in Category

In this exercise, students will identify the basic facts and essential ideas in what they have read, heard, or viewed.Students will identify the basic facts and essential ideas in whatthey have read, heard, or viewed.

DIRECTIONS

Making a fact wheel helps you to gather, organize, retell, and recall informationgathered from reading a newspaper article(s).

Once you have your self-selected or designated newspaper article(s) and know thetopic, begin to brainstorm six possible associated categories. For example, if you arereading about a famous person your category topics might be: family life, education,problems, influences, accomplishments, jobs. Place each of these possible categoriesin the heading portion of the fact wheel (in pencil).

As you begin to read, make note of the related details under the appropriate topicheading. You may have to change your topic headings if information other than youexpected appears in the article.

Optional – I have added additional information to my fact wheel from the Internet.

Once the fact wheel is complete, make a paper wheel cover with one cut out sectionand a brass fastener. This wheel cover can be turned to help you recall informationand test yourself.

RUBRICS

1. I have selected an appropriate newspaper articles(s).

2. I have brainstormed six possible subtopics related to the article,and placed them in the topic heading portion of the wheel.

3. I have read the article(s) and placed the appropriate detailsunder the topical headings.

4. I have made a cover wheel and used it to review and testmyself on information from the wheel.

FACT WHEEL

Myself Teacher Peer

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

33

DIRECTIONS FOR MAKING A FAST WHEEL FOR USE IN STUDY AND WRITING


FACT WHEELFACT WHEEL

HEADING

DETAILS

3488

FIVE FINGER AND HAND (5W’s & H) SUMMARY ACTIVITY 38

89



English Standard #3: Applying Strategies/Summarization

The newspaper is an excellent resource for learning to summarize because it covers the 5W’s and H of any event. Use the fingers and hand graphic organizer and look for the WHO/WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, WHY and HOW of a news article. To write a comprehensive summary of that article you can effectively combine these five areas using the rubric below.

1. I chose an article from the newspaper to summarize.

2. I read through the article highlighting, the WHO/WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, WHY, and HOW of the article.

3. I took the WHO/WHAT, WHEN, and WHERE information and developed a beginning sentence.

4. I returned to article looking for the WHY or the cause of the problem or event.

5. I utilized the WHY information, making it the second sentence of my summary.

6. I returned to the article looking for the HOW or effect of the problem or event.

7. I utilized the HOW information, making it the third sentence of my summary.

8. I added a fourth sentence to my summary regarding my prediction of what will happen in the future to the problem or event. I based this prediction on facts from the article.

9. I reread my summary to see if I had covered the 5 W’s and an H and had added any other relevant information. My summary could be more than four sentences.

FIVE FINGER AND HAND (5W’s & H) SUMMARY

90


H2Q: HEADLINE TO QUESTIONS/SQ3R ACTIVITY 39

91



English Standard #7: Posing Questions

By turning newspaper headlines into one or more questions you are helping to focus your reading. This technique for posing your own questions is part of the SQ3R: Survey, turn headlines into Questions, Read to answer the questions, Recite your answers and Review.

1. I chose an article with a headline, photo, and caption so that I could get an overview of the article.

2. I wrote the headline for the article on the hull of the clipper ship on the reverse side of this sheet.

3. I made up a question from the headline and placed it on one of the lower sails of the clipper ship.

4. I read to answer my first question and recorded the information from the article on the smaller sails of the ship.

5. I made up a second question from the headline and placed it on the other lower sail of the ship.

6. I read to answer the second question and recorded the answer on the smaller sails above the question.

7. I utilized the information found on the sails and the hull of the clipper ship to develop a summary for the article. I placed this summary in my journal.

H2Q: HEADLINE TO QUESTIONS/SQ3R

92


HOUSE OF FACTS ACTIVITY 40

93



English Standard #7: Gathering Information/Organizing Information

Facts are of little use unless they are organized and categorized. Use the house diagram on the back of this sheet to organize the facts that you learn from a newspaper article that you have chosen to read. Predict some of the categories of information that you may find in the article before you begin to read. Write these categories in pencil on the floor of each room.

1. I chose a newspaper article to read.

2. I thought about the topic of the article and begin to predict possible categories of information that would probably be in the article.

3. I placed the possible category titles on the floor of separate rooms.

4. I carefully read the article and as I found facts I placed them in the proper room.

5. As I found information for which I did not have a category, I added additional rooms on the house.

6. After I finished the reading, I looked at rooms that had little or no information and went to other sources such as the Internet or books for this information.

7. After filling up most of the rooms with the proper information, I began to organize my information

HOUSE OF FACTS

94



INFORMATION CHART ACTIVITY 41

Students will write compositions with a clear focus, logicallyrelated ideas to develop it, and adequate detail.

DIRECTIONS

Using a designated or self-selected newspaper article(s), the Internet, and theInformation Chart graphic organizer, you will prepare to write a six (or more) para-graph essay of an expository nature.

As you read the article(s) and gather information from the Internet, look for at leastfour topical headings that cover information in the article. Place these topical head-ings in the rectangular boxes following the introduction lines.

Now turn your attention to reading for specifics under each topical heading. List asmuch information as you can under each heading, rearranging the order of informa-tion by numbering the bubbles on the left.

To complete the Information Chart, put key introductory phrases under the major topicheading and rearrange subtopical headings by assigning numbers to the rectangularboxes.

To insure a better flow of written information, orally retell each section of the chartbefore putting it into paragraph form. Also, add a concluding paragraph that com-pactly draws together the information from the five preceding paragraphs.

RUBRICS1. I have selected an appropriate article on which to take notes

using the Information Chart.2. I have placed my overall topic heading in the box in the center

and added key introductory information under the heading.3. I have placed my subtopic headings in the four rectangular

boxes below the major heading and ordered these topics byplacing numbers in the smaller boxes.

4. I have included at least four details under each topic headingand ordered these details by placing numbers in the bubbles tothe left.

5. I have added information for a concluding statement.6. I have orally retold each section of the information chart.7. I have used the information chart to develop a six paragraph

expository essay. 8. I have proofread my essay for spelling, usage, and grammar.9. Optional – I have used the Internet as an additional resource.

INFORMATION CHART

Myself Teacher Peer

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

5595 95

English Standard #12Exchange of Information/Research

In this activity, students will write compositions with a clear focus, logically related ideas to de-velop it and adequate detail.

DIRECTIONS FOR DEVELOPING INFORMATION CHART BASED ON SEVERAL ARTICLES

Students will write compositions with a clear focus, logicallyrelated ideas to develop it, and adequate detail.

DIRECTIONS

Using a designated or self-selected newspaper article(s), the Internet, and theInformation Chart graphic organizer, you will prepare to write a six (or more) para-graph essay of an expository nature.

As you read the article(s) and gather information from the Internet, look for at leastfour topical headings that cover information in the article. Place these topical head-ings in the rectangular boxes following the introduction lines.

Now turn your attention to reading for specifics under each topical heading. List asmuch information as you can under each heading, rearranging the order of informa-tion by numbering the bubbles on the left.

To complete the Information Chart, put key introductory phrases under the major topicheading and rearrange subtopical headings by assigning numbers to the rectangularboxes.

To insure a better flow of written information, orally retell each section of the chartbefore putting it into paragraph form. Also, add a concluding paragraph that com-pactly draws together the information from the five preceding paragraphs.

RUBRICS1. I have selected an appropriate article on which to take notes

using the Information Chart.2. I have placed my overall topic heading in the box in the center

and added key introductory information under the heading.3. I have placed my subtopic headings in the four rectangular

boxes below the major heading and ordered these topics byplacing numbers in the smaller boxes.

4. I have included at least four details under each topic headingand ordered these details by placing numbers in the bubbles tothe left.

5. I have added information for a concluding statement.6. I have orally retold each section of the information chart.7. I have used the information chart to develop a six paragraph

expository essay. 8. I have proofread my essay for spelling, usage, and grammar.9. Optional – I have used the Internet as an additional resource.

INFORMATION CHART

Myself Teacher Peer

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

55


INFORMATION CHARTINFORMATION CHART

DET

AIL

S:D

ETA

ILS:

DET

AIL

S:D

ETA

ILS:

SUBTO

PICS

:SU

BTO

PICS

:SU

BTO

PICS

:SU

BTO

PICS

:

INTR

OD

UCT

ION

:

TOPI

C:

CON

CLU

SIO

N:

5696

MIND MAPPING ACTIVITY 42

97



English Standard #11: Participating in a Literary Community/Character Study

When you are reading fiction or non-fiction, it is important to try and get into the mind of the character. You will better understand the story if you understand the characters in the story and what they might be thinking. For this exercise you are going to take a newspaper article about a particular person and the mind map on the reverse side. As you read you are going to try and put yourself in this person’s place. You are going to try and think what might be going through his or her mind at different points in the story. As you come up with these ideas record them in the thinking bubbles that are attached to the character’s head. This is inferential reading so there is no one answer. However, you should be able to support the information you put in the thinking bubbles and make inferences about the character.

1. I selected a newspaper article that featured a particular person.

2. As I read the article I tried to put myself in the place of the person in the article.

3. I tried to predict what he or she might have been thinking at different times in the article and recorded this information in the thinking bubbles on the black line master.

4. I was ready to explain the reasoning for my thinking bubble notation if it needed to be explained.

5. After filling the character’s head with thinking bubbles, I began to better understand the character and what that person might have been thinking.

6. I shared my thinking bubbles with another student who had read the same article.

7. We compared and contrasted what our thinking bubbles said about the person in the article.

8. We then cooperatively filled in the center of the head with characteristics we had learned about the person in the article. We did not add any characteristics that were not already stated in the article.

MIND MAPPING

Thou

ght

Thou

ght

Thou

ght

Thou

ght

Thou

ght

Thou

ght

98



NEWSPAPER LITERACY CIRCLES ACTIVITY 43NEWSPAPER LITERACY CIRCLES ACTIVITY 27

61


Meaningful Classroom Discussions

English Standard: Applying StrategiesComprehending, Highlighting, Retelling, Summarizing, Focusing on a Particular Role, Illustrating, Role Playing, Predicting,Connecting,Text Tracking, Regrouping, Journaling, Questioning, Discussion Leading, Listening,Taking a Stance,Taking Part in aDiscussion with Open-Ended Questions.

Students today are being given specific roles and specific focus questions before being asked to read. They are thenplaced in well-structured reader response groups to meaningfully discuss the material under scrutiny. This method ofopen-ended discussion is called Literacy Circles and works exceptionally well with newspaper articles.

When using Literacy Circles with a newspaper article(s), students can elect to take on any of the following roles: sum-marizer, discussion leader, open-ended questioner, connector, predictor, vocabulary person, quote person, historian, timeor geography tracker, illustrator, etc. Of course, these roles would rotate with different articles. These roles would alsohave to be carefully modeled so that each student would feel comfortable in whichever role he/she was to play.Thevalue of using Literacy Circles is that students will be better able to take part in open-ended discussions in the futurewhen this strong structure is no longer there. Literacy Circles also help students to write a better-developed essay on anopen-ended question.

Directions for Running Newspaper Literacy Circles

1. Model the different roles that a student might play through a whole class experience or small groups. The rolesthat students can play in literacy circles are usually: summarizer, discussion leader, open-ended questioner, con-nector, predictor, vocabulary person, quote person, historian, time or geography tracker, illustrator, etc.

2. Once students feel comfortable in the roles, give them a journal to record the information for their particular role.On each journal page should be the name of the article read, the date, the role that is being used, and the infor-mation related to that role.

3. Students and/or the teacher may choose an article(s) to read. Each student would read the article carefully butwith his/her particular role in mind. For example, if the student was the vocabulary person, he/she would focuson locating one or more key words in the story and developing interesting ways for the other students to remem-ber that word(s).

4. When the students have read the article with a particular focus and jotted down important notes in their journal,they are ready to share their information with their small group. The group discussion usually starts with the dis-cussion leader and the summarizer but can go anywhere after that. It is much better for a student to be able to“piggyback”on the comments of another student than to wait to hear his/her name called.

5. In addition to retelling from their journal and asking questions of other students, readers need to be able to addtheir comments to other student’s pieces of information. Students can add, disagree, agree, ask questions, giveexamples, statistics, quotes, etc.

6. After each student has reported on his area of expertise and there are no further comments, the discussion leaderwill summarize what has happened in the group. He/she will also remind the readers that with their next news-paper article they must move on to another role.

7. Literacy circles work best with 3 to 5 students in a group. The key roles these students usually play are summariz-er, discussion leader, connector, vocabulary person, and predictor, but the roles can vary from article to article.

99 99


NEWSPAPER LITERACY CIRCLES

62


ROTATING ROLES

Summarizer

Discussionleader

Open-endedquestioner

Vocabulary/quoteperson

Connector

Futurist

Miscellaneous

NEWSPAPER LITERACY CIRCLES

100 101



69



Meaningful Classroom Discussions

English Standard: Applying StrategiesReflection, Prediction,Vocabulary Development, Fluency, Questioning,Verbalization, Reading for Confirmation or Rejection,VisualImagery, Using Textual Clues, Rereading, and Linking to Note Taking.

The Think Aloud Strategy has many purposes. It can be used as a diagnostic tool, a metacognitive/reflective tool or a method ofactively exploring the meaning of text. It allows the reader to verbalize what is going on in his/her mind so that a student knowswhether to verify, refocus or accept the present interpretation of the material.

To become actively involved in a Newspaper Think Aloud, students must see the technique modeled on a number of occasions. Astudent is very vulnerable when thinking aloud and there must be an element of trust from both the teacher and the class when theprocess is taking place. No one can make fun of or disagree with what is going through a student’s mind as he/she struggles withbringing meaning to the article. This activity helps students realize that a reader must be actively engaged in reading to get maxi-mum comprehension from the article.

Directions for Doing a Newspaper Think Aloud

1.The student chooses a newspaper article that he/she has been having difficulty understanding. To help the student betterunderstand the content of the material the student orally reads the article out loud paragraph by paragraph.

2. After the student does an oral reading of several sentences, he/she begins a running commentary on what they are thinkingas they read out loud. Some of the comments that usually follow a think aloud are those listed below:I don’t understand the word __________but from the context I think it may mean.It appears that the following is happening_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ I now understand _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ I have no idea what that passage is about other than _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ I must have missed something earlier in the reading and need to go back.I don’t understand what this passage has to do with earlier passages.I am beginning to think that_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ I think I am going to have to ask someone about_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ I am confused by_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ In the end I think that _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

3. As the student reads aloud and orally addresses what he/she is thinking to aid in the comprehension of the reading, activereading is taking place. When students are just reading words, critical comprehension will not be a final product. When stu-dents are reading and asking questions, making predictions, talking about what they know and don’t know, they are trulyconstructing meaning.

4. Students can do Newspaper Article Think Alouds with a partner, with a small group or in front of an entire class. After thethink aloud presentation other students may be asked if similar thoughts were running through their minds or if they had adifferent interpretation.

5. With a Newspaper Think Aloud the student may want to read the article more than once. On the first read through they cangive their immediate impression and identify areas where they need to read more carefully. On the second read through stu-dents can verify or reject their first interpretation and back up any changes with proof from the text.

6. Students should give oral reactions at least once after each paragraph. It may just be a brief summation if there are no con-cerns about what is being said. However, once the material becomes more complex students should comment more often.

7. Once students learn how to think aloud with newspaper articles they can move quickly into two-column reader responsenote taking. In this form of note taking the left hand column is merely a summation of what is taking place in the article. Inthe right hand column the student is doing what they are doing in a Think Aloud. They are asking questions, expressingconcern, making predictions, etc.

8. Reading material and reading material critically are on two different levels of comprehension. With the Newspaper ArticleThink Aloud students are being taken to the highest level. They are learning to activate their minds and bring prior knowl-edge, author’s craft, and interpretation skills all together at one time.

100 101


NEWSPAPER THINK ALOUD

70


THINK ALOUD AS YOU READ YOUR NEWSPAPER

YOUR THINKINGPOSSIBLE THOUGHTSABOUT THE ARTICLE

I think this article is about_____________because

I already know this aboutthe topic _____________

The big question I should be reading for is_____________

Some of the words I don’t understand are

__________________________I need to use context clues.

I don’t understand the part about

________________________

I am confused by________________________

I need to go back and reread _____________

I need to look up information on _____________

I need to ask for help on _________________

I have learned the following ______________

102

OPINION OVAL ACTIVITY 45

103


Processing Meaning

English Standard # 4: Adjusting Communication/Determining Facts From Opinion

A good reader needs to know when they are reading opinions and not just facts. Without a good understanding of opinion statements, a reader may easily be swayed by a reading. This exercise will help you better locate opinion statements and utilize opinions in your own persuasive writing.

1. I have chosen an article from the Editorial Page.

2. I have read the article carefully and decided on the point of view of the author of the article.

3. I have highlighted up to 10 key opinion statements and listed them on the ten lines inside the Opinion Oval, on the reverse side of this page.

4. I have highlighted up to 10 facts from the article and placed them on the spikes that branch off from the Opinion Oval on the reverse side.

5. I have listed the point of view of the article on the block holding up the Opinion Oval.

6. In my journal I have written my reaction to the editorial and supported my own point of view.

OPINION OVAL

104


ORGANIZATIONAL PATTERN ACTIVITY 46

105



English Standard #1: Understanding Different Types of Texts/Understanding Different Writing Patterns

When reading news articles or other non-fiction there is almost always an organizational pattern that can be found. By being able to recognize this organizational pattern, it is easier for you to understand the content of the article. It is also easier for you to read more quickly. The types of organizational patterns most often found are the following:

Chronological order — articles that are written sequentially or almost like a time line. In some cases they are a series of lists that come in a certain order.

Compare and contrast — articles that usually take two or more items and discuss how the items are alike and how the items are different.

Cause and effect — articles that focus on the cause(s) of the problem and the long and short-term effects.

Problem and solution — articles that talk about society’s problems and possible solutions to these prob-lems.

Descriptive example — articles that focus on describing a person, place or event in detail, giving exam-ples, and possibly defining key words.

Your job in this exercise is to try and locate one example of each type of organizational pattern in the newspaper and put the title of that article in the proper puzzle piece on the reverse side of this sheet.

1. I began to look for each of the five types of organizational patterns in articles in the newspaper.

2. When I found a particular pattern in an article, I placed the title of the article in the proper pattern box on the reverse side. If the title was too long, I used an abbreviation.

3. After I had tried my best to locate articles for chronology, comparison and contrast, cause and effect, problem and solution, and descriptive examples and couldn’t find a particular article, I asked a fellow student.

4. If neither of us could find a particular article, we waited for the class discussion and then filled in the space.

5. After learning this skill in the newspaper, I began to look for these same patterns in textbooks.

ORGANIZATIONAL PATTERN PUZZLE

106


PERSUASIVE P ACTIVITY 23

107



English Standard #12: Persuasive Writing

When good writers construct a persuasive piece, they look at both sides of the issue and incorpo-rate these elements in their writing. In order to look more critically at both sides of an issue use the Persuasive P. With the use of this black line master you will have to uncover both the cons as well as the pros of a topic.

1. I chose an article from the newspaper that could be looked at from two different viewpoints.

2. I wrote a positive thematic statement about the article in the loop of the P.

3. Then before reading the actual article I wrote all the positive comments I could about the topic under the P loop on the black line master on the reverse side.

4. Now I turned to the negative aspects of the topic and listed these on the lines on the left hand side of the P. Even if I didn’t necessarily believe in what I was listing I wrote it down, as I knew some people would believe in this negative viewpoint.

5. Finally, I read the article checking to see which one of the positive and negative comments that I had included were really in the article. As I came upon a new idea, I highlighted this idea so that I could come back to the idea.

6. I now took the new ideas that I had highlighted and transferred them to the positive or negative side of the P.

PERSUASIVE P

108


PHOTO FACTS ACTIVITY 48

109



English Standard #12: Visual Language/Using Visualization

Today is it just as important to be able to “read” photos and graphs, as it is to read the written word. There is so much information found in photos and graphs that you won’t even find in the reading. For this reason it is important to carefully examine a photo or graph before beginning a newspaper article. In fact, see how many facts you can actually list from the photo or graph. This is what you are being asked to do in this exercise.

We are asking you to use your visual literacy skills.

1. I found a photograph or graph in the newspaper that I examined carefully.

2. I pasted the photograph or graph from the newspaper in the easel portion of the black line master on the reverse side of this sheet.

3. After pasting the photograph or graph on the sheet, I began to list any facts or inferences that I could make based on what I was seeing.

4. I attempted to list at least 10 facts or inferences about the visual. I wrote the fact or inference outside of the photo or graph and drew a line to where I was getting the information on the visual.

5. When I was not able to get 10 facts or inferences, I turned to a partner and asked him/her what they saw in the photograph or graph.

6. When I had completed the listing of facts or inferences, I turned to my newspaper journal.

7. In my journal I listed questions I needed to read for based on my initial observations.

PHOTO FACTS

110


POSSIBLE CATEGORIES ACTIVITY 49

111



English Standard #8: Use Technology/Open Sorts Organization

When using the Internet or looking for resources, you need to know the names of a variety of categories to access the information. To practice this skill choose an article from the newspaper. Then after reading the article make note of at least three Internet categories you might access for more information on the topic of the article.

1. I chose a newspaper article and read it carefully thinking about possible categories I could use to find more information on the topic.

2. I wrote down as many as four category words and/or sources where I might look for information on the Internet or in print.

3. If couldn’t come up with four category words for my topic, I skimmed the article looking for further clues.

4. When I still couldn’t find enough headings, I asked another student.

5. Next I went to the Internet and checked my category headings to see if information on the topic was included.

6. When I found information on my topic that was included I recorded the new information on the black line master on the other side. I also included information that I found in books.

7. I wrote a summary of the article utilizing the information that I learned from the original articles as well as the three or four other sources.

8. I wrote in my journal what I had learned about going from topics to possible categories for purposes of research.

POSSIBLE CATEGORIES

112


Six Topics Found in the Newspaper

Possible Category

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Possible Category

Possible Category

Possible Category

PREDICT AND PROVE PYRAMID ACTIVITY 50

113



English Standard #3: Applying Strategies/Predicting

An important pre-reading skill is prediction. Before carefully reading an article utilize as many clues as you can from the headline, pictures and captions to predict what is going to happen. Then read to find out if your predictions were correct or not.

1. I chose an article with a headline, photo, and caption and looked only at these portions of the article.

2. Using the headline, photo and caption I made a prediction about WHAT happened in the article. I placed this prediction on the left hand side of the pyramid labeled WHAT I.

3. Again by using the headline, photo and caption I made a WHY it happened prediction about the story. I placed this prediction on the top line of the bottom of the pyramid labeled WHY I.

4. Finally by using the same headline, photo and caption I made a HOW will it end prediction. I placed this prediction on the bottom line of the pyramid labeled HOW I.

5. I carefully read the article and placed the actual WHAT was going to happen on the right hand side of the pyramid labeled WHAT II.

6. When I found out the actual WHY of the article I placed that information on the appropriate line, WHY II.

7. When I found out the actual HOW it ended, I placed it on the HOW II line.

PREDICT AND PROVE PYRAMID

114



Q.A.D. (QUESTION, ANSWER, DETAIL) ACTIVITY 51

Students will pose questions, listen to the ideas of others, and contribute their owninformation or ideas in group discussions and interviews in order to acquire newknowledge.

DIRECTIONS

To help you be better able to ask and answer your own questions, you will be using the nine square QAD sheet and a designated or self-selected newspaper article(s).

After reading and taking notes on the newspaper article(s) you will develop three questions based on your reading. If possible, make the first question a literal question. Thismeans that the answer can be found directly in the reading.

Try and make your next question an inferential question. This means that the answer can befound within the reading, but is not directly stated.

Your final question should be an evaluative question. This is a very open-ended questionwhere you use information from the article, information from past experience, and your ownideas to formulate the answer.

Place your three questions in vertical order on the graphic organizer. Then proceed toanswer your own questions putting the most relevant information to each question in theanswer column and the lesser details in the detail column. You may not always have informa-tion to place in the detail column.

Optional – Turn each of the questions and related answers into a paragraph.

RUBRICS

1. I have read an appropriate article for a QAD.

2. I have taken notes on the article.

3. I have developed a literal question from my notes.

4. I have developed an inferential question from my notes.

5. I have developed an evaluative question from my notes.

6. I have placed my three key questions on the QAD sheet.

7. I have answered each of my own questions in the answer column.

8. I have, wherever possible, placed appropriate details in the detailcolumn.

9. Optional – I have turned my questions into a statement and usedthe accompanying information to develop a good paragraph.

10. I have proofread my paragraphs for spelling and grammar usage.

Q. A. D. (QUESTION, ANSWER, DETAIL)

Myself Teacher Peer

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

19115 115

English Standard #17Constructing Meaning/Posing Questions

DIRECTIONS FOR USING A QAD FOR SUMMARIZATION AND POSING


DIRECTIONS







RUBRICS












Myself Teacher Peer

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

19


DIRECTIONS







RUBRICS












Myself Teacher Peer

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

❒

19


Q.A.D. (QUESTION, ANSWER, DETAIL)QUESTION / ANSWER / DETAIL

LITERAL QUESTION ANSWER DETAIL

INFERENTIAL QUESTION ANSWER DETAIL

EVALUATIVE QUESTION ANSWER DETAIL

20116

QUICKWRITE CONFIRMATION ACTIVITY 52

117



English Standard #1: Acquiring New Information/Confirming/Rejecting Prior Knowledge

Before you begin to read an article you should have some questions to read for in your mind. You may also have some previous knowledge on the subject of the article. Good readers keep these facts and questions in their mind as they read to confirm or reject their previous ideas, and answer new questions. Choose an article from the newspaper on which you have prior knowledge. On the reverse side quickly list as many facts as you can about the subject and at least two good questions. Then read to confirm or reject your previous information and answer your new questions. If the information you are looking for is not in the article, check another resource.

1. I chose an article from the newspaper on which I had some prior knowledge.

2. I quickly wrote down information I already knew about the topic.

3. Before reading the article I also listed two or more questions I had on the topic.

4. I then read the article to confirm or reject my prior knowledge.

5. I also looked in another resource if my factual knowledge was not covered in the article.

6. I then looked at the two new questions I had posed for possible answers in the article.

7. I found answers to my two or more questions or I looked into an alternative resource.

8. I used my confirmed facts and answers to new questions to form the basis of a summary on the newspaper article.

QUICKWRITE CONFIRMATION

118


STAIRWAY TO QUESTIONS ACTIVITY 53

119



English Standard #7: Developing Research Questions/Questions on Different Levels

It is as important for you to be able to ask questions as to answer them. In fact, it is more difficult to formulate a question than answer one. In this exercise you will choose a newspaper article to read and formulate your own questions on three different levels. The first question will be literal. The answer will be right in the article. The second question will be inferential. There will be clues to the answer but they won’t be answered directly. The third question will be evaluative. There will be no direct answer from the newspaper article but the answer will include your opinion and what you have learned from the reading.

1. I chose a newspaper article to read and read it with questions in mind.

2. My first question was a literal question. I could easily find the answer in the article.

3. I recorded the answer to question number one on the base portion of the first step.

4. My second question was an inferential question. The answer was not directly stated in the text but there were clues to the answer in the newspaper article.

5. I recorded the answer to question number two on the base portion of the second step.

6. My third question was an evaluative question. This answer was not directly stated in the article but my ideas came from an overview of the article. My answer also included my own opinion.

7. I recorded the answer to question number three on the base portion of the top step.

8. In my newspaper journal I took all three questions and answers and made them into paragraph one (the literal), paragraph two (the inferential), and paragraph three (the evaluative). I added detail sentences to each paragraph.

STAIRWAY TO QUESTIONS

120


T FOR THREE ACTIVITY 54

121



English Standard #2: Reading Many Genres/Making Connections

A good reader is always linking to another reading or event when reading. This linking brings greater meaning to passages. Usually readers link in three important ways:

Text to Self: Any link from your own life or others you may know.

Text to Text: Any link from another article, book, magazine, pamphlet, etc.

Text to World: Any link with current events, history, movies, television, or anything else that goes on in the world.

For this exercise you are going to choose three newspaper articles or an editorial, editorial cartoon, advertisement, comic strip, etc. In other words, you are looking for one newspaper feature that links to something in your life. Another newspaper feature that links to another article or something else you have read. The final newspaper feature can link to anything in the world. Once you have found these three newspaper features, fill out the black line master on the reverse side of this sheet. Note the name of the article or feature, the type of link, and the link itself.

1. I looked for three different newspaper features.

2. I looked for a newspaper feature that linked to something in my own life.

3. On the black line master, I placed the name of the feature in the proper box and described the actual link below the title of the feature.

4. I now looked for a newspaper feature that linked in some way to another text.

5. On the black line master, I placed the name of the feature in the proper box and described the actual link below the title of the article.

6. Finally, I looked for a newspaper feature that linked in some way to the world.

7. On the black line master, I placed the name of the feature in the proper box and described the actual link below the title of the feature.

8. I now looked at all three features and the links that I brought to them.

9. I chose one feature and the related link to write about in my newspaper journal.

T FOR THREE

122


THE THREE R’S: READ, RETELL, AND REFLECT ACTIVITY 55

123



English Standard #6: Critique/Processing Reading

The 3 R’s in this exercise are Read, Retell, and Reflect. This is the process that we use to improve com-prehension. For this exercise you are going to choose a newspaper article to read carefully. As you read you are going to underline key passages that you will need to remember for your retelling. You are also going to need the large R on the reverse side of this sheet to write your reflection or opinion of the article.

1. I chose a newspaper article to read carefully.

2. As I read the article I underlined key passages that I wanted to remember in my retelling.

3. When I finished reading and underlining I practiced my retelling.

4. If I needed to look back from time to time to underlined notes this was O.K., but it worked best if I could retell from memory.

5. After being comfortable with the retelling, I retold my article to my partner.

6. Then I listened to my partner retell his/her article as well.

7. Finally, I used my black line master on the reverse side of this sheet to record my reflections or opinions about the article. I made certain to support and elaborate on my comments.

THE THREE R’S: READ, RETELL, AND REFLECT

124


three-tier model of school supports - nie rocks!nierocks.areavoices.com/files/2010/12/rti.pdf ·...

Documents