Getting the Theme

Identify Theme

Explicit or Implicit

Readers Need Strategies

Reading Workshop student, Lynsay VanHoose created this Google slideshow to point out what makes reading strategies so important.

Reading Strategies

The strategies in the picture below all help with understanding what you read. Reading Workshop students, your assignment is to pick one strategy, research it, create a Google slide show, and present it to the class.

The slide show needs to explain about the strategy, tell how it helps with comprehension, and how to use it. Demonstrating the strategy should be part of the presentation.

Slide Show Organization

1.    Title Page

2.    Definition

3.    Casual meaning (your definition)

4.    The way the strategy helps reading . . .

5-8. Sample passages

9.    Sources

10.  Image sources

Image from http://www.theclassroomkey.com/tag/reading-strategies

Pick a Strategy

The strategies in the picture below all help with understanding what you read. Reading Workshop students, your assignment is to pick one strategy, research it, create a Google slide show, and present it to the class.

The slide show needs to explain about the strategy, tell how it helps with comprehension, and how to use it. Demonstrating the strategy should be part of the presentation.

Image from http://www.theclassroomkey.com/tag/reading-strategies

More Connections

We have been talking about Connections as Readers. Here are some more examples from Reading Workshop students.

Calla
Today in the book Rules by Cynthia Lord, Catherine went to Jason's birthday party where she didn't know anyone there. The only person that she knew was Jason. The way that I can relate to that part in the book is because one time I went to a party and the only person that I knew was the person hosting the party. It was pretty awkward only knowing that one person.

Rachel
The book I am reading is called Runaway by Wendelin Van Draanen. The connection I made today in my book is when Holly wants a dog. She goes to the pound to find her a dog but the pound won't let a kid have a dog unless a parent signs for it. After she left she though to herself "The pound is like a death row for dogs, only the dogs haven't done anything wrong!" That is kind of the same thing I thought when my mom, sister and I went to the pound to find a dog. The dogs look so sad when you go into a pound, I just wanted to take all of the dogs home.

Luke

I had a really serious connection with my book The Living. In The Living Shy's grandma died of a a thing called Romeros Disease. After that his cousin Miguel also got the sickness. When I was about seven or six my grandpa died of a heart attack. I was devastated just like Shy. Only a few weeks back my grandma had some of the symptoms of a heart attack and I really just panicked. But I know of all the pain Shy is having because having a dearth or near death experience hurts your heart.  

Sydney Today when I was reading 'Warriors Forest Of Secrets', I read that when the war ended all of the cats were worn out and beat up. They all had to see the medicine cats to treat their wounds. They all had not to bad scars on them, but the battle hurt them. The cat that alarmed the clan was a cat called Brackenpaw, he was on a hunting mission with Fireheart (The main character) when Brackenpaw smelled the other clans! He went to tell Fireheart, and he was just in time too. He went to tell his clan that they were coming, they won the battle! Brackenpaw was named a warrior after his act of bravery... This is a connection to me because one time in the summer we were playing capture the flag! The war between the two teams were finally over. My team had won and everyone was tired and exhausted. Someone on the other team had got scratched on the elbow, so they had to get a bandaid. At the end, the person that got the flag was officially the 'king' of capture the flag.

Hailey

I am reading "The Honest Truth" by Dan Gemeinhart. While I was reading I made a connection. In this book the main character, Mark, is climbing a mountain, Mount Rainer, the tallest mountain in North America. While he is climbing the mountain his dog, Beau warns him about a crevasse. A crevasse is a really deep crack that can sometimes be on mountains, and Mount Rainer was full of them. This is a connection for me because I was walking in a field with my dog and there was a really deep hole in the ground that I didn't know about And he barked and he saved me. 

JosieThe book that I am reading is Seekers Forest Of Wolves. The connection that I had with the book was a place. In the book it said that Lusa and Toklo were standing on top of the valley and they could see a path that went by a tree that had its roots sticking out of the ground that went right into the creek. I had a connection with this because at my aunt's house she has a path through the woods that leads to a tree like the one in my book. That is one of the many connections i have with my book.  

Students Are Connected

Here are some examples of connections students had as they were reading:

Hallie 

A connection I had today was from the book "The Dog Who Danced" by Susan Wilson. The connection I got from reading this book was that it reminded me of another book I have read in the past. The other book is called "Umbrella Summer". The reason "The Dog Who Danced" reminds me of "Umbrella Summer" is because Ed and Alice's (The Dog Who Danced) daughter died and in "Umbrella Summer" the main characters brother died. The reason that made me think of this was that the characters in "The Dog Who Danced" and "Umbrella Summer" are both sad from the recent death of family members.  

Brooke 

In my book All Fall Down by Ally Carter it is about this girl named Grace. Everybody thinks Grace is going crazy ever since her mom died three years ago. People think this because Grace watched her mom die so she is the only one who knows what really happened. Nobody believes her though. I can make a connection with this because on Thursday night's I help out with some little girls in dance class. There is one little girl named Adele, she is three and her mom died last year. Ever since then in class she'll get mad and go crazy over small things. That might be normal for most three year olds, but that is not the way Adele used to act.

Kailey

I just started Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Mr. and Mrs. Dursley have a baby named Dudley. One gray Tuesday Dudley's mom had to wrestle little screaming Dudley in to his high chair. My connection was when my little sister Delaney was a baby she would always scream and cry when I tried to put her in her high chair. Her screaming would always drive me crazy.

Erin
A connection I made while reading City of Bones is that the main character, Clary Fray is mad at her mom because her mom told Clary that they were going on vacation for the rest of the summer, and that meant that Clary to put an end to her summer actives. Clary left the house and her mom kept on calling her . Clary felt guilty because she kept ignoring her moms calls. I can connect with this because I remember a time when I was about four or five and I was mad at my mom because she was making me clean my room up and I wasn't allowed to go out until it was clean. I jumped out of the bedroom window and claimed that I was running away, but my mom caught me and made me go back inside. 

Ella

The connection that I had made to the book "You Have Seven Messages," is that the main character Luna, loves to take photos. Luna likes to take photos like of her family and friends, just like I enjoy taking. She also likes to take photos of strange things in nature, which I love to take pictures of really unique and different flowers. So in the book, "You Have Seven Messages" by Stewart Lewis, I have only made one connection, but I am sure that I will find many more!

 

Olivia 

Today as I read the book "The Body in the Woods" by April Henry- I felt a real connection with one of the main characters. There are three main characters in this book, and they all have different personality's. The main character I am most like is Alexis. I think I have a real connection with her because she is scared and paranoid of the scary things in life. In this book Alexis is the one who found the body in the woods. When she found this body she froze and stared at this dead girl. She tried to bring herself to go toured the body but it was to hard. She started walking slowly, but so slowly it was like she was walking in place. She got close enough to the body she decided to blow her whistle as loud as she could to get her friends to where she was at. She wasn't fearless. She was just so scared she almost couldn't blow her whistle. When her friends came back she just stood there staring at the dead girl's half open eyes. Even after the cops came, she wanted to believe it wasn't real, that it was just a bad dream. She honestly didn't know how to react, and I don't blame her. 

Alexis is just like me because I am sacred, I am paranoid, and I can't handle situations like that. If I was her I would do almost the exact same thing. I wouldn't know how to react so I would just panic and freak out. I would freeze like Alexis did, I wouldn't be able to talk, and I definitely wouldn't be able to breath. I would pretty much have an anxiety attack. Unlike her though I would scream, as loud as I could. Then I would blow my whistle. I might act fearless (which I am), but when it comes to spiders and situations like this... I honestly don't know how to react. The only thing I'm good at is scream. Which only makes the situation scarier.

Kylie

I had a lot of connections while reading the book I Am Number Four, but the biggest connection was when the main character (Johnny) was going to a Halloween Festival with his dog dressed as a superhero and his Dad. They bought raffle tickets and Johnny went to a Haunted hayride with his friends. I connected to this scene because I remember on halloween we took our dog and dressed her as a superhero too. Also because right after halloween I went to this haunted house with most of my friends. I have so many connections in this book and that's just some of them.  

Garret

I am reading Code Of Honor. Kamran Smith's brother is accused of being a terrorist. Kamran just got captured and is being held prisoner of the United States Government. Kamran is being held in a cell for weeks and has talking to people about his brother, Darius. Though one night he decided to escape. He had hit a guy with a lunch tray to get out. Kamran had to run hide and sneak around until he was almost outside. Then he had to shoot a fire extinguisher to cover him while he ran past some guards. Kamran kept running and ran into the guy he hit earlier. It ended up him and someone else were coming to get him out anyway. He did all that for nothing. 

Right when I read that I could relate to it. One night I was staying up pretty late on a school night to get finished with my homework. I was rushing through everything and finally got finished with all of it. It ended up we had a snow-day the next day and I kind of did all of it for nothing, just like what Kamran did. I felt good when I got finished, but when I found out I could have done it the next day I was a little mad. I bet Kamran was too.

Annie

My connection I had today was from the book Starters by Lissa Price. There was a part in this book were Callie went to Prime, a hospital and she saw Michael and he had a different face because he looked bad before, at least that is my inference. But in my old book Wonder the main character was Aggie. He had 27 surgeries since he was born and he looked bad. 

Annabelle

My book is the last book of the Maximum Ride series by James Patterson and it is called Never More. I made a connection in a part in the middle of a book and it was when the main character Max got mad and kicked over a candle. When she did that it set the whole tree house on fire so she had to get out and fly away. She continued to say sorry to Dylan (the guy that made the tree house) and he continued to say it was okay. I related to that because one time I broke something glass of my grandma's and felt really bad. She said it was fine and it wasn't my fault. I still felt really bad and kept blaming my self.  

 

Wyatt

I am reading a book called Zane And The Hurricane and I am on page 15 . When I was reading page 14 they were talking about that a storm was not going to keep going. They thought it was going to stop but it did not stop all. That was like when hurricane Sandy hit Greater Antilles, Eastern United States, Bermuda, Bahamas, and Eastern Canada. They thought it was going to stop and it did not stop. It was a storm that died down two days after.

Avree

My book is Belly Up and one connection I had with it was when Teddy ran into the prehistoric period exhibit with all of the animatronic dinosaurs. They were scaring him when he walked by. This reminded me of the time I went to Universal Studios in Florida to ride a ride called Jurassic Park: The Ride. We got in this boat thing and at first it was slow but then the story plot changed. One of the dinosaurs escaped! Then the boat was flying, it was so fast and when we rode by, the dinosaurs jumped and scared everyone. And then we finally reached the dinosaur that escaped, we just kept on going, right between his legs and then slid down a waterslide! That was one connection that I had with my book.

 

Connections

Today's topic is Reading Connections. Effective readers constantly connect to the text as they read.  Their inner voice  relates the text to their life, other books they have read, and prior knowledge.  Readers with higher levels of comprehension consistently and constantly make connections between the meaning of the words, and background knowledge.

For information you can see Reading Workshop Connections and More on Connections.

Reading for Understanding and Score Better Too!

So Reading Workshop students, do you want to get a better score on Study Island? Use the tips from this video and use the highlighter from Study Island and your scores will soar. These tips will also help when you have to read something in social studies and science.

Why You Need to Use Your Strategies

She told the teacher giving her the practice test, "I don't need to look back.  I know the answer."  And maybe she did.  I will know today when we start to score the Ohio Reading Achievement Assessment practice tests.  She might have gotten a perfect score, but probably not.

The OAA doesn't test how smart you are.  It doesn't test your reading.  It doesn't show if you are a good student or not.  It doesn't show if I am a good teacher or not.  The OAA shows how well students can use test taking strategies.  That's pretty much it.  When the whole achievement test process is over, basically the student, the teacher, the school, and the district will be judged on how well students used test taking strategies.

Don't get me wrong, being a good reader and writer helps, but without using test taking skills, it won't get you a good score.  Why else would a lot of teachers drill and kill all year using achievement test passages and questions?  They want to get you "practiced up" so you can score well.

So back to this student.  Do you think she scored well?  If she didn't use the most basic strategy of going back in the passage to find/verify her answer, then I have to wonder what other strategies she ignored.  And knowing this is a test of students' ability to use test strategies, I know she could score higher than she did if she had used all of the strategies she knows.  

What about you Reading Workshop students?  What strategies did you use?   How did it work out for you?

Image from http://school.discoveryeducation.com

Step for Reading Nonfiction

Want an easy guide to reading difficult text.  Here are steps to follow.

1.  Skim the entire article FIRST
2.  Look at the title, headings, subheadings, and bold print
3.  Does the introduction give facts or just get the reader engaged?
4.  Visualize and make connections
5.  Stop and think. Ask yourself, “does this make sense?”
6.  Reread sentences, paragraphs, or the whole article to help you understand
7.  Focus, know when you don’t know
8.  Wonder, ask questions, predict and confirm
9.  Look for capitalization of names and other proper nouns
10. Find the W’s (who, what, when, where, why, and how)
11. Mark out and substitute hard words
12. Cross out words that don't matter
13. Highlight only the important parts (BIKINIS ONLY)

Reading Strategies, Making Connections

Can you connect with the book you are reading?  Can you imagine yourself in it?  Does it remind you of things from your life?  If not, maybe it's just not the book for you.


The process of reading is when a person reads text and their inner voice makes connections between the words, and their life and prior knowledge. The more closely the reader connects to the text, the higher the level of comprehension.

At times connecting is simple. At others, especially when the text is not in an area that the reader has background knowledge, comprehension is difficult. To be a better reader, think about how the story relates to your life.

Readers should concentrate on their inner voice and connections.

1. Visualize. Picture yourself in the story and think about how the setting and characters look.

2. Focus on the characters. Compare them to yourself and people you know.

3. Put yourself in the story and think about how would react, and how you reacted when you were in a similar situation.

4. Look at problems. How do they compare to problems you have faced?

5. Ask yourself questions as you read. Think about how the story relates to your life, and things that you know.

6. When reading nonfiction, think about ways the information relates to what you already know.

7. If you are reading a book, and don't connect with it, ditch it and find one where you can make connections.

Here are the start to connections.

Text-to-self:
This is similar to my life . . .
This is different from my life . . .
Something like this happened to me when . . .
This reminds me of . . .
This relates to me . . .
When I read this I felt . . .

Text-to-text:
This reminds me of another book I’ve read . . .
This is similar to another thing I read . . .
This different from another book I read . . .
This character is similar/different to  another character  . . .
This setting is similar/different to an other setting . . .
This problem is similar/different to the problem in  . . .

Text-to-world:
This reminds me of the real world . . .
This book is similar to things that happen in the real world  . . .
This book is different from things that happen in the real world . . .

Students, as you read today, what connections did you have?

Image from http://www.flickr.com/photos/pfala/3368846439/sizes/s/

A New Way to Read

Patrick Carman is changing the way students read.  It started with the Skeleton Creek series which takes the main characters on one frightening adventure after another.  But what sets this series apart are the online videos that accompany each chapter.

You can hear Carman tell how a multi-media books works in this video.

The latest book, 3:15 has eight scary short stories.  Each one begins with a sound bite that introduces the story, characters, and setting.  After reading the story, there is a video conclusion.  These are chilling tales that grab the reader.  The best part, with the multi-media support, good readers will enjoy them and struggling readers will be able to comprehend them.

Predictions Make Reading Exciting

You start reading and after a little bit, your mind wanders.  After a few minutes, you are bored with the book, ready to quit it and find a better book.  So you look through the books, find one that looks good, and begin to read it.  

Later that night, you get out your new book for the Read at Home assignment.  The first few pages are interesting and you really get into the book.  After about 20 minutes, you start to get bored, and quit reading for the night.

What is happening?  Why are you losing interest in books?  Why is reading boring?

YOU QUIT PREDICTING!

Predictions are what makes reading exciting.  As you read, wondering what will happen next is what makes you part of the book.  And when you predict one thing, and something different happens--WHAM, that is what makes a book exciting. 

Image from http://www.webweaver.nu/clipart/img/education/bored-student.gif

Special thanks to Mrs. Tonya Blubaugh, Intervention Teacher for sparking the conversation that led to this post.

What Was the Author Feeling?

Have you ever thought about what the writer was feeling?  In most instances, great writing is the result of situations or problems that spark strong feelings.  The writer is faced with an emotional situation and uses writing as an outlet.  

Sometimes feelings of joy need to be shared.  Other times relief in dealing with sadness or grief comes from sharing through writing.  In this poem, Mother to Son, by Langston Hughes, he describes facing the challenges in life. 

Well, son, I'll tell you:
Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
It's had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor --
Bare.
But all the time
I'se been a-climbin' on,
And reachin' landin's,
And turnin' corners,
And sometimes goin' in the dark
Where there ain't been no light.
So boy, don't you turn back.
Don't you set down on the steps
'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.
Don't you fall now --
For I'se still goin', honey,
I'se still climbin',
And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.

What was he feeling as he wrote this poem?  How does that relate to your feelings as a reader?  Do think there is usually a connection between the author's feelings and the reader's feelings?

Image from http://www.thewanderers.in/travel/recent/

How Does the Book Make You Feel?

The writer sits at his desk with a purpose in mind.  He just finished a chapter and then he reads back over it.  He puts himself into your shoes.  Imagining the feelings you get as you pour through his words.  He is wondering, does that sentence work?  Is that problem believable?  Can you picture yourself as a character?

Good books separate themselves from poorly written ones because they bring in the reader.  The reader lives the story in her mind.  She pictures scenes and imagines being in them.  The readers' feelings are strongly affected.

Good readers know that their feelings should be affected as they read.  They expect it, and when it doesn't happen, they stop and think about the book.  Why isn't it striking a chord?  Why aren't their feelings jumping out of their heart.

What about the book you are reading?  What kind of feelings do you have as you read it?

Reading Strategies, Connections

Effective readers constantly connect to the text as they read.  Their inner voice  relates the text to their life, other books they have read, and prior knowledge.  Readers with higher levels of comprehension consistently and constantly make connections between the meaning of the words, and background knowledge.

As students build their ability to connect with text, their ability to understand what they read increases.  At times connecting is simple. At others, especially with difficult nonfiction text, connecting and comprehension is difficult.  However, to be a good reader, students must relate what they are reading to what they know and what they have read. 

Students should concentrate on their inner voice and connections.  As they read they should picture themselves in the story and compare themselves to  the characters. 

 

This brings us to today's question.  Reading Workshop students, as you read your SSR book, what connections did you have?

Image from http://www.flickr.com/photos/dulcepericulum/8378493/sizes/s/

What Tools are in Your Reading Toolbox?

If you were building a house, would you use a hammer for every task?    It would be more than a little difficult to measure a board with a hammer.  Cutting it in two would be even more challenging.  Imagine finishing the cement in the garage with only a hammer.  House construction requires a variety of tools, each appropriate for a given task.  

Similarly, reading requires many tools, each which helps in a certain way, with different situations.  Recently in Reading Workshop, we have been focusing on reading difficult, nonfiction text.  We have focused on what matters and what doesn't.  We have also looked at specific skills that contribute to comprehension.

What is Important
1. W's (who, what, when, where, why, how)
2. Main Points
3. Ideas that relate to the gist

What is Not
1. Supporting Details
2. Examples
3. Interesting Stories or Opinions
4. Most Adverbs and Adjectives

But remember anything that helps you understand what you are reading is ALWAYS IMPORTANT!

Strategies for Reading Nonfiction

1.Skim

2.Adjust your reading speed/slow down when needed

3.Read and highlight only the essential information

4.Substitute easy words for more difficult ones.

5.Think about the writer and the writer's purpose
6.Connect to prior knowledge
7.List W’s
8.List facts

What should be added to the list?  What strategies do you use when reading difficult text?

For more information on reading check out these posts:

What's the Deal With Details?

How Fast Do You Read?

Reading Strategies, Using Prior Knowledge

Learning to Read Adult Style

Connections When Reading

Image from http://www.stockvault.net/photo/107135/hammer

Reading Poetry

Poems are built on ideas, experiences or emotions in a condensed form that makes the reader search for understanding.  The reader should slow down, think about each line and the words in it, and then reread and reconsider.

However, to understand poetry the reader must not go gently, but should attack.  As we begin to spend time in Reading Workshop with poetry/word study, students must overcome their fears and dive into the language of poetry.  Whether it be as a reader, analyzing the work of others, or when revising their own work, students must go full speed ahead.  They need to take the advise given by Eve Merriam.

How to Eat a Poem

Don't be polite.
Bite in.
Pick it up with your fingers and lick the juice
that may run down your chin.
It is ready and ripe now, whenever you are.

You do not need a knife or fork or spoon
or plate or napkin or tablecloth.

For there is no core
or stem
or rind
or pit
or seed
or skin
to throw away.

What is Merriam's point?  What about the poem makes you think that?  What thoughts do you have when tearing into her poem?

Image from http://www.flickr.com/photos/emdot/10362168/sizes/s/