Can you make any connections?

When reading, remember to think about things the book reminds you of in your own life, in other books, and the world around you.

Text-to-Self:  When pictures or the story remind you of your life.  You, as a reader, recall memories that are similar.

Text-to-Text:  When pictures or the story remind you of information in another text.

Text-to-World:  When pictures or the story remind you of a problem, issue, or event that is relevant to the world.

What did you see in your mind when you read those words?

When reading your mind creates a movie of the story.  This is a reader’s way of interacting with the book.  Discussing or sketching these mental images helps create a personal understanding of the book.

What are you wondering about?

When reading your mind is constantly asking questions. It is important to think about what questions you may have before, during, and after reading.  Although, not every question maybe answered directly by the book, these questions help you to better understand what was read.

What do you think might happen next?

When reading it is important to stop and think about what you just read in order to predict what might happen next. Equally important is to read on to find out if your prediction is confirmed or not.

Can you retell what you just read to me?

When reading it is important to stop and think about what was just read in order to be able to retell the important parts of the book.

1.  Check the picture.

First, look at the picture.  What do you think is happening in the picture?  Use the information gathered from the picture in your reading to figure out the word.

2.  Does it make sense?

Do the picture clues match what you are reading?  Does it make sense?

3.  Does it look right?

There is sometimes more than one word that would make sense.
(cat/kitten) (frog/toad)
Now, good readers think about—Does the word look right?

1.  Get your mouth ready.
Begin with the first sound. Can you think of a word that begins with that sound?  Does it look like another word you know?

2.  Search for patterns.
Look for word families (-at, -it, -et, etc…).
Look for blends (ch, sh, tr, th, etc….).

3.  Look for little words in big words.
Look for smaller words inside the word.
(Ex.  Saturday, has the word day and sat in it)

4.  Backtrack and Reread.
After sounding out words, it is a good idea to reread the sentence to make sure you understand the meaning.

5.  Does it sound right?
When you read the sentence does the word sound right? Does it make sense?  Is it a real word?

6.  Skip it.  Read on.  Come back.
Skip the word, read on to see if you could gain clues to help you figure out the word. Then go back and reread the sentence.

Volunteer simply engages the student in a very brief discussion of what the book could be about by asking a student to preview different aspects of the book.

In what ways can a student preview a book?

Picture Walk…The student looks at the pictures and talks about what she thinks is happening. If no pictures…look at book cover and read summary on the back…what do you think might happen in this book?

Background Knowledge… “What do you know about _____, have you had an experience with _______?

The student then begins to read aloud, either with the volunteer or on their own.

If the student stumbles or misreads a word in the text, the volunteer will pause and wait until the student reaches the end of the sentence. This allows the student an opportunity to self-correct.

If after the pause, the student has not yet self-corrected, or not figured out a word, or even responded…then prompt the student.

First say to the student, “I noticed something didn’t sound right or that you had trouble with a word,” then ask the student to reread the sentence to see if he can self-correct. If the student can’t self-correct or is struggling then offer decoding strategies to help him.

If the student self-corrects or figures out the word, the volunteer then offers praise for the decoding strategy used. Example:  “Great job using the picture clues to help figure out that word!”

The volunteer should praise a student throughout the book, and especially when a student finishes a book, for specific reading strategies (decoding/comprehension) used.

Throughout the book, the volunteer should offer opportunities for a student to ponder what she has read. This allows you to see if the student comprehends what she has read and gives the student a chance to share her thoughts about the book.

In what ways can a student ponder a book?

Stop to retell…“Tell me what’s going on in the book so far.”

Make a prediction…“What do you think will happen next?”

Questions…Let a student know he can stop if he has any questions about what was read. Also, let the student know that not all of his questions may be answered by the book and that is okay.

End of the book…“What did you think of the book?...What was your favorite part?...Can you connect to this book, did you have a similar experience?  Does it remind you of another book you’ve read?”  Also, as a volunteer, share your thinking as well.