The OTHER end of the Reading Rope - science of reading

How many times have we, teachers, worried about testing to determine whether our students understand a comprehension skill or strategy?  In LETRS, Moats and Tolman talk about the many hidden mental activities that happen in comprehension. In other words, comprehension is more of a process than a product.  Well, that makes sense.  So what are those processes of comprehension ?  Monitoring comprehension - my favorite strategy for this is STP (Stop, Think, Paraphrase) Reading with appropriate pace - pacing actually correlates to understanding text Making inferences as you read - what are the characters thinking or feeling?  Making a mental model to organize thinking  and understanding Making connections in the text with views and background knowledge  How can we support those processes of comprehension?  Reading multiple texts  around one topic helps to build background knowledge.  In another blog I will talk moe about this critical component of learning. A final component that will b

         One of my favorite traditions as a child, was to sit and listen to this famous poem snuggled up with my mom or grandmother.  They both introduced me to the beautiful artwork that went with this poem, by GrandMa Moses, and we spent hours looking at the tiny details in her paintings.        Most teachers like to take a break for the daily grind right before the holidays.  When I have looked for resources before, they are usually very cute and very fun! While I love cute and fun, as a Reading Specialist I want to add meaningful to the list as well.        This unit is designed to take five days.  You will read two stories about the Night Before Christmas - one is the actual poem and is told from the viewpoint of the father in the house.  The second is told from a mouse's  perspective - a lonely mouse none the less.  Each story has two days of shared reading in which we explore multiple skills - Characters, Setting, Events and Perspective/Point of View.  It is a two day close

  Thanksgiving i s fast upon us...are you looking for a quick mini unit that uses three Thanksgiving books centered around the topic of  Community Thanksgiving Traditions.   In our Kindergarten classrooms, we are learning about communities and neighborhoods currently and suddenly found Thanksgiving was knocking on the door.  In order to continue to build background knowledge and connections to our community, we decided to create a mini-unit about how American families celebrate Thanksgiving. Even though this was created with Kindergarten in mind, it could easily be used in grades K-2. 

Just as there has been a lot of debate and research on phonics, there has been equally as much research on how comprehension happens.  For many years, teachers have been told to teach one skill at a time with multiple books.  I know I have spent weeks on the main idea only to have them take an assessment and not get it at all? Anyone else?  The truth is, the research shows that the opposite is true.  What are students are lacking is background knowledge and flexibility of verbal reasoning, not to mention VOCABULARY!!!    People, we have been told the wrong information for years!!!  So what should we do?  I have just completed the second book of LETRS and let me tell you...it's a game-changer.  What our kids need -  Units of study around a central topic that connects ideas, concepts, and vocabulary while building background knowledge in science, social studies, the arts, or social-emotional skills. These units should take 2-3 weeks.  Close Reading of Complex Text - listening to a te