Facilitate a Questioning Spirit
Wednesday, April 25th, 2012

To cultivate a questioning spirit within your classroom, ask questions that allow for a variety of responses. These questions are not about specific details in the reading. Rather, these are bigger questions that make students ponder and think deeply. [read more...]

Putting Context Clues into Context
Thursday, February 23rd, 2012

We tell our readers to use context clues when they come upon a word that they don't know. But do they really know the definition of "context"? Some readers just keep trying to sound out the word and hope to decide its meaning by simply looking at it longer. [read more...]

Math Reading Tips to Aid All Students
Thursday, February 2nd, 2012

Technical and math texts often pose comprehension problems even for the best readers. To help your students tackle this difficult genre, model the following strategies. First of all--slow down! Difficult, unfamiliar, and technical texts require a different speed limit than other reading. [read more...]

Develop Visualization Skills with Sound Effects
Thursday, April 28th, 2011

When we ask students to visualize while they're reading, most think in terms of sights and things we can literally see in our mind's eye. However, we need to teach students that visualization goes beyond the sense of sight and includes all five senses. [read more...]

Target Essential Concept Words
Monday, October 25th, 2010

Many teachers have heard my push for core vocabulary within the content areas. This requires creating a list of grade-level specific terms that are high priority for student success in your classroom. This list would include approximately 30 terms/concepts and would receive year-long instruction - not [read more...]

Questions Increase Student Reading Comprehension
Thursday, October 14th, 2010

Questions are a window to students' thinking. They lead children through the discovery of their world. You can tell what students are thinking and focusing on by the questions they ask. You can also tell what they are distracted by, based on the questions they ask. [read more...]

SmartBoard Template
Thursday, October 14th, 2010

The popular poster-size ABC Chart has been recreated into a colorful Word document for those teachers utilizing SmartBoard technology within their classrooms. Simply display the ABC Chart onto the screen and either write on it with the interactive markers or type into [read more...]

Foster Opportunities for Students to Think While Reading
Wednesday, April 21st, 2010

One of the strategies readers need to develop is the ability to think while reading. For some this does not come naturally; this needs to be fostered by the teacher. To get students to think about their reading, teachers need to build in deliberate opportunities for them to think while they're reading. [read more...]

Finding the Important Info in Nonfiction Research
Tuesday, May 20th, 2008

We know that comprehension increases when students have an authentic purpose for their content-area and textbook reading. Mary Hall (Sweetser Elementary, Sweetser, IN) helps her students identify their purpose by teaching them to turn traditional chapter subheadings [read more...]

Coding Text to "Slow Down" the Reader
Monday, May 19th, 2008

Students don’t always take content area reading and writing as “seriously” as that of Language Arts. However, to truly comprehend the subject matter, students need to apply strong reader and writer habits in content area reading, too. [read more...]

Stop & Say Something
Wednesday, May 14th, 2008

You can offer an interactive twist to traditional in-class reading assignments by having students “stop and say something.” Instead of the usual “silent reading” approach, have students partner up in class. Each will read independently, although they are sitting side-by- side. [read more...]