Adventures in Literacy Land: nonfiction
Informational Text Feature Walk
Reading Response Spinners
As a reading specialist, I’m always looking for ways to make reading intervention more fun. My kids need a lot of repetition with the same things, but in a motivating way!
There are a few story elements that I like to review after every fiction book we have read- and to make it more interesting, I picked up some supplies from the Dollar Tree and created some Reading Comprehension Spinners!
On the blue pinwheel, I just used a Sharpie to write Main Idea, Main Character, Setting, Problem, Solution, and Author’s Purpose. I did have to write quickly because the Sharpie wanted to bleed through a bit. No big deal, though!
While I was on a roll, I made two more spinners, too- one for reading responses (the green) and non-fiction (pink). I labeled them with washi tape.
So, for a grand total of $3, I have 3 spinners! These would be great in the regular classroom, too, for quick review after a read-aloud!
When I use them with students, I spin it and let them stick their finger in to stop it. If we’ve already stopped on that one, we turn to the next one that hasn’t been done.
The reading response one may be my favorite, because I can spin it once and have all of the kids respond to that prompt! How do you review common reading comprehension questions like story elements?
Responding to Informational Text using the 3-2-1 Strategy!
After reading, exploring, and discussing an informational text or website, students actively engage with their reading by summarizing three important points from the text. Summarizing requires the reader to focus on the major elements of the text and to determine what is important. When students are selecting these important points, the teacher should guide students in choosing new facts and information they learned from the text (not prior knowledge).
After recording three new discoveries on their graphic organizers, students go back into their reading to choose two interesting facts. At this point, the teacher should guide students in selecting facts and information that is unusual or exciting. For example, "the baobab tree can reach the height of a five story building".
Finally, students brainstorm and record one question they still have about the topic they read. This is a good opportunity for students to share and discuss their questions with classmates in preparation of additional research. Students complete the graphic organizer by drawing an interesting photograph, diagram, timeline, etc. that illustrates the topic they read about.
We hope you enjoyed learning more about the 3-2-1 reading strategy! Here is a little FREEBIE to get you started! Depending upon the age and ability of your students, you may want to differentiate your expectations when having them complete the graphic organizer. For example, younger students or struggling readers can be instructed to copy facts and information directly from the text. Older or more capable students can be instructed to paraphrase or summarize information in their own words. When initially modeling the strategy for students, you can explain which expectation you would like them to follow.
Read & Analyze Nonfiction Text with the Rungs of Reading!
Literacy in the Content Areas & MLK Freebie
Hello Friends! It's Erin from I'm Lovin' Lit here. I'm wondering if any of you might have had similar experiences with this topic in the past.
During my 11 years of teaching, I have witnessed a revolution in the way literacy is taught in the content areas.
When I started my teaching career in 1st grade in 2003, they said to keep the reading out of social studies and science content.
They said that it wouldn't be fair to the non-readers.
They said that students who couldn't read or were weak readers would fall behind in other subjects because they couldn't read.
They said to modify my lessons.
They said to keep the reading out of social studies and science.
Forserious.
It sounded good to me. I was very careful to keep the reading and reading skills separate from other content areas.
When I moved up to 4th grade three years later, I taught only reading and social studies. Oh, just imagine the things I could have done with that! But, they had said to keep the literacy out of social studies, right? So, I did. I kept them separate.
Fast forward several years. I'm teaching 6th, 7th, and 8th grade reading, and I'm trying to stay ahead of this whole new Common Core thing.
WAIT.
A.
MINUTE.
You mean... I'm supposed to merge reading and the content areas?
Say what?
So, what do YOU do to merge literacy with content areas?
Now that I teach reading only and don't have other content that I'm responsible for like social studies or science, I find that it's actually fun to incorporate those subjects. I'll be the first to tell you (and my students) that I'm just not a "science kinda gal," but you know I love me some social studies, and I collaborate with our social studies teacher every chance I get. In fact, she has taught me SO MUCH about literacy in the content areas just by the way she teaches her lessons. Common Core calls for us to use primary sources, to analyze them and figure out for ourselves what they mean and how history of that time unfolded. And she's been doing that since before Common Core came to town!
One of the easiest ways to incorporate literacy into the content areas is to send my students on fact-gathering missions. Is it always using tons of higher-order thinking skills? No, not always. But it's great practice locating information, synthesizing, paraphrasing, summarizing, skimming, scanning, and READING!
Here's one such activity just in time for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. It's FREE, but only for a limited time, so be sure to download your copy TODAY!