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Introduce: Comprehension Monitoring using About Trees
As scholars begin reading more difficult text, they need to acquire an arsenal of comprehension strategies. Here are few helpful ones to guide new readers through the informational text About Trees, which is linked here for printing....
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Text Features of a Story
Bring the enjoyable story of Anansi and the Moss-Covered Rock by Eric A. Kimmel to your young readers. After reading the story as a class, students answer questions about a reading and make a graphic organizer. They make predictions,...
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Guided Reading with Elizabeti's Doll
Practice reading strategies using Elizabeti's Doll by Stephanie Stuve-Bodeen. Readers utilize decoding and comprehension strategies before, during, and after reading the story. A detailed list of text features, high frequency words,...
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Nonfiction
As scholars begin using informational texts, it's important they understand their uses and features. This visual worksheet has readers match three text titles to corresponding pictures. Next, they examine a book cover with the...
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Guided Reading: Cold and Hot
Explore the text, Cold and Hot, with comprehension strategies for young readers. First, give them a purpose for reading: find out what the boy wore outside in the snow! Then have them use one-to-one matching and picture clues to...
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Contents and Index
It's important for your readers to understand features of informational text such as index and table of contents, so give them this visual activity to get started. They read a brief explanation of informational text, then look at an...
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Introduce Vocabulary: An Earthworm's Life (Himmelman)
Explore some tier-two vocabulary using John Himmelman's informational text An Earthworm's Life. Recommended words for this slimy text are: bulge, burrow, journey, soil, and underground. After introducing these words, help kids utilize...
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Introduce: Main Idea
Begin exploring main idea in a text by telling the class an interesting story. Can they recall the main idea after you finish? What clues told them this was it? Explain that you will apply this concept as you read a nonfiction book....
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Introduce Vocabulary: Gregory, the Terrible Eater (Sharmat)
Help budding readers learn words like develop and revolting as they listen to you read Mitchell Sharmant's Gregory, the Terrible Eater. Get the new vocabulary rolling before reading it aloud so youngsters can raise a hand when they hear...
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Dictionaries
Introduce your budding readers to the dictionary. They read a brief introduction on dictionary features, observing pictures and examples of one-syllable words they could find in a dictionary. Using the word list, they determine which...
Have Fun Teaching
Common Core 1st Grade Workbook
You've found the first grade Common Core jackpot! English Language Arts and Math Common Core standards are addressed in a 74-page packet complete with standard text printables, activities, cut-outs for the classroom, and worksheets.
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Guided Reading: Flora's Box
Young readers consider text-to-self connections. Learners discover the text-to-self connection as they read Flora's Box by Tina Althaide. They practice high frequency words, prepositions, and 1:1 correspondence.
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Shared and Guided Reading with Ice Cream Money
Here is a lesson which has students locate an exclamation point and a comma from the text. They locate previously learned words on the page, and create a word map from the word "Money." Students write about and illustrate their favorite...
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Guided Reading with Jazz Baby
Jazz music and musicians are the focus of this language arts lesson. Young readers independently read the book Jazz Baby. To build fluency and independence they read silently, but are guided by directive comments from the teacher. They...
ReadWriteThink
Word Recognition Strategies Using Nursery Rhymes
As a class, scholars read the poems, Humpty Dumpty, Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater, and Jack and Jill, in order to identify words with the same ending sound. Using their rhyming skills, learners brainstorm additional words from word...
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What Do You See at the Pond?
With What Do You See at the Pond?, young readers explore pond life and practice reading strategies. Learners first make predictions and then read the simple story independently. After a second read-through with a partner, kids come...
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Report Writing
Why don't dinosaurs wander the earth any longer? Answer this fascinating question with young readers as they examine a brief informational text. There are bolded words to separate text sections which are an excellent example of...
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Storytelling
Show young readers how to put some personality and voice into their storytelling with an in-depth assignment. Kids practice saying the same thing, such as counting from one to ten, in different tones and perspectives, and then work on...
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We Play Music
Do you like music? Have your youngsters read We Play Music, practicing select reading strategies, like using picture clues to determine new words. Then, after their first independent read, have them re-read the story to a partner,...
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Alphabet Poems
Develop fluency with a variety of works. Help kindergartners use multiple strategies to understand text and decoding. They will create an alphabet poem book on Kid Works 2 to illustrate and write their own poem. In the end, they will...
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Mixed Bags: Fiction and Nonfiction
The second in a series of three lessons from Scholastic comparing and contrasting fiction and nonfiction, this activity requires learners to read, write, and compare two books independently. After briefly reviewing the features of...
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Introduce Vocabulary: Arthur's New Puppy (Brown)
Learn new words as you read Marc Brown's story, Arthur's New Puppy. This is focused as a vocabulary-in-context activity (though this strategy could be used with any book and set of words). Introduce the new words you will focus on:...
K12 Reader
The Bug on the Rug
Where did that bug go? Kids can find out where it is by reading this short poem that features -ug words and responding to the three included reading comprehension questions.
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Guided Reading: Jump Rope
Students blend phonemes to decode words. In this guided reading lesson, students evaluate different comprehension strategies to aid reading. Students make predictions based on picture clues and use patterned sentences to facilitate...