Focus on Reading Strategies

Create skilled, strategic, successful readers through instruction aligned to standards

Direct instruction and practice of essential active reading strategies through text-dependent questions and tasks.
Practice of reading comprehension skills
Students practice and master fiction and informational reading skills
Students apply useful vocabulary strategies as they read
High-interest fiction and informational selections span a wide range of genres and topics—short stories, folk talked, expository articles, websites, novel excerpts, poems, and more
A variety of before-, during-, and after-reading strategies address multiple learning styles
Writing activities and review lessons assess progress

Each lesson has six consistent sections that guide learning. Students use essential reading strategies as they complete a variety of multimodal activities.

1. Before Reading: Heads Up
Students access prior knowlege to provide a framework for deeper textual understanding.

2. During Reading: Think-Along Questions
Readers interact with the text through questioning, predicting, and making connections.

3. After Reading: Make Sense of Words
Vocabulary strategies build vocabulary and provide tools for independent reading.

4. After Reading: Read with Understanding
Multiple-choice questions, similar to those on state and national tests, provide practice for the targeted skill.

5. After Reading: Understand by Seeing It
Students use visual mapping strategies with a variety of graphic organizers.

6. After Reading: Write to Learn
Students demonstrate mastery of comprehension skills and reading strategies through writing activities.

Reading Strategies

previewing
visualizing
summarizing
evaluating
monitoring
self-questioning
making connections
knowing how words work

Reading Comprehension Skills

inferring
theme
plot
cause and effect
symbolism
and more

Vocabulary Strategies

recognizing antonyms, synonyms, homonyms, idioms, root words, and affixed
identifying multiple-meaning words
using a thesaurus

Review for Mastery

A writing prompt at the end of each lesson allows students to demonstrate their comprehension skills. Two review lessons monitor students' progress and allow students to practice new skills and strategies.

Listening Comprehension

A listening lesson after each review helps students become active and attentive listeners by making and confirming predictions about a selection read to them.