So we know that the ultimate goal of reading is comprehension, right? But how exactly do we teach all that is reading comprehension? Well, just like anything we teach there should be:
- explicit instruction
- time to practice together
- independent practice and application
Does this sound familiar? Many of you may know this as the workshop model of teaching (I do, We do, You do). Now I’m not saying that you need to teach the classic workshop model for all of your lessons, but at some point, there needs to be explicit instruction for new content. But there’s MORE! Our lessons can be boring if we are not intentional, so here are a few ways to ENGAGE your students while teaching reading comprehension!
Ways to Engage your Kids while teaching Reading Comprehension.
1. Decide what comprehension strategy you will be teaching.
There are soooo many different strategies that it might surprise you! A good place to start with fiction is identifying story elements like the problem & solution. A good place to start with nonfiction is identifying the main idea with key details. When I first learned about the many strategies, I was reading a book called CAFE. This was a great place for a new teacher to learn lots of different strategies, and over time, I thought of new & even deeper ways that I wanted my littles to comprehend the text.Ā
Here are some of my reading response graphic organizers for comprehension to get you started
2. Choose a FANTASTIC read aloud!
Oh where to start? I’m obsessed with children’s books! There are so many amazing picture books to read! So what makes one book more fantastic than another? There are a few things to consider:
1. Does the book easily match up with the reading comprehension strategy that you will be explicitly teaching?
2. Will it engage your students and keep their attention? (A big part of this is how you will read and present the text, so make sure it is fluent and expressive.)
3. Do you need to slyly integrate your read alouds with teaching emotions, social skills, science or social studies? You can do close reads with the perfect texts!
There are lots of great sites with book recommendations for particular strategies as well. You can head over to my Instagram to check out some of my favorite books to read with my littles! Just click the icon below or go to the top of this page.
3. Explicitly teach the strategy
Just like with all teaching you need to explicitly teach. I suggest using your read aloud as the mentor text & a visual graphic organizer (like my Reading Responses). The reason I created soooo many reading responses in the 1st place is because I needed them! I love the workshop model of “I do”, “We do”, “You do” & needed a graphic organizer for each strategy I was trying to teach.Ā
In the “I do”, I explicitly go over the name of the strategy and the learning target (learning objective). Then I go over the components of the graphic organizer. Depending on the strategy, we will read (and think out loud) throughout the text.Ā
“We do”: At the end, we fill out the organizer as a class. I usually have kids share what they would write with their elbow partner and call on students to help me fill it in.Ā
“You do”: looks different for different kids in my class. Remember, I have a mix of 1st and 2nd graders with a wide range of differentiation involved. Each kid gets the same graphic organizer (but I print them 2 to a page so they can glue them into their reading response journals). Most of my students will fill out their paper using the same read aloud that we did together in class, but their answers and sentences vary kid to kid. For my kids who write at the lower end, I may have them just verbally give me their answers and put a score next to the section. For my advanced students, they will complete their organizer with a picture book of their choosing. They have to write the title so I can check the accuracy of their work.Ā
Tip: the More Exposure you can have with ANY CONCEPT, the better. I will sneak in strategies during other read alouds to make the learning stick!
Head over to my TPT shop to check out my MEGA Bundle of Reading Response Graphic Organizers!
You will find organizers for FICTION, NON-FICTION & TALES like fairytales, folktales & MORE!
Want some FREE organizers? Look Below!
What do you do to teach Reading Comprehension?
I'd love to hear from you!
