Chapter 6 Monitoring Comprehension

We used Read, Write, and Talk during our Estimation unit. I asked the students to read an article where the teacher told her students to take out a piece of paper and a pencil for a pop quiz. The article asked the students questions like, how many stars are in the sky? how many grains of sand are on a beach? It talks about how the kids get frustrated because the numbers were too hard to work with and that there was no way to find those answers. Then the article tells them there is a way to get around these problems, and introduces estimation. After reading the article I asked my students to write down what they remember about estimation and had them brainstorm with their partner ways they could solve problems like the ones in the article. I had the students write down their reactions to the "pretend" pop quiz in the article and had them talk with their partner about what they were thinking as they read the article. I asked my students to answer three questions on the back of their estimation paper. I asked them to write down something they learned, if it helped to talk it through with a partner and if they had anymore questions. I think this way of monitoring comprehension helped the student become more involved in their reading and understand the concept of estimation better.

making personal connections

During our fairy tale unit on Little Red Riding Hood, one of our lessons focused on making connections. The fairy tale unit was specifically on fractured fairy tales. I introduced making connections when I read a fractured version of the original Little Red Riding Hood, and talked about ways that it differed. I read another fractured version aloud and stopped periodically to make a personal connection to something in my own life. I modeled this several times throughout the story. Next, we did a class activity practicing modeling connections. I said a statement, and someone made a personal connection to what I said and then stood next to me. Another student would have to make a personal connection to what the previous student had said, and then came up and stood next to them. We continued until every student had a chance to make a personal connection to something someone else had said. Later in the lesson, I read aloud another fractured fairy tale, and students had to make two personal connections to something they heard in the story.

monitoring comprehension

During one of our Blood on the River lessons, students completed a character map about Samuel that included four sections: how the character acts and feels, how others feel about the character, what the character looks like, and where the character lives. Students wrote their answers based on what we had read and discussed in previous chapters. It was important to have students understand that they were supposed to think about both how Samuel feels and acts. In order to understand how Samuel feels and to understand how others feel about him, students have to interpret his actions and the reactions from other characters. I helped facilitate this understanding through discussions during previous chapters. On the section about how the character looks, I gave my students a fair amount of creative freedom. The book does not describe in detail how Samuel looks, but it does say about how old he is. So, students must make inferences about how someone about their age might look.

Text-to-Self Connections

During our reading of City of Ember I used the connector worksheet. I had students make a connection with the death of Lina's grandmother with a personal experience. We made a text to text connection with characters and theme from Fortunes Magic Farm. After making these connections students recorded their connections on the worksheet.

Making connections with City of Ember

When we get to the chapter that Lina's grandmother dies, I have a sheet that says: Text to Self, Text to Text, Text to World. I talk about my feelings of reading that her grandma died and how that reminds me of how I felt when both my grandmothers died. I tell them I can relate to what she is feeling with the emptiness because that's how I felt, never to see them again. We discuss some others students feelings or knowledge of death...maybe a family member or even something as simple as a pet...and how it made them feel. Then they write a text to self sentence.

Next, I ask them if this part reminds them of anything we have read as a class or something they have read. This year, it reminded them of Isabelle from Fortune's Magic Farm. She also lost her "grandmother". She was an orphan and felt all alone in the world. We discuss how Isabelle and Lina both felt, and then we write it under text to text.

Last, we discuss the part about the Dr. and how they are running out of medicine, or they don't have the equipment/tools needed to save Lina's grandmother. I talk about my personal experiences of growing up overseas in poorer countries and how they did not have the medicine there to heal them or the money. I ask the class if they have seen something on television this past year from around the world that reminds them of this. This year, the students talked about the tornadoes that hit the U.S. and the destruction it brought, with no medicine and equipment near by. They also talked about Japan and Haiti, connecting how medicine or supplies were lacking. Then they wrote their own connection under text to world.

Noticing when we stray from inner conversation

I talked about the times when I am reading a book and then realize I have reached the bottom of the page and had no idea/memory of what I just read. I asked the students if they have ever done this and they were hesitant to admit...as if a trick question and would get in trouble. I explained it happens to the best of readers. They all were nodding their heads! I asked what are some ideas of why meaning would break down while we're reading. I wrote their ideas up on the chart paper: bored, can't understand the words, tired...and then I added some more they may not have thought of, using the book's ideas. Then I drew another column next to it and had them brainstorm what we should do when this happens. Many of them said focus harder or get a new book. So, I had to steer them into some more probable things they could do...especially when they are home reading: get up, go to the bathroom, drink something, even picking the right time of day to read a book (not waiting til real late at night when they are too tired to focus or reading on the bus). Then they added more of their ideas. All of this really went back to when I taught Good Fit Books, and I was impressed that many of their answers repeated what I had taught them in that lesson. Yay!

Monitoring comprehension

When our class reads challenging informational text for the first time we use a strategy that helps us track our thinking throughout the text. We were reading an informational piece about the skeletal system. We started each passage by circling the title. Next we numbered the first paragraph with a box and a 1 where the paragraph began. After we read the 1st paragraph, we went back to the paragraph and highlighted vocabulary that was new to us. Then we looked at the context clues to decide the meaning of the word. Finally, after each paragraph we wrote a brief statement about what the paragraph was about. It was easier to generate and answer questions about the skeletal system using this process of breaking the text down into paragraphs and sentences.

Read Write Think

During read aloud time I shared what I was thinking about as I read. I asked my students if they ever had times when they started thinking about something other than what they were reading. I passed out a short article and had students write in the margins questions or comments they had while they were reading. I then had them share with a partner and have a conversation about their notes.

The Inner Conversation reflection

The week leading up to our state fair field trip, we talked about main idea and supporting details during reading. This proved to be an excellent opportunity to use the monitoring comprehension strategy, the inner conversation, from the book "Strategies That Work."

Last Friday, our reading article was on the topic of crazy fair food. The students performed a rally robin with their shoulder partner and brainstormed different fair foods that they had eaten or heard of. After engaging the students in the topic, I handed out our article. After reading the first section of the article to the students, I asked them what they heard so far in the article that might give them a clue as to the article's main idea. From the ideas that sprung from the conversation, I modeled making connections in my own life to what we read in the article and modeled thinking aloud.

For the rest of the article, I had the students silent read and highlight parts of the article that they thought would support the article's main idea. Additionally, the students wrote any questions or confusing parts in the margins of their paper. I instructed that it is helpful to write down your thoughts when you read something to help understand it better and to go back and clarify things later on.

Sneetches? Say What?

Using the book "Sneetches" by Dr. Seuss, I hoped to enjoy a rich conversation about bullying as my students monitored their inner conversations and remembered a time when they didn't quite fit in.

I gave each student a post-it note for them to write down their thoughts as I read the book aloud. After finishing the book, the students were able to post their notes on a posterboard (without names) so that we could discuss them. There wasn't much inner conversation going on as I had "?" and "wondered when you were going to be done" on more than one post-it. I am not a boring reader, so I was unsure how to take these notes. There were a few kids who related to a situation at recess or a time when they felt left out.

Each student was then given a playing card with a face value of a 2-4, 9-10, or Queen, King, Ace. The students did not look at the value of their individual card but held it up for everyone else to see. They then moved about the room, without talking, and treated one another in a way that represented the card they were holding. At the end of 2 minutes, students then went and stood next to a poster that showed the value of the card they "believed" they were holding. We continued our discussion on how we treat others and how one who is bullied feels.

In the future, I would wait a little later in the year to do this activity. I think some of my students were embarrassed to write their true inner conversation about "Sneetches" (even though they didn't put their names down) because they wanted to appear tough.

Read, Write, and Talk.

Utilizing this inner conversation with my students allows them to record their thoughts on information they are reading. I have found using this strategy within science was quite meaningful. Students were assigned to read Kids Discover Bones within pairs. As they read they were to record interesting facts, questions, and thinking within their spiral. After they finished reading/recording they were then assigned to a larger group to share in a 'round robin' format. From the sharing students were involved in discussion with one another of facts, questions, and exploration of information presented in the science reading.

Following the Inner Conversation

I continually do this throughout my read alouds and the novel studies. I have been reading the first few pages in a chapter of City of Ember, when we get to a place that interest me, or shows foreshadowing, or an "aha" moment, I stop and tell them that I am going to say aloud what is going on inside my head. I discussed that it is important for your brain to have a conversation while you read. I explain that all good readers do it. It helps monitor comprehension, and voice my opinions. Sometimes I make a noise that means "lightbulb" when we get to a part that's particularly important to making a connection or interesting. I see the kids, all of a sudden, nod their heads, like they got it too...having that inner conversation. Many of my students admitted they did that but never thought about why they did. We discussed what if we're not having that inner conversation and the students brainstormed reasons why...lack of focus, not understanding the text because it was too high a level of reading, not interested in the topic, stress outside of school. We did not do sticky notes on this lesson, but we used shoulder partners from time to time, stopping them (training) them to make a connection.

Jigsaw Discussions and posters

I paired my students and gave each pair an article about a certain aspect of colonial times. The students read through the article. I had the students section a paper into interesting facts, gross or weird facts, something new or different to them. The students went back and wrote down facts from their article that they thought students in their class would want to know or learn about their article. Each pair was given a poster paper, wrote their title at the top, and began writing and illustrating their article with their facts. After the posters were finished, pairs took turns sharing and discussing information from their poster/article to the class.

Summarize and Synthesize Information and Ideas

Students pick a topic and read information with questions in mind and answer in their own words. To end our human body research, students decided on one organ within the human body. Students had to research their organ and write a letter to persuade people why their organ is important to the human body. After picking their organ, students research it and answers questions about it. Before students begin to research they read through all the questions so they know what to research. After answering all their questions about their organ, students begin to put all their answers in their own words as a persuasive letter. After hand writing a first draft and typing a final draft, students then read their letter to the class.

Thinking Through a Test

During class instruction and practice, students review the questions to be answered before reading. Students use highlighters to note where in the text and answer is found and double check their answers when answering. Students eliminate answers that make no sense or do not match what they found in the text. The only struggle that they continue to have is when the answer has to be inferred. If it is not in the text to be found, it is difficult for them to draw conclusions.

Thinking through a test

I find that as I prepare for the state assessments, I am spending time using the strategies in "Thinking through a test". I display a story on the projector, as well as having a copy in front of each of the students. We review titles and any subheadings and talk about what the main idea of the story may be based on these. We review the questions before reading the story so that we have these in mind as we are reading the passage. Students are encouraged to underline words and passages as they read, so that they are able to easily come back to these important places in the text. This has been successful with most of my students, while seeming to make no difference with a few of them.

Thinking Through a Test

While taking tests in Math, either on the computer or on paper, we work on underlining key words or phrases that have importance and/or indicate what operation goes with the story problem. The students are to use the tools on the computer and highlight these words or on a paper test they are to have a highlighter on their desks to find words such as each, estimate, about, how many more, etc.

We are working on the strategy Thinking Through a Test as we prepare for the state reading assessment. Before starting we look at the text features, subtitles, pictures and captions and start making predictions about the article or passage. We then read over the questions before we begin reading. After reading I encourage students to eliminate incorrect answer choices and look back and find their evidence by hi lighting or underlining their the answer in the passage.

Thinking through a test

We are working on the strategy of test taking skills. We review the title and subheadings. Then we read through the questions first, underlining key words that we will look for in the reading passage. As we read, we pay attention to dark bold printed words as well that will mean vocabulary words. After reading, we stop and think about the genre and author's purpose in writing the passage. We look at titles and key words to identify the main idea. We go back to the questions and begin to look for the answers. We read through all the answer choices also looking for key words that could be in the passage. The students pay attention to subheadings to help them look in the correct location for answers. When they find the key words in the questions or choices, they highlight those words. We also learn how to analyze some of the answers and mark out choices that do not fit. Eliminating these answer choices helps them to narrow down the answer and or key words to look for back in the passage. Most of my students are doing well in this. I have had problems at first with students not highlighting where they found the answers. When they get an incorrect answer, I have them go back and highlight where they found the answer and correct it.

Jigsaw Reading - Colonial Life

Groups of three students read an article on colonial life together. They picked out the main idea as the title for a poster that they presented to the class with the most important details. Students drew pictures to depict the details presented and aided in visualization. All students were engaged in the article reading and poster making.

Thinking Through a Test

As I am prepare for the state assessment, I have found that I am using the strategy of "thinking through a test". Students are encouraged to follow this strategy as they begin a test. I believe this strategy is something encouraged by other teachers and it continues to be something all fifth graders need to practice. It will prove to be helpful as they get older.