Reading Strategies and Independent Reading Response Unit, SB & PDF

A best selling unit!

This unit is designed to set up your independent reading program, and to specifically teach each reading strategy through a series of 15 lessons.

This download includes the Smartboard file (50+) and all pdf handouts (70+ pages)

The unit is divided into 2 parts, the first 6 lessons are dedicated to setting up an effective independent reading program.

The second part of the unit is dedicated to teaching reading strategies through a variety of mini lessons, read-a-louds and shared readings. Students practice the strategy after their independent reading.

There are 5 assessments included:
Diagnostic, 3 formatives, and a final summative assessment.

Assessment tools included:
Teacher Rubric
Student Checklists for each reading strategy

A variety of texts are used with common themes such as bullying, differences, and acceptance. You will find short stories, book covers, articles, video clips, poetry, song lyrics, and storybooks.

* You will need the following picture books:
- Thank You Mr. Falker, by Patricia Polacco
- A Bad Case of Stripes, by David Shannon
- Just Kidding, by Trudy Ludwig
- My Secret Bully, by Trudy Ludwig

*All other texts are included in the file*

A variety of instructional strategies are incorporated into the mini lessons such as: buzzing, think/pair/share, survey, mix and matches, graphic organizers, concept attainment, tickets etc.

ALL HANDOUTS ARE INCLUDED! Each smartboard page includes a link to the pdf file. There's also a link to the unit plans and all handouts at the beginning of the file, for easy printing.

Lesson #1: Classroom Library
* Tour Classroom Library, review expectations for signing out books. Library organization (author, genre, topic, series, level, etc)
* Anchor Chart: Write “Reading Is Thinking”
* Genres Video Link
* Reading Log, In Reading Response Folders
* Independent Reading 20 minutes.
* Reading Response: Reading Survey
* Goal Setting, students set some short term and long term reading goals.
Lesson #2
* Teacher Modelling: How readers choose books.
* 20 min independent Reading
* Response Question: How did you choose the
book you read today?

Lesson #3: Just Right Books
* Mix and match (Easy, Just Right. Challenging)
* Anchor Chart, Just Right Books
* 5 Finger Rule
* 20 minutes independent reading
* Response question: How do you know you are
reading the right book for you?

Lesson #4: Abandoning Books
* Discuss reasons why you may abandon a book
* Independent Reading 20 minutes.
* Response question: Would you abandon the
book you are reading today? Why or why not?

Lesson #5 Buzzing About Books
* Discuss that when readers talk about what they
are thinking while they read, its clued buzzing.
* Anchor Chart: Things to Buzz About
* Discuss what effective buzzing looks like,
* Instead of written response, students will practice buzzing about their book. Put on music, students move around the room. When it stops they find a small group to buzz with.

Lesson #6 Fiction/Non Fiction Review
* Mix and match, students put explanations under appropriate heading.
* Fiction, non-fiction sort
* Independent Reading 20 minutes
* Response Question: Are you reading a fiction
or non-fiction book today? Explain how you know. What specific type of fiction/non-fiction do you think it is? Glue into book.

Part 2: Reading Strategies
Diagnostic Assessment

Lesson #7: Predicting
* Modelled prediction by teacher using cover, title of book , Thank you Mr. Falker, by Patricia Polacco.
* Picture walk through
* Shared prediction
* Read-a-loud: Thank you Mr. Falker, discuss; were our predictions correct?
* Independent Reading 20 minutes
* Response Question: After reading today, make
a prediction about what you think will happen next in the book you are reading.

Lesson #8: Visualizing
* Visualizing Brainstorm, discuss what we do when we visualize.
* Entrance Ticket (students predict what will
happen in the poem, I brought Grandma’s
Teeth to School)
* Visualizing brainstorm, what do we do when we
visualize?
* Read-a-loud, poem, Give Me Normal by Kalli
Dakos. Using whiteboard students draw
something they visualized in the poem.
* Share some of their visualizations, and find
the text that inspired it.
* Model visualization response (teacher)
* Independent practice, students read, “Sick” by
Shel Silvertein.

Lesson #9: Asking Questions
* Discuss with students that there are different levels of questions.
* Introduce the Q-chart as a tool that they will use during the next few lessons.
* Read-a-loud: A Bad Case of Stripes, by David Shannon.
* After a few pages, explain what a right there question is, and ask several right there questions (On Smartboard file)
* Continue reading the book to the very end.
* Introduce, Think and Search questions. Pose a
few of these types of questions for students
to orally answer.
* Independent Reading 20 minutes
* Reading Response: After reading your book
today. Write three “Right There” questions. The answer to the question should be easy to find “right there” on the page.
* Student teacher conferencing, review goal and 2 steps to reach it.

Lesson #10, Asking Questions Continued
* Revisit the last few pages of the book, A Bad Case of Stripes (refresh)
* Introduce the final type of question, On my Own questions. These are questions where the reader puts themselves into the question.
* When writing these questions you put “I” or “me” into the questions, so you are relating it to yourself.
* Students work with a partner to ask 3 levels of questions, relating to the text.
* Independent Reading 20 minutes
* Reading Response: After reading today, ask 2
think and search questions and 2 On My Own
questions.
* Student teacher conferencing, review goal and 2 steps to reach it.

Formative Assessment: The Wooden Bowl

Lesson #11: Making Connections
* Review the three different types of
connections (text-to-self, text-to-text, text-to-
world)
* Read-a-loud: Just Kidding, by Trudy Ludwig
* Teacher models a self-to-text connection response.
* Students practice a self-to-text response relating to same book.
* Independent Reading 20 minutes
* Reading Response: Buzzing About Books Students share a connection about their book with a partner orally.
* Student teacher conferencing, review goal and 2 steps to reach it.

Lesson #12: Thick and Thin Connections
* Discuss how some connections are deeper
than others (thick) while some are very basic (thin).
* Model a thick and think connection using the picture of the ants.
* Discuss the difference is between the two connections made and what makes the second a thick connection.

Part 2
* Read-a-loud: Song, Don’t Laugh At Me
* Shared Writing, as a group students and
teacher write a connection that relates to the
song.
* Read-a-loud: News Report, Battle Against
Bullying music video/story
* Reading Response: Make a connection to the
short film about bullying.
* Student teacher conferencing, review goal and
2 steps to reach it.

Lesson #13: Summarizing Fiction Texts
* Concept Attainment - Summary/Not a Summary
* Video Link
* Read-a-loud: My Secret Bully
* Small groups pull out 6 key moments/events
* Independently, students describe 6 key events and illustrate into Story Board.
* Shared Writing; Students and teacher use the graphic organizer (Somebody, Wanted, But,So) to create a brief summary paragraph.
* Independent Reading 20 minutes
* Reading Response: Write a paragraph that
summarizes the story, Up and Over. Use,
Somebody, Wanted, But, So to help you.
* Student teacher conferencing, review goal and 2 steps to reach it.

Lesson #14: Summarizing Non-fiction Texts
* Read-a-loud, “What’s that You’re Saying?
* Discuss how we know this is a non-fiction text.
* Introduce graphic organizer for summarizing
non-fiction texts.
* Shared Writing, write sentence about the title/
topic of the text.
* Students write 3 big ideas on a sticky note.
Class decides on 3 big ideas and records on
organizer.
* Write the closing sentence that wraps up the
summary.
* Independent Reading 20 minutes
* Reading Response: Read the article, Foxes in
the City. Underline 3 big ideas on the text and
record in the graphic organizer. Tomorrow we
will write the summary.
* Student teacher conferencing, review goal and 2 steps to reach it.

Lesson #15: Summarizing Non-fiction Texts
* Shared Writing Continued. Refer back to the
article,What’s That You’re Saying. Using the graphic organizer, write a paragraph summarizing the text.
* Independent Practice. Students re-visit article, “Foxes in the City”. Begin by filling in the opening sentence and closing sentence in their organizer. Use the organizer to write a paragraph summary about the article.
* 20 minutes Independent Reading
*Reading Response/Formative Assessment. Students read article, Kitchen Mystery Solved, by Melissa Wilson. Students independently write a paragraph summary.

Summative Assessment, students complete independently. Checklist and assessment rubric provided.