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Mini-Lessons: Learning To Read Actively & Critically and Share Ideas 

Reading Strategies Lessons and Models

IR program description.doc Hand-Out: Describes assignments:   Reading Response Journal, Polished Responses, Annotated Bibliography

Reading Actively

•  ReadingStrategies_Bookmark.pdf  Bookmark:  Active Reading Strategies 

• LCbookmark.pub
• ChoosingGoodPassages.pdf   Hand-Out:  Tips for Choosing Passages (Golden Lines) 

• Harvesting Post-It Notes.doc Hand-Out:  Graphic Organizer for harvesting Post-It notes

• Graphic Organiers for Reader's Notebook: RRJ_Entry1.doc   RRJ_Entry2.doc     RRJ_Entry3.doc
• RRJ_booklet.pub  Brochure to give to students to use as a journal.
• Roger Farr's Think Aloud Progression 
• Two-Step Discussion (Step 1, Step 2): Teaching students to dig into the text to make deeper connections, ask questions, infer deeper meaning.

Reader's Notebook Models

• DialecticNotes.pdf  Hand-Out:  Model two column notes from The Awakening by Chopin

•  Flickr Photos:  Sample Reading Response Journals written by students 

Making Connections

Questioning the Text

• AskingQuestions.pdf    Hand-Out:Asking Effective Questions (3 Layers)
•  Questioning a Text.doc    Graphic Organizer:Students write three "layers" of questions.
•  Jim Burke's 18-page hand-out: Teaching with Questions

   

   

Visualizing

Author's Craft Lessons

• Seeing Literary/Rhetorical Devices Exercise RhetoricalDevices_samples.doc 
• Metaphor Poems metaphorPoems.doc   I am a drum corps_exemplarmetaphorpoem.doc

Discussion/Collaboration Lessons

Warm-Up Activities

• FindSomeoneWho.doc
• PowerPoint: Teaching kids to treat one another with respect (created from lesson from Mini-Lessons for Literature Circles by Daniels & Steineke 

Discussion Skills

• Fan & Pick: Teaching students to ask follow-up questions.
• Write Around: Instructions from Harvey Daniels. Write Around's let kids practice discussing, forcing each individual to participate.
• Nonfiction Jigsaw: Notes from Harvey Daniels, having students read different texts related to common topic and discuss.
• Book Club Behavior Analysis: Exercise from Nancy Steineke
• Lit Circle Positive Behaviors: Nancy Steinke's List--you can make your own list; the idea is to spell out specific social/discussion skills for students to work on in discussions.
• Fishbowl Flop.doc : Have students model what NOT to do.