Leann Nickelsen

Every great teacher and teacher librarian has a bag of tricks in their head that usually work or that can be modified in a moment’s notice to adapt to learners of various types and in various situations. At first glance, our authors are headed directly there and are right on target. They present a model that pushes students toward more than surface learning. First, they suggest that teachers begin with the standards statements, then build knowledge of the group you are working with, show more developing positive student engagement strategies, activate their prior knowledge, and then they provide a plethora of strategies for activating and thinking about what they are learning ending in evaluation. Most ideas are for engaging students in text and we liked the many worksheets that force the learner to interpret and think about what they are reading and doing. However, these authors need a good teacher librarian who would introduce them to the world of information and technology adding strategies not only for various information types but also information literacy and so what activities as the culmination of what they know and how they learned it. So, if you need text-based engagement strategies, this is a book to purchase and study. However, for a collaborative tool that pushes kids into the real world of the Internet, film, and web 2.0, I am looking for something much deeper. Not recommended. show less

This book contains easy to use comprehension mini-lessons that enhance any units.

This book contains easy to use comprehension mini-lessons that enhance any units.

PDFDE20 | Scholastic Inc. permits teachers to photocopy the reproducible from this book for classroom use. No other part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without permission of the publisher.

For information regarding permission, write to
Scholastic Teaching Resources, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012-3999. |

Table of Contents

Main show more Idea Mini-Lesson 1 - 6
a. Main Idea The Big Picture
b. Which Details Are Important?
c. Using an Equation to Find The Main Idea
d. Time to Write!
e. Test-Taking Format
f Main Idea Final Project: Putting it all Together Main Idea Information Books by Reviewing Different Ways to Find the Main Idea and Create an Information Booklet About a Topic of Interest

Summarizing Mini-Lesson 1 - 5
a. Hand Summaries
b. Title's Worth a Thousand Words
c. Get to the Point
d. Prove It
e. Test-Taking Format
f. Summarizing Final Project: Putting It All Together by Summarizing a Favorite Book (use a variety of graphic organizers)

Teacher Resources |

Beech, Linda Ward. Ready-to-Go Reproducibles: Short Reading Passages and
Graphic Organizers to Build Comprehension (Grades 4–5 and Grades 6–8).
New York: Scholastic Inc., 2001.

Billmeyer, Rachel and Mary Lee Barton. Teaching Reading in the Content
Areas: If Not Me, Then Who? Aurora, CO: McREL, 1998.

Bixby, M. Prove It: Whole Language Strategies for Secondary Students. Katonah,
NY: Richard Owen Publishing Co., 1988.

Howard, Mary. Helping Your Struggling Students Be More Successful Readers
(Grades 4–6). Tulsa, OK: Reading Connections, Inc., 2003.*

Robb, Laura. Reading Strategies That Work. New York: Scholastic Inc., 1995.
Wilhelm, Jeffrey D. Action Strategies for Deepening Comprehension. New York:
Scholastic Inc., 2002.

Wilhelm, Jeffrey D. Improving Comprehension With Think-Aloud Strategies.
New York: Scholastic Inc., 2001. show less