Literacy Strategies

 

How to Choose a "Just Right Book."

I gave my students a bookmark recently that helps them choose a book to read which is not too hard or too easy to read but "just right." You can use it when helping your child check out a book from the library or when they are buying a book to read. (Five Finger Rule refers to how many words they miss on first page)

Here is the information:

How to Choose “Just Right” Books

1. Look at the cover.

2. Read the title and the author.

3. Read the blurb in the back.

4. Flip through the book.

5. Read the first page.

6. Use the 5 Finger Rule.

0-1 Fingers—Too Easy

2-3 Fingers—Just Right

4-5 Fingers—Too Hard

Fix- Up Strategies to Repair Comprehension and Read Unknown Words

Word Attack Strategies

Students who are learning to read need strategies besides decoding to help them read unknown words.  Decoding is the most common strategy that students use but many words in the English language do not lend themselves to decoding.  Therefore, children need other strategies for reading words.

1.      Look at the pictures.

2.      Try to sound out the word.

3.      Look at the beginning letters.

4.      Look at the ending letters.

5.      Look for a smaller word inside the word.

6.      Skip the word and read to the end of the sentence.

7.      Try to guess! Does your word make sense? Does your guess look like the word?

8.      Use the words around it.

9.      Go back and re-read.

10. Put another word in it's place.

11. Look in the dictionary.

12. Ask a friend or an adult.

Comprehension Fix-up Strategies

Good readers use strategies to make sense of text.  When comprehension breaks down, readers have a set of strategies to repair comprehension.  Below are a list of strategies readers can use to comprehend text.

Monitoring for Comprehension (Self-monitoring):
Students need to be aware of when their comprehension breaks down. Teachers need to explicitly teach students to be aware of their comprehension as they read.  Once they realize they have lost meaning, they can then begin to apply the following strategies below:

1.      Use picture and/or context clues

2.      Ask questions

3.      Go back & reread

4.      Summarize & Retell

5.      Make predictions

 

 

 

 

Print This Page