STEP-UP-TO-WRITING NEW 3rd Edition

Check the ESU #8 homepage for upcoming trainings. There are trainings for K-3, grades 3-6 and grades 7-12. If you have questions call Gloria Christiansen at (402) 887-4125, ext. 236 or email her at gchristi@esu8.org.

NEWSPAPERS IN EDUCATION

Newspaper In Education Week 2008, March 3-7, reinforces a lifetime reading habit in students by engaging them with an authentic text. Activities for teaching:

• The “Five W’s” - Who, What, When, Where, Why - are necessary in a good news story. Choose an article and identify each.
• Newspapers serve to inform, to entertain, and to persuade. Cut out articles and classify them into these three groups.
• Read the letters to the editor in your local newspaper. Choose one of those letters and write a letter to the editor expressing an opposing viewpoint.
• Pretend you are the editor of your newspaper. Write an editorial on an issue of importance to you.
• Compare and contrast the handling of the same event by two different newspapers.

Newspaper Activity Website:
http://www.suelebeau.com/nie.htm

READ-ALOUD & GUIDED READING

Young students have so much to learn that their attention often flutters from point to point. Interactive read-alouds keep students engaged in the content of the story. Incorporating comprehension instruction and read- alouds into your curriculum appears to be a promising way to boost student comprehension (The Reading Teacher Vol. 61 N0.5 Feb. 2008).

ESU #8 Instructional Materials Resource Center has Multimedia Readalong titles for grades K-4 that can assist you. The readalongs include an audio cassette, five/ten books and a teacher’s guide. For book titles and details, go to the ESU #8 online catalog (http://www.esu8.org/ media/mediaCenter.html) and view the following:

• KT114-KT145
• KT175-KT203
• KT222-KT233
• KT413-KT426

Comprehension Strategy Focus on Read-Alouds

Before reading:

• Identify the purpose for reading (e.g., information or story)
• Previewing (title, author, illustrator)
• Predicting/priming
• Defining critical vocabulary

During reading:

• Using consistent framework to discuss the text (e.g., story elements, K-W-L with focus questions)
• Using question-asking strategies
• Making connections (text-to-text, text-to-self, text-to-world)
• Making inferences
• Self-monitoring
• Vocabulary

After reading:

• Retelling
• Introducing, reviewing, and extending vocabulary

Guided reading is a technique in which teachers guide students through reading by:

• Selecting a text
• Providing students with a purpose for reading the text
• Supplying background knowledge to prepare students to read the text
• Having students silently read the text
• Stopping to discuss the text after reading to clear up any misunderstandings
• Asking students content and strategy questions to ensure students’ comprehension.