Reading Project Webinar 2
Hosted by Maddie Witter

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In order for our readers to get on level, they need to master reading strategies, read for an extended period of time and love reading.
In order to show that our readers are on level, we are tested according to state standards which do not assess strategies.

Reading Strategies
Good readers
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Ask questions
Identify when they don’t understand and find a strategy to fix it
Share books with their peers
Determine importance
Synthesize information
Infer
Reading Skills
Main Idea
Cause and Effect
Finding Details
Literary Elements + Plot
Context Clues
Make Predictions
Summarize
Compare and Contrast
Fact and Opinion
Draw Conclusions and Make
Inferences
Sequence
Use Graphic Organizers
Identify Author’s Purpose
Interpret Figurative Language

Timing
2 Minutes
5 Minutes
2 Minutes
2 Minutes
8-15 Minutes
30-35 Minutes
This time builds as their stamina builds
5 Minutes
Part of Class
Entering Class, Initial Classroom Rituals
Students Complete Do Now SKILL
Teacher Reviews Do Now SKILL
Connection
 Mini Lesson STRATEGY
 Read-Aloud Think Aloud
 Guided Practice
 Students do Independent Reading and Thinking
STRATEGY
 Teacher Checks for Understanding
Summary and Assessment of the Aim STRATEGY
 Process Share
 Exit Slip
 HW: STRATEGY AND SKILL
5

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Go to www.greatleaps.org
Click on “passages”
Click on “3 rd Grade”
Double Fudge
By Judy Blume
Sample Text From Book
When my brother Fudge was five, he discovered money in a big way. "Hey, Pete," he said one night as I was getting out of the shower. "How much would it cost to buy
New York?"
"The city or the state?" I asked, as if it were a serious question.
"The state, but all the good stuff is in the city. People who don't live in the city might disagree, but I'm a city kind of guy."
"We live in the city, right?" Fudge said. He was sitting on the open toilet seat in his pajamas.
"You're not doing anything, are you?" I asked as I toweled myself dry.
"What do you mean, Pete?"
"I mean you're sitting on the toilet, and you haven't pulled down your pj's."
He swung his feet and started laughing. "Don't worry, Pete. Only Tootsie still poops in her pants." Tootsie is our little sister. She'll be two in February.
Fudge watched as I combed my wet hair. "Are you going someplace?" he asked.
"Yeah, to bed." I got into clean boxers and pulled a T-shirt over my head.
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What a Great Short Passage!!!

When my brother Fudge was five, he discovered money in a big way. "Hey, Pete," he said one night as I was getting out of the shower. "How much would it cost to buy New York?"
"The city or the state?" I asked, as if it were a serious question.
"The state, but all the good stuff is in the city. People who don't live in the city might disagree, but I'm a city kind of guy."
"We live in the city, right?" Fudge said. He was sitting on the open toilet seat in his pajamas.
"You're not doing anything, are you?" I asked as I toweled myself dry.
"What do you mean, Pete?"
"I mean you're sitting on the toilet, and you haven't pulled down your pj's."
He swung his feet and started laughing. "Don't worry, Pete. Only Tootsie still poops in her pants." Tootsie is our little sister. She'll be two in February.
Fudge watched as I combed my wet hair. "Are you going someplace?" he asked.
"Yeah, to bed." I got into clean boxers and pulled a T-shirt over my head.
1. What is the purpose of the previous passage?
a. To inform readers about New York b. To entertain readers about a story with two brothers c. To persuade readers to read a story
2. Where does this story take place?
a. New York City b. In a bank c. In a bathroom
I do up to 4 questions.

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I haven’t taught author’s purpose explicitly, how are they supposed to answer it in the do now?
1. What is the purpose of the previous passage?
a. To inform readers about New York b. To entertain readers about a story with two brothers c. To persuade readers to read a story
After the students do the do now, spend a couple minutes reviewing how to get the answer. In this case, fiction = entertain. Include a chart.
Then REPEAT that question for 5 days on the do now.

Until 100% of the class has gotten the skill question correct, do not remove that question type from the do now– even if there are students who habitually get many questions wrong, keep it on the do now.

Less is more with the do now
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Push to keep the teacher review to under 2-3 minutes.
Daily exposure is what makes it stick--- not lengthy teacher explanation.
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Less = More. Keep it under 5 minutes.
Nope. 
We also include process questions such as:
1.
2.
What is your stamina goal today?
Which question was hardest on last night’s homework?
Or strategy questions such as
1.
Write one text to self connection about the above passage.
Or vocabulary questions such as
1.
How is ________(word) similar to
________ (word)?

The mini lesson models to the students what you want them to do. It’s essential to model everything. I’ve found that the biggest pattern of student error results from when I did not model.
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2 Minutes
5 Minutes
2 Minutes
2 Minutes
8-15 Minutes
30-35 Minutes
This time builds as their stamina builds
Entering Class, Initial Classroom Rituals
Students Complete Do Now SKILL
Teacher Reviews Do Now SKILL
Connection
 Mini Lesson STRATEGY
 Read-Aloud Think Aloud
 Guided Practice
 Students do Independent Reading and Thinking
STRATEGY
 Teacher Checks for Understanding
After the do now is completed, transition to the strategy part of the class. MODEL what you want the students to be doing. Then, they practice for 25-30 minutes. This will allow your readers to be able to
read the state test passage when that time comes AND (more importantly) become life-long readers.

Aim: to ask questions that have multiple possible answers as you read
Reading Mania Training 15

I don’t have much work to do around the house like some girls. My mother does that.
And I don’t have to earn my pocket money by hustling;
George runs errands for the big boys and sells Christmas cards. And anything else that’s got to get done, my father does. All I have to do in my life is mind my brother
Raymond, which is enough.
? : I wonder why the narrator feels that being responsible for her brother is such a huge responsibility.
Reading Mania Training 16

Sometimes I slip and say my little brother Raymond. But as any fool can see he’s much bigger and he’s older too.
But a lot of people call him my little brother cause he needs looking after cause he’s not quite right. And a lot of smart mouths got lots to say about that too, especially when George was minding him. But now, if anybody has anything to say to Raymond, anything to say about his big head, they have to come to me.
And I don’t play the dozens or believe in standing around with somebody in my face doing a lot of talking. I much rather just knock you down and take my chances even if I’m a little girl with skinny arms and a squeaky voice, which is how I got the name Squeaky. And if things get too rough, I run. And as anyone can tell you, I’m the fastest thing on two feet.
?: To what extent does Squeaky get her feelings hurt when people put down her brother?
Reading Mania Training 17

There is not a track meet that I don’t win the first-place medal. I used to win the twenty yard dash when I was a little kid in kindergarten. Nowadays, it’s the fifty-yard dash. And tomorrow
I’m subject to run the quarter-meter relay all by myself and come in first, second and third. The big kids call me
Mercury cause I’m the swiftest thing in the neighborhood. Everybody knows that- except two people who know better, my father and me. He can beat me to Amsterdam Avenue with me having a two-fire-hydrant headstart and him running with his hands in his pockets and whistling. But that’s private information. Cause can you imagine some thirty five year old man stuffing himself into PAL shorts to race little kids? So as far as everyone’s concerned, I’m the fastest and that goes for Gretchen, too, who has put out the tale that she is going to win the first-place medal this year. Ridiculous.
In the second place, she’s got short legs. In the third place, she’s got freckles. In the first place, no one can beat me and that’s all there is to it.
Why is the narrator bragging?
Reading Mania Training 18

I’m standing on the corner admiring the weather and about to take a stroll down Broadway so I can practice my breathing exercises, and I’ve got Raymond walking on the inside close to the buildings, cause he’s subject to fits of fantasy and starts thinking he’s a circus performer and that the curb is a tightrope strung high in the air.
?: Is the narrator older or younger than her brother Raymond?
Reading Mania Training 19

Continue reading from your own independent novel.
As you read, ask questions that have more than one possible answer.
Write your thinking on your sticky notes.
You need to generate at least 3 sticky notes by the time you are finished with the story. If you write more than 3, that’s great! 
I’ll be around to check your progress. Don’t show me your work, I can see over your shoulder. 
Reading Mania Training 20

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Checking for understanding… the clipboard
S.Almanzar
J. Baldara
A. Cantwell
I. Gonzalez
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Potential pitfall: The Reading/Thinking Balance
Building Stamina and 100%
Uh, oh- they aren’t getting it. Now what?
Reading Mania Training 21

That’s okay   
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2.
3.
How many students didn’t show mastery? If it’s more than
25% of the class, re-teach the next day.
Spiral the lesson in a couple of days…re-teaching is essential
(I would do this even if 100% of the class showed mastery- but, in a couple of weeks)
If it’s less than 25% of the class, you can either
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2.
Pull them for a small group later in the day or during the next class
1.
For the next day’s lesson, have them do two different aims
The previous day’s aim (1-2 examples)
2.
That day’s aim (1-2 examples)
Reading Mania Training 22

Re-Teaching is vital for reading your students to become independent.
Reading Mania Training
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What to do when you get distracted
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Creating at home reading goals
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The reading : thinking ratio… how to keep a balance
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Ask: What made today’s strategy tricky for you?
2-3 students share out something that was hard for them.
Teacher generates new lessons based on what the students shared.
Today we made text to self connections as we read. Did anyone struggle with today’s strategy?
A student responds, “In Charlotte’s
Web, the characters are all animals.
It’s hard for me to make a text to self connection when the characters aren’t human.”
Teacher generates a text to self mini lesson that shows how themes span a variety of texts, regardless of the type of character based on share.
Reading Mania Training 24

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Monday 12/1/08 Title: ______________________
Genre: _________
Start page: _________ End page: _______ Total pages:________
Write down two questions that you can ask yourself to deepen your thinking about your book (this works for nonfiction or fiction):
__________________________________________________________

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5 Minutes Summary and Assessment of the Aim STRATEGY
 Process Share
 Exit Slip
 HW: STRATEGY AND SKILL

Totally.
The documents I e-mailed out earlier have lots of things that you can just cut and paste 
The adage why re-invent the wheel is a bit of a paradox. We need to re-invent the wheel in order to spiral effectively.
But, we totally can copy and paste as we go.