Directed Reading-Thinking Activity
DRTA
Brief Introduction
A DRTA requires active, creative decision-making from both student and teacher as they
read a story together.
A DRTA fosters reading comprehension as a process that a reader goes through each time he
or she reads a text.
A DRTA teaches a student to make logical hypotheses about a text based on the evidence in
a story.
PLANNING A DRTA: STEP ONE
Read the story through from beginning to end.
 A DRTA must be carefully planned.
PLANNING A DRTA: STEP TWO
Go back through the story and choose appropriate stopping points.
 The number of stopping points will vary, depending on length of story, ability of
child, density of ideas, and other factors.
 Choose the stopping points by reflecting on the following questions.
 At what point in the story am I able to anticipate an important
upcoming event?
 Why am I able to do so?
 What information have I read that is triggering the anticipation?
PLANNING A DRTA: STEP THREE
 Plan questions to be asked at the stopping points.
o Include comprehension questions.
 To check the child’s understanding of important events in story.
 You may ask child to retell what happened in the section just read.
Amie Snow
Appalachian State University
Ibraham Elementary School, Winston Salem, NC
o Include a prediction question.
 “What do you think will happen next?
 “Why do you predict that?”
 “Do you want to keep or change the prediction you made earlier?”
Amie Snow
Appalachian State University
Ibraham Elementary School, Winston Salem, NC
Reading Tutoring
Primary Plans
(Level F and above)
Guided Reading – 15 minutes
*Students read books at their instructional level.
*Teachers can use partner reading silent reading during this part of the lesson.
Monday:
Students read as the teacher guides them through a Directed Reading-Thinking Activity (DRTA).
Tuesday:
Students read as they complete the DRTA with the teacher.
Wednesday: Students reread the passage and focus on a reading strategy with the support of a graphic
organizer.
Thursday:
Students complete the reread of the passage and complete the graphic organizer.
Friday:
Students complete 1 to 2 written comprehension questions based on the weekly reading.
Word Study (12 -16 words a week) – 15 minutes
Day 1
*Introduce the sort.
*Write words in their word journals in the correct columns.
*Make word cards using cut up index cards.
Day 2
*Ask students to sort their cards individually or with a
partner. Help with the headers if needed.
Day 3
*Ask students to sort their cards individually or with a
partner. Help with the headers if needed.
*Word Sort Games – see Word Game document.
Day 4
*Ask student to sort their cards individually or with a partner.
Help with the headers if needed.
*Word Hunt – Allow students to search the room, their
guided reading books, or other books on their independent level to find words
that fit the weekly patterns. Ask students to add these
words to their word journals.
Day 5
*Spell check with words from the weekly sort. ONLY spell check 2
words per pattern!
*Spell checks should happen in their word study journals.
Repeated Readings (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) – 15 minutes
*One minute readings on previously read guided reading materials. Read and graph.
*While conducting repeated readings with one student, the other students reread their book and answer 2
written questions in their journals – ask students to answer the numbered questions from the list of questions.
*They can also reread other books from guided reading while you are conducting repeated readings.
Amie Snow
Appalachian State University
Ibraham Elementary School, Winston Salem, NC
Writing (Conference Monday and Friday) – 15 minutes
*For the FIRST week of tutoring: Students will write each day about themselves in their journals – family,
favorite things, best events, etc.
AFTER THE FIRST WEEK: Students will write each day about a book they have read in guided reading – use TRC
prompts to help with the questions. Ask 2 questions for each book.
*On MONDAYS – Get students started on the 2 questions for the week. Then on Tuesday and Wednesday they
will write, edit, and add more info. On Wednesday (as time allows) – students will share responses. Teachers can
ask for more info or offer additional support for students.
Amie Snow
Appalachian State University
Ibraham Elementary School, Winston Salem, NC
Word Study Lesson Sequence
Day One
Lesson Sequence
*Introduce the sort.
*Write words in their word journals in the correct columns.
*Make word cards using cut up index cards.
Day Two
Lesson Sequence
*Ask students to sort their cards individually or with a
partner. Help with the headers if needed.
*Teacher led blind sort if you think students can handle it.
Day Three
Lesson Sequence
*Ask student to sort their cards individually or with a partner.
Help with the headers if needed.
*Word Sort Games – see Word Game document
Day Four
Lesson Sequence
*Ask student to sort their cards individually or with a partner.
Help with the headers if needed.
*Word Hunt – Allow students to search the room, their guided
reading books, or other classroom books to find words that fit
the weekly patterns. Ask students to add these words to their
word journals.
Day Five
Lesson Sequence
*Spell check with words from the weekly sort or TRANSFER
words. Transfer words are words that fit the same weekly
patterns BUT are not the actual words from the sorts. You
may use words from their sort as well. ONLY spell check 2
words per pattern!
*Students also write one to two sentences using words from
their word study journals.
* Spell checks should happen in their word study journals.
Amie Snow
Appalachian State University
Ibraham Elementary School, Winston Salem, NC
Reading Tutoring
Beginning Reader Plans
(Levels A – E)
Guided Reading – 20 minutes
*Students reread 3 books at their instructional level.
*Teachers can use echo reading, partner reading and choral reading during this part of the lesson.
*ON THE FIRST DAY OF TUTORING: Teachers will need to picture walk and echo read all 3
books. Then you can alternate different reading styles.
* Sight Word Review – use high frequency words pacing guide.
Word Study (12 to 16 words a week) – 15 minutes
Day 1
*Introduce the sort.
*Write words in their word journals in the correct columns.
*Make word cards using cut up index cards.
Day 2
*Ask students to sort their cards individually or with a
partner. Help with the headers if needed.
Day 3
*Ask students to sort their cards individually or with a
partner. Help with the headers if needed.
*Word Sort Games – see Word Game document.
Day 4
*Ask student to sort their cards individually or with a partner.
Help with the headers if needed.
*Word Hunt – Allow students to search the room, their
guided reading books, or other books on their independent level to find words
that fit the weekly patterns. Ask students to add these
words to their word journals.
Day 5
*Spell check with words from the weekly sort. ONLY spell check 2
words per pattern!
*Spell checks should happen in their word study journals.
Introduce a New Book – 10 minutes
Teachers will introduce a new book at the students’ instructional level to practice and read.
1. Take a picture walk.
2. Choral Read/Echo Read
3. Partner Read
Amie Snow
Appalachian State University
Ibraham Elementary School, Winston Salem, NC
Writing– 10 minutes
*Until they reach a level F book: Students will write one sentence (or more if they can) about
themselves each day – family, friends, best events, etc.
*Once the reach a level F book: Students will write answers to TRC type questions about ONE of
the books they have read in guided reading.
Repeated Readings
1. Choose a 200 word selection from a previously read book.
2. Count out the passage before reading with the student.
3. Tell the student that they are going to read aloud to you for one minute.
4. At the end of one minute, you will count the words they have read and graph
them on the graph.
5. Talk with students briefly about any concern that may have come up as they
were reading or offer praise for what they have done well.
6. Move to the next student.
7. Repeat this same process for each student. The students can read the same
passage 4 different times over a 4 day period.
If students are struggling with accuracy, complete the following steps to make
repeated readings meet their needs:
Amie Snow
Appalachian State University
Ibraham Elementary School, Winston Salem, NC
8. Any errors that they make will be taken away from the total words they have
read.
9. As they are reading, you will tally the number of errors they have made.
10. Subtract the number of errors they made from the number of words they
read. This will be their words CORRECT per minute.
Amie Snow
Appalachian State University
Ibraham Elementary School, Winston Salem, NC
WORD GAMES: MEMORY
Materials needed: 10 – 14 word cards, placed face down on table
 The first player turns over two cards.
 If the cards are a match and the child can read them, he/she keeps the
cards and takes another turn.
 If the cards are not a match or the child cannot read them, the cards
are returned to the face down position, and the other player takes a
turn.
 The game is over when all the cards have been removed from the table.
WORD GAMES: TRASHMAN
Materials needed: Use the cards from your weekly sort.
 Place 3 cards in front of the student: 2 cards should match and one card should
not.
 Ask the student to read the cards and then ‘throw away’ the card that doesn’t
match.
 The student will place the card that doesn’t match in a separate pile or a
‘trashcan’ (small box, toy trashcan, etc.)
 Continue as many times as you are able – students can teach each other this
game once you feel comfortable about their knowledge of the word patterns.
Word Games: Racetrack
 Materials needed
 Racetrack Board
 One die with each side marked with a 1 or 2
 Two game markers
 The first player rolls the die.
Amie Snow
Appalachian State University
Ibraham Elementary School, Winston Salem, NC
 If she rolls a “1,” she must spell one word dictated by her
partner, and she moves her marker forward one space.
 If she rolls a 2,” she must spell two words, and she moves her
marker forward two spaces.
 The game is over when one player reaches the finish line.
Word Games: Bingo
 Materials needed:
 Two Bingo boards
 Two sets of word cards
 Four “wild” cards
 Line leaders are placed across the top row of each player’s board.
 One player draws a card from the deck.
 If he sorts and reads the card correctly, it remains on his board.
 If he places the card in the incorrect column or misreads the word, the
card is placed on the bottom of the deck.
 If he draws a wild card, he can place it anywhere on the board. He then
takes another turn.
 The game is over when one player fills all the spots on his board.
Word Games: Speed Sort
 Materials needed:
 One stopwatch
 One set of word cards
 One child times her partner in sorting and reading the word cards.
 The children switch roles, and the other child is timed as he sorts and reads
his cards.
 A second Speed Sort allows each child a chance to improve on the first score.
Amie Snow
Appalachian State University
Ibraham Elementary School, Winston Salem, NC
Word Games: Pitty Pat
 Materials needed
 30 short vowel word cards (6 cards for each vowel)
 Deal 8 cards to each child and place remaining 14 cards in deck on table. Each
child should sort his/her cards.
 The first player turns over the top card in the deck. She can get rid of all the
matching word cards and one additional word card of her choice. She must
read each card as she plays it.
 For instance, if she draws the word stop, she can get rid of all her short
o words and one additional word.
 The second player now gets rid of all his short o words and one additional word.
If he had no short o words, he could draw the next card from the deck.
 The game continues in this manner until one player gets rid of all of his/her
cards.
Amie Snow
Appalachian State University
Ibraham Elementary School, Winston Salem, NC
Word Study Sequence
 Picture Sort Sequence
o b, m, s
o c, f, l
o t, g, r
o j, p, v
o k, n, d
o w, z, h, y
 Rhyming Families
o A word families:
o I word families:
o O word families:
o E word families:
o U word families:
at, an, ap, ack
it, in, ick, ig
ot, op, ock, ob
et, ed, ell, en
ut, ug, un, uck
 Short Vowels
o A
o I
o O
o E
o U
 Vowel Patterns
 A: short a, aCe, ar…ai
 I: short i, iCe, ir…igh
 O: short o, oCe, oa…oCC, o
 E: short e, ee, ea (meat)…e, ea (bread)
 U: short u, uCe, ur…ui
Amie Snow
Appalachian State University
Ibraham Elementary School, Winston Salem, NC
 Sophisticated Patterns
Amie Snow
Appalachian State University
Ibraham Elementary School, Winston Salem, NC
Amie Snow
Appalachian State University
Ibraham Elementary School, Winston Salem, NC