Module Overview
Title: Reading for Thinking and Learning - "Read the Chapter Then Answer the
Questions...NOT!"
Target Audience: Teachers, grades 4 and up
Length of Training: 6 hours
Goal of Lesson: At the completion of this module, teachers should be able to
show their students how to set a purpose for reading, design lessons that address
student needs before, during, and after reading, and foster the development of
vocabulary.
Action Plan: The following activities will provide teachers with strategies to help
students before, during, and after they read. The activities should be done in the order
in which they are listed. If the training must be delivered in smaller chunks, the logical
chunks are Activities 1-7, Activities 8-14, and Activities 15-22.
ACTIVITY 1: Knowledge Rating - You will describe your expertise with a variety of
reading strategies.
ACTIVITY 2: Setting a Purpose for Reading - You will read a passage, then reread it
with a specific purpose and compare the knowledge you gained and the strategies you
used.
ACTIVITY 3: Anticipation Guide - You will learn how a simple set of statements can
set a purpose and motivate students to read.
ACTIVITY 4: KWL Chart and Read Aloud - This graphic organizer can be used to help
students focus on specific information in text. Read Aloud will provide your students with
valuable prior knowledge.
ACTIVITY 5: THIEVES- Strategy for Previewing Text - Help your students "steal"
meaning from their text by using this strategy.
ACTIVITY 6: Reading Strategy for Non-fiction Text - This Mental Model will help
students look at their text in a new way.
ACTIVITY 7: Choose & Use a Before Reading Strategy - In this activity you will
reflect on the pre-reading strategies from activities 1-6 and plan for implementation in
your classroom.
ACTIVITY 8: Think Aloud - You will learn how to let students see what you are thinking
as you interact with text.
ACTIVITY 9: Double Entry Journal or Two Column Notes - These strategies help
students understand text by allowing them to "note" their questions or comments as
they read.
ACTIVITY 10: Paired Reading - Having students read with a partner requires more
concentration than having one class member read while the others listen. Learn some
hints for implementing this strategy.
ACTIVITY 11: Learning Tree - This graphic organizer can be used to create a study
guide for any chapter of text.
ACTIVITY 12: Question Bookmark Using Bloom's Taxonomy - You will see
examples of higher order thinking questions to use with your students.
ACTIVITY 13: Structured Note Taking - Help your students decide what is important in
text by using this strategy.
ACTIVITY 14: Choose & Use a During Reading Strategy - In this activity you will
reflect on the during reading strategies from activities 8-13 and plan for implementation
in your classroom.
ACTIVITY 15: Response Sheet - Help your students reflect on their reading by using
this strategy.
ACTIVITY 16: AlphaBoxes - Use this graphic organizer to review concepts and
vocabulary covered in a text chapter or unit.
ACTIVITY 17: Questioning - Students can reflect on their reading by asking and
answering reflective questions.
ACTIVITY 18: Discussion Web - Use this graphic organizer to foster a deep reflection
on an issue from the text.
ACTIVITY 19: Exit Slip - Hold your students accountable for describing what they
learned in class today by using this strategy.
ACTIVITY 20: Mind Map - Use this graphic organizer to see if students really
understand major literary characters or famous people in history.
ACTIVITY 21: Choose & Use an After Reading Strategy - In this activity you will
reflect on the after reading strategies from activities 15-20 and plan for implementation
in your classroom.
ACTIVITY 22: Wrap Up - You will compare your Knowledge Rating from Activity 1 with
what you now know.
Facilitator’s Notes:
1. Facilitators will introduce themselves and give pertinent background information
and then have the participants introduce themselves.
2. Activities #1 and #2 are strategies for the participants to do in order for the
facilitators to get an idea as to how knowledgeable the participants are with the
strategies to be presented in the session.
3. Facilitators could have the participants share their answers from the knowledgerating sheet, listing the ones the participants know well in one column and the other
two respectively. The session may be modified, for example, if all the participants
know one of the strategies well, then the facilitator may not spend as much time on it
and may stress the ones not known.
4. The other activities were selected by the cadre members working on this module
because these activities may be adapted in any content area.
Training Developed by: West Virginia Middle Level Education Cadre
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