Area: Reading Comprehension
Strategy: Hand Gestures
Appropriate Grade Level: K-6
Procedures/Steps:
The following hand motions help students to predict, question, clarify, and summarize
whole reading:
 Predict- move hand around a pretend crystal ball. While moving hands around
the crystal ball have students predict what is next by looking at the picture clues
and from clues in the text that was just read
 Question- have students pretend they are using a microphone by making a fist
and holding it up to their mouth as they ask questions about the text
 Clarify- have students make glasses by forming circles with their hands putting
them up to their eyes. Glasses help students visualize and clarify words and ideas
they read. Another way students can clarify reading is to make a pause button by
bending both their arms at the elbow and raising them parallel to each other.
Students can motion their left and right hands as rewind (reread) and fast forward
(keep reading) buttons. Pausing to clarify can help students think about what just
happened or figure out difficult words.
 Summarize- students can pretend to twirl a lasso over their head to rope in the
main ideas of the text and then summarize them. Another gesture is to take a
pretend picture of the main ideas and make camera noises as students take a
snapshot of the summary
Comments and/or tips: Provide students with visual reminders by having pictures
of the gestures next to the words. Post up in the classroom so it’s easy for students to see
Source:
Rope them in with hand gestures. (2010, December). The Reading Teacher, 64(4), 282284.