HARCOURT TROPHIES Skills vs. Strategies What is the difference between skills and strategies in the Trophies lesson plan? This chart outlines those differences. Skill Strategy These are automatic procedures that do not require thought, interpretation, or choice. A strategy is a conscious plan under the control of the reader, who must make decisions about what strategies to use and when to use them. Skills are product-oriented, observable behaviors such as answers to questions, answers on tests, skills lists, and taxonomies. Strategies are process-oriented, cognitive operations the reader engages in, generally thought to be unobservable. Skills instruction stresses repeated practice in applying skills until they become habitual responses to particular tasks. Strategy instruction stresses the reasoning process readers go through as they interact with and comprehend text: how the strategies one uses change when one reads different texts or reads for different purposes. Strategy instruction teachers what to do with a skill, how and why to use it, and why it is important. Strategy instruction focuses on ways to help students understand what they read. Copyright © by Harcourt, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in USA, HARCOURT and the Harcourt Logo are trademarks of Harcourt Inc. 1 HARCOURT TROPHIES Focus Skills and Focus Strategies Focus Skill Reading skills are taught in Trophies because they build reading comprehension. Specific skills are taught before, during, and after reading the selection. Each skill is introduces, reviewed, and maintained. Students have the opportunity to practice and apply the skills to become skillful readers. A Focus Skill is introduced and developed in each selection found in Trophies. These Focus Skills are identified on the 5-day planner with objectives for each selection. The Focus Skill can be easily traced because of the Skill Trace box found in the margins of the lesson plans in the Teacher’s Edition. The box includes the skill, the page numbers where it is introduced, reteach activity pages, review pages, activity pages to maintain the skill, and a test page for tested skills. Focus Strategy A reading strategy is developed in each selection found in Trophies. A list of these strategies is located in the front of the Teacher’s Edition and Pupil Edition (grades 2-6). There are 10 reading Focus Strategies (Strategies Good Readers Use) taught in Trophies. Each strategy is a plan that helps students monitor their own reading. As students become better readers, they are better able to comprehend the selections because of application of the Focus Strategy. Reading strategies are not developed automatically. Before student read stories and articles independently, teachers model strategic reading and thinking behaviors. These modeled strategies teach students to construct meaning when reading. A good repertoire of strategies builds flexibility in how student read. They can learn a variety of approaches to reading no matter what the text. Copyright © by Harcourt, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in USA, HARCOURT and the Harcourt Logo are trademarks of Harcourt Inc. 2 HARCOURT TROPHIES Focus Skills and Focus Strategy Lessons Grade 1 Story The Hat Sam and the Bag Ants Jack and Rick Todd’s Box All That Corn Dan’s Pet Boots for Beth Space Pup Where Do Frogs Come From? Try Your Best Fun with Fish I Am a Butterfly Did You See Chip? Tomás Rivera On the Way to the Pond Friends Forever The Fox and the Stork A Bed Full of Cats Me on the Map At Home Around the World Tell Me a Story My Robot On the Job with Dr. Martha Smith Little Bear’s Friend Busy Buzzy Bee The Story of a Blue Bird Frog and Toad All Year Fishing Bears How to Be a Nature Detective The Puddle Poppleton Everyday Sleep Is for Everyone Baboon Focus Skill Sequence Predict Outcomes Details Sequence Draw conclusions Sequence Setting Cause/Effect Cause/Effect Details Character Details Predict Outcomes Setting Character Setting Fact/Fiction Character Alphabetize Classify/Categorize Classify/Categorize Alphabetize Fantasy/Reality Classify/Categorize Alphabetize Cause/Effect Plot Cause/Effect Main Idea Main Idea Plot Predict Outcomes Main Idea Plot Focus Strategy Use Decoding/Phonics Reread Aloud Use Decoding/Phonics Make and Confirm Predictions Make Inferences Self-Correct Create Mental Images Sequence Events/Summarize Reread Look for Word Bits and Parts Self-Correct Reread Aloud Look for Word Bits and Parts Make Inferences Sequence Events/Summarize Read Ahead Reread Make and Confirm Predictions Make and Confirm Predictions Sequence Events/Summarize Look for Word Bits and Parts Create Mental Images Reread Aloud Read Ahead Create Mental Images Reread Look for Word Bits and Parts Reread Self-Correct Read Ahead Make Inferences Use Decoding/Phonics Make Inferences Sequence Events/Summarize Copyright © by Harcourt, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in USA, HARCOURT and the Harcourt Logo are trademarks of Harcourt Inc. 3