Wayne Motley, Instructional Specialist
Natalia Carson, Literacy Coach
Stephanie Smith, Literacy Coach
Balanced
Literacy
Teaching Reading Strategies
The literary selection is only a
tool, not the objective
Build a foundation of knowledge
 Guide students through practice
 Provide independent practice
 Develop life-long habits

Self-Selected Reading
Keys to Successful SSR
1. Consistent Practices & Procedures
• Students know expectations / procedures
• Self-Selection with guidance
• Teacher is 100% engaged (monitor, model, direct)
2. Accountability with Strategy Practice
3. Consistent Conferencing
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•
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Preparation by teacher and for students
Timing (after 5 minutes reading & before final activity.)
4-5 students per day
Keep a record
Self- Selection
&
Environment
Engagement
• Classroom Library
• School Library
• Book Talks / Book Pass
• Teacher Monitors / Models
• Music / Environment
• Celebrations / Sharing
Strategy Practice
• Bingo
• Independent Projects
• Response Logs • Journals
SSR Strategy Practice
 Read 2 pages and make 2 predictions
 Make a connection:
“If I were ______, I would
feel…” “This reminds me of (book or movie)”
 Write a 3-4 sentence summary.
 Based on your reading today, list 3
questions you want answered.
 Draw a picture of something you
visualized & describe the big idea
 Draw an inference based on today’s
reading in order to identify the
author’s purpose for this section.
Conferencing Questions
On Portal
• General Interaction ?’s (Nancy Atwell)
• Strategy Driven ?’s for Fiction
• Strategy Driven ?’s for Nonfiction
Procedures
• Walk & monitor with grade book
• Question & encourage reluctant
readers (check difficulty & interest)
• Conference with 3-5 students daily
• Keep a notebook & record strategy
progress
• Provide 1-1 strategy assistance
SSR Conferencing:
A Vital Step
Menu of Reading Strategies
Asking Questions
 Making a Connection
 Making Inferences
 I.D. Author’s Purpose
 Making Predictions
 Compare/Contrast
 Clarifying
 Visualizing
 Using Context Clues  Summarizing
 Drawing Conclusions  Elaborating
 Recognizing Text Structure

Goals of Read-Aloud
• Students learn to recognize the
use of reading strategies by
name.
• Students are prepared to mimic
the teacher and put the strategies
into practice during their reading.
• Students improve their listening
comprehension.
Read-Aloud Procedures
• Introduce the text
• Have students state the purpose of
read-aloud and the roles of T & S
• Inform students of today’s method for
sharing strategy recognition
• Unpack your thinking/model strategy
use (nonverbal cues)
• Guide students through an interactive
experience with the text
• Discuss how strategies helped with
comprehension.
(example next page)
Menu of Reading Strategies
Asking Questions
 Making a Connection
 Making Inferences
 I.D. Author’s Purpose
 Making Predictions
 Compare/Contrast
 Clarifying
 Visualizing
 Using Context Clues  Summarizing
 Drawing Conclusions  Elaborating
 Recognizing Text Structure

Poetry as Read-Aloud
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Always have the poem visible.
Read once through without interruption for
overall poetic effect.
Read a second time, modeling & discussing
how strategies were applied.
Occasionally add pictures in a slide for
poems, helping with visualization and
meaning.
Ballad of Birmingham By: Dudley Randall
“Mother dear, may I go downtown
Instead of out to play,
And march the streets of Birmingham
In a freedom march today?”
“No, baby, no, you may not go,
For the dogs are fierce and wild,
And clubs and hoses, guns and jails
Aren’t good for a little child.”
“But, mother, I won’t be alone.
Other children will go with me,
And march the streets of Birmingham
To make our country free.”
“No, baby, no, you may not go,
For I fear those guns will fire.
But you may go to church instead
And sing in the children’s choir.”
She has combed and brushed her
night-dark hair,
And bathed rose petal sweet,
And drawn white gloves on her small
brown hands,
And white shoes on her feet.
The mother smiled to know her child
Was in the sacred place,
But that smile was the last smile
To come upon her face.
For when she heard the explosion,
Her eyes grew wet and wild.
She raced through the streets of Birmingham
Calling for her child.
She crawled through bits of glass and brick,
Then lifted out a shoe.
“Oh, here’s the shoe my baby wore,
But, baby, where are you?”
Introduction to Poetry
I ask them to take a poem
and hold it up to the light
like a color slide
or press an ear against its hive.
I say drop a mouse into a poem
and watch him probe his way out,
or walk inside the poem’s room
and feel the walls for a light switch.
I want them to water-ski
across the surface of a poem
waving at the author’s name on the shore.
But all they want to do
is tie the poem to a chair with rope
and torture a confession out of it.
They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it really means.
(Billy Collins)
Introduction to Poetry
I ask them to take a poem
and hold it up to the light
like a color slide
or press an ear against its hive.
I say drop a mouse into a poem
and watch him probe his way out,
or walk inside the poem’s room
and feel the walls for a light switch.
I want them to water-ski
across the surface of a poem
waving at the author’s name on the shore.
But all they want to do
is tie the poem to a chair with rope
and torture a confession out of it.
They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it really means.
Billy Collins
Benefits
• Students visualize the meaning of the poem.
• Students associate poetry with experiencing
the words, not just reading them.
• Students begin to understand that interaction
with prose is just as important as interaction
with poetry.
• Comprehension is about experiencing what
you read, not just mouthing words.
Reading Strategy Lessons
 Writing Trait Lessons
 Literary Background Lessons
 Literary Device Lessons
 Word Study (roots, affixes)
 Whatever Students need …

 Lesson…lecture,
presentation,
notes, modeling
 Guided Practice
 Independent Practice
Making An Inference
Reading Between The Lines
Making Connections
•Text to Self •Text to Text •Text to World
Today’s
Target Lesson:
Why Visualize?
Visualize?
What? Draw on knowledge and experiences
to see pictures in your mind (cinematic)
Why? • Allows you to become part of the story
• To “live” the story as you read
• Creates a “mental imprint”
• To recall details and comprehend
• Helps you to make connections that last
• Allows you to monitor comprehension
• “Imaging” is figurative language at work
“The Scarlet Ibis”
By: James Hurst
Visualize
p. 561
Become part of the story:
Visualize
Writing Meaningful Sentences
• A meaningful sentence incorporates
context to reveal the meaning of the focus
word.
• Meaningful sentences often use
–
–
–
–
–
Synonyms of the focus word
Antonyms of the focus word
Examples of the focus word
Descriptions of the focus word
Situations in which the focus word might
occur
• Context clues spill over into reading
comprehension
Meaningful Sentences
Definition:
A meaningful sentence tells the
reader something about a word and shows that
the writer understands the meaning of the word.
The sentence should contain context clues so that
someone unfamiliar with the word can define it.
Context Clues
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•
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Restatement or definition clues
Example Clues
Synonyms & Antonyms
Experience or sense of the sentence
Context Clues
Do you know the meanings of
these words?
• noxious
• precocious
• decorum
Define the words below from context:
• The river was full of noxious materials such as
cleaning agents from factories and pesticides
from the nearby farms.
• This third grade was full of precocious children.
One child had learned to read at two, and
another could do algebra at age 6.
• When going to an office party you should practice
your best decorum; for example,
dress your best, drink and eat moderately, and
be sure to thank the host before you leave.
Example
Is this a meaningful sentence for the word
“loquacious”?
My sister, Cindy, is always very loquacious at
parties.
No
Example
Is this a meaningful sentence for the word
“loquacious”?
My sister, Cindy, is very outgoing at parties,
but she is so loquacious that sometimes her
friends get upset that they cannot get a word
in during a conversation.
YES
The Secret Life of Bees…Vocabulary
affirmation
Sarah believes that an affirmation will improve
her life. (no)
In order to improve her life, Sarah begins
every day by repeating the affirmation, “I will
make positive choices today,” five times.
(yes)
The Secret Life of Bees…Vocabulary
Bohemian
My uncle decided to lead a Bohemian
lifestyle. (no)
My uncle quit his job, gave away most of his
money, and moved into a grass hut on a
deserted section of beach to fulfill his dream
of leading a Bohemian lifestyle. (yes)
(Include examples for all words if necessary…the first time.)
Analyze Text Structures
Compare and Contrast
Students Interacting
with the Text
Visualize
Ask Questions & Make Predictions
Paired Reading or Small Group Reading or
Independent Reading
“First, we know that round-robin, cold
reading aloud is not effective (Optiz &
Rasinski, 1998). Some have even
called it educational malpractice
(Fisher, Lapp, & Flood, 2005).”
Model “How”
Students Should Interact
with the Text
Let’s
reread the
paragraph.
We need
to discuss
this
question!
Questioning
Students need to discuss big ideas –
Provide them with open-ended questions
Step 1. No writing utensils.
Step 2. Provide the students with open-ended questions.
Step 3. Students discuss (with a partner or small group)
the open-ended questions.
Step 4. Individually, students respond to the
open-ended questions in well-developed
paragraphs.
Vocab. Review
Paired Reading
Visualizing
Vocabulary
1. affirmation
2. Bohemian
3. decapitate
4. foraging
5. oblivious
6. solace
decapitate
B
O
H
E
M
I
A
N
solace
solace
O
B
L
I
V
I
O
U
S
A
F
F
I
R
M
A
T
I
O
N
foraging
Vocab. Review
Paired Reading
Visualizing
• Listen to pages 189top of 192 together.
• Read 192-195 with
partner-visualize.
• Reread any part of
192-194 for visualizing
activity sheet.
Assessments
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Observations
Participation
Class work
Home Work
Quizzes
Tests
Writing
Projects/Presentations
Writer’s Workshop
Word Choice
Conventions
Trait-Based Writing Instruction
and Assessments
Sentence Fluency
Ideas
Organization
Voice
Presentation
Expectations
A balanced approach: Reading / Writing.
 Comprehension Strategies as content with
Literature as the tool, not the content.
 Writing Traits (essential skills) as content and
focus of practice, not just assignments or
formulas.
 Unit Tests and Graded Writing that reflect the
content of lessons (CCPS & VADOE
Curriculum Frameworks).

Intranet:
ccpsportal
Edmodo
Investigating
CCPS Portal
& Edmodo
Home:
ccpsportal.ccpsnet.net/
Wayne Motley
Natalia Carson
Stephanie Smith
Thank You
Bye …
See you soon! 