Monitoring+Comprehension


 * THINK as you read
 * Hear the TWO voices of a reader (word calling & responding to text)
 * Know when it’s “broken”
 * Know how and when you have to go back and fix it
 * Metacognition - thinking about thinking
 * The "umbrella" strategy which the other strategies fall under

**Strategy - STOP THINK REACT**

Asked students to think about times they read and what happens when they daydream, start to fall asleep or just don't understand what they are reading. They all admitted to just closing the book or putting a bookmark where they are in the book and starting over the next day. We talked about what they should be doing instead to better understand what they are reading. I modeled using post-it notes to write comments as I read of things I noticed or thought about as I read. The next day we used the "STOP THINK REACT" poster to talk about noticing when we're not understanding and stopping. Then thinking about why we're not understanding and different things we could do to help us understand. Then react...do something to help ourselves better understand what we are reading. We're focusing on using post-it notes to write notes about things happening in the book (students are having a hard time having book conferences and being able to remember and discuss what they have read) and using post-it notes to write down times they didn't understand what they were reading and what they can do to fix the comprehension.  **Strategy – Coding Text **

VIP strips – cut Post-It notes into strips (just up to sticky part) and give to students to mark parts of text. Students can write symbols or words/phrases on post-it to remind them of what they were thinking. Symbols can include:

I already knew this before I started reading.

This is something new to me.

This is something new and interesting to me. A WOW statement.

I have a question. I wonder if…? Why? How?

Here is a poster with the codes. There is also a sheet of the codes that can be printed on Post-It flags (print once, place flags over symbol and run through printer again).

[|Coding Text poster.doc] [|coding text.doc]

Once students are comfortable with coding text, they can go beyond the four basic codes. Post-Its can be cut into 5 strips and students can use the Take 5 poster ([|Take 5.doc]) to give students other ideas of what to tag with their Post-Its. In addition to the four codes students can tag: In class we're working on coming up with more codes that are specific to us. I want students to take ownership of monitoring their text. If they come up with new codes, they'll be more likely to use them. So far we have:
 * interesting words
 * favorite parts
 * a trouble spot
 * something predicted
 * good examples of voice
 * something to add
 * ...or anything else!

This is something **very** important that I need to know. (from Kasey)

Text to Text Connection

Text to Self Connection

Text to World Connection

Connection codes from Patrick

** Strategy - Double Entry Response Journal **

Students can pick passages in text to respond or you can focus students' attention on specific passages. Create the journal page with specific page numbers and passages. Students then use the right side of the page to respond to those passages. You could focus on a specific plot elements, literary elements, vocabulary, figurative language, etc. Use the following document as is or add text on the right side to focus students' reading: