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Welcome to Creating Active Readers, a set of lessons focusing on reading comprehension in grades six through nine. Each lesson represents only a portion of the comprehension process. Research shows that while reading is multifaceted, students developing comprehension skills can only focus on a limited number of processes at a time. As some facets of comprehension become automatic, new processes can be added to the students’ repertoires. In other words, initial focus is narrow, and later the expectations for comprehension are increased.
There are three major ideas to keep in mind while viewing and implementing the lessons.
First, each lesson contains a three-part format: before reading, during reading, and after reading.
Second, most of the lessons demonstrate a gradual transfer of fluency to the students. This gradual shift can move from the teacher reading aloud, to choral or echo reading, to students reading with partners or in small groups, and finally to silent independent reading.
Third and most important, all the activities are designed to help students move toward self-monitoring comprehension. The reader is the only one who knows if comprehension is taking place and this knowledge is invisible to others. Therefore, writing, drawing, graphic organizers, sticky notes, presentations, and discussions have all been used to help students become accountable for their own metacognition and self-monitoring. This accountability helps make the comprehension process more visible to teachers, to the viewing audience, and to the students themselves. CAR’s ultimate goal is that all students become capable of reading and comprehending age-appropriate text independently.
In the series you will find lessons demonstrating:
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Setting purpose for reading |
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Activating and enlarging prior knowledge |
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Predicting |
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Formulating and answering questions |
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Clarifying |
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Visualizing |
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Using graphic organizers |
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Making inferences |
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Rereading |
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Summarizing |
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Discussing |
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Writing |
Implementation and documentation paperwork is included for those who wish to earn recertification points. |
