CLASS MANAGEMENT CENTERS

LITERACY LEARNING LLC

Write 3 sentences using your stamped words.

1. ______________________________________________________________________________

2. ______________________________________________________________________________

3. ______________________________________________________________________________

BOOKMARKS

Students use a tool called a “bookmark” for their note taking. The bookmark is merely a sheet of paper folded into quarters and is small enough to serve as an actual bookmark. The bookmark is a simple means for students to make their own notes; it is not an elaborate guide of publisher-or teacher-created questions for students to answer as they read.

Each face of the bookmark is labeled with a phrase related to one of the objectives. Because some teachers have found that the quarter fold does not give enough space to write notes, they teach their students to fold the paper in half and use the resulting four half sheet faces to take their notes. When students are ready to keep the bookmark safely in their books, they simply fold the paper one more time.

Students are taught to record locations in the text where they noticed themselves thinking about the objective. They note the page number and a few words of quotation, or in the case of vocabulary, the unknown word.

Creating the note taking tool for their students encourages teachers to be organized. To set their students’ purposes for reading, they must establish clear objectives. Through these objectives teachers coach students to improve their reading comprehension by monitoring and problem solving for confusions, and by identifying story elements in fiction, important ideas, and vocabulary content. They teach their students to self-question, infer, visualize images, and synthesize information within and beyond the text, and to notice (and make notes) when they apply these strategies in their reading. Students learn the importance of monitoring for meaning and of rereading to problem-solve.

…” (page number

“I was confused when…”(pg nbr)

“Words that are new to me”(pgnbr)

Bookmark for The Imp That Ate My Homework

“When I read…, I thought about”(pg nbr)

“Questions (and their answers ) I would ask if I were the teacher…” (pg nbr)

Monitoring for Meaning•“I was confused when …” (page number)•“Some readers might need clarification about…” (page number)•“I stopped reading to think about …” (page number)

Summarizing and Predicting •One-sentence summaries and predictions (page number)

Questioning•“Questions (and their answers) I would ask if I were the teacher” (page number)•Questions I would ask the author” (page number)

Making Connections•When I read ... (page number), I thought about...”

IDEAS FOR BOOKMARKS

Creating Visual Images•“When I read…(page number), I could picture…”

Identifying and Keeping Track of Important Information•Story Map (for fiction): Setting, Characters, Problem/Goal, Events, Resolution (page number for each entry)•Other appropriate graphic organizers: Venn diagrams to compare and contrast, time lines for sequence of events, etc (page number for each entry)•Main ideas, headings and subheadings, supporting details (for nonfiction, especially textbooks)•“This section is mostly about…”(page number)•“Questions (and their answers) from headings…” (page number)

Word Work•New words (page number)•Difficult to pronounce words (page number)•Interesting words and phrases (page number)