Creative Ideas for developing Reading Comprehension · the story in a letter to a friend. Write...
Transcript of Creative Ideas for developing Reading Comprehension · the story in a letter to a friend. Write...
Creative Ideas
for developing
Reading Comprehension
Lancashire Primary Literacy
2
What is reading comprehension?
Once children have learned to de-code a text through the blending of phonemes to
read words and recognise high frequency words, they must also understand or
comprehend what they read. To help them to do this they need to be taught a range of
reading comprehension strategies and be encouraged to reflect upon their own
understanding and learning. Such an approach helps children to go beyond literal
interpretation and recall to explore the complex meanings of a text using inference and
deduction.
The importance of talk and language development
The Rose Review of Early Reading stated:
‘When children learn to read, the comprehension processes they use to understand
written texts are the same as those they already use to understand spoken messages.
The major difference is that language of written texts is accessed via the eyes rather
than via the ears.’
Therefore, the more ‘spoken messages’ children are exposed to, and conversations they
are involved in, the better their comprehension.
In recognition of this, many of the activities in this book are based upon talk
Comprehension is an active process that involves all of these strategies and
behaviours
Understanding the text
Engaging with the text
Making connections with existing knowledge
Critically evaluating the text
Reflecting upon responses
Monitoring own understanding making decisions about which strategies will clarify
understanding
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Creative Reading
Freeze frames:
Still images or silent tableaux to spot light a specific incident in the text;
Opportunity to scrutinise an incident;
Body shape and positioning used to convey ideas and emotions;
Classmates can ‘sculpt’ body shape and language to portray emotions more clearly.
Thought tracking:
Use in conjunction with Freeze Frame;
The children not in the freeze frame contribute ideas as if they were speaking the
thoughts of one of the characters;
These can support or contrast with the words that character actually says.
Conscience alley:
To explore a character’s mind at a moment of crisis or decision;
To explore the complexity of the decision;
Two lines of children facing each other;
Character walks through - line of children voice thoughts for and against.
When children are familiar with this technique, stop periodically and then challenge
the child’s thoughts. Ask them to respond with further argument to extend their
reasoning.
Hot seating:
Close focus upon a character;
Explores character’s motivation;
Explores gaps in a character’s story;
Class ask questions of someone in role;
Questions can be prepared or improvised;
Role player and questioners need to be familiar with character.
Forum theatre:
To view an incident or event from different points of view.
Small group acts out a scene;
The class direct the group to move, speak act differently;
Questioning actors in role;
Suggesting alternative interpretations of what is happening.
Meetings:
Teacher in role calls a meeting of whole class;
Information shared with whole group;
Decisions made about the situation they face;
Paired improvisation:
Encourages collective role. Children works in pairs;
Given a role or agree them for themselves;
Begin dialogue on a signal making the conversation up, as they go along.
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Flashbacks and flash forwards:
Children stop at a particular dramatic action;
They refocus upon something that happened before that may have caused event;
Focus on something that might happen later as a consequence of the action;
Other techniques used to review situation from different perspectives; e.g. freeze-
frame;
Crystal ball – what might this character be doing in 5, 10, 20, 30 years?
Visualisation
The teacher reads a text/poem to the children;
Whilst listening, the children sketch what they imagine onto a plain piece of paper –
or scene by scene into boxes.
They annotate their drawing with words and phrases from the text.
Role on the wall
A large body-shape is drawn onto a large piece of paper.
The body shape represents one of the characters in a fiction book or a character
from history or popular culture.
The children write the character’s feelings, or their own feelings about the
character, onto post-it notes and stick these inside the body shape. They write
facts about the character on different coloured post-its and stick these around the
edge of the character.
Vary this with different colour post-its; what you know about a character placed
inside body (direct retrieval from text), what you think you know placed
immediately outside body (inference) and sometimes also what you’d like to know
about the character placed around the edge of the paper.
When reading a novel as a class or guided group, redo the role on the wall during the
novel – has our knowledge or thoughts about the character changed etc.?
Focus Boxes
Dislikes Likes
Puzzles Questions
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Children note down their thoughts in each of the boxes as they read or listen to a text.
This technique can also be used for 'reading' a film.
The Question Hand
Who? What? Where? When? How? Use to explore stories, newspaper reports or historical
events.
Mind Maps
The details retrieved from texts are added to each branch of the map.
KWFL Grids
Use these grids at the start of a topic/unit work. Complete as a class: what they
children already KNOW; what they WANT to know; how they will FIND it out and what
they have LEARNT (at the end of the topic). Encourage the children to generate
questions which they would like to find the answers to throughout the topic.
what we KNOW what we WANT
to know
how we will FIND
it out
what we have
LEARNT
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Magic Mirror
This is a good technique for developing open-ended questions. The ‘Magic Mirror’ can
only give explanations and cannot answer ‘Yes’ or ‘ No’. The ‘Magic Mirror’ never lies.
The children, in the role of a story character, ask questions of the ‘Magic Mirror’ about
what the consequences might be of an action, opinion or choice that they make. For
example, Willie Beech in Goodnight Mr Tom might ask, ‘What will my life be like if I
return to London to be with my mother?’ The teacher or ‘Magic Mirror’ person answers
the children’s questions.
Why on Earth?
Children interrogate the characters in a text/ story asking ‘Why on Earth did you . . .?’ questions.
The PEE prompt.
The PEE prompt can help you answer the 2 and 3 mark questions.
1. P—make your Point.
2. E—find Evidence in the text to support your answer.
3. E—Explain or Elaborate upon your answer.
e.g. ‘I think that Jack is a stupid boy. I know this because in the text it says, ‘Jack was not bothered by intelligence. This makes Jack appear simple, but content to be the way he was. Edward de Bono’s Six Thinking Hats
Edward de Bono developed the ‘six hats method’, A simple yet powerful tool which can
be used to teach people to view problems from a range of perspectives, and so develop
a more rounded way of thinking. It helps people to look at things in a collaborative way,
beyond their normal perspective, and to see new opportunities.
When considering a problem or proposition, (or situation in a text) people within the
group will look at the issues from different perspectives.
The White Hat deals with just the facts.
The Yellow Hat explores the positives and probes for value and benefit.
The Black Hat is the devil’s advocate and spots the difficulties and where things
could go wrong.
The Red Hat expresses emotions and feelings and shares fears.
The Green Hat focuses on creativity; the possibilities, alternatives and new ideas.
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The Blue Hat is used to manage the thinking process and ensures the Six Thinking
guidelines are observed.
Encouraging children to try out roles makes it easier for them to understand the
approaches to thinking through problems. This approach could be used to discuss:
Issues in a text leading to deeper comprehension;
School issues such as rules, bullying, playtime, etc;
Historical events from different points of view;
Geographical issues such as building by-passes.
The facts The manager Difficulties Feelings New ideas Positives
Novel as theme
Writing to/from one of the characters;
Writing an extra scene;
Re-writing a passage from another’s point of view;
Asking the author questions;
Taking the setting and writing a factual report about such settings;
Drawing the setting and annotating with words, phrases, similes and metaphors.
Putting yourself into the book and adding your own dialogue/responses.
All the above drama techniques to explore themes and ideas.
FS and KS1 READING
Make sight words out of gingerbread dough. (get children to make a word you are
trying to add to their sight vocabulary). Once cooked, they can be read and then
eaten! Children have to recall who ate which word and find 'their' word on the word
wall.
Organise a word hunt - make a set of some HF Words for each child and a duplicate
set that have been hidden in a variety of places. Children can work independently or
in pairs to find them. The words can be tailored to their individual needs. Great for
outdoor literacy!
Make prop boxes for re-enacting stories
Set up small world play activities for retelling e.g. We're Going on a Bear Hunt by
Michael Rosen could use a (BRAND NEW, not used!)cat litter tray for each section
of the story (thick oozy mud, long wavy grass) etc... Helps with sequencing, oral
language etc..
Story sacks
Role play stories e.g. turn role play area into the 3 bears' cottage and provide
relevant props
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Artwork - allow younger children to draw and paint pictures of well-loved stories
and use them to talk about the 'who, where, why, what' of a story. Graduate to
'setting, characters, problem and ending' for Y1 upwards.
Dressing up, role play and hot seating. Younger children can find it too abstract
unless you provide some costumes/props.
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Reading Tasks to develop skills and comprehension
Pretend you are a
literary critic giving a
radio broadcast about
the book. How would you
rate it? Would you advise
children to read it? Why?
Paint a picture of your
favourite part of the
story and explain why you
picked it.
Pretend you are the
character in the book ten
years on...write a short
commentary on how you
feel about the story now
and how you might do
things differently.
Did the story inspire you
in any way? Write about
what you have learnt
from the characters in
the story in a letter to a
friend.
Write about your
favourite part in the
story and explain why you
liked it.
Create a Mastermind quiz
about this book to check
whether they have read
it carefully.
Pick 10 WOW words from
the book and create a
word search!
Draw a film set with
annotation. Or, if you
have time at home
produce a model in a box.
Draw a poster to
advertise the book you
have read. Make sure you
write on the poster why
people should read it.
Find 5 – 10 WOW words
in this book. Access
Puzzle Maker on the
Discovery site and create
a crossword!
Select a part of the text
with plenty of dialogue
and transform it in to one
scene of a play script.
Remember to include the
correct features of a
play script, including
setting, props, stage
directions and names of
characters.
Pretend you are one of
the characters in the
book. Who will you be?
Write your diary for one
day in the story.
What facts did you learn
from this book? Even
though it’s a story, we
can still learn interesting
things...Investigate one
of these facts on the
internet and write a
short report.
Which chapter or part of
the story is the most
important? Write a front
page news report about it
to include quotes from
the characters involved.
Write a formal letter, in
character, complaining
about an issue or another
character in the story.
Who was the most
interesting character?
Conduct an imaginary
hotseat interview to
investigate more about
their motives. Be sure
you write detailed
responses for your
characters.
Create a ‘story mountain’
under these headings:
*opening *build-up
*dilemma *resolution.
Produce a coloured mind
map to illustrate the plot.
Include drawings of the
characters, quotes,
speech bubbles and other
graphics.
Think of 5 questions you
would like to ask one of
the characters in your
book. Then swap these
with another person in
your group and write the
answers as if you were
that character.
Construct a
timeline/flowchart to
show all the main events
in the story in the order
they happen. You might
like to illustrate this as a
river, or a road or any
other image that the
book suggests to you.
Select a part of the book
with little or no setting
description and write
your own! It may be
helpful to draw it first.
Remember it must
connect with the text
and create the right
atmosphere!
Imagine that you are one
of the secondary
characters in the story.
Write a diary excerpt
concerning the main
character and what you
think about him/her. Why
do you feel this way?
Who is the author? Do
you know anything about
them? Research him/her
on the internet and write
a short bibliography of
their work with details
about the books.
Produce a
storyboard/comic strip
of the main events in the
story. Don’t forget to
include speech bubbles
and a sentence or two
below each picture.
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Write a summary of the
story in 50 words only
for a children’s magazine.
Don’t forget to include
some facts about the
author!
Select one of the
characters that you know
little about and create a
biography for them
leading up to their
involvement in the story.
Create a PowerPoint
presentation of the story
abridged for a younger
audience.
Pick a particularly
emotional part of the
story and write a poem
describing it more fully.
Pick one of the main
characters and decide
what that character will
be like in ten years time
and what they might be
doing. Draw a picture,
annotate with your
suggestions and give your
reasons with reference
to the story.
Add in your own scene!
Chose one of the
secondary characters and
write an additional scene
involving them in order to
develop their personality
more fully. It might be at
the end or in the middle
of the story.
If there is an animal in
the story, pretend they
can speak and compose a
short monologue giving
their version of the
story. How do they feel
about the main
character? Perhaps they
have a different view
point!
Divide your page into
four equal parts using a
pencil and ruler.
First box-name of book
and author.
Second box-name of
characters.
Third box-main idea or
summary.
Fourth box-your
favourite part – write a
summary.
Divide your page into
four equal parts using a
pencil and ruler.
First box-name of book
and author
Second box-list of
questions about the
story.
Third box-list of words
you didn’t know.
Fourth box-questions you
would ask the author.
Write a letter to the
main character.
Use correct punctuation
and capitalization
Use the correct form for
writing friendly letters
Draw a picture showing
the main idea of the
book. Identify the main
character(s) and the
setting.
Write a letter from one
character in the book to
another character.
Use correct punctuation
and capitalization
Use the correct form for
writing friendly letters
Continue the story after
the last page written by
the author. Be sure to
use the same characters
and setting.
Draw a book jacket of
the book you just read.
Needed-
12 X 18 paper
Name of book & author
Picture of main character
Short paragraph about
the book
Write a letter to the
author and tell why you
did or didn’t like the book
Use correct punctuation
and capitalization
Use the correct form for
writing friendly letters
Write a new ending for
the book so that
something else happens
to end the story.
Decide what you would
change and write two to
three paragraphs.
Write a new beginning
for the book. Decide how
you would start the book
by writing one to two
paragraphs. Remember
to use appropriate story
openers.
Draw a picture of your
favourite part of the
book.
Imagine that the main
character is in the HOT
SEAT. Write questions
that you would want to
use in an interview with
the main character.
Write an acrostic poem
for the main
character(s).
Example:
S = studies hard in school
A = Always listens to the
teacher
M = Made good grades
Write a book review to
share with the class. Tell
who, what, where, why, or
how events happened in
the book.
Make a list of five titles
that would make a better
name for your book.
Make a poster about your
book. Be sure you have
the name of the book and
the author on it.
Write a three-day diary
by the main character to
explain how they were
feeling and why they
behaved the way they
did.
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Write an e-mail to the
main characters in the
book to advise them
about how you think they
could alter their
behaviour in the story so
that the ending is a
different one
Make a list 10 or more
difficult words from your
book.
Find their meaning in a
dictionary.
Add these words to your
spelling journal.
Make an advertisement
for your book to sell it on
e-bay.
Write a paragraph trying
to convince someone to
read your book, even if
you did not enjoy it.
Make a mobile about the
main characters in your
book.
Draw a story mountain to
explain the outline plan
of your book.
Find 10 words in your
book that have a prefix
and 10 words that have a
suffix.
Make a list of good
qualities that your main
character has.
Make five higher level
thinking questions to ask
the class (3 mark
questions).
Make up book quiz for
your book with 10 or
more questions. The
next person to read your
book will have to answer
your questions.
Write a letter to your
teacher telling why or
why not you liked this
book. Use evidence from
the text to explain your
reasons.
(PEE)
Design a birthday card
for your main character.
Alter the main setting in
your book and describe
how the main character
might react if the story
was set there.
Design an invitation to
ask the characters to a
party at your house.
If you were to give a gift
to the main character,
list three gifts you think
the main character would
like and why.
Divide your paper into
four using and pencil and
a ruler. Make a comic
book of the story (choose
four main events in the
story).
Use program
www.wordle.net to create
a collage of words and/or
pictures to go with your
book.
Make a timeline of
important events in the
story.
Design a house for the
main character to live in.
Make a list of the
characters in the story
and tell why they are
important to the story.
Get a paper sack and
draw five things that are
important to the story
and put them in the bag.
Draw a picture on the
front with the name of
the book and the author.
Design a t-shirt for the
main character.
Make a bookmark telling all
about your book
Make a word search using
character names, places,
events and important
words from your book.
Make a wanted poster
for the main character in
the story.
Design a postcard to send
to one of the characters
in the book. The
postcard should show
something that relates to
that character on the
front.
Choose something that
belongs to the main
character and pretend
the character lost it.
Write a lost notice for
the newspaper.
Retell the story to a
friend in class.
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Make a Peek and Look
page.Draw a picture
about your book.
Cut out three sided flaps
so you can glue a paper
beneath the cut out
(about 2cm by 2 cm).
Glue paper on back side
and write in each box-
Name of book, author,
main characters and
setting.
Make a windsock.
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Book review question track What was the most
exciting part of the
story?
What happened at
the end of the story? finish Did something bad
happen in the story?
What was it?
Was someone kind in
the story? What did
they do?
Describe one of the
characters in the
story.
Which was the best
picture in the book?
Did you like the
story? Why?
Rules
Throw a dice. Move your counter.
Ask the next person the question in the square you have
landed on.
If they can answer the question they can throw the dice.
Who was the funniest
character in the
book?
What was the worst
part of the book?
Why?
What was the
funniest part of the
book?
Where did the story
take place?
Name 4 of the
characters in the
book.
Name 2 of the
characters in the
story.
What was the best
part of the book?
What happened at
the beginning of the
story?
What is the title of
the book? start Racing to English Gordon Ward
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end
Start
Racing to English Gordon Ward
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finish
start Racing to English Gordon Ward
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Articulating and writing responses to texts
Many of the techniques mentioned in this booklet can be supported by response hooks
– sentence starters to help the children to articulate (and ultimately write) answers to
comprehension questions.
- The author wants me to feel/imagine;
- This makes me imagine;
- The effect of this simile is to make the reader . . . .
- The author has used this phrase to give the impression that . . .
See www.lancsngfl.ac.uk/nationalstrategy/literacy for Response Hooks in the reading
section
Creativity and APP in Reading
All of the above techniques can provide evidence for Assessing Pupil Progress in
Reading.
Observations of how children respond and interpret will give insights into their
depth of understanding.
Ways in which children act out characterisation will inform how well they infer
‘hidden’ information, as well as retrieve literal information.
Role play will show how well the children have understood story structure and the
sequence of events.
Writing in role and visualisation will provide written evidence for APP.
Presenting factual information in different ways indicates how well the information
has been interpreted. e.g. Changing text into labelled diagrams; presenting
chronological information on a time-line.
Creating a Reading Community
Reading buddies
Decide on your focus first. What do you want to achieve? Do you want to focus
on promoting simply enjoyment of reading? Or do you want to give children the
opportunity to practise reading aloud? Or are you focussing on improving
comprehension by giving children the opportunity to discuss books? Then decide
on pairings. Will it be older children with younger children? Less confident
readers paired with more confident readers? Pairing children of similar ability
or with similar reading interests? Train reading buddies before they begin and
consider timetabling a regular slot for children to pair up with their reading
buddy.
Boys’ reading
Organise reading groups specifically for boys. Display posters and photographs
of men reading eg take photographs of dads with their favourite book.
Reading is about enjoyment.
Offer and display a breadth of reading materials such as magazines, newspapers,
comics, fiction and non-fiction books, poetry and websites.
Reading is something very individual.
Think about Readers’ Rights eg right to not finish a book, skip pages, dislike a
book.
Parents in the library
Reserve an area of the library for parents and allow parents to borrow books
from the school library.
Celebratory events
Promote reading achievement at celebratory events, especially those to which
families are invited. Present children who have completed a reading challenge or
become Reading Champions with a certificate.
Sports days and summer fairs
Set up a stall with relevant reading materials at events to which families are
invited.
Parents' evening
At parents' evenings, encourage teachers to direct parents towards a reading
for pleasure stall.
Ambassador sessions
Ask a parent who can inspire and relate to other parents to take on the role of
family reading ambassador. Ask your ambassador to come in during a school
event to talk to families about the importance of reading in the home.
Demystify the jargon for parents. When explaining to parents how they can
help their child with reading, try to avoid using jargon.
Library visits. Plan a trip to the local library exclusively for parents. During the
visit, encourage parents to join the library and inform them about all the
services and different activities that take place there.
Richard and Judy book club for parents.
Breakfast clubs
Encourage families to attend breakfast clubs as part of the Extended Schools
agenda, during which they can read or discuss books in an informal setting.
Speed dating
As a warm-up for a reading activity with parents and wider family members, hold
a speed dating session where people can get to know each other in a relaxed
situation. If appropriate, hold different themes for the sessions, such as 'my
most embarrassing reading story' or 'my best reading recommendation.' Ask
participants to vote for the most convincing story or recommendation following
the event.
Recipe book
Ask parents to design their own page of a recipe book, which once compiled
could be distributed to all parents or sold to raise funds for the school library.
Parents in lessons
Invite parents and wider family members to come into school to take part in
reading activities in class.
National Children's Book Week (first full week of October)
During National Children's Book Week, organise a tea party themed around a
popular children's book about food, for example 'Mrs Wobble the Waitress'.
Encourage children and adults to read the book before the event and invite
families to attend the party. Visit www.booktrust.org.uk.
National Storytelling Week (end of January - beginning of February)
Invite professional storytellers to school.
World Book Day (first Thursday of month)
On World Book Day, organise a trip for families to go to their local bookshop to
redeem their WBD vouchers. Visit www.worldbookday.com.
How to read a picture
As a precursor activity to any reading activity, engage parents and wider family
members by introducing the 'How to read a picture' activity. Give them a
picture and ask them to imagine what the relationship is between the people in
it, what happened before the picture was taken, what will happen afterwards
and what is being discussed. This is a good icebreaker activity and will help
participants to understand the value of a picture book for children and how it
helps develop their imagination and powers of prediction.
Storytelling workshops
Set up a 'Bedtime Story' workshop/club in school and encourage families to
exchange children's bedtime stories with each other. For follow-up sessions,
introduce the idea of compiling all the stories for the school or website or a
book.
Storyteller visits
Consider inviting a professional storyteller to your sessions to give top tips and
help with technique. A list of storytellers is available from Reading Is
Fundamental, UK project zone at www.rif.org.uk.
Memory boxes
Ask families to create memory boxes at home, including family photos, books or
pieces of music. Use these boxes as a starting point for sharing personal stories.
Transition (primary - secondary) -School library visits
Offer primary school pupils and their families the chance to visit the secondary
school library.