To build students strengthen in comprehension I switched between two types of organizers. The first one used in a worksheet that asks parts of a story in question and answer format. During one reading group, students’ round robin read The Lorax. Students previewed the question on the worksheet to determine the meaning of the reading. Once the group has finished the reading, the students refer back to the worksheet and answer questions that ask who, what, when, where, how, and why. All groups were able to refer back to the text as needed to answer a question as long as they could explain where in the story they may find the answer. The lower reading group worked on their worksheet as they were reading the story and summarizing the text every couple of pages to ensure students were following along and comprehending the material. The worksheet chosen for this activity, ask the question in sequencing order, allowing the students to also understand the structure of the story. Arranging the questions in order from beginning, middle, and end format also aided students in finding the information needed for the question.

 

Another organizer I used often in correlation to the weekly reading was a plot and theme sheet. The students were first introduced to the vocabulary words plot and theme and once the students understood that the plot is the events in a story, we would switch back and forth between the two worksheets. Both worksheets asked the same information, but in different ways. I found this to work well because it allowed me to monitor the students understanding of what’s being read, regardless of the format. 

 

At first students struggled with showing comprehension in different ways and would miss a question because of the lack of being able to connect the question to the reading. Once the students understood the elements in a story, they were able to answer the corresponding questions with ease. Although, the students are still building upon their comprehension skill, they have shown a dramatic increase on their weekly comprehension checkpoints.