Start-To-Finish Literacy Starters Reading Strategies Tools

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Start-to-Finish® Literacy Starters

Reading Strategies and Tools for Beginning Readers

38 Teacher Guide © Don Johnston Incorporated Start-to-Finish® Literacy Starters

40 Teacher Guide Intervention Planning Tool © Don Johnston Incorporated Start-to-Finish® Literacy Starters

42 Teacher Guide Intervention Planning Tool © Don Johnston Incorporated Start-to-Finish® Literacy Starters

Building Vocabulary

Four word cards are included with each of the books in the Start-to-Finish Literacy Starters series. At the Enrichment and Transitional levels, these word cards are intended to build oral language—particularly vocabulary knowledge.

Enrichment and Transitional Vocabulary

• The vocabulary words selected for the enrichment stories represent core concepts and ideas that have a particular meaning in the story, but may have other meanings in other settings. • The word cards are NEVER intended to be used in flash card drill and practice. • Use the vocabulary cards to build a vocabulary wall in your room and encourage everyone who enters your room to find a word and relate it to something they know or have experienced. • Categorize, sort, and complete activities that highlight connections among words. • As you begin using new books, don’t abandon old vocabulary – continue to build on and use existing vocabulary as new words are added. • Create webs and graphic organizers that relate the new words to experiences and vocabulary the beginning readers already know. Some beginning readers will generate these related words over time with minimal support – adding them to the organizers. Other beginning readers will require support from their parents or caregivers, who can be asked to send in photos and other relevant items that might trigger associations for the beginning readers.

The word cards that are provided with the Conventional books serve a very different purpose from those that are provided with the Enrichment and Transitional books. The conventional word cards, like the books themselves, are aimed at building word identification skills. The words are carefully selected to ensure that the most frequently occurring words and words with the most common spelling patterns are represented across the entire Start-to-Finish Literacy Starters series.

Conventional Vocabulary

• Notice that the vocabulary cards do not focus on meaning, but support beginning readers in developing fluency in word identification. • Add these words to a classroom or personal word wall that continues to grow as beginning readers are introduced to and read more conventional texts. • When beginning readers encounter these high frequency words when reading or need support in spelling them, refer them to the word wall for support. • Engage beginning readers in word wall activities every day that require them to spell the words letter-by-letter. The lesson format is: • See the words • Say the words • Chant the words (clap, stomp, rock) • Write the words and check them together with the teacher

Always Activities

All reading, re g a rdless of the difficulty or type of text, should be purposeful. Each time you read with a beginning re a d e r, you must set a clear purpose. State the purpose clearly by saying, “Read so that you can...”. • Each time you read a book with your beginning reader(s), decide on ONE purpose for reading. • Read each book several times, focusing on a different purpose for reading each time. • Use the before, during and after reading activities for your chosen purpose for reading to motivate beginning readers to read and re-read, building their reading skills with each reading. • Select from the examples provided or develop your own purpose to match the type of text your readers are reading.

Purpose for Reading Before Reading During Reading After Reading Always begin with something Remember that the reading or Only ask beginning readers to beginning readers know very well. listening should take longer than the complete activities that directly re l a t e b e f o r e and after activities. to the specific reading purpose in the left column. Be explicit—always tell beginning readers the specific purpose of their re a d i n g . Selecting a • Tell beginning re a d e r s , • Remind beginning • Ask beginning readers to Book Title “Authors use titles to help readers that they should select or vote on the best readers know what is be thinking about which title. Then, compare the most important in title is best while readers’ title with the the book.” they read. real title. • Ask readers to identify • Several times during • Look back through the some of the titles of their reading, look at the thre e book with the beginning favorite television shows, possible titles you readers to find the word s movies and books. p r esented before re a d i n g and pictures that might • Have them sort the titles and ask which title the have lead them to choose based on whether they beginning readers think a title diff e rent from the describe the place, a fits the story best at that one the author chose. person or some other part time. Be sure to talk about of the show, movie or WHY they think a b o o k . p a r ticular title fits the book • Tell beginning re a d e r s , (for example: the book is “ H e r e are three possible about this person or the titles for the book you’ll s t o ry teaches us about read today. While you plants, etc.). read, think about which title you think is best.” Hint: As you pre p a re titles, make them all p l a u s i b l e .

44 Teacher Guide Always Activities © Don Johnston Incorporated Start-to-Finish® Literacy Starters

Purpose for Reading Before Reading During Reading After Reading Always begin with something Remember that the reading or Only ask beginning readers to beginning readers know very well. listening should take longer than the complete activities that directly re l a t e b e f o r e and after activities. to the specific reading purpose in the left column. Be explicit—always tell beginning readers the specific purpose of their re a d i n g . Predicting • Tell beginning re a d e r s , • Stop one or two times (no • C o m p a re the pre d i c t i o n s “ P r edicting means to m o r e) in the middle of the beginning readers made make a guess about book to ask beginning b e f o r e they read the book something that you think readers about their and during the reading of will happen.” p r e d i c t i o n s : the book with what re a l l y • To help beginning re a d e r s • “Do you think you happened in the story. visualize predicting, ask guessed right about • With the beginning them to make what this story is readers, look back p r edictions—or guesses— about? Why or t h rough the book to find about what will happen if why not?” the information that you: drop a raw egg, • “What do you think shows whether they squeeze a balloon, tickle will happen next? Is guessed corre c t l y. someone, or anything else that the same thing you with an outcome that is thought would happen familiar to them. b e f o r e you read • Tell beginning readers, “I the story ? ” am going to show you the • “How do you think the first few pictures in this s t o r y will end?” book. Then you’re going to make a prediction, or guess what the story is about.” Hint: When working with altern a t i v e communication tools, p r e p a re some pre d i c t i o n s f r om which beginning readers may choose.

D e s c r i b i n g • Tell beginning re a d e r s , • Model thinking aloud for • Work with beginning Characters, Setting “ We can use lots of beginning readers when readers to find the word s d i ff e rent words to you encounter inform a t i o n that best describe the and other Elements describe people. Wo rd s that would guide you to character(s), setting(s) or like tall, short, young, old, select a part i c u l a r theme of the story. mean and nice all work to describing word. • After beginning re a d e r s describe people.” have completed their • To practice thinking about selections, look back describing words, ask t h rough the book together beginning readers to to find the inform a t i o n identify words you’ve that led to their choices of p r ovided or readers have describing words. generated that describe someone very familiar to them (for example, a television character, the p r i n c i p a l ) . • Tell beginning re a d e r s , “While we read today, think about which of these w o r ds best describe the character(s), setting(s) or theme in the story.” H i n t : To control the diff i c u l t y level of this activity, p r ovide familiar words for your beginning re a d e r s (including picture symbols as needed).

46 Teacher Guide Always Activities © Don Johnston Incorporated Start-to-Finish® Literacy Starters

Purpose for Reading Before Reading During Reading After Reading Always begin with something Remember that the reading or Only ask beginning readers to beginning readers know very well. listening should take longer than the complete activities that directly re l a t e b e f o r e and after activities. to the specific reading purpose in the left column. Be explicit—always tell beginning readers the specific purpose of their re a d i n g . S u m m a r i z i n g • Tell beginning re a d e r s , • Remind beginning • Work with beginning “When you summarize, readers that they have to readers to choose the best you retell the most remember the import a n t s u m m a r y. Talk about i m p o rtant parts of the p a rts of the story in ord e r which parts of each s t o ry using just a few to decide which summary s u m m a r y are true and w o r d s . ” does the best job of telling which are not. Hint: Make • Model this concept by about the whole story. the activity harder by summarizing (in just a few • Model thinking aloud as o ffering two summaries w o r ds) something your you read parts of the that contain tru e beginning reader did s t o r y that are included in i n f o rmation, but where earlier in the day. Then, your summary by saying one focuses on lesser ask beginning readers to things like, “Hmm. I details and the other on help you use just a few remember that one of our i m p o rtant parts of w o r ds to summarize an summaries mentioned the story. experience you have this! Let’s check them to • After choosing a s h a r ed (for example, a PE see which one it was.” s u m m a r y, go back class, field trip, etc.). t h rough the book to • Tell beginning re a d e r s , make sure the selection “ H e re are thre e includes the most summaries I have written i m p o rtant inform a t i o n about the story we are f r om the book. going to read. As we read the story together, think about which s u m m a r y does the best job of telling about the whole story.” Limit your summaries to 8-10 word s and make sure the choices are not too s i m i l a r. Hint: Make one of your summaries humoro u s to add fun to this activity.

Purpose for Reading Before Reading During Reading After Reading Always begin with something Remember that the reading or Only ask beginning readers to beginning readers know very well. listening should take longer than the complete activities that directly re l a t e b e f o r e and after activities. to the specific reading purpose in the left column. Be explicit—always tell beginning readers the specific purpose of their re a d i n g . Making Text-to-Self • Show beginning re a d e r s • Model making explicit • Go back through the book Connections and the book and make a connections between the with the beginning re a d e r connection to knowledge book and the hands-on and look for inform a t i o n Activating they have (for example, if experience you did that is related to the list of Background reading "Wear a Helmet," together before reading what they already knew. Knowledge ask beginning readers if (for example, if reading Use a prompt like, "We they know anyone who "Wear a Helmet," point said some helmets have wears a helmet). to a helmet in the book. fancy designs. Here is a • P r ovide concre t e Then, pick up a helmet p i c t u r e of a helmet with a experiences (where you have in class and fancy design." a p p ropriate) with say something like, "The • Talk about what beginning something related to the helmet this person is readers learned from the book content (for example, wearing is the same as book and add that to if reading "Wear a the helmet we have the list. Helmet," bring helmets to right here!"). • Ask beginning readers to class for readers to look at • Ask questions to help look for things related to and talk about). beginning readers make a the book in their connection between the c l a s s r oom, at home or hands-on activity, their in the community own experiences ( Text-to-Self), in other ( b a c k g round knowledge) books or magazines and the book ( f o r ( Te x t - t o - Text), on television example, if reading or on a field trip " Wear a Helmet," use ( Te x t - t o - Wo r l d ) . p r ompts such as, "Some helmets in the book have fancy designs. Do any of the helmets at school have fancy designs?"). • While reading a new book, ask beginning readers to talk about the things they know about the topic. If they were able to touch a hard helmet in class, ask something like, " A re helmets hard or soft?" Make a list of responses on the board or c h a rt paper.

Alternative Communication

Reading Portfolio Tools