Thursday, May 7, 2015

Lori Oczkus' Last Chapter on "...Close Reading & Comprehension of Informational Text"

Alas, our last chapter! If you are posting comments for college credit, it's due by May 30. 

If you still want a college unit for $60, but missed out… let us know. We can continue to offer college credit through our book blog in the summer along with Luci Calkins' latest 5 star book: Writing Pathways: Performance Assessments and Learning Progressions, Gr. K-8.  But blog and let us know you're interested!

Now for Ch. 5 on p. 145- Interactive Strategy Lessons for  Informational Text: Comprehension Strategies for Common Core State Standards (CCSS)!

Lori says using the proven strategies along with the CCSS framework (inferring, predicting, questioning, clarifying, summarizing, synthesizing & evaluating) in "a variety of increasingly complex text" is giving  students a flexible toolbox of support.
Where do we start?
  • use strong mentor texts (Which ones? Eureka award nonfiction booklists on CRA's web site under awards will help along with Lori's chart 5.1 on p.148)
  • interactive think alouds (e.g. see #3 and 4 on p. 165-166)
  • cooperative guided practice (see lessons)
  • try the lessons on p. 147-155 to help students set a purpose for reading
  • lessons on p. 159-165 support students to find key idea & details
  • lessons on p. 168-178 scaffolds students in understanding text structure
  • lessons on p. 182-188 facilitates students' integration of knowledge & ideas
  • get your volunteer Moms, Dads, grandmas, etc. to run off the great student work & book marks on p. 232-251
Know what QBTTT means? Try Lori's fabulous modeling on p.165- #1! Just like the kids, you'll never forget it!

Hope you've had as much fun with this book as I have. Thanks Lori! please join me in hearing lori keynote at cra's institute at riverside's convention cntr. on october 23-24, 2015!


Wishing you a strong finish to your school year, quarter, semester, or spring!
Lynn Gurnee,
CRA Past President
CCRA President