Reading Comprehension and Higher Order Thinking Skills
Grades 3-6

October 22, 2019

ELA Parent Night - Sponsored by Title I

PRESENTERS:

Ms. Lisa Atkison Ms. Heather Connor Ms. Jillian Deible

Ms. Michelle Weismann Ms. Shelly WIld

DistricT Reading Specialists

topics

● Strategies for Decoding and Understanding Dificult Words

● Comprehension Strategies

● Engaging Readers in Purposeful Conversation

● How to Promote Higher Order Thinking Skills at Home

● Book Suggestions and district resources

Strategies for

Decoding and

Understanding

Dificult Words

Word Knowledge: attacking longer words

1. Is there a prefix at the beginning of the word?

2. Is there a suffix at the end of the word?

3. Is there a small word hiding in the big word?

4. Do I see a word part I already know?

5. Chunk the parts.

6. Put the chunks together to say the word.

Word Knowledge: Decoding Longer WOrds

Since the hurricane, we are in the process of reconstructing our house.

reconstructing

re con struct ing

Word knowledge: meaning

● Vocabulary is one of the 5 key components of the reading process.

● The more word meanings a reader knows, the better he/she comprehends the text.

Context Clues

● Most new words are learned from context. During the school year, the average student learns about 4,000 words but only 400 of these words are taught through direct instruction.

● Students use the words/sentences surrounding the unknown word to figure out meaning.

Types of Context Clues 1. Direct Definition

Omnivores are animals that eat both plants and meat.

2. Appositive (meaning is set off by commas)

A country imports, or brings in, products from other countries.

3.  Example (group of items in a category)

The animals feed on grasses, leafy plants, shrubs and other vegetation.

Types of Context Clues

● Synonym (similar meaning is in text)

A beaver uses its big front teeth to gnaw trees. These incisors continue to grow as they are worn away.

● Antonym (opposite meaning is in text)

Unlike animals that hunt during the day, nocturnal hunters must find their way in the darkness.

Word parts: Greek and Latin roots

Using the meanings of word parts to determine the meaning of a longer word is a powerful strategy that can open the doors to thousands of new words. More than 60% of words in an English dictionary stem from Latin and Greek roots.

My favorite quadruped is a horse.

Would a philanthropist be benevolent or malevolent?

A list of common prefixes, suffixes and roots is provided.

Reference Materials ● Dictionary

● Thesaurus

● Besides a list of deﬁnitions, online dictionaries also

provide the pronunciations of words!

Comprehension strategies

A plan to make sense of the text

Good Readers: ● Are purposeful and active
● Know what they do or do not understand ● Use strategies when they do not understand

Self-Monitoring

Metacognition

● Clarify purpose

● Adjust reading rate ● Look back/reread
● Look forward

● Restate the text

● Chunk the text

Summarizing

What is important?

● Main idea ● Key Details
● Eliminate the unnecessary information
● Remember what is read

Ask Questions

Stop and Think

● What am I thinking? ● What happened?
● What did I learn?

● Is there a word or part of the text that I do not
understand?

Answer Questions

Think Actively	●

Fiction: 4-5 events in

sequential order

○ character, theme ● Identify type of question:

○ Right there

○ Think and Search	● Informational: 3-4 facts

○ Author and You	○ main idea, text features ○ On Your own

Text Structure

Organization	●

Informational Text:

○ Description

○ Sequence

● Fiction Text: Story Elements ○ setting
○ characters
○ problem/solution	●

○ compare/contrast ○ cause/effect
○ problem/solution

Text Features

○ plot

Graphic Organizer

Visual	● Universal for any text representations

Engaging Readers in Purposeful Discussions

Talking about a book is not merely a tool for students to recall what they have read.

When students

are actively engaged in purposeful talk about a book:

Clarify Confusion

Build Learning & Comprehension

When students reason together through talk, they learn!

Evaluation versus high-press talk

Evaluation

Researchers have found that students engage more in conversations about a book
when teachers and parents do

High-Press Talk

High-press talk involves examining students’ responses and “pressing” them to take their
ideas further by:

not evaluate their responses by saying things like “Good,” “Right,”
or “Not quite.”

● Clarifying

● Elaborating ● Explaining
● Providing evidence

High-press Talk Clarify- “What do you mean?”

Elaborate- “Can you say more about that?”

Explain- “Why do you think so?”

“How did you figure that out?”

Provide Evidence-“What did you see in the text that made you think that?”

“Can you give an example from the book?”

Fiction questions Before Reading:

●	Does this cover or title of this book remind you of anything?

●	Does this story look real or imaginary? What makes you think this way? ●	What is a question you’re wondering before reading this story?

During Reading:

●	What do you predict will happen next based on clues from the author? ●	What are some possible solutions to the problem?
●	How does the main character feel in this situation? How do you know?

After Reading:

●	What is the author’s purpose for writing this story?

●	How did the character(s) change from the beginning to the end?

●	Would you recommend this text to someone else? Why or why not?

Nonﬁction questions Before Reading:

●	What clues does the title/subtitles reveal?

●	Does this topic/subject interest you? What do you know about it?

●	Do you notice any bold print or highlighted vocabulary? How will previewing those words help you with the text?

During Reading:

●	What is the main idea of paragraph _____/page #____? ●	Have you found a contradiction to your thinking?
●	What do you think is the most important fact on this page? Why?

After Reading:

●	What information could be researched to deepen your understanding of this book? ●	Who would this topic appeal to? Why?
●	What is your opinion about this topic after reading this piece of text?

How to Promote Higher

Order Thinking Skills

at Home

Higher Order Thinking Skills OVerview

Most of us don’t think about thinking. We just do it!

● Higher Order Thinking Skills or H.O.T.S. is more

than memorizing facts or retelling.

● It is doing something with the information.

● It is understanding concepts, inferring, making

connections, analyzing, and creating.

Higher order thinking skills at home

● Encourage Questioning

Your child should be encouraged to ask questions before, during, and after reading.
You can ask, “What are you wondering as you look at the cover and title of this book?”

● Connect concepts

Some children need help identifying basic concepts in a text. Once they can identify a concept in the text, move towards making connections between concepts.
For example if they are going to be reading a chapter on electricity, ask them what they already know about electricity.

Higher order thinking skills at home

● Make inferences ● Use “Mind Movies”
● Model your thinking

● Use post-it notes to annotate

● Ask Higher Level Thinking Questions ● Elaborate answers

Book Suggestions and District Resources

Make a Connection with a book

Readers….

● notice book covers that are captivating

● want to ﬁnd books that can inform, intrigue, and have a lasting impact

● Can make a powerful connection with an author or favorite series

Sometimes, it just takes just one bookto make that connection!

Book suggestions that hook Readers Third Grade Favorites:

●	A-Z Mysteries by Ron Roy

●	Dogman by Dav Pinkey

●	I Survived by Lauren Tarshis

●	Ivy and Bean by Annie Barrows

●	Eerie Elementary by Jack Chabert

●	The Chocolate Touch by Patrick

●	Diary of a Minecraft Zombie by Zack

Zombie

●	Star Wars: Jedi Academy by Jeffrey

Brown

●	The Bad Guys by Aaron Blabey

●	The Yeti Files by Kevin Sherry

Skene Catling

●	The Littles by John Lawrence

Peterson

Book suggestions that hook readers Fourth Grade Favorites:

●	How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida

Cowell

●	Secrets of Droon by Tony Abbott

●	The Spiderwick Chronicles by Holly

Black and Tony DiTerlizzi

●	Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by

●	Encyclopedia Brown by Donald J.

Sobol

●	A Series of Unfortunate Events by

Lemony Snicket

●	Clementine by Sara

Pennypacker

Judy Blume

● Bunnicula by James Howe

Book suggestions that hook readers Fifth Grade Favorites:

●	The Homework Machine by Dan Gutman ● ●	Smile by Raina Telgemeier	● ●	Wonder by R.J Palacio	● ●	The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau	●
●	All Four Stars by Tara Dairman	●

The Babysitter’s Club by Ann M. Martin

The Lightning Thief by Percy Jackson

The Doll People by Ann N.Martin

The Green Ember by S.D. Smith

The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall

●	Belly Up by Stuart Gibbs

Book suggestions that hook readers Sixth Grade Favorites:

●	Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer

●	Ranger in Time by Kate Messner

●	Flora and Ulysses by K.G.

Campbell

●	The Greenglass House by Kate Milford

●	One Came Home by Amy Timberlake

●	The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

●	Eragon by Christopher Paolini

●	Foxcraft by Inbali Iserles	●	H.I.V.E. by Mark Walden

●	Amulet by Kazu Kibuishi

●	The Glass Sentence by S.E. Grove

●	The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the

●	Immortal by Michael Scott

Finding books using the district website: McIntyre

Click Here

Finding books using the district website: McIntyre

Click here for a more detailed search

Finding books using the district website: McIntyre

Finding books using the district website: Ross

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Finding books using the district website: Ross

Finding books using the district website: Ross

Looking for a Reading Counts Book?

Search by:

● interest level ● reading level
● topics and themes

Finding books using the district website: West View

Click Here

Finding books using the district website: HighCliff

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THank you for coming!