Do you need some work for upper elementary or middle school students? Here is a unit made to last the duration of the virus for all parents teaching at home
All you need is a copy of the book – Hoot by Carl Hiaasen.
The calendar is attached and the discounted unit can be found by clicking here:
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Jacqueline Woodson is a current African American young adult author with so many great books. Check out her website: https://www.jacquelinewoodson.com/
I created a small bundle to highlight two of my favorite novels she has written: Brown Girl Dreaming and Harbor Me. I use them for literature circles in my seventh grade class, but can be used in many different ways. This product can be used for each book individually, as book or reading buddies, or in literature circles. You could make this any time frame which you chose. In addition, there is a four page lesson based from the book Before Tupac and D Foster. It includes excerpts and poems with a complete key. There is a literature circle packet which I use over a four week time period. The skills are outlined below.
Each group receives a Literature Circle packet with four assignments:
After each book completes the novel, there are two separate assessments which includes a complete key. It is 20 multiple choice questions unique and consistent for each book, but following the same outline:
This small bundle is just a part of my LARGE African American literature bundle found here. This bundle contains the same format for the literature circles, but gives additional book titles and assessments.
If you love my work, check out my newest Bundle of The Crossover by Kwame Alexander. My seventh graders LOVED this novel! Now it comes as a graphic novel too.
Reading literature and/or informational text and being able to answer questions based from text is central in today’s Common Core Learning Standards. Although the idea of formal testing can be intimidating, there are some benefits in improving measurable reading comprehension. There are even some fun ways to create better readers!
Reading Comprehension Questions in Education Island.
What skills are being mastered by answering questions?
Reading Comprehension:
One of the primary standards that needs to be addressed in the 21st century is teaching students to become efficient rigor. Reading comprehension is the foundation in developing literacy. Guided reading levels, or Lexile levels, have been created to meet a student’s individual need and build reading at their appropriate speed. This product is for comprehension questions to assess a student’s understanding of a piece literature at their specific reading level.
In addition, by answering the “right there” type of questions, students will need to recall information and use close reading skills to go back into the reading to find the details to answer the question. “Inferential” type of questions require students to read the material, arrive at a response, analyze their response, and draw a conclusion based from this multi-level thinking.
Close reading techniques are best to use when reading a piece of text for the first time. Close ( or sometimes Cloze reading) follows three basic steps:
Assessment Strategies
By answering a variety of questions based from a piece of literature, student’s knowledge in finding answers by using close reading strategies will dramatically increase!
How can you use these questions in your classroom?
What are some instructional ideas to implement the use of these questions in my classroom?
Divide students into groups of 4-6 people. These are called Jigsaw Groups. Jigsaw works best when you have the same number of students in each team; although this is rarely possible, try to get as close as you can.
Divide the questions into equal piles for each group. (If you have 4 students per group, give each student in their Jigsaw Group the SAME five questions). Then, give the students time to read and answer their five questions together. When the class seems finished, give each group the answers to their questions. Have the students discuss how they decided on their answers, where they found the answers, and how they will teach the questions.
Next, create new groups where there is one “expert” from each Jigsaw Group. Each Expert Group should have one student from each of the Jigsaw Groups. Distribute ALL the questions to each student. As the new groups go over the questions, each student will have the opportunity to be the “expert”. 
The reason this works: Cooperative learning has been identified as one of the nine instructional methods proven by research to make a significant difference in student performance (Marzano, Pickering & Pollock, 2001)
2. Reciprocal Learning is one of the driving instructional means. These are activities where students coach each other through exercises that apply to the content.
There are two types of Reciprocal Learning that could be used. The first is a “Think, Pair, Share” and the second is a “Back to Back and Front to Front”. In a “Think, Pair, Share”, students in pairs or small groups are given a question or topic. Then, they are given time to think about their response. Then, the partners share their thoughts with each other. Finally, they share their responses with the class. In the “Back to Back and Front to Front” method, students stand back to back with a partner. The same procedure is followed. Partners continually change throughout the unit.
The reason this works: Students who work in peer partnerships make measurable academic gains, develop more positive attitudes toward subject matter, become less dependent on the teacher, and spend more time on a task when working with a partner than when working independently (King-Sears & Bradley, 1995).
3. Flipped Learning is a strategy where the students complete the traditional instructional work at home and class time is used for reinforcement, clarifying and challenging learners.
Students will take home the book and questions. For “homework”, the students will read and answer the questions at an individual pace. Students will answer the questions.
During the next class period, class time can be used to dig further into the concepts for each question. The text can be reviewed and deeper connections made. With the shift to more learning outside of the classroom, the content moves from playing a “supporting” role to playing a central role.
The reason this works: “Class time is now maximized in order to adopt various methods of instruction such as active learning strategies, peer instruction, problem-based learning, or mastery or Socratic methods, depending on grade level and subject matter.” (http://www.flippedclassroomworkshop.com/the-4-pillars-of-flipped-learning-the-keys-to-successful-flipped-instruction/ 2014)
4. Mind’s Eye is a fourth strategy which could be implemented, however, it would require additional preparation by the classroom teacher.
How it works is that the teacher would choose 10-30 words from the text that evoke strong feelings or images in students’ minds.
Before starting the lesson, teachers give students a very limited overview of what they are about to read, so they have some content to build on.
Read the words slowly and dramatically. Instruct students to create movies in their minds of what they think will happen in the text. As each new word is read, students should try to incorporate it into their mental picture. Students can then draw a picture, write a questions, make a prediction, or describe a feeling the mental picture gives them.
Then, students will read the book and compare it with their initial thoughts. The questions will then serve as a formative assessment on the text.
The reason this works: The impact of Mind’e Eye is based on the principle of dual coding, the idea that storing information in two ways (through language and images) makes learning stick better. This has been shown to be especially true for reading (Sadoski and Paivio, 2001).
I have numerous reading comprehension bundles in my store. Here is a free sample of the quality of my work: The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses, by Paul Goble. This is a Guided Reading Level N.
Here is a link to all the products I currently have available in my store: Reading Comprehension Questions in Education Island.
Please follow me at my TpT store: Education Island, to stay current as I have over a hundred book question bundles that I will be publishing in the next six months. I’m working on some larger bundles by Lexile Level that will be available soon.
This is a link to literature specific to winter.
Stay connected with me:
Blog: https://wordpress.com/posts/educationisland.wordpress.com
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/educationisland/
People who have used my products have said:
“This question assessment is very well thought out and provides many ideas to incorporate into a Native American unit. Thank you for sharing!” Dana B.
“These are great questions! I am so happy with my purchase, Thank you :-)” Buyer
“This was a terrific list of questions, I was able to pick and choose for a variety of assessments as we read the book.” Amy D.
Terms of Use:
Please use this item for personal use only. Unlimited licenses for others to use can be purchased at 50% off the original price. This item can be reproduced for use within your classroom. Please do not give any items purchased away or reproduce them for others to use. Do not post any paid products online, including a website. Please contact me if you have questions about the usage of any of our products. Thank you.
The Crossover
Here are some ideas for pre-reading activities for “The Crossover” by Kwame Alexander. I read this epic novel with my seventh grade students and they LOVE IT! I have all of these activities in my TpT store.
Preparation:
First, I laminate both the “photographs and poetry” handouts and make enough copies for each group. I place the images inside a manila folder and staple the directions on the outside of the folder.
Then, I do the same for the documents in the “storyboard” folder. This way, I have all my materials ready for the first two lessons.
I also laminate all the basketball instructions so they are more durable in the gymnasium.
I find using white boards in each group for poetry and storyboarding to be a more fun way to create the final projects. As there really are not right or wrong answers for these activities, it makes it a little more engaging for the students.
For these activities, I divide my class into seven small groups of 3-4 students.
Predictions and Poetry – Lesson 1; One class period
In each group, students will receive an envelope with all the photographs, a white board and an eraser.
First, the teacher should read the instructions to the students (I also staple these to the manila folder).
When the objectives are understood, students will begin by viewing and grouping all the photographs. They are looking for connections. They can write their predictions on the white boards. When all groups have finished and shared their predictions, students will write a Haiku poem on the whiteboard.
Storyboards – Lesson 2: One class period
Very similar to the photograph and poetry lesson in terms of objectives and procedure. However, in this lesson students are given random documents to create a storyboard. This does not necessarily have to be a prediction, but a way to creatively tell a story. It is helpful to have documents in an envelope with the instructions stapled on the outside. Whiteboards work well for this lesson too.
Play Basketball – Lesson 3; One class period
To play basketball, I laminated the directions and took the students into the gymnasium. They were able to keep the document at their feet while trying the different drills.
Vocabulary & Tupac – Lesson 4; One- two class periods (or one class with homework)
First, I hand out copies of both vocabulary lists and the skills to know list for students to use as reference throughout the unit. I briefly review the words but they appear in greater detail as the unit unfolds.
In this lesson, I use “The Rose that Grew from Concrete” and “Before Tupac” to introduce how rap music is actually poetry. This helps to make the connection of how “Crossover” is actually written.
“The Crossover” by Kwame Alexander is the newest, hippest book for middle school students! I’m creating a new unit from scratch this year. So, Follow my TpT store for all the latest lesson plans!
Activity 1: “The Rose That Grew from Concrete”
This is an activity based from Tupac Shakur’s poem, “The Rose that Grew from Concrete”. This in a three page printable handout with a complete key, a PowerPoint presentation, a ticket out the door and a writing prompt.
My seventh graders love when I include Tupac in lessons, so this is extremely popular. It deals with the character trait of resiliency. Which lead to the next activity.
Activity 2: “Before Tupac and D Foster” by Jacqueline Woodson.
This is a four page printable, with complete key, which takes excerpts from the novel and poems of Tupac to make connections with “The Crossover”. This lesson could be done as a prereading activity for “The Crossover” or independently as well.
by Kwame Alexander! 5 words, assessment example & ten slides!
Check back often or follow my TpT store to get all the latest lessons for this awesome novel.
Do you need take home book bag ideas or book buddy supplements for an entire school year? This is the site for you! Pick and choose up to 40 titles to create book bags for an entire school year.
I have over one hundred titles with reading comprehension questions associated with each. Each book has a specific number of questions, based on the Guided Reading Level. Half of the questions are “right there” type questions and the other half are inferential type questions. They are printable and ready to be used in book bags or with book buddies. CLICK HERE FOR ALL MY BOOK CURRENTLY AVAILABLE TO BUNDLE AT A DISCOUNTED RATE
Book questions can be individually chosen for your own classroom or home library. There are 20-30 questions per book. Level A-C have ten questions per book. Each set of questions comes with a key. Choosing books from the books on the list below would only be $1 per book. You may choose up to 40 books for $40. If you would like a specific title,k you may request that for $10 a book with the consent that it will be relisted on Teachers Pay Teachers. Please email me at educationisland.tpt@gmail.com with any questions or to start the process.
I’d also suggest this for any parent wanting their elementary child to get some extra assistance with reading comprehension.
Check out my FREE sample of a preschool/kindergarten title here.
Also, here is a FREE sample of a mid-upper elementary book title.
For one year, I’d suggest getting 40 titles. Each week would look something like this:
Monday – Allow students to choose a book of interest and appropriate guided reading level. Students will skim the book in class, for gist. Then, students will take home the book and read it with a parent.
Tuesday – Bring the book back to school. Take time in school for students to read to one another. Take home the book again and read it independently.
Wednesday – Bring the book back to school. Ask the teachers any questions. Read and explain the book with a book buddy. Take home the book and read it aloud to a parent.
Thursday – Bring the book for the last time with the questions. Students should ask an adult quiz their child on the book by asking all the questions.
The reason this works:
Re-reading is SO important. It provides students with confidence, fluency, interest, increased comprehension, vocabulary development, cadence, and greater analysis and understanding. Repeating the process weekly also develops organization and structure for young readers.
Here is a list of books in my current inventory:
Level B titles:
The White House, The Statue of Liberty, and The Liberty Bell, by By Alison and Stephen Eldridge
Level C & D titles:
Books by Laura Ottina
Also,
Level E & F titles:
Also,
Level J:
Level K:
Level L:
Level O & Q:
I also have numerous young adult book questions available. Please contact me about bundling these as well.
Recent Feedback includes: This is great for a struggling reader I have who loves that he can read a chapter book and answer questions about it.
Reading literature and/or informational text and being able to answer questions based from text is central in today’s Common Core Learning Standards. Although the idea of formal testing can be intimidating, there are some benefits in improving measurable reading comprehension. There are even some fun ways to create better readers!
Reading Comprehension Questions in Education Island.
What skills are being mastered by answering questions?
Reading Comprehension:
One of the primary standards that needs to be addressed in the 21st century is teaching students to become efficient rigor. Reading comprehension is the foundation in developing literacy. Guided reading levels, or Lexile levels, have been created to meet a student’s individual need and build reading at their appropriate speed. This product is for comprehension questions to assess a student’s understanding of a piece literature at their specific reading level.
In addition, by answering the “right there” type of questions, students will need to recall information and use close reading skills to go back into the reading to find the details to answer the question. “Inferential” type of questions require students to read the material, arrive at a response, analyze their response, and draw a conclusion based from this multi-level thinking.
Close reading techniques are best to use when reading a piece of text for the first time. Close ( or sometimes Cloze reading) follows three basic steps:
Assessment Strategies
By answering a variety of questions based from a piece of literature, student’s knowledge in finding answers by using close reading strategies will dramatically increase!
How can you use these questions in your classroom?
What are some instructional ideas to implement the use of these questions in my classroom?
Divide students into groups of 4-6 people. These are called Jigsaw Groups. Jigsaw works best when you have the same number of students in each team; although this is rarely possible, try to get as close as you can.
Divide the questions into equal piles for each group. (If you have 4 students per group, give each student in their Jigsaw Group the SAME five questions). Then, give the students time to read and answer their five questions together. When the class seems finished, give each group the answers to their questions. Have the students discuss how they decided on their answers, where they found the answers, and how they will teach the questions.
Next, create new groups where there is one “expert” from each Jigsaw Group. Each Expert Group should have one student from each of the Jigsaw Groups. Distribute ALL the questions to each student. As the new groups go over the questions, each student will have the opportunity to be the “expert”. 
The reason this works: Cooperative learning has been identified as one of the nine instructional methods proven by research to make a significant difference in student performance (Marzano, Pickering & Pollock, 2001)
2. Reciprocal Learning is one of the driving instructional means. These are activities where students coach each other through exercises that apply to the content.
There are two types of Reciprocal Learning that could be used. The first is a “Think, Pair, Share” and the second is a “Back to Back and Front to Front”. In a “Think, Pair, Share”, students in pairs or small groups are given a question or topic. Then, they are given time to think about their response. Then, the partners share their thoughts with each other. Finally, they share their responses with the class. In the “Back to Back and Front to Front” method, students stand back to back with a partner. The same procedure is followed. Partners continually change throughout the unit.
The reason this works: Students who work in peer partnerships make measurable academic gains, develop more positive attitudes toward subject matter, become less dependent on the teacher, and spend more time on a task when working with a partner than when working independently (King-Sears & Bradley, 1995).
3. Flipped Learning is a strategy where the students complete the traditional instructional work at home and class time is used for reinforcement, clarifying and challenging learners.
Students will take home the book and questions. For “homework”, the students will read and answer the questions at an individual pace. Students will answer the questions.
During the next class period, class time can be used to dig further into the concepts for each question. The text can be reviewed and deeper connections made. With the shift to more learning outside of the classroom, the content moves from playing a “supporting” role to playing a central role.
The reason this works: “Class time is now maximized in order to adopt various methods of instruction such as active learning strategies, peer instruction, problem-based learning, or mastery or Socratic methods, depending on grade level and subject matter.” (http://www.flippedclassroomworkshop.com/the-4-pillars-of-flipped-learning-the-keys-to-successful-flipped-instruction/ 2014)
4. Mind’s Eye is a fourth strategy which could be implemented, however, it would require additional preparation by the classroom teacher.
How it works is that the teacher would choose 10-30 words from the text that evoke strong feelings or images in students’ minds.
Before starting the lesson, teachers give students a very limited overview of what they are about to read, so they have some content to build on.
Read the words slowly and dramatically. Instruct students to create movies in their minds of what they think will happen in the text. As each new word is read, students should try to incorporate it into their mental picture. Students can then draw a picture, write a questions, make a prediction, or describe a feeling the mental picture gives them.
Then, students will read the book and compare it with their initial thoughts. The questions will then serve as a formative assessment on the text.
The reason this works: The impact of Mind’e Eye is based on the principle of dual coding, the idea that storing information in two ways (through language and images) makes learning stick better. This has been shown to be especially true for reading (Sadoski and Paivio, 2001).
I have numerous reading comprehension bundles in my store. Here is a free sample of the quality of my work: The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses, by Paul Goble. This is a Guided Reading Level N.
Here is a link to all the products I currently have available in my store: Reading Comprehension Questions in Education Island.
Please follow me at my TpT store: Education Island, to stay current as I have over a hundred book question bundles that I will be publishing in the next six months. I’m working on some larger bundles by Lexile Level that will be available soon.
This is a link to literature specific to winter.
Stay connected with me:
Blog: https://wordpress.com/posts/educationisland.wordpress.com
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/educationisland/
People who have used my products have said:
“This question assessment is very well thought out and provides many ideas to incorporate into a Native American unit. Thank you for sharing!” Dana B.
“These are great questions! I am so happy with my purchase, Thank you :-)” Buyer
“This was a terrific list of questions, I was able to pick and choose for a variety of assessments as we read the book.” Amy D.
Terms of Use:
Please use this item for personal use only. Unlimited licenses for others to use can be purchased at 50% off the original price. This item can be reproduced for use within your classroom. Please do not give any items purchased away or reproduce them for others to use. Do not post any paid products online, including a website. Please contact me if you have questions about the usage of any of our products. Thank you.
Teaching Laura Ingalls Wilder is a timeless and classic unit that is both fun and extremely educational for almost any elementary level. I loved her as a child and love teaching her books to my students and my own children. For both in the classroom or parents looking for enrichment activities with their own children, the Little House books are perfect for kids!
Using the My First Little House book series, I have created comprehension questions for each of the books. The questions are divided into “right there” and “inferential” questions. We live about an hour from Rochester, so on the drive, I had my kids (ages 9&7) use this product in the car ride. They would take turns reading the My First Little House Book series and then using my comprehension questions to “test” each other. The car ride passed quickly and I enjoyed hearing their discussions and opinions that the questions provided.
If you’d like to see my product, click here or on the image below.
This is a new product, so check out my buyer’s feedback! I’m sure you’ll enjoy these!
Recently, I took my own children to the Genessee County Museum, just outside Rochester, NY for Laura Ingalls Wilder weekend. I’d like to share some of the photographs I took. Please feel free to edit these to use in your classroom if they can be of use to you.
Making a Scented Drawer Pouch
There were so many enrichment ideas at the museum as well. First was a
Colonial craft that my kids enjoyed making: a scented pouch. All the materials you need are:
Just pre-cut fabric into squares about 8 inches. Then cut about 6 inch pieces of ribbon. Find or dry assorted herbs to use. Some ideas are lavender, rosemary, dried lemon, lime or orange peels, rose petals, cinnamon, dried cranberry, evergreen needles, etc. All the scents must be completely dried and chopped finely. Kids add the ingredients (about 4 teaspoons) and tie the fabric with the ribbon to make a scented pouch. They LOVED it. My kids already decided to make different scents for different seasons! So easy and fun.
Pioneer Toys and Games
There are also so many games to play that Laura and her sisters might engage in. Many could be easily created or purchased. Some ideas are:
Farm animals
Teaching about Laura Ingalls Wilder could also bring in something every kid loves: ANIMALS! If you live near a farm, bring your kids or students to visit a farm would be ideal. But researching and learning about the farm animals the Ingalls family needed to survive is appealing to all ages. In addition, learning about the animals in the Big Woods, that Pa used his rifle for hunting, provides kids with a deeper understanding of the importance of gardening and hunting in Laura’s day. These are just a few ideas to add a science component into a unit on Laura Ingalls Wilder.
Understanding Life in Pioneer Times
The photo below, all taken at the Genessee County Museum outside Rochester, NY, depict real life in Laura’s day. First, explaining a one-room school house. Let your children use chalk slates, instead of paper, for their writing. Show them a primary speller from the era, or a quill and ink pen. Explain how a bell was rung and ALL students were taught in a single classroom. In a one room school house, there were no screens. So, children were either overheated or swarmed by bugs on hot days. Schools were often freezing in the winter with just one pot bellied stove to warm the room. Use these photos:
Store Signs
Many people in Pioneer Days were unable to read. So, stores had to rely on pictures to depict what type of store it was: scissors for a barber, a needle and thread for a dressmaker. Use these photos to show a shoe shop, a blacksmith and a cooper:
Artifacts
One of the most fun ways to teach about different eras is through learning about artifacts. Finding old artifacts, letting kids touch and explore them will help them to understand life in Pioneer days. Below are some photos from a pioneer midwife, dyeing material and yarn, blacksmith materials and more. Dyeing the yarn was especially interesting to watch, as it reminded the kids of tie-dying shirts. This could be a really fun experiment to try.
Within these photos are an Old General Store. I asked the kids what Pa might get from a store that he can only visit once a month. Why the store sold calico instead of dresses, what are essentials vs treats…. The kids came up with some excellent ideas and we had fun guessing what Pa’s shopping bag might contain. You could combine this activity with pricing to add math into the unit. If Pa had one dollar, label items different prices and see what the students think Pa would buy!
FOOD!
Any type of food is always pleasing for children. We had a ton of fun tasting baked goods, a pickle on a stick, cinnamon water, molasses, syrup, corn bread, fruits and vegetables and other treats Laura and her sister’s might eat. I used the Little House Cookbook for other ideas. My own children love the Johnny Cakes. But, there are so many fun and inexpensive ways to introduce Pioneer food to kids.
If you’d like to read the entire description of my product: 12 My Little House Books reading comprehension questions, please see below. Otherwise, I hope this gives you some great ideas to incorporate Laura Ingalls Wilder into your home or classroom.
Titles include: A Little House Birthday, A Little Prairie House, Winter Days in the Big Woods, Sugar Snow, Winter on the Farm, Dance at Grandpa’s, Summertime in the Big Woods, County Fair, Going to Town, Christmas in the Big Woods, Prairie Day, Going West and The Deer in the Wood.
Recent Feedback includes: This is great for a struggling reader I have who loves that he can read a chapter book and answer questions about it.
Reading literature and/or informational text and being able to answer questions based from text is central in today’s Common Core Learning Standards. Although the idea of formal testing can be intimidating, there are some benefits in improving measurable reading comprehension. There are even some fun ways to create better readers!
Reading Comprehension Questions in Education Island.
What skills are being mastered by answering questions?
Reading Comprehension:
One of the primary standards that needs to be addressed in the 21st century is teaching students to become efficient rigor. Reading comprehension is the foundation in developing literacy. Guided reading levels, or Lexile levels, have been created to meet a student’s individual need and build reading at their appropriate speed. This product is for comprehension questions to assess a student’s understanding of a piece literature at their specific reading level.
In addition, by answering the “right there” type of questions, students will need to recall information and use close reading skills to go back into the reading to find the details to answer the question. “Inferential” type of questions require students to read the material, arrive at a response, analyze their response, and draw a conclusion based from this multi-level thinking.
Close reading techniques are best to use when reading a piece of text for the first time. Close ( or sometimes Cloze reading) follows three basic steps:
Look over the text (book or article). Look at the title, any bold words or heading. Glance at the pictures, charts, graphs, etc. Make a prediction!
Read the text.
Re-read the text looking for specific details and mastery.
Complete the assessment task.
Assessment Strategies
By answering a variety of questions based from a piece of literature, student’s knowledge in finding answers by using close reading strategies will dramatically increase!
How can you use these questions in your classroom?
Upload questions into Powerpoint presentations or internet classroom games sites like com, Kahoot.it.com to create interactive classroom games.
Print out questions to use as a formal assessment for students when completing the book individually or as a class.
Send questions home as reading reinforcement when completing nightly reading assignments.
Print out questions and cut into individual pieces for differentiated instruction and use in many different classroom strategies to increase lesson rigor.
Use for literature circles as assessment tools where each student is tested on their individual book.
Send home in “book bags” for students and parents to use as reinforcement for reading at home.
What are some instructional ideas to implement the use of these questions in my classroom?
Jigsaw – this is a strategy where students study chunks of content in expert groups, then teach their content to each other.
Divide students into groups of 4-6 people. These are called Jigsaw Groups. Jigsaw works best when you have the same number of students in each team; although this is rarely possible, try to get as close as you can.
Divide the questions into equal piles for each group. (If you have 4 students per group, give each student in their Jigsaw Group the SAME five questions). Then, give the students time to read and answer their five questions together. When the class seems finished, give each group the answers to their questions. Have the students discuss how they decided on their answers, where they found the answers, and how they will teach the questions.
Next, create new groups where there is one “expert” from each Jigsaw Group. Each Expert Group should have one student from each of the Jigsaw Groups. Distribute ALL the questions to each student. As the new groups go over the questions, each student will have the opportunity to be the “expert”. The reason this works: Cooperative learning has been identified as one of the nine instructional methods proven by research to make a significant difference in student performance (Marzano, Pickering & Pollock, 2001)
2. Reciprocal Learning is one of the driving instructional means. These are activities where students coach each other through exercises that apply to the content.
There are two types of Reciprocal Learning that could be used. The first is a “Think, Pair, Share” and the second is a “Back to Back and Front to Front”. In a “Think, Pair, Share”, students in pairs or small groups are given a question or topic. Then, they are given time to think about their response. Then, the partners share their thoughts with each other. Finally, they share their responses with the class. In the “Back to Back and Front to Front” method, students stand back to back with a partner. The same procedure is followed. Partners continually change throughout the unit.
The reason this works: Students who work in peer partnerships make measurable academic gains, develop more positive attitudes toward subject matter, become less dependent on the teacher, and spend more time on a task when working with a partner than when working independently (King-Sears & Bradley, 1995).
3. Flipped Learning is a strategy where the students complete the traditional instructional work at home and class time is used for reinforcement, clarifying and challenging learners.
Students will take home the book and questions. For “homework”, the students will read and answer the questions at an individual pace. Students will answer the questions.
During the next class period, class time can be used to dig further into the concepts for each question. The text can be reviewed and deeper connections made. With the shift to more learning outside of the classroom, the content moves from playing a “supporting” role to playing a central role.
The reason this works: “Class time is now maximized in order to adopt various methods of instruction such as active learning strategies, peer instruction, problem-based learning, or mastery or Socratic methods, depending on grade level and subject matter.” (http://www.flippedclassroomworkshop.com/the-4-pillars-of-flipped-learning-the-keys-to-successful-flipped-instruction/ 2014)
4. Mind’s Eye is a fourth strategy which could be implemented, however, it would require additional preparation by the classroom teacher.
How it works is that the teacher would choose 10-30 words from the text that evoke strong feelings or images in students’ minds.
Before starting the lesson, teachers give students a very limited overview of what they are about to read, so they have some content to build on.
Read the words slowly and dramatically. Instruct students to create movies in their minds of what they think will happen in the text. As each new word is read, students should try to incorporate it into their mental picture. Students can then draw a picture, write a questions, make a prediction, or describe a feeling the mental picture gives them.
Then, students will read the book and compare it with their initial thoughts. The questions will then serve as a formative assessment on the text.
The reason this works: The impact of Mind’e Eye is based on the principle of dual coding, the idea that storing information in two ways (through language and images) makes learning stick better. This has been shown to be especially true for reading (Sadoski and Paivio, 2001).
I have numerous reading comprehension bundles in my store. Here is a free sample of the quality of my work: The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses, by Paul Goble. This is a Guided Reading Level N.
Here is a link to all the products I currently have available in my store: Reading Comprehension Questions in Education Island.
Please follow me at my TpT store: Education Island, to stay current as I have over a hundred book question bundles that I will be publishing in the next six months. I’m working on some larger bundles by Lexile Level that will be available soon.
This is a link to literature specific to winter.
Stay connected with me:
Blog: https://wordpress.com/posts/educationisland.wordpress.com
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/educationisland/
People who have used my products have said:
“This question assessment is very well thought out and provides many ideas to incorporate into a Native American unit. Thank you for sharing!” Dana B.
“These are great questions! I am so happy with my purchase, Thank you :-)” Buyer
“This was a terrific list of questions, I was able to pick and choose for a variety of assessments as we read the book.” Amy D.
Terms of Use:
Please use this item for personal use only. Unlimited licenses for others to use can be purchased at 50% off the original price. This item can be reproduced for use within your classroom. Please do not give any items purchased away or reproduce them for others to use. Do not post any paid products online, including a website. Please contact me if you have questions about the usage of any of our products. Thank you.
This product is a .zip file for 30 guided reading books comprehension questions for the book “What Was Pearl Harbor?” by Patricia Brennen Demuth. It is a factual, age appropriate account of the attack of Pearl Harbor filled with illustrations and photographs. It is set up as an early chapter book. It is a Lexile Level 800 or guided reading level S. There are 30 questions total; 15 “right there” type and 15 inferential questions. These questions would be a great addition in literature circles or to use as classroom discussions. Book bags are another popular way teachers incorporate these questions. They can also be implemented into websites and games. See my blog post about creating book bags or book buddy questions for a year HERE.
Reading literature and/or informational text and being able to answer questions based from text is central in today’s Common Core Learning Standards. Although the idea of formal testing can be intimidating, there are some benefits in improving measurable reading comprehension. There are even some fun ways to create better readers!
Reading Comprehension Questions in Education Island.
What skills are being mastered by answering questions?
Reading Comprehension:
One of the primary standards that needs to be addressed in the 21st century is teaching students to become efficient rigor. Reading comprehension is the foundation in developing literacy. Guided reading levels, or Lexile levels, have been created to meet a student’s individual need and build reading at their appropriate speed. This product is for comprehension questions to assess a student’s understanding of a piece literature at their specific reading level.
In addition, by answering the “right there” type of questions, students will need to recall information and use close reading skills to go back into the reading to find the details to answer the question. “Inferential” type of questions require students to read the material, arrive at a response, analyze their response, and draw a conclusion based from this multi-level thinking.
Close reading techniques are best to use when reading a piece of text for the first time. Close ( or sometimes Cloze reading) follows three basic steps:
Assessment Strategies
By answering a variety of questions based from a piece of literature, student’s knowledge in finding answers by using close reading strategies will dramatically increase!
How can you use these questions in your classroom?
What are some instructional ideas to implement the use of these questions in my classroom?
Divide students into groups of 4-6 people. These are called Jigsaw Groups. Jigsaw works best when you have the same number of students in each team; although this is rarely possible, try to get as close as you can.
Divide the questions into equal piles for each group. (If you have 4 students per group, give each student in their Jigsaw Group the SAME five questions). Then, give the students time to read and answer their five questions together. When the class seems finished, give each group the answers to their questions. Have the students discuss how they decided on their answers, where they found the answers, and how they will teach the questions.
Next, create new groups where there is one “expert” from each Jigsaw Group. Each Expert Group should have one student from each of the Jigsaw Groups. Distribute ALL the questions to each student. As the new groups go over the questions, each student will have the opportunity to be the “expert”.
The reason this works: Cooperative learning has been identified as one of the nine instructional methods proven by research to make a significant difference in student performance (Marzano, Pickering & Pollock, 2001)
2. Reciprocal Learning is one of the driving instructional means. These are activities where students coach each other through exercises that apply to the content.
There are two types of Reciprocal Learning that could be used. The first is a “Think, Pair, Share” and the second is a “Back to Back and Front to Front”. In a “Think, Pair, Share”, students in pairs or small groups are given a question or topic. Then, they are given time to think about their response. Then, the partners share their thoughts with each other. Finally, they share their responses with the class. In the “Back to Back and Front to Front” method, students stand back to back with a partner. The same procedure is followed. Partners continually change throughout the unit.
The reason this works: Students who work in peer partnerships make measurable academic gains, develop more positive attitudes toward subject matter, become less dependent on the teacher, and spend more time on a task when working with a partner than when working independently (King-Sears & Bradley, 1995).
3. Flipped Learning is a strategy where the students complete the traditional instructional work at home and class time is used for reinforcement, clarifying and challenging learners.
Students will take home the book and questions. For “homework”, the students will read and answer the questions at an individual pace. Students will answer the questions.
During the next class period, class time can be used to dig further into the concepts for each question. The text can be reviewed and deeper connections made. With the shift to more learning outside of the classroom, the content moves from playing a “supporting” role to playing a central role.
The reason this works: “Class time is now maximized in order to adopt various methods of instruction such as active learning strategies, peer instruction, problem-based learning, or mastery or Socratic methods, depending on grade level and subject matter.” (http://www.flippedclassroomworkshop.com/the-4-pillars-of-flipped-learning-the-keys-to-successful-flipped-instruction/ 2014)
4. Mind’s Eye is a fourth strategy which could be implemented, however, it would require additional preparation by the classroom teacher.
How it works is that the teacher would choose 10-30 words from the text that evoke strong feelings or images in students’ minds.
Before starting the lesson, teachers give students a very limited overview of what they are about to read, so they have some content to build on.
Read the words slowly and dramatically. Instruct students to create movies in their minds of what they think will happen in the text. As each new word is read, students should try to incorporate it into their mental picture. Students can then draw a picture, write a questions, make a prediction, or describe a feeling the mental picture gives them.
Then, students will read the book and compare it with their initial thoughts. The questions will then serve as a formative assessment on the text.
The reason this works: The impact of Mind’e Eye is based on the principle of dual coding, the idea that storing information in two ways (through language and images) makes learning stick better. This has been shown to be especially true for reading (Sadoski and Paivio, 2001).
I have numerous reading comprehension bundles in my store. Here is a free sample of the quality of my work: The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses, by Paul Goble. This is a Guided Reading Level N.
Here is a link to all the products I currently have available in my store: Reading Comprehension Questions in Education Island.
Please follow me at my TpT store: Education Island, to stay current as I have over a hundred book question bundles that I will be publishing in the next six months. I’m working on some larger bundles by Lexile Level that will be available soon.
This is a link to literature specific to winter.
Stay connected with me:
Blog: https://wordpress.com/posts/educationisland.wordpress.com
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/educationisland/
People who have used my products have said:
“This question assessment is very well thought out and provides many ideas to incorporate into a Native American unit. Thank you for sharing!” Dana B.
“These are great questions! I am so happy with my purchase, Thank you :-)” Buyer
“This was a terrific list of questions, I was able to pick and choose for a variety of assessments as we read the book.” Amy D.
Terms of Use:
Please use this item for personal use only. Unlimited licenses for others to use can be purchased at 50% off the original price. This item can be reproduced for use within your classroom. Please do not give any items purchased away or reproduce them for others to use. Do not post any paid products online, including a website. Please contact me if you have questions about the usage of any of our products. Thank you.
tivity for “The Crossover” by Kwame Alexander, but could be used independently.
educationisland 