Reading Comprehension Strategy Defenitions

Weekly Reader Releases Expanded, Enriched Version of its Award-Winning Online ...

/PRNewswire/ -- Educational publisher Weekly Reader announces today the release of Weekly Reader Connect 2.0 -- a redesigned, vastly expanded version of the online reading comprehension program that was named one of the top 100 educational products of 2010 by District Administration magazine.

Weekly Reader Connect, which launched in 2010, is a Web-based service for kindergarten through sixth grade. It combines the dynamic content Weekly Reader is famous for -- frequently updated, age-appropriate news materials, now enhanced with video and other multimedia resources -- with an in-depth, online reading comprehension program. Version 2.0 adds numerous new features , including educational games and vocabulary lessons, more animation and read-aloud materials, grade-specific assessments, a dynamic home page, and 129 additional on-screen comprehension lessons.

"This revamped edition of Weekly Reader Connect takes what was already an exciting way to teach reading comprehension and makes it deeper, stronger, more engaging, and more user-friendly," said , the company's Senior Vice President, Editorial. "We expect teachers will be delighted with the fresh look and powerful new resources."

More than 200,000 students in 46 states used the program in its first year. The response was hugely enthusiastic: "Weekly Reader Connect is an effective, engaging, and technological means for teaching reading skills! It works and my students love it!" noted .

Since its launch, Weekly Reader Connect has offered educators tools for teaching reading comprehension in a direct fashion. It includes more than 300 grade-specific reading passages and over 100 lesson plans. The program is built around the Concepts of Comprehension,© a framework of comprehension skills developed by the nonprofit Urban Education Exchange. Weekly Reader Connect requires no special software or other tools; it is available through a password-protected Web site and is sold only for school-wide usage.

How to Use Read-Aloud Mini Lessons to Teach Reading Comprehension ...

Read Aloud Mini Lessons and Reading Comprehension

A mini lesson, by definition should be mini.  In other words, a mini lesson should last no longer than 5-7 minutes.  The read aloud is an ideal place to use mini lessons because you can use an anchor text to introduce a reading strategy in a very short period of time.   The key to an effective mini lesson is explicit, intentional instruction.

It is important that you introduce the anchor text prior to the mini lesson.  An anchor text is a book that you repeatedly read with your students but have a different purpose for reading each time you read the text.  As a result, the students become very familiar and comfortable with the characters, plot, etc. and are able to focus on specific strategies to improve comprehension.  In this way, all learning and practice with new strategies becomes anchored to specific texts.

Deliver your mini lesson using the following steps as a guide.  Remember to keep your instructional language to a minimum.  The goal is define a very clear purpose for your students.

Connect

State your teaching point.  Tell the students why today’s work is important to them as readers and connect today’s work to previous learning.  For example, you might say:

“Today we are going to re-read The Lorax by Dr. Seuss.  While reading we are going to work on identifying the author’s message. 

Teach

Show the students how a reader goes about identifying the author’s message.  Select a specific place in the text where the author provides the reader with a message. Guide the students as they work with you to identify the author’s message.   Invite the students to discuss the author’s message: What do they think the author is trying to say?  What evidence do they have to support the author’s message?

Because you have already read the book, you and your students can focus solely on comprehension strategy work.  It is unnecessary to read the entire book during the mini lesson.