Outside/Inside is such a useful chart for elementary and middle school readers. This chart is interactive and helps students be able to understand that they can explicitly pull out excerpts from the text and make inferences about the author’s point of view. When you create this chart with students, they should be at a point where they have been introduced… Read more →
This fun chart can be the foundation for students in each grade level. The anchor standard explicitly states that students should analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text. At first glance this seems simple. The problem is that, after reading a text, many students struggle to even define or classify… Read more →
This is such a great visual for all grade levels to use. When students have book talks and really dig into a text, I like to eavesdrop on their conversations, interjecting to ask if they information they shared or discussed was explicit or the inferred. Students immediately look at the chart and I can also see their brains checking off… Read more →
Theme and main/ central idea are the two different terms used in the Anchor Reading Standard 2. While different terms, both get at the same core concept: message. What does the author want the reader to take away? This is confusing for students and most adults. Teaching it as two different concepts is challenging. So how do introduce these concepts?… Read more →
Students in third through fifth grade have probably spent several years learning about narrative structure. As they begin to learn more about informational text, they have to reframe how they think about text because informational text can be nonlinear. This means that it does not have to be read in the same way by everyone. Readers can “enter” the text… Read more →
If you are struggling with Standard 3: Connections & Relationships, consider explicitly introducting the seven major types of relationships independently. I like to start with one person that influences a big event. Students will inevitably have read or heard these types of stories or events. Create an anchor chart based on books that they have read about people who are… Read more →
There are two different skills included in the Word Play standard. The first deals with word meaning and the second deals with the impact of the word choice.The first skill for each grade level standard asks that students determine the meaning of words. This means that students need to have some instruction in context clues and the practice of noting… Read more →
Common Core Informational Text Standard RI3 is a unique standard that balances critical thinking with textual evidence. This standard might be my new favorite (do I say that for every one?) standard. This standard really puts the responsibility of making connections in the students’ corner. When you plan an effective Common Core lesson for this standard, you want to be… Read more →
