Helping Your Child Read & Get It! Reading in the Content Areas Presented By Julie DiGiacomo and Jeffrey Monacelli

What is Reading? Reading is thinking and interacting with text.

PROBLEM One of the BIGGEST obstacles for children is… NONFICTION READING!

EXPECTATIONS HAVE CHANGED The Common Core Standards call for elementary curriculum materials to be recalibrated to reflect a mix of 50 percent literary and 50 percent informational text, including reading in ELA, science, social studies, and the arts….

By 4 th Grade… Children are expected to read at least 2 different texts and synthesize information.

Fiction vs. Nonfiction FACT: Nonfiction is harder to read than fiction. FACT: A student will drop a minimum of two reading levels when reading nonfiction.

Interesting Fact… FACT: Most textbooks students are assigned are written above the grade level that they are using them in.

Reading is… PERSONAL

To Make Meaning… A person brings everything they know to a text.

If you know A LOT about a topic… Your reading level goes up and you comprehend more.

If you know LITTLE about a topic… Your reading level goes down and you comprehend less.

Nonfiction Can Be Tricky NONFICTION TEXT STRUCTURE SHIFTS CONSTANTLY. CHALLENGE: It is difficult to carry information across pages.

NONFICTION TEXT STRUCTURES Description Problem/Solution Time/Order Comparison/Contrast Cause/Effect Directions

Identifying Nonfiction Text Structures: Crocodile The crocodile is the master of deception in the water. It stalks its prey and then swiftly closes in for the kill. One problem to observe in crocodile watching is transportation. How can we an observer get close enough to watch without scaring it away or being attacked? Archaeologists have helped us to understand that the evolution of the crocodile began with… The power of the crocodile is like that of a monstrous machine. With one lunge it can destroy its prey and protect the kill from other predators. We observed the crocodile as it stalked a raccoon moving through the moonlight toward the edge of the water. As a result of a noise we made, the raccoon bolted… When observing a crocodile, first you must…

Identifying Nonfiction Text Structures: CROCODILE The crocodile is the master of deception in the water. It stalks its prey and then swiftly closes in for the kill. DESCRIPTION One problem to observe in crocodile watching is transportation. How can we an observer get close enough to watch without scaring it away or being attacked? PROBLEM/SOLUTION Archaeologists have helped us to understand that the evolution of the crocodile began with… TIME/ORDER

Identifying Nonfiction Text Structures: CROCODILE The power of the crocodile is like that of a monstrous machine. With one lunge it can destroy its prey and protect the kill from other predators. COMPRARISON/CONSTRAST We observed the crocodile as it stalked a raccoon moving through the moonlight toward the edge of the water. As a result of a noise we made, the raccoon bolted… CAUSE/EFFECT When observing a crocodile, first you must… DIRECTION

Tips for PARENTS…

PARENT RESOURCE “7 Keys to Comprehension: How to Help Your Kids Read and Get It!” By Susan Zimmermann

Proficient Reader Research The Top 7 Reading Skills Include: Creating Mental Images – Visualizing Connecting Questioning the Text Drawing Inferences Determining Importance Synthesizing Information Repairing Meaning

Make the Invisible Visible Think Aloud Stop, Think and Jot Post Its Graphic Organizers Notes

What is a think aloud? A think aloud is the number one strategy to make the invisible visible.

Think Alouds… model what “good readers” do!

THINK ALOUD EXAMPLE: SHARKS It never fails. You’re at the top of the ocean, swimming in the surf, and someone pretends to be a shark. They sing ominous music and then lunge at you. People have always made up myths and legends about creatures they find mysterious and terrifying. Sensationalized books, television shows, and movies strengthen the myth that sharks are always on the lookout to attack people. The truth is that there are only about a dozen shark attacks in the United States each year (about 100 worldwide), and most victims live to tell their stories. In fact, you have a better chance of being hit by lightning than of being attacked by a shark. Sharks have killed fewer people in the United States in the past one hundred years than are killed in automobile accidents over a single holiday weekend. And no shark in the world counts people as part of its regular dinner menu.

STRATEGY: Chunking Text Forces child to stop and think Allows child an opportunity to determine what is most important

TIP: Force your child to stop and ask: “What is this about?” “What is most important”

SCAFFOLDING EXAMPLE: Chunking Text ICEBERGS AND GLACIERS A single snowflake is a feathery crystal of ice about the size of your fingernail. Every snowflake is six-sided, yet each has a different shape. Once the spinning flakes fall to the ground, they begin to clump together and lose their pointed beauty. Soon the snowflakes become rounded grains of ice with tiny bubbles of air trapped inside. As more snow falls, the weight of the snow and ice squeezes the grains of ice together, forcing out the trapped air. The color of the ice begins to change too. The white of airy snow becomes the steel blue of airless ice. Finally, the blue ice crystals begin to pack together into a solid field of ice. What is most important? As snow falls, the weight of the snow and ice squeezes the grains of ice together forcing out trapped air. The color of the ice changes from white to blue. The ice crystals pack together into solid fields of ice.

Questions?