During the Wolfpack Readers Program, I met once a week with a third grade student in order to help meet his specific needs in reading. Collaboratively, my partner and I administered appropriate assessments, which allowed us to identify our learner's strengths, interests, and needs. Throughout the semester, we used the information gained from the assessments to implement research-based practices in teaching readers when they struggle. Such practices included building, sorting, and writing word, building fluency through various types of reading(echo reading, choral reading, etc.), think-alouds to model comprehension strategies, and journaling. Through his journaling, we were able to incorporate writing as a comprehension strategy.
Our reader was able to choose a topic that was most interesting to him as part of the inquiry-based learning model. Our reader chose to read all about strange animals! Throughout each session, he was able to make connections between the information he was reading and the information he already knew about the animals. During the journaling activity, the student wrote down the fact(s) that were most interesting to him. Writing down these interesting facts allowed him to identify important information in the text and blend that new information with his prior knowledge. Taking notes about text proved to be better than just reading, reading and rereading, reading and studying, reading and underlining important information, and receiving explicit instruction in reading practices.
Common Core State Standards: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.5 Use text features and search tools to locate information relevant to a given topic efficiently. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.10 By the end of the year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, at the high end of the grades 2-3 text complexity band independently and proficiently.