CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.5

Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the whole.

Strategy: Cooperative Learning (Bridges)

Practical Application: In groups of 4, students will be assigned to analyze portions of a text. Students will act out their portion of the text. They will also be required to collaborate with the group who is analyzing and acting out the following portion, in order to assure that the two flow together. In doing so, students will have a hands-on opportunity to see how portions of a text relate to each other.

TRAP:  Identifying similarities and differences is a strategy from the book Classroom Instruction that Works: Research-based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement. It was published in 2001 and written by Robert Marzano, Debra J. Pickering, and Jane E. Pollock. The book is designed specifically for busy educators that desire to apply education research within the classroom. The authors examined decades of research findings to distil the results into nine broad teaching strategies that have positive effects on student learning.

Marzano, R., Pickering, D., and Pollock, J. (2001.) Classroom Instruction that Works: Research-based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement. Alexandria, VA: McREL.

Strategy: Chapter Tour (Freeman)

Detailed Description:Students can flip through the chapter, looking at pictures, captions, and the title of major sections in the chapter. This will give the students a preview of the chapter and aid in comprehension and construct meaning.

Practical Application: Before reading a chapter, the students can skim through it and see if there is any vocabulary, headings, and pictures that stick out. Then they can talk about what they might expect from the chapter, and make a KWL chart.

TRAP: The strategy is relevant because by giving an insight to the chapter before it starts, the students can prepare for what’s to come and can set goals for themselves. The students can also have questions that they would like to have answered from the chapter. The audience is teachers who are looking for new, effective strategies to incorporate into their literacy time at school. The purpose of the strategy is to improve their understanding of a topic by allowing them to see it once before they read the chapter in more detail.

n.d.) Retrieved February 22, 2015, from http://www.sde.ct.gov/sce/lib/sde/pdf/curriculum/section7.pdf