Reading Comprehension Strategies
STEAL
Theme
Parts of a Paragraph
Annotations
100

Retelling 

To tell a story again 

100

Speech - what does the character say? How do they do it? What is their word choice?

100

Definition of topic

Issues, ideas, or questions that the text explores 

100

Topic Sentence 

Tells the reader the main idea, or what the paragraph will be about 

100

True or False: There is only one way to annotate 

False 

200

Making Predictions 

Making a statement about what will happen in the future

200

T

Thoughts - What does the character think? What do we learn from their thoughts and ideas?

200

True or False: Theme is specific to one book 

False

200

Supporting Sentence One 

This sentence gives specific details relating to the main idea 

200

Definition of Annotating

Taking notes to give comment or explanation

300

Asking Questions

Who, what, when, where, why, and how

300

E

Effects - What is the character's effect on others? How do they interact with other characters?

300

True or False: Theme is universal 

True 

300

Supporting Sentence Two 

This sentence gives another specific detail relating to the main idea 

300

True or False: Annotations are meant to reflect the author's interaction with the text

False 

400

Types of connections you can make to a text

Text-to-Self

Text-to-Text

Text-to-World

400

Actions - What does this character do? How do they behave? What can we learn from their actions? 

400

Definition of Theme

An important idea that is woven throughout the story

400

Supporting Sentence Three 

Gives more specific details relating to the main idea 

400

Things to annotate

Vocabulary, characters, drama, questions, etc.

500

4 Reading Comprehension Strategies 

Retelling

Making Predictions 

Asking Questions

Making Connections 

500

L

Looks - What does this character look like? What can we learn from how they present themselves to others?

500

Steps to finding theme 

- Create a list of topics 

- Pick a topic and write a sentence about what the author believes about that topic 

- Cross out the beginning of the sentence

- Give textual evidence 

500

Concluding Sentence 

Refers to the topic sentence and sums up the main idea of the paragraph 

500

Benefits of Annotating 

Increases comprehension of text, gives you the opportunity to interact with the text on a personal level, etc. 
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