Frightfully Good Strategies
What is the purpose of a think-aloud during reading instruction?
To model metacognitive processes so students learn how skilled readers make sense of text.
What are the two main components of comprehension, according to the Simple View of Reading?
Decoding and language comprehension.
What is the teacher’s main role during guided reading?
To observe, prompt, and scaffold comprehension within a small group.
Name two types of text structures in nonfiction.
Cause/effect, compare/contrast, problem/solution, sequence, or description.
What is one before reading strategy to activate schema?
K-W-L chart, anticipation guide, or prediction chart.
When should reciprocal teaching be used—before, during, or after reading?
During and after reading — it builds comprehension through predicting, questioning, clarifying, and summarizing.
What does schema theory suggest about how students comprehend texts?
Comprehension improves when students connect new information to existing knowledge.
What’s a key difference between shared reading and guided reading?
Shared reading = teacher leads whole group with modeling; guided = small group with more student independence.
How can teaching signal words support understanding of text structure?
They cue relationships (e.g., “because,” “however,” “as a result”), helping readers follow logic.
What’s one during reading strategy that helps with monitoring comprehension?
Self-questioning, sticky-note coding, or “stop and jot” reflections.
How does graphic organizer use help students with comprehension?
It visually represents relationships among ideas, aiding in recall, inference, and organization.
What’s the difference between literal and inferential comprehension questions?
Literal = stated directly in text; Inferential = requires using clues plus prior knowledge to infer.
How can comprehension be checked during guided reading without breaking fluency?
Use quick prompts like “What just happened?” or have students whisper retell after a page.
What’s an engaging Halloween activity for teaching sequence structure?
Have students arrange “Steps to Make a Witch’s Potion” in order and explain transitions.
What’s one after reading strategy that checks comprehension authentically?
Reader’s response journal, discussion, or retelling using story elements.
What’s a good way to scaffold summarizing for struggling readers?
Provide sentence frames or a “Somebody–Wanted–But–So–Then” structure before independent practice.
Why is background knowledge activation important before reading?
It primes students’ mental frameworks to better integrate new information.
Give one way to integrate vocabulary instruction during guided reading.
Preview tricky words, model context clue strategies, or build word webs during discussion.
Why do strong readers benefit from knowing text structure patterns?
It enhances comprehension and summarization by recognizing how ideas are organized.
Why is explicit instruction essential in comprehension strategy teaching?
Students need clear modeling, guided practice, and feedback to internalize strategies.
Describe how to combine close reading and text-dependent questions in a Halloween story lesson.
Have students reread a short passage (e.g., “The Tell-Tale Heart”) and use text evidence to infer tone, mood, or character motivation.
How can teachers address cognitive overload during complex texts?
Break reading into chunks, use guiding questions, and pre-teach key vocabulary.
What’s one effective post-reading task for guided reading that reinforces comprehension?
Retelling with sequence cards, writing a short summary, or completing a “plot pumpkin” organizer.
How can you differentiate text structure instruction for English learners?
Use visuals, bilingual labels, and explicit modeling with familiar topics before applying to new texts.
Describe how you might combine comprehension instruction with a Halloween read-aloud.
Model inferencing and tone analysis with a read-aloud like Room on the Broom, using turn-and-talks and anchor charts.