Standard 3.1 Reading

All students will understand and apply the knowledge of sounds, letters, and words in written English to become independent and fluent readers and will read a variety of materials and texts with fluency and comprehension.

Big Idea: The ability to read a variety of texts requires independence, comprehension, and fluency.

3.1.5 A. Concepts About Print

Essential Questions

Enduring Understandings

- How does understanding a text’s structure help me better understand its meaning?

 - Understanding of a text’s features, structures, and characteristics facilitate the reader’s ability to make meaning of the text.  

Areas of Focus/Cumulative Progress Indicators

Comments and Examples

1. Use a text index and glossary appropriately.

2. Survey and explain text features that contribute to comprehension (e.g., headings, introductory and concluding paragraphs).

3.1.5 B. Phonological Awareness:

No additional indicators at this grade level

3.1.5 C. Decoding and Word Recognition

Essential Questions

Enduring Understandings

 - How do I figure out a word I do not know?

- Readers use language structure and context clues to identify the intended meaning of words and phrases as they are used in text.  

Areas of Focus/Cumulative Progress Indicators

Comments and Examples

 1. Use the pronunciation key of a dictionary to decode new words.  

2. Use context clues or knowledge of phonics, syllabication, prefixes, and suffixes to decode new words.

Instructional focus:

- Polysyllabic words; root words (cognates); prefixes and suffixes

-Use of known words to understand the meaning of unknown words

-Building of background knowledge via teacher read alouds

-Increased use of non-fiction material during language arts literacy instruction

ASSESS word attack skills during guided reading.

Instructional focus:

- Building of background via teacher read alouds

- Increased use of non fiction material during language arts literacy instruction

-Vocabulary instruction  

Example: Reading passage

Scientists tell us that glaciers accumulate water during rainy seasons and release water during dry seasons, keeping the natural balance that our Earth needs for its survival.

What happens in one part of our world, can dramatically affect what happens in others. In parts of South America, inhabitants depend on faraway glaciers for some of their water. Because of global warming trends, glaciers are rapidly melting and water supplies are in peril. Some countries may experience water shortages that threaten the health and safety of their people.

Much of the glacial melting has been traced to richer nations that produce emissions harmful to our world environment. Because we now understand, more than ever, the effects of our actions, it is imperative that nations work together to ensure safe, adequate resources for all!

Multiple choice question:

The word “peril” in the second paragraph means:

a. abundance *

b. danger

c. the mountains

d. none of the above

3.1.5 D. Fluency

 - How does fluency affect comprehension?

Instructional strategies:

- Fluency needs to be modeled (read alouds by fluent adults), practiced (in small, flexible guided reading groups and independently with text that is reread), and assessed by the teacher (during running records and/or conferencing with students).

5.         Apply graphic organizers to illustrate key concepts and relationships in a text.

3.1.5 F. Vocabulary and Concept Development

2.         Infer specific word meanings in the context of reading passages.

Instructional focus:
• Understanding the meaning of words through an understanding of the passage’s context, purpose, audience and specifics such as historical context

ASSESS using passages/sentences with unknown words. Ensure that the text provides enough known context to allow for inference.

Inappropriate assessment item for this CPI:
With the deft hands of a sculptor, Alberto constructed a volcano for the school science fair.
What does the word “deft” mean?
a. dirty
b. strong
* c. skilled
d. large

3.1.5 G. Comprehension Skills and Response to Text

1.         Identify author’s purpose, views, and beliefs.

Instructional strategies:
• Teacher read alouds with attention to author’s intent, views and beliefs
• Guided reading to improve comprehension at student’s instructional level
• Independent reading by students and subsequent demonstration of each student’s understanding of author’s point of view
• Demonstration of understanding of an author’s point of view through multimedia projects and activities
• Integration of the study of an author’s point of view within the historical perspective

ASSESS using reading passage, allowing students to write a response to open-ended questions.
 

Example:
Do you agree with the author’s point of view? Explain why or why not.

Instructional strategies:

Teacher read alouds; shared and independent reading and full discussion of genre through:
• Literature circles
• Guided reading group and individual discussions
• Conferencing with individual students
• Project-based learning based in genre
• Library visits and classroom assignments with attention to genre and author studies
• Student-generated graphic organizers and semantic maps that highlight genre-specific elements and vocabulary

ASSESS using reader’s response to specific genre.

Instructional Strategy

- Use higher order questions whose answers demonstrate knowledge of cause and effect

Example:

Based on our class readings about life in New Jersey, explain why certain factors have brought people here in recent years to live and work? Create a timeline to highlight the events that may lead to families moving to our state.

Instructional Strategy

• Literature circles
• Group and individual discussions
• Conferencing with individual students
• Project-based learning based on connections to the theme
• Student-generated graphic organizers and semantic maps that highlight connections

Example:
Read and respond to this journal entry written by a 13-year-old. Tell what the journal entry reveals about the runaway. Use examples from the entry to support your answer.

Dear Journal,
Today is snowy and cold. I don’t own a coat and I am freezing. I haven’t eaten in days and I’m hungry. While I waited in line at the soup kitchen, I closed my eyes and tried to imagine what it would have been like growing up in a family where people really DID care about you – where there was a hot dinner on the table every evening, and parents to tuck you in at night. I must have been dreaming because when I opened my eyes all I saw was evidence of the nightmare I am living.

Example Questions:
• What would it be like to walk in this runaway’s shoes for a day?
• What does the author want us to see and feel?

Instructional strategy - use authentic media:
• Editorials
• Advertising campaigns
• Celebrity endorsements
• Popular culture, e.g., music, poetry, television and other media, etc.

ASSESS through students’ oral and written responses to the elements inherent in persuasive writing.

Example:
Design and write an online advertisement for a new invention. Use persuasive language. Target your audience.

ASSESS using writing assignments that allow students to share their cultural points of view based on multi-cultural readings.

7.     Understand that theme refers to the central idea or meaning of a selection and recognize themes, whether implied or stated directly.

Instructional focus:
• Classroom instruction around a central theme that crosses content areas (social studies, science, math, etc.)
• Examination of literature for theme whenever relevant
• Reading passages connected to the theme upon which the units/lessons are planned.

Example:
Choose literature related to the historical period studied in social studies.

Instructional strategies:
• Classroom discussion (whole group, small group)
• Graphic organizers

Instructional strategies:
• Use nonfiction text elements (headings; captions; sidebar stories and facts; illustrations; graphics; etc.) to fully comprehend text
• Whole group instruction- text features
• Small group- guided reading using nonfiction text
• Organization of classroom libraries to feature organizational text

ASSESS using writing assignments and project-based learning tasks that demand organizational elements.
 

Example:
Design a website illustrating an event in history. Include pictures and captions, graphs, charts, headlines, etc., as appropriate.

ASSESS through oral and written critique.

Instructional strategy – higher order questioning
Ask:
• How does the setting directly affect the story’s outcome?
• How critical to the story were the supporting characters?
• How would you analyze the plot?
• How is the mood relevant to the reader and to the story?

ASSESS through class discussion.

Instructional focus:
• Explicit instruction about figurative language
• Selection of teacher read alouds that are authentic examples of authors’ uses of figurative language
• Investigation of the sound of poetry and how it can be used to affect mood or tone of the message
• Exploration of the various structures of poetry and discussion of the ways that poets use their craft to convey a message

ASSESS through writing assignments (responding to and creating poetry).

Instructional focus:
• Explicit instruction is needed on idiomatic expressions, particularly for students whose first language is other than English. It is helpful to make connections for students between the literal and non-literal interpretation of language.

ASSESS by having students explain the literal interpretation and the idiomatic meaning through dramatic presentation.

H.  Inquiry and Research

Instructional strategy:
•Synthesize information from various sources to answer a research question.

Example:
Interpret a census table and local demographic information to answer the questions:
• How has the city/town in which you live changed?
• What factors have influenced those changes?

Instructional strategy:
• Synthesize information from various sources to answer a research question.

Example:
Locate our state on a map of the U.S. and explain how its location affects the way people live and work. Use a word processing program, power point and/or other media to present your work.