Comprehension of Informational Text Strategies for Fifth Grade
1. Request:
Description: A good strategy for struggling readers because the teacher and students reverse roles.
Purpose: Teaches students to formulate good questions and that the answers to some questions are right there in the book, while others demand they "read between the lines".
Directions: Use the following steps for ReQuest:
1. Together with students, silently read a paragraph.
2. Have the students ask you a question that can be answered after reading the passage. It is the students' responsibility to clearly state the question. If it is not clearly stated say, "I don't understand the question."
3. If the question cannot be answered from the material read, ask students to help you find the answer.
2. Scanning:
Description: Struggling readers need to remember that definitions can often be located by boldface of italic text.
Purpose: Teach students to check headings to determine if the answer can be located in a particular section.
Directions: Provide opportunities for students to practice scanning while they find answers to textual questions. If the question asks for a date teach students to scan the page for numerals, such as 1776 or 2002. If the question asks for a name, the students should be taught to scan the page for capital letters of proper nouns. Demonstrate to struggling readers what to do when looking for dates, names, and definitions.
Description: A good strategy for struggling readers because the teacher and students reverse roles.
Purpose: Teaches students to formulate good questions and that the answers to some questions are right there in the book, while others demand they "read between the lines".
Directions: Use the following steps for ReQuest:
1. Together with students, silently read a paragraph.
2. Have the students ask you a question that can be answered after reading the passage. It is the students' responsibility to clearly state the question. If it is not clearly stated say, "I don't understand the question."
3. If the question cannot be answered from the material read, ask students to help you find the answer.
2. Scanning:
Description: Struggling readers need to remember that definitions can often be located by boldface of italic text.
Purpose: Teach students to check headings to determine if the answer can be located in a particular section.
Directions: Provide opportunities for students to practice scanning while they find answers to textual questions. If the question asks for a date teach students to scan the page for numerals, such as 1776 or 2002. If the question asks for a name, the students should be taught to scan the page for capital letters of proper nouns. Demonstrate to struggling readers what to do when looking for dates, names, and definitions.