Reading Comprehension Boosters: 100 Lessons for Building Higher-Level Literacy, Grades 3-5 (Jossey-Bass Teacher)

483 Pages·2010·6.28 MB·English

by  Thomas G. Gunning

3–5
JOSSEY-BASS TEACCHHEERR GUNNING JOSSEY-BASS TEACHER GRADES
WWiitthh EEaasy-to-Copy, Lay-Flat Pages GRADES K–12
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Reading Comprehension Boosters
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Reading Comprehension Boosters features 100 Praise for Reading Comprehension Boosters 1 R
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high-interest readings and activities designed to 0 e
Comprehension
help students improve their comprehension and “ Reading Comprehension Boosters is exactly what L L a
response skills. Classroom-tested lessons include struggling readers need to improve their compre- e d
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brief reading selections followed by constructed hension. The best part: the texts for each task s i
response and multiple-choice questions and think- are included—saving teachers countless hours of o n
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ing and writing activities. Reading Comprehension hunting for high-interest short passages. Teachers s g

Boosters is fl exible and can be used as a core or will love this resource!” ff
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supplemental program, as test prep, or for interven- — Nancy Boyles, professor of reading, Southern Connecticut r Boosters
tion with individual students or groups. State University, and Independent Literacy Consultant B B o
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Lessons include easily reproduced worksheets “ Reading Comprehension Boosters provides teach- dd p
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grouped within six thematic units. Each unit builds ers with critical comprehension strategies that all n r
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background knowledge and focuses on an impor- students need to know. The lessons are well- e
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tant aspect of comprehension: 1) comprehending organized for the teachers, as well as interesting ii h 100
main ideas and details and visualizing; and motivating for the students. This book is an g e Lessons for Building Higher-Level Literacy
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2) summarizing; 3) inferring, predicting, and incredible resource for all classrooms.” e n
—J ennifer Brodeur, reading specialist, Old Saybrook, r
concluding; 4) understanding facts versus - s
Connecticut LL
opinions; 5) comparing and contrasting; and e i
v o THOMAS G. GUNNING
6) review and application. These units gradually e
“ This book performs the real service of guiding n
build in level of challenge so that students gain ll
teachers in developing a step-by-step approach LL
profi ciency and confi dence as they move along. ii B
to teaching students strategies for improved t
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Each unit includes a teacher section that offers
comprehension.” r o
extensive guidance on how to introduce the lessons a
— Irene W. Gaskins, founder and head of school emerita, c o
to students and support them in their development y
Benchmark School, Media, Pennsylvania s

of essential reading and responding skills. t
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THE AUTHOR
r
Thomas G. Gunning, a consultant and former public
s
school teacher, is professor emeritus in the Depart-

ment of Reading at Southern Connecticut State Uni-
versity and adjunct professor at Central Connecticut
State University. He teaches a variety of courses on
literacy, remedial reading, and reading diagnosis.
GRADES
3-5
EDUCATION
$29.95 U.S. | $35.95 Canada
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Teacher
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Reading
Comprehension Boosters
100 Lessons for Building Higher-Level Literacy
Grades 3–5
Thomas G. Gunning
Copyright© 2010byJohnWiley&Sons,Inc.Allrightsreserved.
PublishedbyJossey-Bass
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About This Book
ReadingComprehensionBoosters:100LessonsforBuildingHigher-LevelLiteracy,Grades
3–5 is a program designed to help your students acquire the higher-level reading,
reasoning, and responding skills they need to cope with complex literacy demands,
including high-stakes tests. The program consists of the following key components:
• An overview of the program. The Introduction provides a rationale for the program
and describes its scope and sequence.
• Motivational introduction to the program. Mystery Passages are used to motivate
students by having them engage in riddle-type tasks that also provide diagnostic
information and lay the groundwork for upcoming units.
• 100 lessons. The core of the book is the series of 100 lessons designed to introduce
and reinforce key skills and strategies for literacy. Each lesson begins with a
teaching guide that provides suggestions for introducing the skill or strategy and
supplying guided and independent practice. Many lessons also contain suggested
extension and assessment activities. Following the teaching guide are the Student
Pages, which contain practice materials so that students can apply the strategies
and skills that they have been taught. The Student Pages feature high-interest
theme-related reading selections accompanied by questions and other activities
designed to reinforce the skills and strategies that have been introduced.
• An end-of-theme reflection for the teacher that offers concrete suggestionsfor apply-
ing the strategies taught in the unit to whole books. This section also includes a
bibliography of books relevant to the theme of the unit.
• A culminating reflection for students in which they think back on whatthey learned
and how they can apply these new strategies and skills to school texts and outside
reading. Also included is a list of books where they can find more information
about the theme of the unit.
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About the Author
Tom Gunning is professor emeritus at Southern Connecticut State University, where
he was department chairperson and director of the Reading Clinic. He is currently an
adjunct professor in the Reading/Language Arts Department at Central Connecticut
State University, where he teaches courses in assessment and intervention. He has
been a secondary school English teacher, a secondary school reading specialist, and
an elementary school reading consultant. He was also the editor of Know Your World
Extra, a periodical for struggling readers.
Gunning has been a consultant for elementary schools in areas that include
improving the core curriculum, implementing response to intervention, and planning
programs for severely disabled readers. Trained as a Junior Great Books discussion
leader, he has used this approach with students in an urban elementary school.
Recently he served as a hands-on consultant for a Reading First school.
GunningistheauthorofCreatingLiteracyInstructionforAllChildren(7thedition);
Assessing and Correcting Reading and Writing Difficulties (4th edition); Developing
Higher-Level Literacy in All Students; Closing the Literacy Gap; and Word Building, a
ResponsetoInterventionProgram,designedforstudentswithdecodingproblems.Heis
also the author of a number of children’s books, including Strange Mysteries, Amazing
Escapes, and Dream Cars. He is the coeditor with Jim Collins of Building Struggling
Readers’ Higher-Level Literacy: Practical Ideas, Powerful Solutions.
Gunning was a contributing editor for My Friend, a nonprofit magazine for
students in grades 1 to 8, and was a member of Sports Illustrated for Kids panel of
experts toadvisetheeditorialstaffonthereadabilityandsuitabilityofthismagazine’s
articles.HeisapastpresidentoftheReadabilitySpecialInterestGroupandiscurrently
the group’s membership chairperson.
Gunning has conducted research on group reading inventories, severe reading
disabilities, intervention programs, readability, response to intervention, decoding
processes and strategies, and literacy skills needed to cope with high-stakes tests.
Gunning has a bachelor’s and a master’s degree from Loyola University Mary-
land and earned a doctorate in the psychology of reading from Temple University
in Philadelphia. As a Mellon Visiting Fellow at Yale University, he studied brain
development and its implications for literacy instruction.
TheimpetusforReadingComprehensionBoosters:100LessonsforBuildingHigher-
Level Literacy for Grades 3–5 grew out of his lifelong work with struggling readers,
recent work with struggling comprehenders in a Reading First school, and current
work with students who are proficient decoders but poor comprehenders.
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Contents
AboutThisBook ............................................................. v
Aboutthe Author .............................................................vi
Introduction ................................................................. 1
Unit 1 Finding Main Ideas, Identifying Supporting Details, and Visualizing
ThemeA: TheWonderfulWorld ofAnimals .............................. 26
ThemeB: Robots .................................................. 91
Unit 2 Summarizing
Theme: AnimalHelpers ............................................ 114
Unit 3 Inferring, Predicting, Concluding
Theme: PeopleHelping People ....................................... 174
Unit 4 Facts and Opinions
Theme: Inventions ................................................ 262
Unit 5 Comparing and Contrasting
ThemeA: ConfusingAnimals ........................................ 310
ThemeB: FamousPeople ........................................... 332
ThemeC: Sleep .................................................. 347
Unit 6 Review and Application
ThemeA: Transportation ........................................... 374
ThemeB: One-RoomSchoolhouses .................................. 413
AnswerKey ............................................................... 435
References................................................................ 465
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