Routine · Comprehension
Talk about the author's choices
Treat the text as something a person wrote and ask what the author is trying to say and why they wrote it that way.
- Time
- 10 to 15 minutes
- Skill
- Comprehension
- In a session plan
- Library only
When to use it
For older students who read passively and accept everything without thinking about meaning.
Materials
- A text with a few planned stopping points
Steps
Get ready
Plan stops where the meaning is unclear or the author made a choice worth noticing.
I do
At the first stop, think aloud about the writer: what are they trying to tell me here, and why did they put it this way?
We do
At the next stop, ask the student what the author is saying, then follow with how that fits with what came before.
You do
The student leads at later stops, asking the author questions and answering them from the text.
Student: Asks what the author means and why, and uses the text to answer.
Check
Ask whether the author did a good job explaining, and what they might have said more clearly.
If the student...
Repeats the words of the text instead of saying what they mean.
Ask them to say it as if telling a friend. Model one sentence that way, then let them try the next part.
Tips
- Remind students that authors are people who can be unclear. It is fine to say a part is confusing.
- In a group, let students build on each other's ideas instead of always answering you.
Original routines written by Literacy Trail. In the app, every routine is filled with your student's lesson.
Related routines
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- Story map and retellFill a simple map of a story's characters, setting, problem, main events and ending, then retell from it.8 to 12 minutes · Library only
Have this routine filled in for every lesson
In Literacy Trail, the session plan picks a routine for each block and fills it with the words, sounds and sentence from your student's lesson. Every plan starts with a 15-day free trial.