Routine · Comprehension
Picture-book read-aloud with prompts
Read a picture book aloud, stopping at planned points for open questions that get the student thinking and talking.
- Time
- 10 to 15 minutes
- Skill
- Comprehension
- In a session plan
- Library only
When to use it
For young students and early readers, whose listening comprehension is well ahead of their reading.
Materials
- A picture book
- Three or four sticky notes with planned questions
Steps
Get ready
Read the book yourself first. Mark three or four places where something important happens.
I do
At the first stop, wonder aloud about what is going on and why.
Say: Hmm. The bear packed his bag in a hurry. I wonder why he is rushing.
We do
At the next stop, ask an open question: what is happening, why did that happen? Build on the student's answer with a follow-up.
You do
At later stops, let the student lead: they say what they think and why.
Student: Explains what is happening using the words and pictures.
Check
After the book, ask the student to tell the most important part and why it matters.
If the student...
Answers only from the pictures and misses what the words say.
Reread the sentence slowly and ask what the words tell us that the picture does not. Ask the question again.
Tips
- Ask questions that need more than one word to answer. Why and how work better than who.
- In a group, have students turn and tell a partner first, so everyone answers.
Original routines written by Literacy Trail. In the app, every routine is filled with your student's lesson.
Related routines
- Word talk during a read-aloudPause briefly on rich words while reading aloud, then come back to them after the story.5 to 10 minutes · Library only
- 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
- Where is the answer?Sort questions by where the answer comes from: right there in one place, spread across the text, or from the reader's own thinking.8 to 12 minutes · Library only
- Main idea in a short summaryName who or what a paragraph is about and the most important thing about it, then say it in about ten words.6 to 10 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.