Monitoring Meaning and Comprehension
Components needed in order to monitor meaning:
  1. I make predictions based on what I know.
  2. I ask questions that might help me understand what is going on in the text. (about vocabulary, text structure/organization)
  3. I visualize what I am reading to help me understand the text.
  4. I determine what is important.
  5. I re-read to clarify meaning, verify important details and/or choose supporting details and facts to help me understand the text.
  6. I talk with others reading the book to see what they think.

Reading / Math / Writing
Readers need to know when a text no longer makes sense.
Readers re-read parts of a story that don’t make sense.
Readers check,evaluate and make revisions to their interpretation of the story.
Readers identify confusing ideas, themes and/or words, sentences or text structures, graphs tables, etc..
Readers learn to stop and clarify meaning of the story they are reading. They use strategies they have learned to clarify.
Readers explain their thinking to others as they clarify text.
Readers agree/disagreewith others thinking about the text. / Mathematicians check to make sure their answers are reasonable.
Mathematicians use manipulatives/charts/diagrams to help themselves make sense of a problem.
Mathematicians understand there is more than one way to solve a problem.
Mathematicians write in order to explain how they solved a problem.
Mathematicians check their work by: working backwards, redoing problems, etc..
Mathematicians agree/disagree with solutions to problems.
Mathematicians explain how they solved a problem.
Mathematicians ask themselves if each step makes sense.
Mathematicians talk with othersto check their understanding. / Writers re-read the story they are writing to make sure it will make sense to the audience reading it.
Writers read their work out loud to make sure it makes sense.
Writers share their work with others to get feedback.
Writers edit to make sure their writing makes sense.
Writers revise their writing to create the best piece of writing possible.
Using Prior Knowledge
Components needed in order to predict:
  1. I use the title and chapter headings to predict. I use the front and the back cover. I use pictures and captions.
  2. I use questions that might be answered as I read to predict.
  3. I use what I already know about a topic, author, genre or a series to predict.
  4. I use what I know about text structure or organization to predict.
  5. I use what has happened so far in the book to predict. I make connections and what I know about characters to predict.

Reading / Math / Writing
Readers spontaneously activate relevant, prior knowledgebefore, during and after reading a text.
Readers assimilate information from a text into their schema and make changes to that schema to understand new information.
Readers use their schema to make connections: text to self, text to text, text to world.
Readers use schema to enhance their understanding of a text which helps them store new information into long term memory.
Readers use schema for specific authors and their writing styles to better understand text.
Readers recognize when they do not have adequate background knowledge and how to access information to help them understand. / Mathematicians use current understanding todecide what steps to take firstto solve a problem.
Mathematicians use their number sense to understand a problem.
Mathematicians add to schema by trying more difficult problems and discussing with others how they solved the problem.
Mathematicians build understanding based on prior knowledge of math concepts.
Mathematicians develop purpose based on prior knowledge.
Mathematicians use their prior knowledge to generalize about similar problems and to choose problem-solving strategies.
Mathematicians develop their own problems. / Writers frequently choose their own topics and write about subjects they care about.
Writer’s content comes from and builds on his/her experiences.
Writers think about and use what they know about genre, text structure, and conventions as they write.
Writers seek to better recognize and capitalize on their own voice for specific effects in their compositions.
Writers know when their schema for a topic or text format is inadequate and they create the necessary background knowledge.
Writers use knowledge of their audience to make decisions about content inclusions/exclusions.

Begin to teach this strategy with a Question/Answer book.

Ideas: Anticipation guides, noticing text features, sticky note questions, preview/read/question, the power of words, word alert!, Story maps, 2 column note chart

Asking Questions
Components needed in order to ask questions:
  1. I ask questions to help me understand vocabulary.
  2. I ask questions to help me find specific information in the text.
  3. I ask questions to help me connect to the ideas/characters in the text.
  4. I ask questions to put myself in the text by using my senses (visualizing, tasting, smelling and feeling)
  5. I ask questions to understand choices the author made when writing the text.
  6. I ask questions to help me understand the text organization and structure.
  7. I ask questions to help me extend my learning beyond the text.
  8. I ask questions to help understand a character or an object.
  9. I ask questions to help me predict.

Reading / Math / Writing
Readers spontaneously generate questionsbefore, during and after reading.
Readers ask questions for different purposes, including clarifying meaning, make predictions, determine an author’s style, content or format, locate a specific answer in text, or consider rhetorical questions inspired by the text.
Readers use questions to focus their attention on important components of the text.
Readers are aware that other readers’ questions may inspire new questions / Mathematicians ask questions before, during and after doing a math problem.
  • Could it be this?
  • What happens if?
  • How else could I do this?
  • Have I seen this problem before?
  • What does this mean?
Mathematicians test theories/answers/a hypothesis by using different approaches to a problem.
Mathematicians question others to understand their own process and to clarify problems.
Mathematicians extend their thinking by asking themselves questions they don’t have an answer to. / Writers compose in a way that causes the reader to form questions as they read.
Writers monitor their progress by asking questions about their choices as they write.
Writers ask questions of other writers in order to confirm their choices and make revisions.
Writers’ questions lead to revision in their own work and in the pieces to which they respond for other writers.

Choose a Science or Social Studies book to begin teaching this strategy.

Ideas: QAR – Question, Answer Relationship and Thick and Thin Questioning, categorize questions, Use text features to question,

Drawing Inferences
Components needed in order to infer:
  1. I use the title and chapter headings to infer. I use the front and the back cover. I use pictures and captions.
  2. I use questions that might be answered as I read to make inferences.
  3. I use what I already know about a topic, author, genre or a series to infer.
  4. I use what I know about text structure or organization to infer.
  5. I use what has happened so far in the book to predict. I make connections and what I know about characters to infer.

Reading / Math / Writing
Readers use their schema and textual information to draw conclusions and form unique interpretations from text.
Readers make predictions about text, confirm their predictions and test their developing meaning as they read on.
Readers know when and how to use textin combination with their own background knowledge to seek answers to questions.
Readers create interpretations to enrich and deepen their experience in a text. / Mathematicians predict, generalize and estimate.
As Mathematicians read a problem, they make problem solving decisions based on their conceptual understanding of math concepts (e.g. operations, fractions).
Mathematicians compose (like a writer) by drawing pictures, using charts, and creating equations.
Mathematicians solve problems in different ways and support their methods through proof, number sentences, pictures, charts and graphs.
Mathematicians use reasoning and make connections throughout the problem-solving process.
Mathematicians conjecture (infer based on evidence).
Mathematicians use patterns (consistencies) and relationships to generalize and infer whatcomes next in the problem-solving process. / Writers make decisions about content inclusions/exclusions and genre/text structure that permit or encourage inferences on the part of the reader.
Writers carefully consider their audience in making decisions about what to describe explicitly and what to leave to the reader’s interpretation.
Writers, particularly fiction and poetry writer’s, are aware of far more inferences such as drawing conclusions, making critical judgments, predictions, and connections to other texts and experiences possible for their readers.
Using Sensory and Emotional and VisualImages
Components needed in order to visualize:
  1. Make words in the text into pictures, sounds, scents, and feelings.
  2. Make connections among the ideas in the text, world, and their own experiences.
  3. Place themselves in the text and become involved in the text.
What do I visualize?
  1. Characters, person, a creature, the setting/place, events.
  2. I visualize using my senses, a physical reaction (hot, cold, thirsty, upset, happy)
  3. I visualize using illustrations or text features in the text.
  4. I visualize to help me remember.
  5. I visualize to help me clarify something in the text.

Reading / Math / Writing
Readers create sensory images during and after reading. These may include visual, auditory, and other sensory images as well as emotional connections to the text and are rooted in prior knowledge.
Readers use images to draw conclusions and to create unique interpretations of the text. Images from reading frequently become part of the reader’s writing. Images from personal experience frequently become part of the reader’s comprehension.
Readers use their images to clarify and enhance comprehension.
Readers use images to immerse themselves in rich detail as they read. The detail givesdepth and dimension to the reading, engaging the reader more deeply and making the text more memorable.
Readers adapt their imagesin response to the shared images of other readers.
Readers adapt their images as they read to incorporate new information revealed through the text and new interpretations they develop. / Mathematicians use mental pictures and models of shapes, numbers and processes to build understanding of concepts and problems and to experiment with ideas.
Mathematicians use concrete models and manipulatives to build understanding and visualize problems.
Mathematicians visually represent thinking through drawings, pictures, graphs and charts.
Mathematicians picture story problems like a movie in the mind to help understand the problem.
Mathematicians visualize concepts (parallel lines, fractions, etc.) / Writers consciously attempt to create strong images in their compositions using strategically placed detail.
Writers create impact through the use of strong nouns and verbs whenever possible.
Writers use images to explore their own ideas. They consciously study their mental images for direction in their pieces.
Writers learn from the images created in their minds as they read. They study other authors’ use of images as a way to improve their own.
Determining What is Important in Text
Components needed in order to determine importance:
  1. Students must delete information, substitute information and keep some information.
  2. Students must analyze the information at a deep level.
  3. Students must be aware of the structure of the text.

Reading / Math / Writing
Readers identify key ideas or themes as they read.
Readers distinguish important from unimportant information in relation to keys ideas or themes in text. They can distinguish important information at the word, sentence and text levels.
Readers utilize text structures and text features (such as bold or italicized print, figures and photographs) to help them distinguish important from unimportant information.
Readers use their knowledge of important and relevant parts of text to prioritize in long-term memory and synthesize text for others. / Mathematicians look for patterns and relationships.
Mathematicians identify and use key words to build an understanding of the problem.
Mathematicians gather text information from graphs, charts and tables.
Mathematicians decide what information is relevant to a problem and what is irrelevant. / Writers observe their world and record what they believe is significant.
Writers make decisions about the most important ideas to include in the pieces they write. They make decisions about the best genre and structure to communicate their ideas.
Writers reveal their biases by emphasizing some elements over others.
Writers provide only essential details to reveal the meaning and produce the effect desired.
Writers delete information irrelevant to their larger purpose.
Synthesizing Information
Components needed in order to summarize:
  1. Read the text features and predict the main idea.
  2. Reflect on the prediction and either confirm or change it.
  3. Read the text features, sub-headings and titles, then think about how they relate to the main idea.
  4. Notice bold/italic words and think how they relate to the main idea.
  5. Identify a section of text that I can read and remember.
  6. I stop at the end of a section of text to connect, visualize, or remember what I have read.
  7. I answer questions I have asked.
  8. I re-read to clarify meaning, verify important ideas or to choose supporting details and facts.
  9. I eliminate unimportant details.

Reading / Math / Writing
Readers maintain a cognitive synthesis as they read. They monitor the overall meaning, important concepts, and themes in the text and are aware of ways text elements “fit together” to create the overarching ideas. They use their knowledge of the text elements to make decisions about the overall meaning of a passage, chapter or book.
Readers retell or synthesize in order to better understand what they have read. They attend to the most important information and to the clarity of the synthesis itself.
Readers capitalize on opportunities to share, recommend and critique books they have read.
Readers may respond to text in a variety of ways, independently or in groups. These include written, oral, dramatic and artistic responses to the text.
A proficient reader’s synthesis is likely to extend to literal meaning of a text to the inferential level. / Mathematicians generalize from patterns they observe.
Mathematicians generalize in words, equations, charts and graphs to retell or synthesize.
Mathematicians synthesize math concepts when they use them in real-life applications.
Mathematicians use deductive reasoning (e.g., reach conclusions based on unknowns). / Writers make global and focal plans for their writing before and during the writing process. They use knowledge of text elements, (characters, setting, conflict, sequence of events and resolution) to create a structure for their writing.
Writers study other authors and draw conclusions about what makes good writing. They practice replicating the style of author’s they find compelling.
Writers reveal themes in a way that suggest their importance to readers.
Type of Skill / Readers / Mathematicians
Decoding / Phonemic Awareness– awareness of the sounds that form spoken words. / Numeric Awareness – awareness of the digits and their spoken names.
Alphabetic Knowledge– knowing how the sounds of our language relate to letters of the alphabet. / Numeric Knowledge – understanding what numerals are and the quantities they represent; knowing the value of each digit based on its position in relation to the rest of the number.
Comprehension / Word Context Awareness– knowing how each word fits into the sentence or surrounding text / Number Context Awareness – understanding how numbers and operational signs are arranged in a problem.
Word Recognition– developing a bank of words recognized automatically (sight vocabulary) / Number Recognition – developing a bank of number facts recognized automatically or retrieved systematically.
Retention / Word Analysis– identifying parts of words (roots, prefixes, suffixes). / Number Analysis –using knowledge of numbers to find solutions to problems instead of being directed by operational signs.
Re-reading and Reading Ahead– noticing the flow of language and understanding the ideas of the text. / Rereading and Reading Ahead –using key words and context to decide on strategies for solving word problems.
Sentence and Text Structure– understanding the way words are put together. / Operational Awareness –understanding relationships between numbers in a problem and how equations are put together.
Literacy Strategies / Numeracy Strategies
Making Text-to-Self, Text-to-Text, and Text-to-World Connections– bringing personal knowledge and life experiences to text. / Making Number-to-Self, Number-to-Text, and Number-to-World Connections –bringing personal knowledge and life experiences to numbers.
Creating Mental Images –visually assimilating text through the mind’s eye. / Creating Mental Images –visually assimilating problems through the mind’s eye.
Expanding Vocabulary –understanding (receptive) and using (expressive) new words. / Expanding Vocabulary –understanding (receptive) and using (expressive) mathematical terms.
Asking Questions –actively thinking about what is read by asking questions and seeking answers in the text (metacognition). / Asking Questions –making sense of what one is doingby asking questions and seeking answers, and using this thinking to make decisions and solve problems (metacognition).
Determining Importance –giving conscious attention to deciding what is important in the text. / Determining Importance –giving conscious attention to deciding what is important in a problem.
Inferring –creating new meaning on the basis of life experiences and clues from that text. / Inferring –creating new meaning on the basis of life experiences and clues from the context of problems.
Synthesizing –delving deeper into the message of the text by considering how each part contributes to the whole. / Synthesizing –combining ideas or models or strategies in a new way.

Properties of Reading and Math