60 Strategies for Improving Reading Comprehension in Grades K-8

This book, designed as a reference tool, fills a void by providing a concise overview of the teaching practices of literacy, helping readers examine and evaluate teaching strategies and techniques in the areas of reading, writing, listening, speaking, and visualizing.

Jonson's book follows a user-friendly format that includes:

o Names of specific strategies

o Who would use a given strategy

o When and why a strategy should be used

o How a strategy should be implemented

o Alternative implementation ideas

o Supplies required to implement the strategies

o Figures and illustrations

Jonson brings more than 30 years of experience as a teacher, reading specialist, principal, staff developer, and professor of teacher education to the project. This excellent resource not only synthesizes the current research and theory of best instructional practices, but also presents information in a clear, logical, and accessible manner for practitioners.

In her 40 years as an educator, Kathleen Feeney Jonson, Professor Emeritus, has been a teacher, taught director of staff development, principal, director of curriculum and instruction, and university faculty. She conducted numerous workshops for teachers and administrators on such topics as reading comprehension strategies, writing process, portfolio assessment, peer coaching, and beginning teacher assistance programs. Until her retirement in summer 2009, Jonson was professor of education and coordinator of the Master in Arts in Teaching Reading program at the University of San Francisco's School of Education. She published three books with Corwin Press, including The New Elementary Teacher's Handbook (1st edition 1997, 2nd edition 2001), Being an Effective Mentor: How to Help Beginning Teachers Succeed (1st edition 2002, 2nd edition 2007), and 60 Strategies for Improving Reading Comprehension in Grades K-8 (2006).

Preface

About the Author

Strategy 1: ABC Book

Strategy 2: Anticipation Guide

Strategy 3: Bio Poem

Strategy 4: Book Box

Strategy 5: Brainstorming

Strategy 6: Bumper Stickers

Strategy 7: Central Story Problem

Strategy 8: Character Bag

Strategy 9: Character Mapping

Strategy 10: Creating Chapter Titles

Strategy 11: Crossword Puzzle

Strategy 12: Cubing

Strategy 13: Directed Reading Thinking Activity

Strategy 14: Double-Entry Journal

Strategy 15: Exclusion Brainstorming

Strategy 16: Fishbowl

Strategy 17: Found Poem

Strategy 18: Four-Corners Debate

Strategy 19: Gallery Walk

Strategy 20: Grand Conversation

Strategy 21: Guided Imagery

Strategy 22: Hot Seat

Strategy 23: Interior Monologue

Strategy 24: Jigsaw

Strategy 25: K-W-L Chart

Strategy 26: Learning Logs

Strategy 27: Life Experience

Strategy 28: Literacy Quilt

Strategy 29: Literacy Sociogram

Strategy 30: Literature Circles

Strategy 31: Mind Mapping

Strategy 32: Open Mind Character Analysis

Strategy 33: Paired Retellings

Strategy 34: Pick-A-Pal

Strategy 35: Plot Profile

Strategy 36: P-M-I Evaluation (Pluses-Minuses-Interesting Aspects)

Strategy 37: Quaker Reading

Strategy 38: Question-Answer Relationships

Strategy 39: Questioning the Author

Strategy 40: Quickwriting

Strategy 41: Readers' Theater

Strategy 42: Read-Pair-Share

Strategy 43: Reciprocal Questioning (ReQuest)

Strategy 44: Response Log

Strategy 45: Semantic Mapping

Strategy 46: Sketch-to-Stretch

Strategy 47: SQ3R (Survey-Question-Read-Recite-Review)

Strategy 48: Stop-and-React

Strategy 49: Storyboard

Strategy 50: Story Frame

Strategy 51: Story Mapping

Strategy 52: Story Prediction Guide

Strategy 53: Story Pyramid

Strategy 54: Summary Hand

Strategy 55: Tableau

Strategy 56: Tea Party

Strategy 57: Think-Aloud Protocol

Strategy 58: Think-of-Three

Strategy 59: Venn Diagram

Strategy 60: Yellow Stickies

Resource I: Strategies Recommended by Grade Level

Resource II: Elements Addressed Through Strategies

Resource III: Strategies Used Before, During, and After Reading

Resource IV: Meta-Strategies Addressed

Index

Table Of Contents

About Kathleen F. Jonson