Reading Activities Training

Exit Slips
Exit slips are written student responses to questions teachers pose at the end of a class or lesson. These quick,
informal assessments enable teachers to quickly assess students' understanding of the material.
How to use exit slips

1. At the end of your lesson ask students to respond to a question or prompt.
Note: There are three categories of exit slips (Fisher & Frey, 2004):
o Prompts that document learning:

— Example: Write one thing you learned today.
— Example: Discuss how today's lesson could be used in the real world.
o Prompts that emphasize the process of learning:

— Example: I didn't understand…
— Example: Write one question you have about today's lesson.
o Prompts to evaluate the effectiveness of instruction:

— Example: Did you enjoy working in small groups today?
o Other exit prompts include:

— I would like to learn more about…
— Please explain more about…
— The thing that surprised me the most today was…
— I wish…
2. You may state the prompt orally to your students or project it visually on an overhead or blackboard.
3. You may want to distribute 3 x 5 cards for students to write down their responses.
4. Review the exit slips to determine how you may need to alter your instruction to better meet the needs of all
your students.
5. Collect the exit slips as a part of an assessment portfolio for each student.
First Lines
First Lines is a pre-reading comprehension strategy in which students read the beginning sentences from a
book and then make predictions about that book. This technique helps students focus their attention on what
they can tell from the first lines of a story, play, poem, or other text. As students read the text in its entirety
they discuss, revisit and/or revise their original predictions.
How to use first lines

1. Choose the assigned reading and introduce the text to the students. Ask students read only the first line of the
assigned text, or if using your read aloud, read aloud only the first line.
2. Ask students to make predictions for the reading based on the first sentence.
3. Engage the class in discussion about the predictions.
4. Encourage students to return to their original predictions after reading the text, assessing their original
predictions and building evidence to support those predictions which are accurate. Students can create new
predictions as well.
Noticeboard quiz
HoW TO USE IT:
Put the authentic materials on a noticeboard and divide the students into teams.
One student from each team comes up to the board and the first student to find
the answer to a question you ask gets a point. Alternatively you could get
students in groups to write a quiz for another group based on the information on
the noticeboard.
Jigsaw
jigsaw is a cooperative learning strategy that enables each student of a "home" group to specialize in one aspect
of a topic (for example, one group studies habitats of rainforest animals, another group studies predators of
rainforest animals). Students meet with members from other groups who are assigned the same aspect, and after
mastering the material, return to the "home" group and teach the material to their group members. With this
strategy, each student in the "home" group serves as a piece of the topic's puzzle and when they work together
as a whole, they create the complete jigsaw puzzle.
How to use jigsaw

1. Introduce the strategy and the topic to be studied.
2. Assign each student to a "home group" of 3-5 students who reflect a range of reading abilities.
3. Determine a set of reading selections and assign one selection to each student.
4. Create "expert groups" that consist of students across "home groups" who will read the same selection.
5. Give all students a framework for managing their time on the various parts of the jigsaw task.
6. Provide key questions to help the "expert groups" gather information in their particular area.
7. Provide materials and resources necessary for all students to learn about their topics and become "experts."
Note: It is important that the reading material assigned is at appropriate instructional levels (90–95% reading
accuracy).
8. Discuss the rules for reconvening into "home groups" and provide guidelines as each "expert" reports the
information learned.
9. Prepare a summary chart or graphic organizer for each "home group" as a guide for organizing the experts'
information report.
10. Remind students that "home group" members are responsible to learn all content from one another.
Paragraph Shrinking
Paragraph shrinking is an activity developed as part of the Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies (PALS). The
paragraph shrinking strategy allows each student to take turns reading, pausing, and summarizing the main
points of each paragraph. Students provide each other with feedback as a way to monitor comprehension.
How to use paragraph shrinking

1. Choose the assigned reading and introduce the text to the students.
2. Create pairs within the classroom by identifying which children require help on specific skills and who the most
appropriate children are to help other children learn those skills.
3. Model the procedure to ensure that students understand how to use the strategy.
4. Have each member of the teacher-assigned pair take turns being "Coach" and "Player."
5. Ask each student to read aloud for 5 minutes without rereading a text. After each paragraph, students should
stop to summarize the main points of the reading. Ask students to then summarize the following information:
o The who or what of the paragraph
o The most important thing about who or what
o The main idea
Note: If a "Player" ever gives a wrong answer, the "Coach" asks the "Player" to skim the paragraph again and
answer question a second time.
6. Ask students to state the main idea in 10 words or less which will encourage them to monitor comprehension
while taking turns reading.
7. Award each pair points when the above goals of the strategy are met.
Question the Author
Questioning the author is a strategy that engages students actively with a text. Rather than reading and taking
information from a text, the QtA strategy encourages students to ask questions of the author and the text.
Through forming their questions, students learn more about the text. Students learn to ask questions such as:
What is the author's message? Does the author explain this clearly? How does this connect to what the author
said earlier?
How to use question the author

Beck et al. (1997) identify specific steps you should follow during a question the author lesson. This strategy is
best suited for nonfiction texts.
1. Select a passage that is both interesting and can spur a good conversation.
2. Decide appropriate stopping points where you think your students need to obtain a greater understanding.
3. Create queries or questions for each stopping point.
o What is the author trying to say?
o Why do you think the author used the following phrase?
o Does this make sense to you?
4. Display a short passage to your students along with one or two queries you have designed ahead of time.
5. Model for your students how to think through the queries.
6. Ask students to read and work through the queries you have prepared for their readings.
Slashed / Cut up texts: This is a genuinely collaborative

reading approach.
1. Photocopy a suitable text and cut it diagonally into four.
2. Seat students in fours. Give a piece of the text to each student. They mustn't show their piece to the
others.
3. Give each group a set of questions.
4. The group have to work collaboratively to answer the questions since no one has the whole of the
text.
5. Groups can compare answers when they have finished.

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Exit Slips

How to use exit slips

o Prompts that document learning:

o Prompts that emphasize the process of learning:

o Prompts to evaluate the effectiveness of instruction:

o Other exit prompts include:

How to use first lines

3. Engage the class in discussion about the predictions.

How to use jigsaw

How to use paragraph shrinking

o The who or what of the paragraph

o The most important thing about who or what

o The main idea

How to use question the author

3. Create queries or questions for each stopping point.

o What is the author trying to say?

o Why do you think the author used the following phrase?

o Does this make sense to you?

5. Model for your students how to think through the queries.

Slashed / Cut up texts: This is a genuinely collaborative

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