Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Thomas G. Gunning, a consultant and former public school teacher, is professor emeritus in the Department of Reading at Southern Connecticut State University and adjunct professor at Central Connecticut State University. He teaches a variety of courses on literacy, remedial reading, and reading diagnosis.

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Reading Comprehension Boosters features 100 high-interest readings and activities designed to help students improve their comprehension and response skills. Classroom-tested lessons include brief reading selections followed by constructed response and multiple-choice questions and thinking and writing activities. Reading Comprehension Boosters is flexible and can be used as a core or supplemental program, as test prep, or for intervention with individual students or groups.

Lessons include easily reproduced worksheets grouped within six thematic units. Each unit builds background knowledge and focuses on an important aspect of comprehension: 1) comprehending main ideas and details and visualizing; 2) summarizing; 3) inferring, predicting, and concluding; 4) understanding facts versus opinions; 5) comparing and contrasting; and 6) review and application. These units gradually build in level of challenge so that students gain proficiency and confidence as they move along. Each unit includes a teacher section that offers extensive guidance on how to introduce the lessons to students and support them in their development of essential reading and responding skills.

Praise for Reading Comprehension Boosters

"Reading Comprehension Boosters is exactly what struggling readers need to improve their comprehension. The best part: the texts for each task are included saving teachers countless hours of hunting for high-interest short passages. Teachers will love this resource!" Nancy Boyles, professor of reading, Southern Connecticut State University, and Independent Literacy Consultant

"Reading Comprehension Boosters provides teachers with critical comprehension strategies that all students need to know. The lessons are well-organized for the teachers, as well as interesting and motivating for the students. This book is an incredible resource for all classrooms." Jennifer Brodeur, reading specialist, Old Saybrook, Connecticut

"This book performs the real service of guiding teachers in developing a step-by-step approach to teaching students strategies for improved comprehension." Irene W. Gaskins, founder and head of school emerita, Benchmark School, Media, Pennsylvania

Aus dem Klappentext

Reading Comprehension Boosters features 100 high-interest readings and activities designed to help students improve their comprehension and response skills. Classroom-tested lessons include brief reading selections followed by constructed response and multiple-choice questions and thinking and writing activities. Reading Comprehension Boosters is flexible and can be used as a core or supplemental program, as test prep, or for intervention with individual students or groups.

Lessons include easily reproduced worksheets grouped within six thematic units. Each unit builds background knowledge and focuses on an important aspect of comprehension: 1) comprehending main ideas and details and visualizing; 2) summarizing; 3) inferring, predicting, and concluding; 4) understanding facts versus opinions; 5) comparing and contrasting; and 6) review and application. These units gradually build in level of challenge so that students gain proficiency and confidence as they move along. Each unit includes a teacher section that offers extensive guidance on how to introduce the lessons to students and support them in their development of essential reading and responding skills.

Praise for Reading Comprehension Boosters

Reading Comprehension Boosters is exactly what struggling readers need to improve their comprehension. The best part: the texts for each task are included--saving teachers countless hours of hunting for high-interest short passages. Teachers will love this resource! --Nancy Boyles, professor of reading, Southern Connecticut State University, and Independent Literacy Consultant

Reading Comprehension Boosters provides teachers with critical comprehension strategies that all students need to know. The lessons are well-organized for the teachers, as well as interesting and motivating for the students. This book is an incredible resource for all classrooms.--Jennifer Brodeur, reading specialist, Old Saybrook, Connecticut

This book performs the real service of guiding teachers in developing a step-by-step approach to teaching students strategies for improved comprehension. --Irene W. Gaskins, founder and head of school emerita, Benchmark School, Media, Pennsylvania

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Reading Comprehension Boosters

John Wiley & Sons

Chapter One

Unit One has two themes. The first theme explores the world of animals. It looks at unusual animals and ways in which animals take care of their young and help each other. The second theme explores the world of robots. It describes some of the main ways in which robots are used-some of which will undoubtedly be surprising to students-and concludes with a story about a pet robot. Place books and articles on the topic in your classroom library. The skills/strategy focus for the first unit is deriving the main idea and supporting details. Visualizing is also introduced.

Teaching the Main Idea and Supporting Details

Grasping the main idea of a selection is a foundational skill. In this book, the main idea is a summary statement that includes the details or ideas in a selection. It is what all the other sentences are about. The main idea is more specific than the topic. Whereas the topic is the subject, the main idea is the general idea that is expressed about the topic. A topic might be "guide dogs." A general idea about guide dogs might be, "Guide dogs are carefully trained." Unless students grasp the main idea, they have no basis for organizing information and run the risk of getting lost in details.

Grasping the main idea is also a prerequisite for summarizing, outlining, and taking notes. Grasping the main ideas requires the ability to see similarities among details, note differences, and classify or categorize details. Without the prerequisite skills of noting likenesses and differences and being able to classify details, students will have difficulty deriving or recognizing main ideas. The major problem that students have with selecting or constructing main ideas is not including all the details. Students tend to select or construct a main idea that is too narrow. Deriving the main idea requires the following subskills:

Categorizing words and sentences

Identifying topic sentences

Using titles and headings to predict the main idea

Selecting the main idea when directly stated

Selecting the main idea when implied

Using graphic organizers to display the main idea and supporting details

Using a frame to state the main idea and supporting details

Stating the main idea and supporting details

Lesson 1 Identifying Topic Sentences

Objectives: To prepare for identifying main ideas, students apply their concept of main idea by choosing from the sentences in a paragraph the one that includes all the others. In preparation for choosing a topic sentence, students categorize groups of words.

Introduction: Explain to the students that an important reasoning skill is being able to see similarities and differences and then tell how things are the same or different. Explain that being able to see similarities and differences will help them better understand the materials they read. Using a series of items that are similar, such as those listed next, ask students to tell how they are the same. Then have them provide a category label:

collies, poodles, German shepherds (dogs) crows, robins, blue jays, eagles (birds) tigers, lions, leopards, panthers (wild cats) bass, tuna, flounder, cod (fish)

Explain that just as words can be classified, so too sentences can be classified and given a label. Write the following sentences, or similar ones, on the board, and explain to students that one sentence acts as a label and includes all the other sentences. Ask them to read the sentences and identify which one tells about the others:

Buffalo can smell a pool of water that is three miles away.

Buffalo have sharp senses.

Buffalo can see moving animals or people as far away as a mile.

Buffalo also have good hearing.

Most zebras have large black stripes that cover their bodies.

Some zebras have gray, brown, yellow, or red stripes.

Not all zebras look alike.

Some zebras have spots, instead of stripes, on most parts of their bodies.

Some zebras have stripes, but the stripes are so faded that the zebras appear to be all white.

Discuss why "Buffalo have sharp senses" and "Not all zebras look alike" are the main idea sentences. Emphasize that these sentences include the ideas in the other sentences in their group.

Guided and independent practice: Once students have grasped the idea of classifying sentences, have them complete the exercises on the Student Pages. Discuss students' responses. Help them to see that the sentence that includes all the others is the topic sentence. Explain, too, that they can check their responses by seeing if all the other sentences are included in the topic sentence. If one or more don't fit, then they need to choose another topic sentence. To assess students' progress, note whether students can categorize. In prepublication tryouts of these materials, a number of students demonstrated mastery of this skill, but a smaller number showed a definite need for it. Provide added instruction and practice for those who need it.

Extension: Provide added practice if needed. If students have grasped the concept of the inclusive topic sentence, go to Lesson 2. However, continue to have students classify and categorize as the occasion arises. In math they might classify numbers; in geography, places or landforms; in science, rocks or metals or animals.

Student Pages The Wonderful World of Animals

The articles in this section will take you into the world of animals. They will tell you about an animal that kills snakes, a two-headed snake, how animals help each other, and how animals keep themselves safe. At the same time, you will be learning how to understand main ideas and their supporting details.

Lesson 1: Identifying Topic Sentences

The main idea is what a paragraph or longer piece of writing is all about. Some paragraphs have main idea sentences. The main idea sentence is also known as the topic sentence. The topic sentence can be thought of as a box in which all the other sentences in the paragraph can be placed.

To show you how topic sentences work, a paragraph has been broken up. Its sentences are listed below. See if you can find the topic sentence. Keep in mind that it will be the sentence that includes all the other sentences. Underline the topic sentence. Then look at the other sentences to make sure that the main idea sentence tells about them:

Birds sing to tell other birds where they are.

Birds sing for a number of reasons.

Birds sing to find mates.

Birds sing to warn other birds to stay away from their homes.

The topic sentence is, "Birds sing for a number of reasons." It includes all the other sentences. The other sentences explain that birds sing to tell us where they are, to find mates, and to warn other birds to stay away from their homes. All of these sentences help support the main idea: birds sing for a number of reasons.

Now underline the topic sentence in each of the following lists of sentences:

The way a bird sings depends on where it is. Birds that are low to the ground sing in low sounds. Birds in bushes sing in medium sounds. Birds in the treetops sing in high sounds....