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• Reading Comprehension
• Reading in English
• Out of School Time
• Support Materials
• Tote Bag
• About this Site

• Introduction
• Week 1: Initial Assessment
• Reading Together
• Brainstorming
• Week 4: Visualization
• Introduction to Visualization
• Application: Visualization with Poetry
• Week 8: Making Connections
• Text-to-Self
• Text-to-World
• Week 12: Interpreting the Author's Intent
• Text-to-Text Connection
• Making Predictions
• Saying Goodbye & Closure
• Last Assessment
• Wrap Up

Week 1: Initial Assessment

Reading Together

Joyce shows Emily Poppleton Everyday by Cynthia Rylant, which her teacher suggested.

Emily: I know these books. I have read some of them, but not this one.
Joyce: Do you want me to read it to you or do you want to read it?
Emily: I'll read it.
Joyce: Is there anything that you do before you start to read a book?
Emily: (shrugs)
Joyce: It helps readers to look at the cover and title and think about what the book might be about. That's called making a prediction.
Emily: It looks like Poppleton and a friend are going sailing.
Joyce: Have you ever been sailing?
Emily: No, but I have seen sailboats on TV. Once I saw someone tip over.
Joyce: Let's see if that happens to Poppleton.

After Emily reads Poppleton Everyday easily, Joyce asks Emily a few questions about the story:
Joyce: Let's think about how Poppleton felt about sailing.
Emily: I don't think that he liked falling in the water.
Joyce: That was probably pretty scary. I wonder if Poppleton will want to go sailing with Fillmore again.
Emily: Sure, because he had fun.

This reply from Emily causes Joyce to wonder if Emily has understood the end of the story. In the story Poppleton is angry about their rough boat ride yet Fillmore, his sailing buddy, is laughing about what a great trip they had. Fillmore is unaware of Poppleton's feelings and this makes Poppleton more upset. Joyce wonders if this lack of understanding is what Emily's teacher meant when she said that Emily was having trouble with comprehension. Joyce realizes she needs to find out how much Emily did or didn't understand about the story

Joyce wonders if she should:
A. Ask a more open-ended question about the story so that Emily can use her own words to describe what she understood?	B. Move on to another story and after finishing it question Emily to assess her comprehension?	C. Ask more questions that incorporate parts of the story and require some information from the story to answer? She will ask the questions in a conversational way to make the exchange feel more like a conversation than a test.
See This Choice	See This Choice	See This Choice

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Web-Based Tutor Training | LEARNS | Education, Career and Community Program

© 2004 Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory

Date of Last Updated: 7/14/2004
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