I am very excited that we will be approaching reading differently this year. We will not be using the basal reading book. Instead, we will be reading novels together. During our enjoyment of these novels, we will also be using the different reading skills sthat students learn in fourth and fifth grades.
In addition to working with the novels, students also practice their reading skills in other activities:
SRA Cards
Ticket to Read (web-based software)
"Reading Rocks" (30 minutes of reading at home every night.)
Each week will focus on a specific comprehension strategy and one or more skills. Students will practice the skills through-out the week during small group work and self-selected reading. Our tests each week are based on different reading skills learned and practiced. Novel tests will also be given during our reading of each novel.
The vocabulary and comprehension strategies and skills for each week are outlined below.
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Unit 1, Week 1 |
Character Context Clues Plot Synonyms |
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Unit 1, Week 2 |
Character Compound words Plot Setting Synonyms |
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Unit 1, Week 3 |
Compare and Contrast (Alike & Different) Dictionary: Pronunciation Key Homographs Synonyms |
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Unit 1, Week 4 |
Context Clues (Look for a description or explanation) Main Idea and Details |
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Unit 1, Week 5 |
Cause and Effect Thesaurus, Synonyms |
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Unit 2, Week 1 |
Idioms Make Inferences Synonyms |
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Unit 2, Week 2 |
Context Clues (Look for restatement) Main Idea and Details Synonyms |
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Unit 2, Week 3 |
Context Clues Main Idea and Details Word Parts: Inflectional Endings |
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Unit 2, Week 4 |
Context Clues, Suffixes (-ion, -ous) Problem and Solution |
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Unit 2, Week 5 |
Analogies Antonyms Make Inferences |
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Unit 3, Week 1 |
Draw Conclusions Synonyms Word Families |
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Unit 3, Week 2 |
Context Clues Dictionary: Pronunciation Key Relevant Facts and Details Synonyms |
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Unit 3, Week 3 |
Author’s Purpose: Persuade Prefixes (un-, pre-, re-) Synonyms |
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Unit 3, Week 4 |
Compare Characters, Settings, and Events Connotations/Denotation Synonyms |
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Unit 3, Week 5 |
Analogies Context Clues Draw Conclusions Synonyms |
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Unit 4, Week 1 |
Character Context Clues Homophones Setting |
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Unit 4, Week 2 |
Author’s Purpose Context Clues (within a sentence) Synonyms |
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Unit 4, Week 3 |
Context Clues Prefixes (un-, pre-, dis-) Reading a Diagram Relevant Facts and Details Suffixes (-ful) |
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Unit 4, Week 4 |
Captions Context Clues Multiple-meaning Words Organizational Patterns: Description Pie Chart Sequencing Synonyms |
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Unit 4, Week 5 |
Analogies Author’s Purpose Synonyms |
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Unit 5, Week 1 |
Base and Root Words Context Clues Prefixes (un-) Problem and Solution Sequencing Suffixes (-ous) Synonyms |
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Unit 5, Week 2 |
Dictionary Essential Message/Theme Greek Roots Latin Roots |
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Unit 5, Week 3 |
Antonyms Cause and Effect Context Clues |
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Unit 5, Week 4 |
Author’s Point of View Context Clues (In surrounding sentences and paragraphs) |
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Unit 5, Week 5 |
Character Latin Roots Setting Synonyms |
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Unit 6, Week 1 |
Context Clues Homophones |
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Unit 6, Week 2 |
Dictionary: Reading Definitions Homophones Make Judgments Multiple-meaning Words |
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Unit 6, Week 3 |
Context Clues Synonyms Techniques of Persuasion |
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Unit 6, Week 4 |
Context Clues Greek Roots Relevant Facts and Details |
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Unit 6, Week 5 |
Chronological Order Greek Roots (dorm, bio) |
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