1. Frontload the information that will be presented in the text before reading in a story format.
2. Before reading, set a focus with 2-3 Essential Questions.
- Read to find out why/how…
- When you read, look for the reason why…
- While we are reading, see if you can find the answer to why…
3. Encourage active participation while you are reading by using a “Read the word I leave off” strategy.
4. Use a fill in the blank format for scaffolded notes after reading.

Great ideas! One thing I tried today that worked really well . ..
We were reading about the time after the American Revolution. I took directly from the text “GW was the first P” and wrote that on the board. We had just read a paragraph talking about George Washington being the first President. When we were done reading, I had several similar sentences that were cryptic with just the initials. They LOVED it! They were super excited to figure out these concepts that we were learning! I will definitely be doing this again!
That sounds so fun! I am going to have to try that out. Thanks for sharing!
Much to my dismay, I am “strongly encouraged” to use our textbook in reading although I personally do not like it. I do see the advantages of each student having the text in front of them, but I don’t care for the stories in the book. I love these ideas and will be using them in both reading and social studies for sure! Thanks!
Love this! I have been struggling with using the textbook but making it engaging as well. I have done “Read the word I leave off” as well and it works! Do you use this for most lessons? While a lot of students like to read out loud, engagement seems to be at an all time low. 🙁 I have also done group reading and filling out a “packet” with different activities like make a song for the states/capitals in this section, would you rather visit place a or b and why using evidence from your text.
Thanks so much for these great tips. I’m teaching 5th and 6th grade for a semester but I just finished high school last year…it’s a long story but needless to say, I’m not sure what I’m doing, so I really appreciate your posts and all these helpful comments!