Creating Strategic Readers

Mirror/Mirror
Phonemic Awareness: Isolating and Identifying Phonemes
This technique is highlighted on the Creating Strategic Readers DVD/VHS series.
Purpose: To identify and demonstrate positioning of the mouth, lips, and teeth with isolated
sounds
Level: Emergent (Adaptations for Early and Transitional) ELL Technique: Yes
Multiple Intelligences: Visual/spatial, verbal/linguistic, logical/mathematical,
bodily/kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal
Materials: Text, hand-held mirrors; For Adaptation: camera, objects, basket, recorder or order
Mouth It strips from CSR @ www.ValerieEllery.com
Procedure:
1. Select a word from a text and say it, isolating the beginning sound. With hand-held mirrors,
have students practice positioning their mouths to say the sound you isolated. Suggested teacher
talk might be, How do you position your mouth when you start the word _____?
2. Have partners describe to each other what they notice happening to their mouths when they
say a certain sound. Suggested teacher talk could be, Describe the position of your mouth for
that sound.
Adaptation for Early Readers: Take and print close-up pictures of students positioning their
mouths for a variety of sounds. Place several of the highlighted pictures at a center .Collect items
that correlate with the sounds in a basket. Have the students select an item, check the position of
their mouth in mirror, and then place an object under a corresponding picture to create a graph.
Adaptation for Transitional Readers: Students use mirrors to check the positioning of their
mouth for vowels as they reread their own writing. For example, use the word penguin and have
the students reflect on the syllables in the word. Have them determine what vowel sound they
hear in the first syllable and note position of mouth in their mirror. The short vowel i in the word
penguin has more of a smile position than the first syllable short vowel e in penguin, which drops
the chin a little more than the i vowel position. Have students place their hand under their chin
while looking in their mirror to feel and see the difference between the two vowels as they say
them.

Think Sounds
Phonemic Awareness: Isolating and Identifying Phonemes
This technique is highlighted on the Creating Strategic Readers DVD/VHS series.
Purpose: To isolate, identify, and match beginning and ending sounds in words
Creating Strategic Readers: Techniques for Developing Competencies in Phonemic
Awareness, Phonics, Fluency, Vocabulary, and Comprehension, 2nd Edition (2009). Valerie
Ellery, International Reading Association.

Creating Strategic Readers

Level: Transitional (Adaptation for Fluent) ELL Technique: Yes
Multiple Intelligences: Visual/spatial, verbal/linguistic, logical/mathematical, interpersonal
Materials: Think Sounds reproducible (see CD ), objects; For Adaptation: vocabulary journal or
chart paper
Procedure:
1. Form a small group of students to sit in a circle. Provide these students with a starter word
(e.g., soap). Suggested teacher talk might be, Think about the word soap. What sound do you
hear at the end of the word?
2. Select a student to start the group Think Sound Train (Zgonc, 1999) by thinking of a word
that begins with the final sound in the word that you say (e.g., soap ends in /p/, so the student
could say pan). Suggested teacher talk could be, What sound do you hear at the end of the word
____? Now, try to think of a word that begins with that sound.
3. Have the next student say a word that begins with the ending sound of the last word created
(e.g., pan ends in /n/, so the student could say name). Remind the students to pay attention to the
final sound, not the final letter, when creating a new word (e.g., in name, /m/ is the final sound,
not the letter e).
4. Have the group continue adding to their Think Sound Train. If a team member can not add a
word to the group train, then they will need to start over with a new word to create a new train.
Motivation/Engagement: Use objects or the pictures from the Think Sounds reproducible and
have students match and create a Think Sound Train.
Adaptation for Fluent Readers: Create teams and use content area concepts, such as of matter
in science (i.e., molecule-liquids-solid-definite-temperature-reaction-number), or use a fiction
book that the class is reading and the students have to come up with characters, setting,
emotions, and so forth from the story to create their train . Have students capture words created
from their team train on chart or in vocabulary journals to share and use as a review of unit.

Silly Segmenting
Phonemic Awareness: Segmenting Phonemes
This technique is highlighted on the Creating Strategic Readers DVD/VHS series.
Purpose: To separate individual units of sounds in a word and demonstrate sounds
through a tangible representation
Multiple Intelligences: Visual/spatial, verbal/linguistic, logical/mathematical,
bodily/kinesthetic
Materials: Text, clay
Procedure:

Creating Strategic Readers: Techniques for Developing Competencies in Phonemic

Awareness, Phonics, Fluency, Vocabulary, and Comprehension, 2nd Edition (2009). Valerie
Ellery, International Reading Association.

Creating Strategic Readers

1. Give students small balls of clay and ask them to shape their clay into snakes (long,
rolled-up strips of clay).
2. Pronounce a word from a text you are reading and have students separate their
snakes into a corresponding number of segments, with each segment representing a
phoneme. Suggested teacher talk might be, Demonstrate how many sounds you hear
in the word.
3. Have students point to each section of their snakes and say the sounds separately.
4. Ask students to pick up each individual segment while pronouncing the
corresponding phoneme and place it into the palms of their hands, reforming the
word. Suggested teacher talk could be, What sounds do you hear in the word?
5. Repeat the process with a new word from the text you are reading.
Motivation/Engagement: Instead of breaking the snake apart, have students stretch
the clay as they pronounce the individual sounds. The students can place the stretched
snake on their desks and repeat the process with a new word and a new ball of clay to
compare the lengths of the words.
Adaptation for Transitional Readers: Substitute phonemes for syllables and ask what
letter or letters represent the syllable section. Have students reflect on the vowel(s)
within the snake section. Give clues for the students to demonstrate a word that would
best complete a mystery word. For example, I am thinking of a four syllable wordit
is a book of words and their definitions (/dic/-/tion/-/ar/-/y).

Stretch It
Phonics: Synthesizing

This technique is highlighted on the Creating Strategic Readers DVD/VHS series.

Purpose: To recognize and demonstrate that letters have names and that sounds can be
associated with letters
Level: Early
ELL Technique: Yes
Multiple Intelligences: Visual/spatial, verbal/linguistic, logical/mathematical, musical/rhythmic,
bodily/kinesthetic
Materials: Text, 8 10 and 2 2 laminated squares with white construction paper, elastic strips,
stapler, dry-erase marker, Do the Word Stretch from Shake, Rattle 'N Read CD (Hartman,
2000), audio recorder or order Stretch It strips from CSR @ www.ValerieEllery.com
Creating Strategic Readers: Techniques for Developing Competencies in Phonemic
Awareness, Phonics, Fluency, Vocabulary, and Comprehension, 2nd Edition (2009). Valerie
Ellery, International Reading Association.

Creating Strategic Readers

Procedure:
1. Model for students how to make stretch-it strips by doing a class demonstration using 8 10
laminated white construction paper stapled to a large elastic strip. Select several words to
synthesize from a text you are reading in class.
2. Make small 2 2 stretch-it strips for students by stapling at least two laminated paper squares
each onto a group of elastic strips for a visual representation.
3. Play the song Do the Word Stretch and have students pretend they are holding rubber bands
and stretching the words.
4. Using a dry-erase marker, have students write the letters of a word on the squares. Each square
should represent the letter(s) associated with the individual sound in the word. Suggested teacher
talk might be, How many sounds do you hear in the word _____?
5. Have students stretch the elastic word and then slowly bring the word back together while
merging the sounds. Suggested teacher talk might be, When you stretch the word, what is
happening?
6. Reread the text, using the word the students stretched.
Motivation/Engagement: Place several different sizes of the stretch-it elastic strips and a dryerase marker at the listening center. Record some words on audio recorder and have students
select the appropriate stretch-it strip according to how many sounds they hear in each word on
the recording. Then, students write the sounds on the strips and check their work with an answer
key for feedback. Finally, wipe off students' responses and reuse the strip as you repeat the
process.

Roll-Read-Record (RRR)
Phonics: Analyzing
Purpose: To focus on a word and analyze it for the specific parts within the word
Level: Transitional ELL Technique: Yes
Multiple Intelligences: Visual/spatial, verbal/linguistic, bodily/kinesthetic, interpersonal
Materials: Roll-Read-Record reproducible (see CD), text, large and small number cubes (e.g.,
dice)
Procedure:
1. After reading a text, have students roll a number cube and then search for a word within the
text that has the same number of phonemes, syllables, and so forth as the number on the cube.
2. Students can use the hand push technique described in Chapter 2 to push out the analyzed
parts as they determine the placement of their word on the graph and record on the Roll-ReadRecord reproducible. Suggested teacher talk, Look at your word and think about how the word
is designed. Push out the parts of the word.
Creating Strategic Readers: Techniques for Developing Competencies in Phonemic
Awareness, Phonics, Fluency, Vocabulary, and Comprehension, 2nd Edition (2009). Valerie
Ellery, International Reading Association.

Creating Strategic Readers

Motivation/ Engagement: Students work with partners to roll, read, and record their vocabulary
or spelling words on the reproducible and explain why they placed their words under the specific
columns. Students can also take home a small number cube to analyze their weekly words as
homework or search for words in newspapers or magazines to record.

EyeVoice Span
Fluency: Phrasing
This technique is highlighted on the Creating Strategic Readers DVD/VHS series.
Purpose: To recognize and demonstrate the value of forward eye movements when reading
Level: Early (Adaptation for Transitional) ELL Technique: No
Multiple Intelligences: Visual/spatial, verbal/linguistic, body/kinesthetic, interpersonal
Materials: Texts, overhead projector, passage of text on transparency; For Adaptation: Teacher
Talk Phrase Cards (see CD)
Procedure:
1. With the class, begin to read aloud a story or passage placed on an overhead transparency, or
on a visual presenter where all the students can see the text
2. Just before finishing reading a sentence or paragraph, turn off the overhead projector or
remove text from under the visual presenter. Suggested teacher talk could be, Where are your
eyes looking to next?
3. Have students demonstrate how they can still say the next few words from the passage right
after the text is removed.
4. Discuss why this happens (i.e., because of the distance students' eyes were ahead of their
voices). Suggested teacher talk might be, Try to 'push' your eyes forward ahead of your voice.
Adaptation for Transitional Readers: Have students work in A/B pairs (A = teacher role and
B = student role). The A partner listens to the B partner begin to read from text. Using the
Teacher Talk Phrase Cards, partner A randomly places the strip over partner Bs text and then
flips the strip to model phrasing teacher talk. Partner B responds to the teacher talk presented.
Have partners discuss process and then reverse roles. (Blevins, 2001)

Beam Reading
Fluency: Pacing
This technique is highlighted on the Creating Strategic Readers DVD/VHS series.
Purpose: To track and observe reading rate using a light
Level: Early

ELL Technique: Yes

Multiple Intelligences: Visual/spatial, verbal/linguistic, bodily/kinesthetic, interpersonal

Materials: Texts, chart or overhead projector, laser pen or flashlight, teacher anecdotal notes
Creating Strategic Readers: Techniques for Developing Competencies in Phonemic
Awareness, Phonics, Fluency, Vocabulary, and Comprehension, 2nd Edition (2009). Valerie
Ellery, International Reading Association.

Creating Strategic Readers

Procedure:
1. Display the text on a chart or overhead projector for all students to see. Use a laser pen or
flashlight to shine a light on the words as the students read aloud.
2. Move the light along the words at a steady pace. Suggested teacher talk could be, Try to keep
up with the light to increase your reading rate.
3. Encourage students to follow along with the light as they read aloud. The rate at which you
shine the light on the words should increase with each rereading of the text selected.
4. Have students practice this technique with partners, taking turns using the light and practicing
keeping the pace of the light. Suggested teacher talk might be, Is it easy or difficult for you to
keep up with the pace being modeled?
Motivation/Engagement: Place small handheld flashlights at small group area to use when the
students read independently or give one for all students to keep in their browsing boxes for
independent reading. This allows the teacher to observe students reading rate without the
students knowing they are being observed. This creates a risk free environment.

Reflection Connection
Vocabulary: Associating
This technique is highlighted on the Creating Strategic Readers DVD/VHS series.
Purpose: To connect words that relate to one another and determine relationships among the
words
Level: Transitional (Adaptation for Fluent) ELL Technique: No
Multiple Intelligences: Visual/spatial, bodily/kinesthetic, interpersonal
Materials: Text, note cards; For Adaptation: Reflection Connection reproducible (see CD),
Puzzle Piece reproducible
Procedure:
1. Prior to reading a selection, choose and record 10 words or phrases from the selection. The
first 5 words or phrases should be from the selected text; the other 5 should be from the text also,
but they should relate in some way to the first 5 words (e.g., sleep/night, dirty/torn).
2. Create two sets of word or phrase cards, one set for the first 5 words or phrases, and one set
for the second
3. Divide students into two groups and give each student a word or phrase card from the set (if
you have more than 10 students, let the students work in pairs or small groups).
4. Have students read their word cards and work together to determine which words or phrases
connect and, if so, how the words connect. Suggested teacher talk could be, What connects all
these examples together?
5. Ask the two main teams to record their predictions to share with the class later
Creating Strategic Readers: Techniques for Developing Competencies in Phonemic
Awareness, Phonics, Fluency, Vocabulary, and Comprehension, 2nd Edition (2009). Valerie
Ellery, International Reading Association.

Creating Strategic Readers

6. After reading the text, have teams return to their notes to confirm or modify their connections
according to how each word was used in the context of the text. Suggested teacher talk might be,
How would you connect these two words together?
Adaptation for Fluent Readers: Students use 4 chosen words to complete the following
sentence: ___________ is to ___________ as _________ is to __________ and then an
additional phrase to complete the explanation because _____________. Students determine how
the words connect and record their results on the Reflection Connection reproducible. Laminate
the Puzzle Pieces reproducible and have students record the words used to fill in the blanks
above words on their pieces and share in small groups. The dialogue within the group should
focus on how the words connect and relate to one another. After a brief discussion, the students
should revisit the text to examine the connected words in context.

Somebody/Wanted/But/So
Comprehension: Summarizing
This technique is highlighted on the Creating Strategic Readers DVD/VHS series.
Purpose: To organize key information in a story and construct a graphic organizer to
outline the story elements
Multiple Intelligences: Visual/spatial, verbal/linguistic, interpersonal
Materials: Text, paper; For Adaptation: Hula hoops
Procedure:
1. Have students fold a sheet of paper into fourths and write the following headings on
the four sections: Somebody, Wanted, But, and So (Schmidt and Buckley, 1990).
2. Using a story that the students have read, have students complete their individual
charts by writing a statement under each section: Somebody (identify the character),
Wanted (describe the character's goal or motivation), But (describe a conflict that
impedes the character), and So (describe the resolution of the conflict). Suggested
teacher talk could be, How can you use key ideas to condense the information in this
story?

Adaptation for Early Readers: Place four hula hoops on the classroom floor and tell students
that each hoop represents one of the four headings (Somebody, Wanted, But, So).,Have students
stand inside the hoops after reading a story and summarize each corresponding aspect as they
walk through the hoops. Suggested teacher talk might be, Which details are the most and least
significant?
Creating Strategic Readers: Techniques for Developing Competencies in Phonemic
Awareness, Phonics, Fluency, Vocabulary, and Comprehension, 2nd Edition (2009). Valerie
Ellery, International Reading Association.