Reading Concept: Reading With a Question in Mind

Grade level: 8th

Objective:
Students will be able to take notes on information to be able to expand their thinking and answer
questions.
Standard:
7.3.R.6Studentswillanalyzethestructuresoftexts(e.g.,compare/contrast,problem/solution,
cause/effect,claims/evidence)andcontentbymakinginferencesabouttextsandusetextualevidenceto
drawsimplelogicalconclusion
Prior knowledge: (What students already know)
Studentswillanalyzethestructuresoftexts(e.g.Description,compare/contrast,sequential,
problem/solution,cause/effect)andcontentbymakinginferencesabouttextsandusetextualevidenceto
supportunderstanding.
Materials Needed-Include Mentor Text:
Mentor Text: Strategies That Work by Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis and Whats the Fuss About
Frogs? an article in Odyssey magazine by Laurie Ann Toupin (2002)
Materials: Whats the Fuss About Frogs? an article in Odyssey magazine by Laurie Ann Toupin (2002),
Think sheets headed Notes/Thinking, pencils/pens,
Student Groups: whole group, then small groups.
Guiding Questions:
Steps to Follow: This is your dialogue to your students.
Connect (Engagement) I will pass out the Think sheets and the article to each student. Okay
class, I would like for you to skim over the article for a minute and when you are done I would like
for you to discuss with your group about this article and some of the questions you are wondering
about this article. I will give the students a few minutes to go over the article with one another.
Alright, would anyone like to share some of their questions? After a few have shared some of
their questions, I will bring the attention back to me. So readers can sometimes better understand
what they read and pick out the best information if they read with a question in mind.
Explain/Teach: I will write on the board on my own Think sheet Why are these frogs
disappearing under the Thinking column. I would like for you to also write this question under

the Thinking column on your own sheet. When you read and keep your question in mind, jot down
information that is related to that question in the Notes column. It is important to only write the
information that is related to that question in the Notes column. If you simply just jot down the
facts by themselves, it is not enough. You need to be able to merge your thinking with the
information you are learning to be able to make sense of it.
Model: I will read the first few paragraphs of the article, and take notes on the information that is
related to the first question by putting them in my Notes Column. Through my reading, I
discovered that all amphibians are in a great decline, and that they are an important food source,
they slow the greenhouse effect by eating insects that normally contribute to decomposition, and
they are the canaries in the ecological coal mine. What is an ecological coal mine and how are
frogs like the canaries? These are questions that have come up after reading just a few paragraphs.
I can add these to my Thinking column. I will model this procedure on the board so that the
students will be able to see how I want them to do so on their own worksheet. By adding to my
Thinking column, it will help me when I am confused about a topic. Sometimes one question can
lead to another question.
Try-It (Exploration): So with keeping our original question in mind, I would like for you to try it
on your own as you read through the article. I will allow the students to finish reading the article
and come up with their own questions.
Share and Link (Application): After the students are done reading and filling out their Think
sheet, I will have them share with their table and then have each group share their question and
the information that they learned about their question. Now that we have practiced this strategy
as a class and with our groups, you will be able to use this strategy in other areas so that you can
expand your comprehension of material.

Follow Up/Extension (Could be differentiation for Gifted and Talented:

Differentiation: How will you adapt your instruction to ELL/ESL students and/or students with a
learning disability, or gifted and talented (exceptional learners: LD & GT)?

Next Steps: (After observing how the students apply the learning of this lesson, I will plan either a
reteach with a different approach OR I will plan a new lesson based on what I notice the group of
writers need next.)
Leave this section blank this semester.