Close Reading for First Grade

Greetings to you…from Camp Comprehension! I’ve just been having “fun” with so much other stuff {laundry, work, sleep!} that I totally forgot to blog about Camp Comprehension!

I’m sure you’ve heard that new/old buzz phrase in teaching – Close Reading! Just in case you haven’t, Close Reading is an engaging way to help students work on building their comprehension. The Common Core Standards ask students to dig deeper into informational texts by answering questions and citing evidence.

So…what does this mean in the classroom? Kids now need to “show what they know!” As we know, most kids are SUPER into animals. I thought if I created high interest topics, the kids wouldn’t mind reading and answering questions about the text.

I used 20 different animals to create 40 reading passages.  Having two passages for the same animal allows you to differentiate for your classroom of readers!

I should point out that Close Reading is a challenging skill for young students to master. I use these non-fiction passages WITH my students during small group reading time.

This is the easier of the two passages.

This is the harder of the two passages on ants.

All of the passages are set up in a very similar way, so my hope is that the kids will soon become familiar with the questions and skills, allowing them to complete the activities independently down the road.

If you have some smartie-pants 1st graders or independent second graders, they could probably rock these passages on their own! Wanna try out Camp Comprehension? I have a freebie in the store just for you!

Don’t worry – answers are included, too 🙂

Stay tuned for more Camp Comprehension “Sessions!” Any suggestions for another Session? Leave it in the comments below!

Slainte!