Reading Strategies Minilesson
This lesson will challenge students to think “differently.” Through a variety of questions crossing the curriculum (ELA, Social Studies, Mathematics, Science) students will have the opportunity to reflectively think with the prior knowledge they possess, and consider new views and possibilities about areas they may think they already have knowledge about. Reading skills will be put to the test in this lesson while challenging the students to consider questions more abstractly than they maybe accustomed to doing. Thinking abstractly will be important when lessons concerning creative writing are being taught later in the year.
Administration of the test can occur in one of two ways. The teacher can either use a transparency of the test and project it onto a screen with the use of an overhead projector or, give each student their on individual handout. Either way, every student is to do his or her own work. This is not a teaming task. The teacher is to make it clear that students are not to share information or answers with classmates. Quite contemplation and the writing down of their answers is all that is required to complete this portion of the lesson. But, the teacher should be prepared to respond to questions and statements such as: “This question does not make any sense. How am I supposed to know that? I have never been taught that before.” The best response a teacher should give at this stage is to instruct the student to just “Do your best.” Ten to fifteen minutes is all that will be required to complete the test.
After the students have finished answering the test questions independently, the teacher will go over each question orally giving the answer and an explanation of how that answer was achieved. Each test question is designed to shed new light on old subject matters and is guaranteed to create inquiry from the students. The teacher should be prepared to field a number of questions beginning with the words “How, what, and why.” Students will find this exercise educational, informative, and entertaining. The test will not be collected for a grade as it is just an exercise to demonstrate how closely students read material and can think abstractly. The answer and explanation part of this lesson should take no more than thirty minutes. Forty-five minutes is all that is required for this lesson to be completed.
Materials Needed:
A handout copy of the test for each student or;
A transparency of the test and an overhead projector.
National Standards
3….Students
apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and
appreciate texts. They draw on their
prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their
knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification
strategies and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter
correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).
11…Students participate as knowledgeable, reflective,
creative, and critical members of a variety of literacy communities.
Competency Goals
1.02 Explore expressive materials that are read, heard, and viewed by:
· Creating an artistic interpretation that connects self to the work
2.01 Explore informational materials that are read, heard, and / or viewed by:
· Restating and summarizing information
· Determining the importance of information
· Making connections to related topics / information
· Monitoring comprehension
· Drawing inferences
· Generating questions
4.02 Develop (with teacher assistance) and apply appropriate criteria to evaluate the quality of the communication by:
· Using knowledge of language structure and literary or media techniques
· Drawing conclusions based on evidence, reasons, or relevant information
· Considering the implications, consequences, or impact of those conclusions
The Wilcox Wide World of Wisdom
1….A certain word that is five letters long will become shorter if you add two letters to it. What is that word?
2….How
much dirt is in a hole 4ft x 3ft x 5ft?
3….What
is the longest word in the English language?
4….Make
42 out of 2, 3, 4, and 9.
5….How
far can a dog run into the forest?
6….What
word in the English language is always spelled wrong?
7….George’s
mother has three children. The first one
is named April. The second one is named
May. What is the name of the third
child?
8….How
can you take 1 from 19 and end up with 20?
9….Do
they have the forth of July in England?
10...You
have two coins that add up to 55 cents.
One of the coins is not a nickel.
How is this possible?
11…A
train leaves NYC headed for LA at 100 mph.
Three hours later another train leaves LA headed for NYC at 200
mph. When they meet, which one will be
closer to NYC?
12…Divide
30 by half and add ten. What do you get?
13…If
you had only one match and entered a cold and dark room, where there was an oil
heater, and oil lamp, and a candle, what would you light first?
14…Some
months have 30 days. Some months have 31
days. How many months have 28 days?
15…A
woman gives birth to two sons in the same hour, of the same day, of the same
year but they are not twins. How is this
possible?
16…On
a clear day the average person can see how far?
a…9
miles b…193 miles c…193,000 miles d…93 million miles
Answers To The
Test
1….short
2….none. It is a hole
3….smiles. There is a mile between the first and last s.
4….4 x 9 plus 2 x 3 = 42 or 3 x 4 +9 = 21 and 21 x 2= 42
5….Only half way. Beyond half way he is running out.
6….wrong
7….George
8….Roman numerals. X I X. Take away the I, and you are left with X X.
9….Yes, but they do not celebrate it as we do in the U.S.
10…A fifty cent piece and a nickel. One is not a nickel, one is.
11…When they meet they are the same distance from NYC.
12…70. 30 divided by .5 = 60 plus 10 = 70. (most students use 2 instead of .5)
13…the match
14…they all do
15…They may be part of a set of triplets, quads, etc.
16…93 million miles. On a clear day you can see the sun.