The higher standards students today are expected to meet call for literacy instruction that focuses on the close reading of complex texts. These informational text passages are organized around high-interest topics connected to the curriculum and to key comprehension skills. The readings are specially formatted to provide practice with text marking, a proven, powerful tool for building comprehension skills, such as finding main idea and details, identifying cause and effect, and sequencing events!
You may wish to extend the text-marking strategy by having students identify other aspects of writing, such as confusing words, expressions, or idioms. Moreover, you can invite students to write their own notes and questions on sticky-notes!
