Star Lessons
Preparation
- Select a text to read aloud, or ask students to select a text. This activity is most successful with material that is particularly engaging for students, so aim for texts that have relatable characters, fast and vivid action, and/or surprising or emotionally compelling events.
Activity Steps
1
The teacher asks students if they would like to discuss the text in its entirety after the read-aloud, or if they would like the teacher to stop reading periodically. Students make their choice.
You can also determine for yourself when and how often you want to stop to discuss, but students often feel more investment in the activity if they get to choose.
2
Teacher leads discussion about the types of comments that a learner might make about a text. Students share ideas about what they like to discuss about texts.
This step can focus on specific text structures or comprehension strategies that you have studied, or just general reactions to a text. You may want to provide students with a list of questions or sentence starters that can guide them towards the types of responses that might be useful. For example: · I was surprised when… · I noticed a theme… · I wonder why… · If I were….I would…. · I felt…when… · This reminds me of…. · I can connect…
3
Teacher begins read-aloud, and students listen. Students may choose to record what they notice or think as they listen. Students silently raise their hands whenever they have something to say, and a student or adult volunteer silently records the students
You may want to provide students with a template or explicit instruction on noting their observations during the read-aloud. If students are not raising their hands, you will first want to be sure that they fully understand the task. You may want to model the types of responses that a reader may have to a text. After ensuring understanding, define an explicit expectation that each student contribute at least one comment. The person who is recording the raised hands and page numbers can also maintain a checklist keeping track of who has provided a comment.
4
Teacher stops reading at the end, or at designated points of the reading. The teacher calls on the first student in the list of names, and the class turns to the page next to that student’s name.
One goal of this activity is to help students to direct their own text-based conversation, so try not to share your own ideas and instead listen to the student’s ideas first. Letting a student speak first allows the conversation to follow their own interests.
5
The teacher calls on the first student in the list of names, and the class turns to the page next to that student’s name. The student begins the conversation about the text with the ideas noted from that page. Other students raise their hands to respond o
Encourage students to refer to specific words or lines from the book as they are talking, and also to refer to specific comprehension strategies that they have learned. Remind them of the discussion you started the class with. Consider creating a visual reference of the comprehension strategies that students have studied that they can refer to. Help facilitate and extend the conversation, but allow students to guide it as much as possible.
