Reading - Hit for Six task

An idea based on this post by USA teacher SmartChick for ways to make the most of articles in magazines for children; I am sharing it here so I can find it when I want to use it in Term One...can be applied to any informational text...

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I've given it a cricket analogy (the Cricket World Cup is being held in NZ early in 2015). - the pupils I will have in 2015 took part in a cricket skills programme in Term Four of 2014, so the cricketing terms should be familiar to them.

HIT FOR SIX

To hit the ball over the boundary on the full (without bouncing inside the boundary line) is called 'a six' as it earns the batsman six runs for his total and is the ultimate shot a batsman can score.

Here are the steps: (Specific reading skills in brackets)

1. Gear up: before reading the article, look at the title and illustrations then write three questions about it. (Predict/Ask questions/Use prior knowledge)

2. Ready the bat: read the article then write three (or up to five) interesting facts that you learned. (Find information/Retell/Select relevant details)

3. Keep your eyes on the bowler: skim the article to find at least three important vocabulary words. Define what each word means. (Use vocabulary in context)

4. Swing the bat: explain the main idea of the article. (Select key ideas or themes/Evaluate/Identify author purpose)

5. Follow through: write a summary of one section of the article. (Find information/Summarise/Select key ideas or themes)

6. Celebrate the shot: ask two or three questions about this topic you would like to find out more about.