1. Strategy and Skill Instruction for Reading
“Chunking” and “Stance Questions”
General
1. Set Objectives & Provide Feedback with Rubric (Marzano, 2007)
2. Use Methods to Motivate and Engage Students to Succeed (Lumsden, 1994; Skinner and Belmont, 1991)
3. Ensure Students are Engaged in Lesson (Lumsden, 1994; Skinner and Belmont, 1991)
4. Use Data and Lesson Checkpoints to Guide Instruction (Protheroe, 2001)
5. Pre-Teaching to Inoculate Against Failure (NRP, Lalley & Miller, 2006)
6. Explicit Instruction and Application of Concepts and Skills (Chall, 1967; Kroesbergen & Van Luit, 2003)
7. Modeling Concepts (Gibbons, 2001)
8. Use of a Multi-sensory Approach (NICHD, Orton-Gillingham)
9. Multiple Representations or Purposeful Repetition (NRP, NCTM)
10. Scaffolding Instruction with Modifications and Assisting with Independence (Vgotsky, 1962)
11. Tiered Differentiation -Content, Process and/or Product (Vgotsky, 1962; NRC, 1999)
12. Connection of Concepts to Non-Academic World (NCTM)
13. Reinforce Effort and Provide Recognition (Marzano, 2007)
Reading, Social Studies, Science, Other Arts
1. Directly teach phonemic awareness (NRP)
2. Directly teach synthetic phonics (NRP)
3. Fluency-Guided Repeated Oral Reading, Neurological Impress, Echo/Paired/Shared Reading (NRP)
4. Pre-Teach Vocabulary (NRP, NCTM)
5. Vocabulary instruction is taught both directly and indirectly in all subjects (NRP)
6. Vocabulary instruction includes repetition and multiple exposures to words (NRP)
7. Vocabulary instruction does not rely on just one method. (NRP)
8. Comprehension Monitoring-readers learn how to be aware of their understanding of the materials. (NRP)
9. Cooperative Learning- students learn reading strategies together. (NRP)
10. Graphic/Semantic Organizers-readers make graphic representations of the material to assist comprehension.
(NRP)
11. Chunking (Casteel)
12. Question Answering- readers answer questions posed by the teacher and receive immediate feedback. (NRP)
13. Question Generation- readers ask themselves question about various aspects of the story (NRP)
14. Story Structure-students are taught to use the structure of the story as a means of helping them recall story
content in order to answer question about what they have read (NRP)
15. Summarization-where readers are taught to integrate ideas and generalize from the text information. (NRP)
16. Reciprocal Teaching-Predict, Question, Clarify, Summarize (Palincsar and Brown, 1985; 1986)
Math
1. Instruct and Practice Basic Facts (NCTM)
2. Use Concrete Manipulatives (NCTM)
3. Pre-Teach Vocabulary (NRP, NCTM)
4. Vocabulary instruction is taught both directly and indirectly in all subjects (NRP)
5. Vocabulary instruction includes repetition and multiple exposures to words (NRP)
6. Vocabulary instruction does not rely on just one method. (NRP)
7. Instruct and Practice for Procedural Fluency (NRC)
8. Instruct and Practice for Conceptual Understanding (NRC)
9. Instruct and Practice the Problem Solving Process for Strategic Competence (NRC)
10. Justify Mathematical Ideas or Solutions for Adaptive Reasoning (NRC) (NCTM)
11. Present Mathematical Ideas Using Words or Symbols for Adaptive Reasoning (NRC) (NCTM)
12. Relate Math Concepts to Other Math Concepts and to Other Disciplines for Productive Dispositions (NRC)
(NCTM)

2. Chunking and Questioning Strategy
Chunking is the grouping of words in a sentence into short meaningful phrases (usually three to five
words). This process prevents word-by-word reading, which can cause lack of comprehension, since
students forget the beginning of a sentence before they get to the end (Casteel, 1988). Smith (1982)
assessed chunking as the largest meaningful combination of units that can be placed in short-term
memory. Studies indicate that the presentation of “chunked” material separated into meaningful
related groups of words improves the comprehension of some readers, most noticeably those readers
who are classified as poor or low-ability readers (Casteel, 1989).
- Chunking is a procedure of breaking up reading material into manageable
sections. Before reading a “chunk” students are given a statement of purpose,
which guides them to look for something specific in the text. This process is
repeated until students complete the passage.
- Developing comprehension through questioning in a teacher-question,
student-response format. Neither literal (focused on details) nor affective(focused
on attitudes) questions are sufficient.
- Questioning the author: reminding students that what they read is just
someone else’s ideas written down. Sometimes what authors have in their minds
does not come through clearly as they write about it. Generating questions and
answering them. A more advanced comprehension check (Chatel, 2002).
- For checking comprehension: once students have read a passage they are
asked to close their books and pretend they are teachers. They are to ask
questions relating to what they have read. After a while, the teacher reverses the
roles having students answer comprehension questions (Bondaza, 1998).
- Students are asked to develop their own questions about the text. The
teacher can provide exemplary questions, if necessary.
- Excessive chunking (chunk’s chunks) may hinder text comprehension. A
misapplied segmentation strategy causes slower reading (Keenan, 1984).
- Extreme variability in line length may slow reading by disrupting the rhythm of eye
movements (Keenan, 1984).
- A related technique – Read Cover Recite Check (RCRC). The advantages of
reading aloud to students: reluctant readers might be “turned on” to reading,
students may be exposed to literature beyond their reading ability, aural exposure to
more complex patterns prepares listeners to predict these structures in future
experiences, listening comprehension is developed, and vocabulary is increased
(Shoop, 1987).
- Questioning prior to reading aloud (prior knowledge aids).
- The reciprocal questioning procedure: students are asked to listen and to formulate
questions they can ask the teacher.
Using Stance Questions
Attached you will find a series of common stance frames that help you focus on comprehension
concepts that are not only important for good classroom instruction, but help our children prepare
to do well on all assessments. I encourage you to use them in a variety of ways, including but not
limited to:
 During Power Ups
 Throughout nearly all language arts lessons
 During science and social studies lessons that have students interacting with text
 For homework
As each of you find new and interesting ways to utilize these types of frames, I would really
encourage you to start right away and to share your ideas with other faculty members.
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3. Stance Frames to Utilize with Text
1. What is this selection mostly about? A. B. C. D.
2. Which is an opinion in the article? A. B. C. D.
3. Does the setting change in the story? Explain.
4. The author wrote the article in order to:
a) entertain b) persuade c) inform d) tell a story
5. The illustrations in the article help you to: A. B. C. D.
6. How do the (place any text feature here) help you to understand the article? A. B. C. D.
7. This selection is most like a:
a) legend b)mystery c)nonfiction d)fantasy
Explain how you know this.
8. If you could add another illustration with caption, what would you draw? Use information from
the text to support your thinking.
9. Why are some of the words in the article darker than the rest? A. B. C. D.
10. Predict what will probably happen next. A. B. C. D.
11. In this story/article/selection, the word __________ means A. B. C. D.
12. What lesson could someone learn from this story/play/poem?
13. How does the setting at the beginning make the reader feel? A. B. C. D.
Explain how you know this by using the text.
14. What is the tone of the letter? A. B. C. D.
15. Which of these is not answered in the text? A. B. C. D.
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4. A Birthday to Remember
Canadian speed skater Marianne St-Gelais snags a silver medal on
her birthday
BY TFK KID REPORTER BRENNAN LABRIE
Marianne St-Gelais skated into second place on her 20th birthday.
The Canadian won the silver medal in the women's 500-meter
short-track speed skating on February 17, at the Winter Games in
Vancouver.
Her boyfriend and fellow short-track speed skater, Charles
Hamelin of Team Canada, hugged her at the finish line. St-Gelais
says she will be at the finish line to cheer Hamelin on when he
races later this week. COURTESY LABRIE
FAMILY
St-Gelais, who grew up in the French-speaking province of
Quebec, also speaks English. The friendly and energetic athlete TFK Kid Reporter Brennan
beamed as she spoke to the press at the British Columbia LaBrie met with Canadian
International Media Center in Vancouver on Thursday morning. speed skater Marian St-Gelais.
Many members of the Canadian press appeared proud to
congratulate one of their own.
So what is it like to win on home turf?
"It's a really good thing," Saint-Gelais told TFK. "You're in front of your crowd, your Canadian
crowd. It's amazing! It gives you wings. But it is really, really loud. It is great positive energy!"
Which 3-4 other stance questions might you choose to use after reading the text?
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