Elementary Unpacked

Make your close reading lesson interactive. Print and cut out the arrows for use while projecting a passage on the board. Use the large labels during your lesson to help students identify the thinking jobs within each genre. The large arrows include the definition of each thinking job. Students can use the small labels for independent practice and/or stations. Be sure to laminate for reuse.

Do you teach kindergarten, first, or second grade? Do your students struggle with providing evidence and reasoning? If you answered yes to both questions, this strategy may work for you. Introducing a response strategy like RACE can be overwhelming for students at the primary level, especially those who are struggling readers and responders. The 4Ws strategy is a modified version to support students' responses to open ended questions. Start with easy and move to complex.