Rising Readers

Rising Readers

Our Rising Readers program aims to develop students’ reading comprehension skills. We do this by showing students how to engage or interact with texts and how to analyze or interpret texts from multiple perspectives. Once a student has proven their comprehension of a particular text, we then challenge them to think critically beyond what they’ve read; lessons of this nature range from identifying main ideas to using literary devices to infer.

 Additionally, we ask students to apply their knowledge of what they’ve read to other contexts. This dynamic approach to reading comprehension moves students from “on the lines” to “in between the lines” to “beyond the lines.”

Rising Readers Graphic

Rising Readers Outline

I. Topic  Vs. Main Idea

Topic: a general, broad idea of what the text is about

-Ex.  Baseball

Main Idea:  specific statement; what the author is saying about the topic

-Ex. Baseball is the greatest sport of all time

-Have students summarize to help find main idea
-Find evidence that supports the main
-Chronicles of Impact:

II. Theme

Theme: the lesson in the story; meaning behind the story

-Themes can be related to the real world
-They are NOT said directly in the story
-May show a short film that expresses a theme
-Chronicles of Impact:

III. Characters and Setting

Mood: the atmosphere of a piece of writing; the emotions that a reader gets from a reading

-How does the setting create a mood?
-Examples of moods: horror, optimistic, hopeful
-Main Character: who the text focuses on

-Protagonist: the good guy; Antagonist: the bad guy

-Point of View: who is telling the story

-1st person: written from the main characters perspective; uses “I”; view events from the characters perspective; also called the narrator
-3rd person: an outsider telling a story; does not use “I”; uses “she”, “he”, “they”
-In 1st person “I” does NOT refer to the author, it is a character in the story

IV. Plot

Plot: the action and events that a character goes through

-Story Map:
-Exposition: information that the author gives about background of characters or setting
-Rising Action: actions that build up or create tension in the story; starting conflict
-Climax: the turning point in the story, a point where things change
-Falling Action: leads towards the resolution, where any questions are solved
-Resolution: the end, the solution to the main problem in the story

V. Cause and Effect/ Inferencing

In a series of events cause is the first; it is the reason why something happens

effect comes second; it is the consequence of an action
inferencing: what is going to happen next?

Need to support inference with evidence/reasoning

VI. Non-Fiction and Fiction

Fiction: not real
-Non-Fiction: factual; real
-Author’s Purpose:

-Inform:  to inform the reader about a topic
-Persuade: to try to persuade/convince the reader to do something
-Entertain: to entertain the reader

VII. Opinion and Fact

-Opinion: a person’s feelings about a particular topic
-Fact: something that can be proven true

VIII. Compare and Contrast/ Similes and Metaphors

-Venn Diagram: a method for comparing and contrasting readings
-Similarities and Differences
-Similes and Metaphors: comparing and contrasting two things
-Simile: comparison using “like” or “as”

-Ex. Playing chess with Ashely is like outsmarting a computer.
-Metaphor: a comparison not using like or as; state that something is something else
-Ex. Brian was a wall, bouncing every tennis ball back over the net.

Sign up today!

Are you interested in the program? Simply give us a call to sign up your child to help them for the upcoming school year!