In a recent Superintendent’s memo, the Virginia Department of Education announced a new Web site for elementary teachers in kindergarten through grade three to support reading comprehension and vocabulary development.
In a recent Superintendent’s memo, the Virginia Department of Education announced a new Web site for elementary teachers in kindergarten through grade three to support reading comprehen sion and vocabulary development. The site contains a collection of video vignettes entitled Elementary Reading Comprehension and Vocabulary Strategies that demonstrate effective strate gies and activities for elementary school classrooms. Below is an excerpt from the memo.
The strategies and activities presented in the vignettes may be adapted and used with students at all grade levels. In each video clip, a Virginia teacher demonstrates vocabulary and comprehension strategies that can be used to promote students’ vocabulary development and comprehension skills. Each of the strategies presented is taken from the English Standards of Learning Enhanced Scope and Sequence. (Virginia Depart ment ofEducation, Sept. 3, 2010)
- Video titles in this series include:
- Read Aloud To increase students vocabulary knowledge and comprehension skills;
- Know. Want. Learn A framework that is used to connect students’ prior knowledge to what they are actively learning;
- Think-Alouds To help students understand the mental processes readers engage when constructing meaning from text;
- Anticipation Guides To activate and assess students’ prior knowledge, to establish a purpose for reading, and to motivate students by stimulating their interest;
- Two-Column Notes To help students think critically about text;
- Concept Sorts Activities in categorization of objects, pictures, or words by concept or meaning.
Reference
Virginia Department of Education. (2010, September 3).
Superintendent’s Memo #206-10. Retrieved from http://www.doe. virginia.gov/administrators/superintendents memos/2010/206-10.shtml
