Meaning making in grade seven involves helping
students understand and use the information they read in
meaningful ways. The CA CCSS for ELA/Literacy for reading
informational text and literature require students in grade
seven to cite several pieces of evidence to support their
analysis of a text, determine two or more central ideas, and
provide an objective summary of a text (RL/RI.7.1). Students
also analyze interactions between individuals, events, and
ideas in a text (RI.7.3). Students need to be able to compare
and contrast a text to another reading, media item, piece of
information, from one author to another, as well as trace the
development of an argument in a selection of informational
text.
In grade seven, teachers continue to teach and have
students practice various reading comprehension strategies
to help students make meaning. Teacher think alouds continue to be useful by modeling for students
how the teacher sorts through his or her understandings and sources of confusion when reading a
text. Teachers help students apply the process to their own reading focusing on their understandings
and identifying when their understanding is clouded or needs clarification. Teachers can model what
they are thinking as they read a paragraph of informational text using phrases such as the following:
- I predict in the next part...
- This reminds me of...
- I am not sure of...
- I got confused when...
- I think I will have to reread this part to understand what the author means by...
- So what it’s saying is... (Schoenbach, Greenleaf and Murphy 2012, 106)
Once students are able to distinguish between the conversation inside their heads while they read
and the meaning of the text, they are better prepared for checking their understanding and moving on
to more rigorous levels of text.
The SQP2RS strategy (Survey Question Predict Read Respond Summarize) goes beyond think
alouds by engaging students in a series of text-based examinations of the text before, during, and
after reading (Echevarria, Vogt, and Short 2004).
- Surveying or previewing a selection of text
- Questioning: listing several questions that the reader thinks will be answered in the reading
- Predicting: listing a few items the reader thinks will happen in the reading
- Read the text selected
- Responding: confirming predictions, answering questions posed earlier, discussing the text in
small groups or as a whole class - Summarizing either orally or in written form
In snapshot 6.5 students examine a science text and observe a demonstration of chemical
reactions to make inferences. They identify information they know from their text and previous lessons
and information they infer from the text and their observations.
In grade seven, teachers
continue to teach and have
students practice various
reading comprehension
strategies to help students
make meaning. Teacher think
alouds continue to be useful by
modeling for students how the
teacher sorts through his or her
understandings and sources of
confusion when reading a text.584 | Chapter 6 Grade 7