First Grade Discovers Strategies for Reading Equal Strategies for Life

Late winter in first grade is an exciting time of the year. Literacy skills that have been emerging since the beginning of the school year are now becoming skills that the students can actually use and apply in their reading and in their life. Comprehension strategies that are now in the toolbox of our students include making text connections to their own life or to another text, exploring character and setting, defining the problem and solution in a book and articulating the most important ideas in the beginning, middle and end of a book. Students are finding that the lessons characters learn in a book, the ways that characters grow and change and the ways that characters solve problems are all skills that we can all use in our own lives.


Pearl and Wagner Three Secrets by Kate McMullan is an example of a recent book read aloud to the class. In this story, both Pearl and Wagner have the experience of feeling left out when they are not part of a secret told to their friend by another friend. We use the strategy of posing a query at intervals while reading and then having students turn and talk to a partner about their ideas. Students then have the option to share their ideas with the whole group. The query- "What strategies did Pearl use to help Wagner when he was scared to go to their friend's birthday party because he was scared of the roller coaster?" elicited deep thinking as students shared their ideas. One first grader said that, "Pearl encouraged Wagner." All of the students were able to generate strategies used by Pearl as they talked over their ideas with their partner. Students then were very excited to share connections to their own lives. These connections centered on overcoming fears that they had or helping a friend.

Reading books leads us to discover worlds different than our own, to connect with characters that are similar and to learn tools to help us in our own lives as we navigate friendship issues, solve problems and learn ways to understand and support our family and friends.