November!
Where has the year gone? I mean, seriously! I feel like I was just sweating to death in the dog days of summer. But here we are, the air is chilly, the leaves have turned, we've even transitioned from all things pumpkin-spice to a peppermint paradise.
I don't mind the change though, it actually reminds me of some of the best memories.
I'm not talking about Thanksgiving dinners, holiday specials, or resolutions never fulfilled.
I'm talking about...
FOOTBALL SEASON, y'all!
Sure I have fond memories of holidays past, but that's for another time.
Football is today and everyday until the SUPER BOWL.
I grew up in a family that L-O-V-E-S football! College, professional, tackle, flag, you name it, we love it. There is just something about the sport that brings everyone to the living room, chips and dip in hand. TV blaring, yelling from the sofa, refuting the calls because obviously we saw it better than the refs. And this passion has only continued down the bloodline.
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| Football family |
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| #4 on the run |
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| !!!CHAMPIONS!!! |
He knows just about any stat on ANY player (former or current) in any league...if only he could remember to make his bed. 😏
When looking over his latest report card, I noticed that he really needs to sharpen his focus on reading for meaning. He's amazing at grabbing literal text and committing it to memory, but there are still gaps in his ability to chunk pieces of information together and draw conclusions.
Oh inferential, we will master you, yet!
So what does a teacher do to help her son?
Well duh, create a passage that he simply cannot refuse.
...and here we have it, friends, a football-themed text with all things comprehension.
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| TOUCHDOWN NONFICTION Reading Comprehension |
2 page passage comes in color and black/white and is easily accessible for students in grades 2nd-4th.
And writing is a MUST, because let's be honest, EVERYONE could use writing practice and it can be a wonderful tool for assessing student knowledge of the topic or skill (i.e. determining facts, writing persuasively, comparing and contrasting).
Games are wonderful tools for comprehension! I can ask questions until I'm blue in the face, but my students always respond better when the element of F-U-N (and a lil' bit of competition) is involved. I, purposefully, designed some of the vocab, true/false, and reading comprehension cards to require deeper thinking - is the sentence 100% true or does 1 word make it false? Could the word be associated with one football definition or be applied to more than one? Does the text explicitly state the answer or are you inferring meaning by collecting information from several sentences? These were perfect for helping my son analyze information (reading text carefully) to determine validty and draw conclusions!
Nouns and punctuation practice are always good to have on hand. It still baffles me how many students forget a period at the end of their sentences or ask me what a noun is.
Guys c'mon, we're in 3rd grade!!!
So nonetheless, we practice.
Will your students enjoy reading this text and interacting with these games?
Based on my own son's non-stop questioning:
"Mom, are you done making it yet?"
"When will it be finished?"
"Can I read/play it now?"
I'm thinking they might.
Based on my son's reaction
I KNOW they will!
Download it on Teachers Pay Teachers by clicking the link below:
I hope this text and these activities help your students TACKLE reading non-fiction text and gain YARDS of comprehension in a fun and engaging way.
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