Sarah, Plain and Tall: Reading strategy for those reading strugglers.

Hi Everyone!

I just finished reading the small chapter book, Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan last week. I read this every year with my third graders but have also read it with my fourth grade class. I have taught this lesson with just me reading the book to the class and also in groups where everyone has their own book. 

This year, each student had their own book and I was able to integrate the reading strategy of breaking down each chapter of the book.  This is great for grades 2- 4 because when they are just starting chapter books, it helps them understand how to chunk information. We all have natural readers in our classes but this strategy really helps the struggling readers.

After each chapter students needed to think about the main idea/event in that chapter and then draw a picture + write two sentences about it. I was really happy with the results. Everyone passed the final assessments for the book and characters.

Here are some examples of what my students accomplished. 

This reading strategy really helped make my struggling readers more confident in participating and with overall understanding about the book’s development.

If interested in this particular unit just follow the link.

Sarah, Plain and Tall

I hope this strategy works well in your classroom too!

Thanks,

Erin