Activities and Objectives
Introduction and First Reading

The Teacher's Edition often provides a brief introduction, which teachers can use to give students necessary information about a story, such as an important definition or reference. The first reading is done orally, with students having an opportunity to listen to an experienced adult reader. The introduction and first reading:

• Orient students to the story and prepare them to react thoughtfully to its interpretive issues
• Enables students at a wide range of reading levels to understand and enjoy the story.

Sharing Initial Questions and Reactions

After the first reading, students voice their reactions to the story and ask questions about anything that puzzled them or aroused their curiosity. At the end of the session, each student writes down a question and posts it on the bulletin board for the class. Sharing initial questions and reactions:

• Encourages students to notice and value their own responses to a story and to use them as the starting point for interpretive thinking.
• Clears up initial misreadings and set the story more firmly in students' minds.

Second and Third Readings with At-Home Questions

The at-home questions, printed in the margins of the student books, address important passages in the story. During the second reading, students are encourages to think about these open-ended questions and discuss them with an adult partner. If the second reading is conducted at home, the teacher collects responses to the questions and leads a brief discussion of them during a third reading of the story. At-home questions:

• Encourage students to read more carefully and with a greater sensitivity to the significance of details
• Help students draw connections ast ehyread and become more aware of the interpretive issues in a story
• Foster students' ability to call up and use supporting evidence for their opinions
• Prepare students to take notes in later grades.

Interpreting Words

Interpreting Words activities focus on a word or phrase that is especially meaningful in the context of the selection. Students consider relevant definitions and then write or discuss their responses to the story-specific questions. Interpreting Words activities:

• Enable students to see how specific words can contribute to understanding the broader interpretive issues of a story
• Help students learn basic strategies for thinking about definitions in context and approaching unfamiliar words with confidence.

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