Possible Focus Lesson Topics for intermediate Grades

In addition to focus lessons that are geared toward a particular unit of study, the following focus lesson topics are more general and can easily be incorporated into any unit and taught at any time throughout the school year. 

Workshop Management and Procedures	Reading Skills and Strategies	Literary Elements
Creating a Community of Readers Respecting other readers Advertising and recommending titles and authors Building a classroom culture as a “Literacy Club” Building self-identity as a reader by sharing books Talking in literate ways, i.e., developing oral language around literacy Talking about feelings created by text   Behavior Expectations & Routines Appropriate behavior while reading independently Appropriate behavior during book discussions (whole-class or partners) Routines for coming to and from meeting area Filling out reading logs Procedures for literature circles   Using the Classroom Library Caring for/handling books Selecting “just right” books Swapping books ​	Word Decoding Strategies Looking across the whole word Using parts of words such as roots and affixes to figure out unfamiliar words Noticing when a word doesn’t make sense and rereading to repair meaning Skipping a word, reading on, and then going back, figuring out the word based on context Self-correcting by cross checking meaning, syntax, and visual cues   Vocabulary Strategies Using context clues to infer meaning of unfamiliar words Analyzing word parts to understand unfamiliar words   Fluency Strategies Reading with proper phrasing and voice Attending to punctuation   Comprehension Strategies Monitoring for meaning Making connections Creating sensory images Asking questions Making inferences Determining importance Summarizing and synthesizing Activating background knowledge	​Elements Character, setting, problem, resolution, etc. Plot (rising action, climax, falling action) Figurative language Conventions and text structures of particular genres Features of nonfiction text Literary language (e.g., by and by, it came to pass, there once lived) Author’s style Reading like a writer to learn from mentor authors Point of view of author or narrator Strong leads, endings, dialogue, word choice, etc. ​ ​ ​