Last week we became detail dynamos as we gathered details to make mental movies in our minds. We realized that great readers use "stop and think" strategies to help build their visualizations one piece at a time, until the picture is complete. Sometimes this means you will have to stop every few sentences, not just at the bottom of a page or the end of a chapter. We also practiced buddy reading, so that a friend could narrate the details to us while we closed our eyes. All in all, we clearly saw that details are the key to unlocking the messages, or themes, in the books we read. Besides all that, details just make books interesting! Skimming through the pages and not noticing the author's carefully crafted details is boring! Leilani reminded us to stop and notice the details during one of our lessons in class.
This week, we've moved on to context clues. Again, we're noticing that details can even help us to figure out words we don't know. Often times, there are clues in the story that can help.
