Reading Detective Strategy

Detective Reading Strategy: During Reading Strategy

My students love when I introduce the Detective Reading Strategy to them.  I explain to them it is their job to solve the case of the missing answers by finding the proof in the story or text they have read.  The Reading Detective strategy helps the students focus their reading to help them answer the questions accurately. 

During the Q-TIP pre-reading strategy (see the post from 8/5/12), students read the questions prior to reading the text.  Reading the questions first, allows them to focus their reading to find specific facts.  We practice reading a story aloud, where they have a copy of the story and I have a copy projected on the document camera.  My students make siren alarm sounds when they have found the proof, and they could arrest me for hiding the answer in the text.  (I have also used a silent alarm where they flash their fingers to set the siren alarms.)  Students try to arrest me for stealing and hiding the answers in the text.  I explain to them that a jury would never convict a criminal without the evidence. They have to find the proof for an answer in the text.  When they find the proof, they put a magnifying glass (a circle with a stick), and underline the proof.  This reading strategy is fabulous for having students go back into the story and actually find the answers.  You can download this Reading Detective Strategy direction sheet here by clicking on the image. 

 

I posted the Q-TIP pre-reading strategy a few weeks ago, check that post out too.  I apologize it has been so long since I last posted.  I will get much better!