TLF Mini Lessons (Main Street School)

Browse this page to find Jen's mini-lessons:

(Many of the mini-lessons below were created to support visits with consultant Shelly Klein.)

Conferring Materials

Reading / Writing Conference Template

Guided Reading Lessons ("Teaching Small")

Guided Reading Lesson Template

LEVEL U: Inferring Character's Motivation (step 1)

Modeling Personal Connection to go Deeper into Character's Motivation (step 2)

Text- "The Marble Champ" by Gary Soto

Interactive Read-Aloud

"The Missing Piece Meets the Big O" by Shel Silverstein (with strategic stopping points)

Mini-Lessons

READING: Coding Non-fiction to Understand Beyond Text

Students use a T-chart to develop deeper thinking around the non-fiction article "Deadly Bites"

READING: Paraphrasing Strategy

Students chunk nonfiction text and pick out the most important words

READING: "Putting Clothes on Books"

Students are introduced to pushing thoughts onto post-its.

READING: Readers Notice How Characters Change

Students sort post-its in a T-chart to make an inference about character change.

Text- "Now One Foot, Now the Other" by Tomie dePaola

READING: Readers Notice What Characters Do and Say

Students code fiction text and add their thinking in the margins.

Text- "Lilly's Plastic Purple Purse" by Kevin Henkes

READING: Sorting Post-it Worthy Thinking

Students organize thoughts written on post-it notes and determine which notes reflect deep thinking.

READING: Using Events, Reactions, and Partner Talk to Find a Story's Big Idea

Students use a T-chart to determine the big idea of the picture book "Elephants Never Forget!"

(thinking within and beyond text)