Note from the authors:

These curriculum materials are based on two important sources that we feel will allow the teaching of Weedflower to have an impact in your classroom, to both strengthen your students’ reading comprehension and instill a love of reading.

As literacy teachers and teacher-librarians, we feel that the Arizona Academic Standards are the backbone of your curriculum. Therefore, we have aligned the Weedflower curriculum to the Arizona Academic Standards in both 4th and 8th grade in the areas of reading, writing, and social studies. The teaching of the history of World War II, including Arizona ties and contributions is indicated in 4th and 8th grades only. However, we believe that the teaching of Weedflower is appropriate for all grades- 4th and higher. The novel can be tied to many other academic standards in grades 4 through 12. We encourage students from all grades, 4-12, to ready, enjoy, and/or study this book.

According to various sources, Weedflower has a reading grade level of anywhere from 4.8 to 5.3. Please do not let that deter you from utilizing this book in your lessons with younger readers or readers with a lower grade level designation. Jim Trelease, author of The Read-Aloud Handbook, states that a child’s listening comprehension level is higher than his or her reading comprehension level. Weedflower is available as a recorded book on CD, and makes for a wonderful read-aloud that the entire class can enjoy.

We based our curriculum guide on many sources, including Trelease’s Read-Aloud Handbook (2006) and Zimmerman and Hutchins’ 7 Keys to Comprehension (2003).

Trelease (2006) believes strongly in creating lifetime readers, rather than school-time readers. We hope that the activities and curriculum that we have created not only address the Arizona Academic Standards, but also promote and foster the enjoyment of reading. We hope that as you plan your lessons, you will incorporate Sustained Silent Reading (SSR), as students often do not have time in school to read what they want. We also encourage you to plan for time to talk about Weedflower. As Trelease says, lifetime readers don’t make a diorama or do a written report about the books they enjoy, but they talk about the books they enjoy.

Zimmerman and Hutchins (2003) state that the ability of a child to decode in reading is only the first step. Readers do not become readers until they unlock the meaning contained in the pages. Therefore, the authors have identified seven “keys” to comprehension (meaning making). These keys are utilized throughout the activities that we have created for teaching Weedflower. The 7 Keys are:
1. Creating sensory images: Good readers have a motion picture in their minds as they read.

2. Making connections: Good readers identify text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to-world connections as they read.

3. Questioning: Good readers question as they read.

4. Making inferences: Good readers “read between the lines” as they read.

5. Determining importance: Good readers determine what is important and what is less important as they read.

6. Synthesizing: Good readers track their thinking as they read to get the overall meaning.

7. Fix-up strategies: Good readers use strategies to clarify what they do not understand as they read.


We highly recommend that you utilize these two books when planning your Weedflower activities. They are wonderful editions to your teaching library.

Purchase The 7 Keys to Comprehension

Purchase The Read-Aloud Handbook


Web resources for the 7 Keys to Comprehension and The Read-Aloud Handbook:

Jim Trelease’s Official website: http://www.trelease-on-reading.com

Hints for reading aloud: http://literacyconnections.com/ReadingAloud.php

Are students ever too old for read-aloud?: http://www.education-world.com/a_curr/curr081.shtml

7 Keys summary: http://www.delano.k12.mn.us/sitepages/pid1345.php

Mosaic of Thought (Zimmerman’s first book) Listserv and tools: http://www.u46teachers.org/mosaic/tools/tools.htm

References

Falvey, Mary et al..  All My Life’s A Circle.  Using the Tools:  Circles, MAPS, and PATHS,  Inclusion Press, Toronto, 1997.

 

Oliver Keen, Ellen and Zimmerman, Susan.  Mosaic of Thought:  Teaching Comprehension in a Reader’s Workshop.  Heinemann, Portsmouth NH, 1997.

 

Tovani, Chris.  Do I Really Have to Teach Reading? Content Comprehension grades 6-12, Stenhouse Publishers, Portland, ME, 2004.

Venn, John, On the Diagrammatic and Mechanical Representation of Prepositions and Reasonings The Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science, 1880.




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