Lesson Plan: Improving Reading Comprehension with Sticky Notes

Service Delivery Model:
A Pull-out service delivery model will be used. The speech-language pathologist (SLP) will pull Timmy out of a class that both her and the teacher have mutually decided he is the strongest in and would miss the least instruction in. The SLP will provide Timmy with the most effective individualized one-to-one therapy during this time period.

Student and STO and PSS:

Timmy: When given a history passage to read, Timmy will be able to pinpoint the important pieces of information in the passage using the Following the Inner Conversation strategy on 4 out of 5 opportunities across 5 different lessons.

1.1.8.D Identify basic facts and ideas in text using specific strategies
1.1.8.G Demonstrate after reading understanding and interpretation of both fiction and nonfiction text, including public documents.
1.2.8.A Read and understand essential content of informational texts and documents in all academic areas.

Materials:
- Timmy's history textbook
- Sticky notes
- Pencil/Pen

Introduction:

How will you review the skills learned in the previous session?

SLP: "Last week we worked on the SQ3R strategy, which is another comprehension strategy you can use. Can you tell me what each letter in SQ3R stands for and what each one means?

Answer: "S stands for survey and it means to skim headings and to look ahead at the study question at the end of the chapter. Q stands for question and it means to set a purpose for reading by creating questions to answer. R stands for read and it means we should read short sections of the passage at a time and see if we can answer some of the study questions yet. The second R stands for recite and it means to answer the questions we can answer and take notes on the passage. The third R stands for review and it means we should review the main points, subpoints, and details of the passage. We should check to see if we answered all the questions we set for ourselves and that are listed at the end of the chapter.

SLP: If he shows effort and gets most of the definition correct, the SLP will provide positive reinforcement such as, "Excellent job remembering what all those letters stand for!"

How will you set the student up for today's lesson?

SLP: "Ok, so we just reviewed the SQ3R strategy, which we were working on last week. The week before that, we learned to use different graphic organizers to help us pick out the most important pieces of information in the stories and passages we've been reading. These are all strategies to help you comprehend what you read better, and today we're going to add another one to the list. We are going to learn a strategy called Following the Inner Conversation. This strategy will keep you very organized and will allow you to pick out the most important details of the passages as you are reading them. I will give you a pad of sticky notes and you will write important details as you read them and then place them next to the part of the passage you read it in. I think you will really like this strategy, so we're going to practice it together today and then see if it helps you with your comprehension of the passages we read."

What is the student to learn during the lesson?

During today's lesson, Timmy will learn the proper way to use the Following the Inner Conversation. He will learn to create sticky notes with important notes, ideas, and details written on them and then place them next to the part of the passage where he got those ideas from. Timmy will be able to pick out the important parts of the passage by applying the skills he has learned from the comprehension strategies he been learning over the past couple weeks.

Instruction/Practice:

The SLP will use modeling, a form of scaffolding, to teach Timmy the Following the Inner Conversation strategy. She will explain the process and will ask him questions throughout the explanation to ensure he is listening and comprehending her instructions.

SLP: "Ok Timmy, Following the Inner Conversation is a very simple strategy and will help you pick out the most important pieces of information in the passages you read. Then when you go back to answer questions about the passage, you won't have any trouble because you will have already picked out the most important information. After practice doing this enough, you won't even need the sticky notes anymore because you'll just know what pieces of information to focus on."

The SLP will open Timmy's textbook to a passage she has already completed and posted sticky notes all over. She will first turn to the questions at the end of the passage and read them over with Timmy. Then, she will go through and read the passage to him, and as she gets to the pieces of information that she wrote notes for, she will stop and explain what she has written on the sticky notes and why she written them (e.g., "I wrote this sticky note because it tells us what the difference is between a slave and an indentured servant and those are important definitions we should be aware of.").

The SLP will teach him to create sticky notes for important information dealing with:

main ideas, time and place, important dates, names, critical events, definitions, bolded or italicized words, and any information that corresponds with the end of the passage questions. She will also explain to him that he should use the skills he learned from the SQ3R strategy to help him figure out what kind of information is important and worthwhile to write down on a sticky note. She will also inform him of the various pieces of information that are trivial and not necessary to write down. These include things such as long elaborations or explanations of things. It is more helpful to find the main idea or topic sentence of that long elaboration. The SLP will also teach him to apply this same idea to trivial names and dates, events, and objects (e.g., If there is a sentence about slaves getting into the brown wagon at 7:00 in the morning and going to work in the fields, Timmy should focus on the ideas of slaves, morning, and fields rather than brown, wagon, and 7:00). She will provide Timmy with a general list of things to focus on and things to not focus on as mentioned above. That way, he can turn to it if he gets stuck.

As the SLP gets to the parts of the story she has written sticky notes for, she will ask Timmy why he thinks she has written one for those particular pieces of information. This will help Timmy work through the process of knowing which pieces of information are critical and which ones are not and why.

After she finishes that passage, she will turn to a passage about Harriet B. Tubman. The SLP and Timmy will read this story and apply the strategy to it together. The SLP will have Timmy read the passage out loud and stop when he thinks he has found something important that he should make a sticky note for. The SLP will ask him for his reasons and will direct him to either write it down or to continue reading based on whether she feels it is important or not. If it not important, she will explain her reason why so he understands the difference between a critical and an uncritical item. She will also direct him to the end of the passage questions such as during the SQ3R strategy, so he can get a better idea of what are important details according to the author.

When he has finished reading the passage and has placed sticky notes next to all of the most important details, he will complete the questions at the end of the passage with the help of the SLP by primarily using the sticky notes he made.

Next, the SLP will instruct Timmy to read a passage on Martin Luther King Jr. and apply the strategy to it on his own. She will help him only when he really needs it or if she sees that he is focusing on unimportant details. When he is finished, Timmy will have to answer the questions at the end of the passage trying to only use his sticky notes. If he cannot find an answer in on his sticky notes, the SLP will allow him to skim through the passage for the answer. Once he finds it, she will instruct him to create a sticky note for that specific detail he missed. After he has answered all of the questions, the SLP and Timmy will look over his answers together and will reread the sticky note that corresponds with each answer. This will reinforce the kind of information he should be focusing on while reading.

Lastly, the SLP will instruct Timmy to practice this strategy on the next history passage his teacher assigns him to do. The SLP will go over his work and his use of the Following the Inner Conversation strategy the next time she works with him in therapy.

Correction Strategies:

The SLP will provide feedback continuously throughout the lesson as it is needed. If Timmy starts to focus on trivial information that is not necessary to remember, the SLP will first ask him why he believes it is important. She will refer him back to his list of things he should and should not focus on that she provided him with at the beginning of the lesson. She will then ask him to find the reasons why what he picked out might not be worth writing on a sticky note (i.e., not a main idea, critical date, time, place, name, event, definition, bolded or italicized word, or any information that corresponds with the end of the passage questions). The SLP will then instruct Timmy to continue reading and use the list to find the critical information he should be focusing on instead. When he comes across information worthy of being written on a sticky note and is aware of this, the SLP will reinforce him (e.g., Excellent job picking out that critical piece of information!") She will then ask him to explain what makes it critical and will encourage him to continue reading and finding the rest of the important ideas and information in the passage.

Review:

To end the lesson, the SLP will review the list of information to focus and not focus on while reading a passage. She will then ask Timmy to name the critical items he should be creating sticky notes for, and will let him refer back to his list if he cannot remember all of them.

Data Collection:

The SLP will write down the pieces of critical information he was able to pick out on his own, as well as the unimportant pieces he mistakenly made a sticky note for when he completed the passage on Martin Luther King Junior. She will also calculate his score he received for the end of the passage questions. She will use this chart each time he practices this strategy in therapy (everyday for a school week). With this data, the SLP will be able to monitor his progress with the strategy over time and will be able to keep track of which type of information he consistently misses or mistakenly includes and how it is affecting his score. This will help her decide what to focus on in therapy in order to help him improve his skills with this strategy and reading comprehension overall.

Rationale:
Beyond the fact that it is evidence based, I feel this strategy is very effective in helping students comprehend expository text better because it allows them to pick out the critical information and separate it from the rest of text in a very organized and visual way. Students who struggle with reading comprehension will benefit from Following the Inner Conversation because, after proper modeling and teaching from a professional, they will eventually be able to read through a passage and individually pick out the important pieces of information and easily answer the review questions at the end of the passage using their sticky notes.

References:
Harvey, S. (2001). Questioning the Text Instructor. 16, 110.
Huber, Jennifer A. (2004). A Closer Look at SQ3R. Reading Improvement. 41.