First Grade Reading Comprehension - Three Ways to Help Your Students Create Meaning

First Graders need to do things with a text totack on the back of the characters and place
create meaning. They need to play with it, pull itthem on a whiteboard. One at a time students
apart, and connect it with their reality.can come and retell parts of the story. (Who can
Try these activities with your class.show us what happens at the start? What
1. Create a picture of what is happening in thehappens next? Then what happens? Then what
story - physically and mentally!.happens? How does it end?) This becomes even
Give each student a large piece of paper. Askmore fun if you draw on the setting and other
them to draw or paint the background first. Thiselements using a whiteboard marker.
provides a great opportunity to explore setting.3. Play Time
Give each student another piece of paper. ThenStudents create their own version of one of the
ask them to draw the characters, color, cut andcharacters in the story. They can simply draw it
glue them onto their setting. This is provides aon to thick card, color and then cut it out. Of
great opportunity to explore characters.course, if you have one, a photocopied version
If you can, add textural features to the picture:could be provided. The students are then asked
cotton wool for clouds, sticks for cabins, scrapto take the character with them during free play
material for clothes, scrunched paper for leavestime. Guide their thinking by asking them: What
or shiny paper for windows. This provides a greatare you going to show your character? What do
opportunity to explore describing wordsyou think they would like to do? Who do you
(adjectives) used in the story.think they would like to play with? What do you
2. Using the Whiteboardthink they wouldn't like to do?
Draw (or photocopy and enlarge) one set of theAfter free time let the students share what
characters from the story and challenge yourhappened.
class to use them to retell the story. Stick blue