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Being home, means there is lots of time to read. We have dedicated at least an hour a day to reading and my boys have started finishing 2-3 books a week! Although, I would love to have them complete traditional book reports, it is simply not realistic at the moment. So, in order for me to assess that they have a good idea of what they read, we have started using the Learning Resources Compression Cubes for them to use before, during and after reading. This simple activity can be done verbally or written down in a notebook to keep track of their reading. My boys (Kindergartener, 3rd grader & 5th grader) all use these cubes when reading.
Materials:
- Learning Resources Reading Comprehension Cubes
- Colored Pencils (red, green, blue)
- notebook
- books
Choose a book, my boys chose ( Middle School Misadventures, The Name of This Book is Secret) to read then roll the red cubes and answer 2 questions in red colored pencil/pen before reading. Toward the middle of the book, roll the blue cubes and answer 2 questions using a blue colored pencil/pen. After completing the book, roll the green cubes and answer 2 questions in green colored pencil/pen.
With so much reading going on in my house, the boys love using these reading comprehension cubes instead of writing pages of book reports. And I like that it encourages a deeper comprehension of their reading while practicing reading strategies: making predictions, activating prior knowledge, making connections and identifying conflict/solution.