Thinking Strips

We have recently started our Reading Workshop unit on thinking deeply about books.  One of the ways readers think deeply is by retelling stories and using text evidence.  We used Thinking Strips to help us do that.

First, we read the story The Magic Fish.

We stopped at several places in the book to record our deep thinking with words and pictures on a thinking strip.

We also have been thinking about the "Big Idea" of books--why the author would write the book, or what lesson is the author trying to teach us?  We added that to the last part of our Thinking Strips.

Stephanie's Big Idea:  You never be greedy, ever.

Then we practiced our retelling skills by partnering up and retelling The Magic Fish.

We're getting really good at thinking deeply about books!