Poetry

• Poetry provides an interesting approach to reading that allows children to have fun with rhyming words and learn new vocabulary. Teach children about the different forms of poetry, such as haiku, and allow them to create their own. The focus should be on the words, not necessarily the form. This gives children the ability to discuss the vocabulary words associated with the poetry topic. Use group sessions to let children talk about the many words that can describe one object and provide students with a journal to write down new words.
  
  

Integrated Instruction

• Integrated instruction is the classroom method of combining multiple subjects with a united theme. For example, a unit about animal habitats in science can be united with reading by choosing books about where animals live. In this way, science textbooks can be replaced for a day with more leisurely books about different animals and include images. Use group time to discuss the images and allow children to create their own storybook about the topic.
  
  

Discovering New Countries

• Choose an author from a foreign culture and read an age-appropriate story that features a new environment or animals. Find the country on a map and discuss the differences in climate. Ask the children about the new things that they learn about in the story. Have the children write about it and create a story of their own.
  
  

Creating Similarities

• Choose two books with similar themes and read them aloud to the class. Ask the children what similarities they notice between the two books. Divide children into pairs; have them share what they observed with each other and help them to write it down. Discuss the different ways to compare the setting, characters and themes and assign an independent reading book that falls into the same category.