Comprehension Mats!

I love graphic organizers.  I just like how easy they are to get the kids thinking.  Especially when it comes to reading, I think that if I ask the kids to use their strategies and process skills in a fun organizer (instead of just writing it on a plain piece of paper) they tend to internalize their response a bit more.    For years I have been using my Reading Log to do just that at home.  Since implementing this log, I have found that the students are actually reading and writing their thoughts in a more meaningful way.

Well, I wanted to try to do something like this in class.  I have already written about the Strategy Logs I have used in the past.  While I think they are great, I found I wanted something a bit more.  The kids were getting used to the logs and their thoughts and responses were suffering because of it.  The Strategy Logs also required a lot of copies, and frankly, this year I am out.  (I like to save them for Calendar, Math HW, Reading Logs, and Morning Message)  So about a month ago, I came up with these Comprehension Mats and my students are LOVING them!

These are the different strategy ones...there are skills too!

Basically, they are two sheets of paper, glued together and laminated.  Each sheet has two different Comprehension strategies or skills on them that the students must complete in response to their reading.  We use the CA Treasures basal, so that is what they have been responding to. (these are only for fiction stories....I wanted to try them out and see if my kids took to them before I made some for non-fiction!)  I mix and match them all up, so that the kids can be responding in a variety of different ways no matter what mat they get.


In my class, we have been using these for both independent work and in groups.  It is really interesting to hear how the students are responding and tackling the tasks during group work.  Their thought processes just come seeping through!  I am really loving that aspect of these mats.  I also like how engaged the students are using them.  To be honest, they are just the same old strategies we have been using all year...but since they are in mat form, and laminated (so they get to use the vis-a-vie markers!) responding to text has taken on a whole new life!  Even finding evidence is fun for them :)

Here is the work that the group above was working on.  You can see the different thought processes they had to go through when responding to the story for the week.

These mats, with all of the different pieces to create them, are available in my store.  But for you, my followers, I am going to do something special.  I will send you two of the pages so you can make one mat yourself!  All you have to do is click here.  It will take you to the mats on a Google doc.  Easy peezy!  I hope you and your students enjoy!!