Jessica Grace Jones, Minnesota Literacy Council, 2013 p. 42 Beginning ESL Story Bank
Step 3: assess comprehension
Ask inference questions. Based on the text, ask
questions such as “How does he/she feel? What will
happen next?” Encourage learners to guess, even if it is
not explicit in the text.
9. Learners evaluate their own comprehension.
Introduce three gestures for describing comprehension:
thumbs up=very good, flat hand with palm down = “so-
so,” thumbs down=I don’t understand. Practice the
gestures together. Ask all learners: “Do you
understand this story?” Learners choose a gesture to
describe their level of understanding.
Step 4: Practice Reading Fluency
Write two or three sentences from the story on the board
in paragraph form (not a list).
Read the sentence aloud. Read it again in a “robotic” voice.
Don’t pause for punctuation and put equal spaces between all the words. Read it normally again.
Talk about which was easier to understand and why.
Step 2: Introduce the words period and question mark
Circle the periods and question marks. Read the sentence again, drawing attention to the way we
pause for each period and question mark.
Step 3: Practice with this week’s story
Read the story aloud while learners follow. Ask them to listen for pauses and look for periods and
question marks.
Ask learners to read out loud to themselves, practicing the pauses. Learners practice reading out
loud with a partner. The partner should listen for pauses and look for periods and question marks.
Story of the Week TECHNOLOGY options
Open a word processing program. In pairs, learners type 1-2 sentences from the story.
Teacher pre-records audio of the text. Learners listen to the story independently using iPads or
computers.
Learners record themselves reading the text using a digital recorder, iPad, etc. Learners listen
back to their own voice as they follow the text.
Reading fluency is an
important part of being a
good reader. Reading fluency
refers to how quickly,
accurately, automatically and
expressively someone reads.
Better reading fluency results
in better reading
comprehension. This activity
will help learners develop
better reading fluency by
paying attention to simple
punctuation.