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Keys 5 and 6 are combined to focus on the skills for "the ability to distinguish what's important in text and the ability to synthesize it, or determine the overall meaning and significance." In other words, we will aide the children in determining what is important and why. In comprehension, it is critical to "separate the nonessential from the essential." We will encourage the children to take simple actions before they read: "deciding your purpose for reading; consciously searching for new facts; reading with specific questions in mind; and understanding that layout, particularly in nonfiction text, gives valuable clues to what is important."  When synthesizing, children will be able to "summarize what has happened and what it means to them."  After working on these skills in school, the children will be able to find out what is important and stretch their minds to form a perspective of why something is important. (Zimmerman)

Below are books recommended for Keys 5 and 6: (Determining Importance and Synthesizing) 

Picture Books:

Koala Lou, Mern Fox

Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf, Lois Ehlert

Wild Horse Winter, Tetsuya Honda

Monarch Butterfly, Gail Gibbons

Three Brave Women, C. L. G. Martin

El Chino, Allen Say

And So They Build, Bert Kitchen

Encounter, Jane Yolen

Passage to Freedom, Ken Mochizuki

Rachel's Journal, Marissa Moss

Longer Books:

Sarah, Plain and Tall, Patricia MacLachlan (58 pages)

Missing May, Cynthia Rylant (89 pages)

Lewis and Clark: Explorers of the American West, Steven Kroll (32 pages)

Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes, Eleanor Coerr (79 pages)

Dear Mrs. Henshaw, Beverly Cleary (134 pages)

A Boy at War: A Novel of Pearl Harbor, Harry Mazer (104 pages)

Matilda, Roald Dahl (240 pages)

My Louisiana Sky, Kimberly Willis Holt (200 pages)

Hatchet, Gary Paulsen (195 pages)

Tuck Everlasting, Natalie Babbitt (139 pages)

Key 4 focuses on how we can expand and deepen what the children read by using inference. As teachers, we will ask the children to "elaborate upon what you read, draw conclusions, go beyond what is written on the page."  They will be discouraged to read back the author's words and encouraged to "make guesses, find connecting points and ask questions." Inference is important to "predict what might happen next, see a scene more clearly in your mind, figure out an unknown word, answer questions." Inferential thinking will enable a child to create personal interpretations and think about responses. Through many strategies we hope to develop at an early age a child's ability to infer. (Zimmerman)

Below are books that require inferring:   

Picture Books:

Sachiko Means Happiness, Kimiko Sakai

Floss, Kim Lewis

The Day of Ahmed's Secret, Florence Parry Heide and Judith Heide Gilliland

The Royal Bee, Frances and Ginger Park

The Other Side, Jacqueline Woodson

An Angel for Solomon Singer, Cynthis Rylant

Longer Books:

Poppy, Avi (160 pages)

Out of the Dust, Karen Hesse (227 pages)

Holes, Louis Sachar (233 pages)

A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L'Engle (211 pages)

The Lost Years of Merlin, T. A. Barron (367 pages)

Key 3 explores the importance of questioning. "Asking questions is indispensable for creating and strengthening the reader's ongoing dialogue with the page. Questions help a reader clarify ideas and deepen understanding." Throughout the second trimester, we will encourage the children to ask questions. We will look at covers of books and ask which questions come to mind and remind them that their questions will probably be answered when the book is read. They will have "discussions" with authors and ask questions to make sense of text read. Children love to ask questions. You can be a part of their growth by asking such things of them as: "Why?", "What does that mean?", "I wonder...", That was a great question? Do you have any more?", "How come...?"  Use these skills to make them better readers and masters of questioning. (Zimmerman)

Below are books suggested for Key 3 (Questioning):    

Picture Books:

The Sick Day, Patricia MacLachlan        

Elmer, David McKee

Charlie Anderson, Barbara Abercrombie

The Bracelet, Yoshiko Uchida

Uncle Jed's Barbershop, Margaree King Mitchell

The Wolff, Margaret Barbalet

Longer Books:

The Place My Words Are Looking For, Paul B. Janeczko (poetry)

Avalanche, Stephen Kramer (48 pages)

War Boys, Michael Foreman (92 pages)

The Upstairs Room, Johanna Reiss (196 pages)

Key 2 explores background knowledge. "Background knowledge enriches everything you read"; whether it be things you've already read or seen as well as everyday experiences. You can read something numerous times and "have a different reaction each time because of new and different life experiences in the interim."  During the fall trimester (2006) the children will be working on developing a sense of their background knowledge during reading classes. The children will be encouraged to activate their prior knowledge and use skills to help them to make connections from text to their real lives. Talk to your child about your own background knowledge. Share memories and experiences that will be used to help your child strengthen her/his interest in reading. (Zimmerman)

Below are books suggested for Key 2 (Building Background Knowledge):    

Picture Books:

Rosalie, Joan Hewett

Let the Celebrations Begin! Margaret Wild

Amazing Grace, Mary Hoffman

Lou Gehrig: The Luckiest Man, David A. Adler

The Lotus Seed, Sherry Garland

Longer Books:  

Exploring the Titanic, Robert D. Ballard (64 pages)

Neighborhood Odes, Gary Soto (poetry)

Bull Run, Paul Fleischman (101 pages)

The Slave Dancer, Paula Fox (152 pages)

Walk Two Moons, Sharon Creech (280 pages)

Key 1 focuses on sensory images. This chapter addresses "the creation in your mind of sensory images - pictures, smells, tastes, sounds, feelings - a vital ingredient if reading is going to be vivid, exciting, memorable, and fun."  Since "information comes to you through your senses", techniques are used to form pictures in your mind "depending on what you are reading and what life experiences you bring to it." During this trimester the children will be working on creating images that will bring them to a realization of awareness of what they read and how they comprehend. Talk to your children about sensory images and help them to understand what they are reading and how they can enjoy it. (Zimmerman)

Below are books suggested from Key 1:     

Picture Books:

Miss Rumphius, Barbara Coaney

When Grampa Kissed His Elbow, Cynthia DeFelice

Tar Beach, Faith Ringgold

Home Place, Crescent Dragonwagon

Tales of a Gambling Grandma, Dayal Kaur Khalsa

Longer Books:

Grassroots, Carl Sandburg (Poetry)

The Van Gogh Cafe, Cynthia Rylant

The Whipping Boy, Sid Fleishman

Because of Winn Dixie, Kate DiCamillo

Julie of the Wolves, Jean Craighead George

The Ancient One, T.A. Barron