Grade by Grade
A. Literacy Connections and Applications / C. Comprehension: Understanding and Responding to Texts · Understanding and Responding to Texts

Does It Make Sense? Fix-Up Strategies and Word Clues

C2.4 C1.1 C2.7 A1.2About 40 minutes
Learning goals
  • I can notice when a text stops making sense.
  • I can reread, visualize and ask questions to fix my understanding.
  • I can use context clues and word parts to figure out a new word.
  • I can figure out who or what words like it, they and this are talking about.
  • I can explain which strategy helped me understand a text.

Words to know

monitor
To keep checking. When you monitor your reading, you keep asking, Does this make sense?
reread
To read a part again, often more slowly.
visualize
To make a picture in your mind of what you read.
context clues
Hints in the words and sentences around a new word that help you figure out what it means.
pronoun
A word that takes the place of a noun, like he, she, it, they, this.
linking words
Words that connect ideas, like but, because, also, however, then. They are also called cohesive ties.
strategy
A plan or tool you use to do something well.

Remember from Grade 2

In Grade 2 you learned to reread, visualize and ask questions when something was confusing.

In Grade 3 your texts are longer and have harder words. So you will add more tools: context clues, word parts, and following pronouns and linking words. You will also explain which strategy helped you most.

Hook: The broken movie

Reading should be like watching a movie in your head. But sometimes the movie freezes or gets fuzzy. You read a whole page and think, "Wait... what just happened?"

That is okay! It happens to every reader. The trick is to notice it and fix it. Strong readers monitor: they keep asking, "Does this make sense?"

When this happens...Try this fix-up strategy
I don't know what happened.Reread the part slowly. Read it aloud.
I can't picture it.Visualize: make a mind movie. What do I see, hear, smell, feel?
I'm confused or curious.Ask a question, then read on to find the answer.
I don't know a word.Use context clues, look for word parts, check the picture or glossary.
I don't know who it or they is.Look back to find the noun the pronoun stands for.
I still don't get it.Talk to someone about it, or read on a little to see if it gets clearer.
Fix-up strategies: tools to use when the reading stops making sense

Read: The Snowshoe Hare

The snowshoe hare lives in the forests of Canada. It has a clever trick for staying safe. In summer, its fur is brown, but in winter, it turns white. This camouflage helps the hare blend in with the snow, so foxes and owls have trouble seeing it.

The hare's back feet are very large and furry. They work like snowshoes, so the hare can run on top of deep snow without sinking. This is how it got its name!

Worked example

Let's use context clues

What does camouflage mean? It's a hard word!

  1. Don't skip it. Reread the sentence: This camouflage helps the hare blend in with the snow, so foxes and owls have trouble seeing it.
  2. Look for clues around the word: blend in, have trouble seeing it.
  3. Look back: the fur turns white in winter. Snow is white too.
  4. Put it together: camouflage must be colours or patterns that help an animal blend in and hide.
  5. Check: Put the meaning in the sentence. This way of blending in helps the hare... Yes, it makes sense!

Camouflage means colours or patterns that help an animal blend in with what's around it, so it is hard to see.

Worked example

Let's follow the pronouns and linking words

In The Snowshoe Hare, what do the words They and This stand for? What does but tell us?

  1. The hare's back feet are very large and furry. They work like snowshoes. Look back for a plural noun: the hare's back feet. So they = the back feet.
  2. This is how it got its name! This points back to the whole idea before it: its feet work like snowshoes. So the hare is called a snowshoe hare because of its feet.
  3. In summer, its fur is brown, but in winter, it turns white. But is a linking word that shows a change or difference: brown, then white.
  4. Linking words and pronouns are like glue that holds sentences together. When you follow them, the text makes sense.

They = the hare's back feet. This = the feet working like snowshoes (that's how it got its name). But shows a change from brown to white.

The hare'sback feetare very large and furry.Theywork like snowshoes.Look back: They = the hare's back feet
A pronoun like They points back to a noun that came before. Follow the arrow to find who or what it means.

Word parts help too

Break a long word into parts you know:

  • un+friend+ly: un means not, so unfriendly means not friendly.
  • re+read: re means again, so reread means read again.
  • snow+shoe: a compound word, a shoe for walking on snow.
  • care+less: less means without, so careless means without care.

Grammar helps too. If the word comes after a or the, it is probably a thing (a noun). If it ends in -ed, it probably already happened.

prefixbase wordsuffixunfriendly= not friendly (un means not)reread= read again (re means again)careless= without care (less means without)
Break a long word into parts. The prefix or suffix changes the meaning of the base word: un means not, re means again, less means without.

Visualizing: Read: Morning at the Lake

Read this slowly and make a mind movie.

Mist floated over the lake like a thin, grey blanket. Somewhere far away, a loon called, a long, wobbly cry. Ella's bare feet were cold on the wet dock boards. She could smell the smoke from last night's campfire. Then the sun peeked over the pine trees, and the whole lake began to sparkle.

Worked example

Let's visualize

Make a mind movie of Morning at the Lake. Use your five senses.

  1. See: mist over the water, a wooden dock, pine trees, the sun coming up and the water sparkling.
  2. Hear: a loon's long, wobbly cry far away.
  3. Feel: cold, wet boards under bare feet.
  4. Smell: smoke from the campfire.
  5. Ask: What time of day is it? The sun is peeking over the trees, so it is early morning. My picture helped me figure that out!

My mind movie shows an early, misty morning at a lake. Visualizing helped me understand the time and the mood: quiet and peaceful.

Asking questions while reading

Good readers ask questions before, during and after reading:

  • Why does the hare change colour? (answered in the text)
  • Do other animals turn white in winter? (you might need another book!)
  • Why is Ella awake so early? (you might need to infer)

Questions keep your brain switched on.

Just for fun

Why didn't the snowshoe hare buy winter boots?

It was born wearing snowshoes!

Reflect: What helped me?

After reading, think about your thinking. Say: "The strategy that helped me most was ___ because ___."

Example: "Visualizing helped me most because when I pictured the sun over the trees, I knew it was morning."

Knowing which tools work for you helps you become an independent reader who can make good choices.

Hands-on activity

Fix-up strategy bookmark

You need: a strip of cardboard (from a cereal box; a grown-up can help cut it), markers, a book.

  1. Make a bookmark. On it, write or draw the fix-up strategies: 🔁 reread, 🎬 visualize, ❓ ask a question, 🔍 context clues, 🧩 word parts, 👈 look back for it and they.
  2. Read a chapter or a few pages of a book. When you get stuck, use your bookmark to choose a strategy.
  3. Each time you use one, put a tally mark next to it.
  4. At the end, tell a grown-up: "The strategy I used most was ___. It helped me because ___."

Your turn

1

What question should you keep asking yourself as you read?

2

In The Snowshoe Hare, what colour is the hare's fur in winter? Why does that help it?

3

In the sentence They work like snowshoes, what does They stand for?

4

Use word parts: what does unsafe mean?

5

Name three senses you used to visualize Morning at the Lake, and one detail for each.

6

You read a page and can't remember anything. What should you do first?

7

What does the linking word but usually tell you?

More practice: warm-up

1

What does visualize mean?

2

What does re- mean in rewrite?

3

Which animal called on the lake in the story?

4

Is snowshoe a compound word?

5

Name one animal that has trouble seeing the white hare in winter.

More practice: on your own

1

Use context clues: The puppy was so exhausted after the long walk that it fell asleep right away. What does exhausted mean?

2

Maya and Josh built a snow fort. Then they had a snowball fight. Who is they?

3

In Morning at the Lake, what is the mist compared to? What does that help you picture?

4

Write a question you could ask while reading The Snowshoe Hare that is not answered in the text.

5

Explain how the word because helps you understand this: We wore mittens because it was −15°C.

Challenge

1

Use context clues: The trail was treacherous. Ice covered the rocks, and one wrong step could send you sliding down the hill. What does treacherous mean? Which clues helped?

2

Grandpa gave Leo a sled. It was red and fast. He loved it. Who is He, and what is it? Why might a reader get mixed up?

3

Pick one strategy from this lesson. Describe a time it helped you (or could help you) understand something you read.

Check your understanding

Quiz

1.

Monitoring your reading means...

2.

Hints around a new word that help you figure it out are called...

3.

The hare's back feet are big. They work like snowshoes. What does They stand for?

4.

What does unkind mean?

5.

Making a movie in your mind while you read is called...

6.

Which sentence shows a reader reflecting on a strategy?

For parents and teachers

What this lesson teaches: Grade 3 students monitor their understanding using strategies such as rereading, visualizing and asking questions (C2.4), comprehend using knowledge of words, grammar, cohesive ties (pronouns and linking words) and sentence structure (C1.1), and describe how strategies helped them (C2.7). Choosing their own strategies supports student agency (A1.2).

How to help at home:

  • When your child reads aloud and makes a mistake that changes the meaning, wait. Give them a chance to notice. Then ask, "Did that make sense?"
  • Stop at a pronoun and ask, "Who is 'they' here?"
  • When you meet a new word, don't give the meaning right away. Ask, "What clues are around it?"

Common difficulties:

  • Word calling: reading every word correctly but not understanding. Ask your child to retell after each page.
  • Pronoun confusion in longer sentences with two characters. Point back to the noun.
  • Skipping hard words. Teach that skipping is okay only if they come back and check the meaning still makes sense.