Strategy Explainer
Strategy Stop
Look Around
Main Point
Paint the Picture
Question the Text
Find and Take
Read Between the Lines
Sequence It
What Next?
Look Around
What's the question asking? Now, whatare you looking for?
This can also mean scanning for vocabulary
While the other girls played with toys, Coco sewed beautiful dresses for her dolls. She dreamt that one day, she would wear beautiful clothes herself.
Reveal: the answers could be nearby!
A) What kinds of things did Coco like to sew when she was young and as she grew up?
From: Little People, BIG DREAMS: Treasury by Isabel Sanchez Vegara and Lisbeth Kaiser © 2021. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Find Read Talk
When they walked along the edge of the enclosure, the little penguin waddled beside them, as if it knew exactly what they were thinking, and when they stopped, it stopped too, and squawked and shook its wings.
Reveal Vocabulary
From: Einstein the Penguin by Iona Rangeley © 2022. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Main Point
What's the main idea in the text?
You take the thoughts all jumbled up
and sew them into lines
until your stitches make a shape
and you’re left feeling fine.
Reveal Main Point
Put your messy ideas into words, line by line, and soon your poem will take shape. Your mind will feel calm and less jumbled.
And if you read a poem
that someone else has sewn
the pattern might be quite like yours
and you’d feel less alone.
Sometimes you feel like you are the only one to have certain thoughts and feelings. Then, you read a poem and see that someone else has thoughts and feelings like yours.
Reveal Main Point
From: Words Can Fly by Donna Ashworth © 2025. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Paint the Picture
Be an artist of the mind and bring the text to life!
We were coming into the city. The buildings near the railway line were low, sand-coloured, packed tightly together. Between them were archways leading to little courtyards, alleys, roads, all busy with people going about their lives. I saw men in white robes, veiled women carrying pots on their heads. And rising above it all every now and then, I'd spot the dome of a mosque. Though it was still early morning, the light had a soft, peachy glow to it. This, I soon realised, was mostly dust, stirred up by carts, donkeys, motor cars and people walking. It was like the sort of haze you get at the start of a very hot summer’s day.
Explore
From: Secrets of a Sun King by Emma Carroll © 2018. Licensed under CLA. Do not share.
Question the Text
Question everything you read
What is the chaos? Why is there chaos?
Does a hurricane roar like a lion?
A hurricane roared and raged through the night. And in the middle of the chaos, a cargo ship was sinking
down
down
down
to the ocean floor.
I wonder whatthe ship is carrying... what is cargo?
Why is the cargo ship sinking?
Why does theauthor write down, down, down? Why is it repeated?
Explore
From: The Wild Robot by Peter Brown © 2018. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Find and Take
Be a word thief and steal what you've been asked to find
Find two ways the monster could hurt your bones.
You don’t want your bones crunched or jarred on Look out everybody – there's a monster in the garden!
1 Discuss then check
2 Discuss then check
jarred on
crunched
From: The Works by Paul Cookson © 2014. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Read Between the Lines
Be a detective and look for clues!
Let me show you
Reveal Text Marks
Jane Goodall was born in Britain in 1934. She longed to study wildlife in Africa, so she worked as a production assistant on documentaries and as a waitress, saving up for her dream.
A) How do we know that Jane cares deeply about animals, especially chimpanzees?
She had to work very hard, having two jobs, to save up her money to fund her trip to Africa. She was passionate about studying animals and persisted until she achieved that goal.
Reveal Explainer
Teach
From: Women in Science by Rachel Ignotofsky © 2016. Licensed under CLA. Do not share.
Sequence It
Put the events in the right order
Sequence Me
Put the events from the unit in the correct order:
A) The children locate a water source but discover piranhas in the river.
B) Fred and Con discover a leather pouch hidden high in the rainforest’s canopy.
C) Lila rescues an orphaned baby sloth and takes it back to their camp.
D) A plane crashes in the Amazon and the four passengers survive.
Check
From: The Explorer by Katherine Rundell © 2017. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
What Next?
Which words give clues to what might happen next?
Tick Me
Which do you think is most likely to happen next?
Tick one:
A Samar will safely take food from the Witch’s garden and live happily ever after.
B The Witch will help Samar and Naina because she feels sorry for them.
C Samar will steal food from the garden and be caught by the Witch.
D Samar will leave the garden without stealing and find a job instead.
Check
From: Rumaysa: A Fairytale by Radiya Hafiza © 2021. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Strategy Explainer
Literacy Counts
Created on February 25, 2025
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Transcript
Strategy Explainer
Strategy Stop
Look Around
Main Point
Paint the Picture
Question the Text
Find and Take
Read Between the Lines
Sequence It
What Next?
Look Around
What's the question asking? Now, whatare you looking for?
This can also mean scanning for vocabulary
While the other girls played with toys, Coco sewed beautiful dresses for her dolls. She dreamt that one day, she would wear beautiful clothes herself.
Reveal: the answers could be nearby!
A) What kinds of things did Coco like to sew when she was young and as she grew up?
From: Little People, BIG DREAMS: Treasury by Isabel Sanchez Vegara and Lisbeth Kaiser © 2021. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Find Read Talk
When they walked along the edge of the enclosure, the little penguin waddled beside them, as if it knew exactly what they were thinking, and when they stopped, it stopped too, and squawked and shook its wings.
Reveal Vocabulary
From: Einstein the Penguin by Iona Rangeley © 2022. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Main Point
What's the main idea in the text?
You take the thoughts all jumbled up and sew them into lines until your stitches make a shape and you’re left feeling fine.
Reveal Main Point
Put your messy ideas into words, line by line, and soon your poem will take shape. Your mind will feel calm and less jumbled.
And if you read a poem that someone else has sewn the pattern might be quite like yours and you’d feel less alone.
Sometimes you feel like you are the only one to have certain thoughts and feelings. Then, you read a poem and see that someone else has thoughts and feelings like yours.
Reveal Main Point
From: Words Can Fly by Donna Ashworth © 2025. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Paint the Picture
Be an artist of the mind and bring the text to life!
We were coming into the city. The buildings near the railway line were low, sand-coloured, packed tightly together. Between them were archways leading to little courtyards, alleys, roads, all busy with people going about their lives. I saw men in white robes, veiled women carrying pots on their heads. And rising above it all every now and then, I'd spot the dome of a mosque. Though it was still early morning, the light had a soft, peachy glow to it. This, I soon realised, was mostly dust, stirred up by carts, donkeys, motor cars and people walking. It was like the sort of haze you get at the start of a very hot summer’s day.
Explore
From: Secrets of a Sun King by Emma Carroll © 2018. Licensed under CLA. Do not share.
Question the Text
Question everything you read
What is the chaos? Why is there chaos?
Does a hurricane roar like a lion?
A hurricane roared and raged through the night. And in the middle of the chaos, a cargo ship was sinking down down down to the ocean floor.
I wonder whatthe ship is carrying... what is cargo?
Why is the cargo ship sinking?
Why does theauthor write down, down, down? Why is it repeated?
Explore
From: The Wild Robot by Peter Brown © 2018. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Find and Take
Be a word thief and steal what you've been asked to find
Find two ways the monster could hurt your bones.
You don’t want your bones crunched or jarred on Look out everybody – there's a monster in the garden!
1 Discuss then check
2 Discuss then check
jarred on
crunched
From: The Works by Paul Cookson © 2014. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
Read Between the Lines
Be a detective and look for clues!
Let me show you
Reveal Text Marks
Jane Goodall was born in Britain in 1934. She longed to study wildlife in Africa, so she worked as a production assistant on documentaries and as a waitress, saving up for her dream.
A) How do we know that Jane cares deeply about animals, especially chimpanzees?
She had to work very hard, having two jobs, to save up her money to fund her trip to Africa. She was passionate about studying animals and persisted until she achieved that goal.
Reveal Explainer
Teach
From: Women in Science by Rachel Ignotofsky © 2016. Licensed under CLA. Do not share.
Sequence It
Put the events in the right order
Sequence Me
Put the events from the unit in the correct order:
A) The children locate a water source but discover piranhas in the river.
B) Fred and Con discover a leather pouch hidden high in the rainforest’s canopy.
C) Lila rescues an orphaned baby sloth and takes it back to their camp.
D) A plane crashes in the Amazon and the four passengers survive.
Check
From: The Explorer by Katherine Rundell © 2017. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.
What Next?
Which words give clues to what might happen next?
Tick Me
Which do you think is most likely to happen next?
Tick one:
A Samar will safely take food from the Witch’s garden and live happily ever after.
B The Witch will help Samar and Naina because she feels sorry for them.
C Samar will steal food from the garden and be caught by the Witch.
D Samar will leave the garden without stealing and find a job instead.
Check
From: Rumaysa: A Fairytale by Radiya Hafiza © 2021. Licensed under CLA. Do not copy or share.