SESSION TWO: REVIEW OF SELF-QUESTIONING STRATEGY

Specific Objectives:

1. to articulate and apply the Self-Questioning strategy
2. to enhance story comprehension and recall.
3. to practice fluent reading

Procedure

The story selected for this session is Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge by Mem Fox, Markham, Ontario: Puffin Books (1984).

I. Introduction

The instructor:

1. Introduces the story Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge without focusing on specific story content. She might say:
   
   Our story today is also about a child and an older woman. Once again, it shows the special relationship that can develop between the young and the old.
   
   (Having given this introduction, the instructor stops and invites members of the group to share their own personal memories regarding relationships they have experienced with older and/or younger people.)
   
   
2. Explains reasons for choosing this particular story. For example:
   
   a) because of the child's (Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge's) imagination and his special way of understanding the world. It is fascinating to view the world once again from the eyes of a child and
   
   b) because the story touched the instructor in a special way. It reminded her of the "old" people she knew in her childhood. It brought back several memories.
   
   
3. Outlines the activities for the workshop and their purpose:
   
   a) to practice the Self-Questioning strategy in which we ask ourselves questions before, during and after reading in order to increase our understanding of what we read and to help us remember the story afterward and
   
   b) to read together in small groups for enjoyment and to develop fluency.