Back Up and Reread Modeled for Small Group

Back up and Reread is a valuable strategy to restore comprehension when meaning has broken down. The trick is to monitor one's own understanding in order to stop in a timely manner, then go back and repair the breakdown by reading the text again. These two girls will be working with the strategy to help them with their comprehension goal.

Using a picture book, Christie models her thinking aloud after every two-page spread, quickly answering the "who" and "what" before moving on (Check for Understanding). Because she is monitoring her own reading so closely, she is quickly aware of confusion when it arises. She shows the girls how she goes back, and sometimes back a bit more, rereading and thinking until her understanding gets back on track.