Description: Flag Words provide students with clues to identifying text patterns that will enhance their comprehension. Systematically teaching them specific words that signal certain text structures equips students with a tool to enhance their understanding of how a text is organized.
Step-by-Step
- Select a reading selection that uses a specific organizational pattern. Create a list of common Flag Words for this organizational pattern.
- Photocopy the selection, so students will be able to write on the text.
- Explain to the class that the author may use words to signal or flag the use of a particular organization. Give examples of specific flag words.
- Model the process of identifying Flag Words and annotating the text.
- Have students highlight or mark Flag Words in the passage and make annotations in the margins.
- Ask students to share the Flag Words they identified and discuss their meaning in the passage. Discuss the value of this strategy in helping them study.
- Introduce Flag Words for different text structures in other lessons.
Extensions
- Create charts of Flag Words and post them on the walls for the students to refer to while reading and writing.