Breathe Life into Reading Worksheets

Use the word “worksheet,” and both administrators and students cringe. What brought this about? Worksheets are certainly nothing new in education. In many ways, they are a teacher's best friend. They save time, and give the teacher a reprieve from having to create every document used for classwork and homework. Millions of dollars each year are spent on teacher resource books that have great activity sheets that teachers can incorporate into daily lesson plans.

So what killed the thrill of the worksheet? Some teacher leaders would argue that worksheets became the dominant form of independent work that students did. Maybe it wasn’t the worksheets themselves, but the number being copied on a daily basis. Providing copy paper, ink, and copy machines (that work), is a huge expense for a school to absorb each year. It’s possible that as the costs increased, so did the complaints. Unfortunately, worksheets can become "addictive," and can be overused, even when there are more effective non-paper and pencil strategies available.

Well, it’s time to revive the worksheet! Used in moderation, and in conjunction with other creative learning techniques, worksheets can be extremely beneficial. For example, let’s look at the subject of reading. During guided reading, graphic organizers are an excellent tool to improve or assess comprehension. Some examples of graphic organizers are Venn Diagrams for comparing and contrasting, story webs to identify story elements, and worksheets that provide opportunities for responding to questions about the text, or summarizing what was read. Making worksheets interactive and relevant with limited daily use can breathe life back into them. What follows are some great lesson plan examples which appropriately and effectively utilize worksheets.

Reading Worksheet Lesson Plans:

The Relatives Came: A Family Read-Along

 

Students utilize worksheets during follow-up activities for the book "The Relatives Came" by Cynthia Rylant. Parents are invited to a read along of the book. Students use two worksheets, a storyboard graphic organizer for sequencing, and an illustrated writing prompt sheet. After reading the book, students write a story called “What I wish I did during summer break."

To Kill a Mockingbird and the Scottsboro Boys Trial: Profiles in Courage

 

Students use graphic organizers to compare "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee to the Scottsboro Boys trial. They begin by using graphic organizers to compare the characters in the book to the accused boys in the Scottsboro trial. Students are also give copies of the summation of the trial to compare with chapters 18-20 of the novel. Other historical documents are used to aid in making the comparison visible.

Make an Alarm!

Students design and create an alarm as a follow-up activity to reading. Students read "Dear Mr. Henshaw" by Beverly Cleary, a story in which the main character creates an alarm to protect a lunchbox. Using a planning sheet, students brainstorm ways to design their own alarm system for some item at school. Planning, cooperative learning, and art is incorporated in the use of the planning sheet.

Have You the Time of Day?

 

Math is infused into a reading lesson about the day in the life of a farmer. The class reads a short story about the life of a dairy farmer. To sequence the events in the story, students use worksheets with clock faces to determine at which time of day events occurred. The lesson can be extended by having students create a similar chart of their daily schedule.