Shanahan on Literacy How Should We Plan Reading Comprehension Lessons?
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Feb 27, 2026 Starts with why lesson planning should begin with the text itself. Covers identifying what the text actually says and the evidence it offers. Explores spotting barriers like vocabulary and syntax and designing questions to reveal them. Suggests scaffolds, gradual release, and on-the-fly adjustments. Recommends chunking, rereads, and mapping text work to standards categories.
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Chicago Experience On Textbook Lessons
- Timothy Shanahan recounts his Chicago Public Schools experience to caution against dismissing textbook lessons.
- He observed teachers often lower textbook demands when they stray, so adjustments should strengthen, not simplify, lessons.
Analyze The Text Before Questioning
- Read and analyze the text deeply: identify plot, characters, themes for stories and point, key ideas, and structure for informational texts.
- Use that analysis to design questions that reveal whether students grasp major ideas.
Pay Attention To Text Affordances
- Look for textual affordances that help comprehension, such as tables, descriptive vocabulary, or explicit signals.
- Teach students to cite text evidence and to recognize how those affordances support their inferences.