Lesson Plan
Reading Radar Lesson Plan
Students will learn three key reading strategies—prediction, questioning, and visualization—and apply them to a high-interest adventure excerpt to improve comprehension and build confidence.
Explicit strategy instruction empowers lower-level 8th-grade readers to tackle challenging texts, boost understanding, and develop lifelong reading habits.
Audience
8th Grade Lower-Level Readers
Time
30 minutes
Approach
Think-alouds, guided practice, and independent application.
Prep
Materials Preparation
10 minutes
- Print enough copies of Adventure Excerpt: Jungle Journey for all students
- Prepare Reading Strategies Anchor Chart on chart paper or projector
- Print and organize sets of Prediction Question Prompts, Questioning Strategy Stems, Visualization Graphic Organizer, Student Strategy Tracking Sheet, and Reflection Exit Ticket
- Familiarize yourself with the exemplar think-alouds and prompts for each strategy
Step 1
Introduction to Reading Strategies
5 minutes
- Activate prior knowledge: ask students what they do when they don’t understand a text
- Introduce lesson objective and how strategies help comprehension
- Display Reading Strategies Anchor Chart and review each strategy briefly
- Quick turn-and-talk: students share experiences predicting or visualizing stories
- Differentiation: provide sentence frames or word banks for English learners
Step 2
Modeling Reading Strategies
10 minutes
- Distribute first paragraph of Adventure Excerpt: Jungle Journey
- Think aloud to demonstrate how to make a prediction, ask questions (using Questioning Strategy Stems), and form a mental image (using Visualization Graphic Organizer)
- Highlight how prompts guide each step
- Check for understanding: ask students to paraphrase your predictions and visualizations
- Differentiation: use visuals or gestures to support vocabulary
Step 3
Guided Practice
8 minutes
- Students pair up and read the next excerpt section
- Partners use Student Strategy Tracking Sheet to note one prediction, one question, and one sketch
- Teacher circulates, offering support and probing deeper thinking
- Check for understanding: review a few student sheets aloud
- Differentiation: pair stronger readers with those needing extra support
Step 4
Independent Practice
5 minutes
- Students read the remaining passage independently
- Complete their Student Strategy Tracking Sheet with at least two examples of each strategy
- Teacher monitors and provides one-on-one prompts as needed
- Check for understanding: glance at tracking sheets to ensure correct use of strategies
Step 5
Closure and Reflection
2 minutes
- Distribute Reflection Exit Ticket; students write which strategy helped most and why
- Invite 2–3 volunteers to share responses
- Collect exit tickets to inform next instruction
- Homework suggestion: apply one strategy when reading at home and be ready to share
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Slide Deck
Reading Radar
Master Prediction, Questioning, and Visualization to boost comprehension and confidence.
Welcome everyone! Today’s lesson is called “Reading Radar.” We’ll learn three powerful reading strategies to help you become better readers.
Lesson Objective
• Learn three reading strategies: Prediction, Questioning, Visualization
• Apply each strategy to a high-interest adventure excerpt
• Strengthen comprehension and build reading confidence
Introduce objective. Emphasize that these strategies are tools they can use anytime they read.
Why Use Reading Strategies?
• Improve understanding of text
• Engage actively with the story
• Build lifelong reading skills
• Boost confidence with challenging passages
Explain why we use strategies: they help us make sense of new or challenging texts.
Reading Strategies Anchor Chart
Prediction: Guess what might happen next
Questioning: Ask about what you don’t understand
Visualization: Create mental images of scenes
Display your pre-made anchor chart or project the slide. Briefly review each strategy.
Strategy 1: Prediction
• Look for clues in titles, pictures, or text
• Ask: “What will happen next?”
• Use prompts like “I predict…” or “I think…”
Discuss the Prediction strategy. Show prompts from Prediction Question Prompts.
Strategy 2: Questioning
• Ask who, what, where, when, why, how
• Use stems: “Why did…?”, “What if…?”, “I wonder…”
• Write down questions to explore meaning
Discuss the Questioning strategy. Show stems from Questioning Strategy Stems.
Strategy 3: Visualization
• Create mental pictures of characters and settings
• Draw or describe what you see in your mind
• Use details from the text to guide your image
Discuss Visualization. Show the Visualization Graphic Organizer.
Modeling with Think-Aloud
- Read aloud first paragraph
- Stop to make a prediction
- Ask a question using a stem
- Sketch or describe a mental image
Model a think-aloud. Read the first paragraph of the Adventure Excerpt: Jungle Journey. Pause to predict, question, and visualize. Show how you record on the organizer.
Guided Practice
• In pairs, read the next section of the excerpt
• Use the tracking sheet to note: 1 prediction, 1 question, 1 sketch
• Share one example with the class
Explain pair activity. Monitor student work, circulate, and support pairs as they fill out the Student Strategy Tracking Sheet.
Independent Practice
• Read remaining passage on your own
• Complete the tracking sheet: 2 predictions, 2 questions, 2 visuals
• Raise your hand if you need help
Students now work independently. Encourage them to use at least two examples of each strategy on their sheets.
Closure & Reflection
• Which strategy helped you most and why?
• Write your response on the Reflection Exit Ticket
• Be ready to share one insight
Distribute exit tickets. Ask students to reflect briefly and invite volunteers to share.
Homework
• Choose one strategy: Prediction, Questioning, or Visualization
• Apply it while reading at home
• Bring one note or drawing to share
Assign a simple homework: apply one strategy when reading at home and be ready to discuss tomorrow.
Reading
Adventure Excerpt: Jungle Journey
The late afternoon sun filtered through the dense canopy as Mia and Jamal stepped carefully over tangled roots and damp leaves. Every breath carried the sweet, earthy scent of moss and ferns. In the distance, a faint drumbeat echoed—mysterious and rhythmic. Mia tightened her grip on her backpack strap. "Do you hear that?" she whispered. Jamal nodded, eyes wide. He could almost feel the heartbeat of the jungle pulsing around them.
They crept closer to a fallen log, brushing aside a curtain of vines to reveal a narrow path carved into the undergrowth. Small footprints crisscrossed the soft soil—some too large to be human, others barely the size of his thumb. Jamal crouched to examine them. "These look fresh," he murmured. The drums began again, louder this time. The rhythm matched the pounding of his own heart.
Mia raised her sketchbook and quickly drew a rough map of the footprints and the way forward. Her pencil scratched softly as she added the outline of a massive hollow tree at the edge of the clearing. "If we follow these footprints," she said, "they lead right to that tree." Jamal swallowed hard, imagining what might await them inside.
A sudden rustle to their left made both of them freeze. From behind a thick fern, a pair of glowing eyes stared back—close enough now to see their sharp shine. Jamal exhaled slowly. He and Mia exchanged a determined glance and, clutching their gear, stepped forward together. The jungle held its breath as they entered the hidden clearing, ready to discover its long-buried secrets.
Activity
Prediction Question Prompts
Use these sentence stems to make predictions as you read. Fill in the blank with your ideas.
- I predict _______________________________________________________
- I think _________________________________________________________
- Maybe ___________________________________________________________
- Could it be that ___________________________________________________
- Based on ________________________________________________________, I predict _______________________________________________________
- My best guess is _______________________________________________
- I wonder if ____________________________________________________
Activity
Questioning Strategy Stems
Use these sentence stems to write questions as you read. Fill in the blank with your ideas.
- Who ____________________________________________________________
- What ___________________________________________________________
- Where __________________________________________________________
- When ___________________________________________________________
- Why ____________________________________________________________
- How ____________________________________________________________
- I wonder why ___________________________________________________
- Why do you think _______________________________________________
- What might happen if ___________________________________________
- What is the meaning of __________________________________________
- Could the author mean ___________________________________________
- What clues tell us _______________________________________________
Worksheet
Visualization Graphic Organizer
Use details from the text to create mental images. For each clue you choose, draw what you imagine and describe your image using vivid details.
Detail/Clue 1
Text Clue: ____________________________________________________________
Sketch your mental image:
Describe what you see (colors, shapes, textures, movement):
Detail/Clue 2
Text Clue: ____________________________________________________________
Sketch your mental image:
Describe what you see (colors, shapes, textures, movement):
Detail/Clue 3
Text Clue: ____________________________________________________________
Sketch your mental image:
Describe what you see (colors, shapes, textures, movement):
Worksheet
Student Strategy Tracking Sheet
Use this sheet to record your predictions, questions, and visualizations as you read. Refer to the text in Adventure Excerpt: Jungle Journey.
Part 1: Guided Practice
Text Section (page/paragraph): __________________________________________________
Prediction:
__________________________________________________________
Question:
__________________________________________________________
Visualization Sketch:
Describe your image (details/colors/textures/movement):
Part 2: Independent Practice
Complete at least two examples for each strategy as you read the remaining passage.
-
Prediction 1:
__________________________________________________________ -
Prediction 2:
__________________________________________________________ -
Question 1:
__________________________________________________________ -
Question 2:
__________________________________________________________
Visualization Sketch 1:
Describe image 1:
Visualization Sketch 2:
Describe image 2:
Worksheet
Reflection Exit Ticket
Name: ____________________________ Date: _____________
-
Which reading strategy (Prediction, Questioning, or Visualization) did you find most helpful today? Explain why:
-
How will you use this strategy when reading at home or in other classes? Describe a time you might apply it: