Written by Barbara Doherty and Charlotte Jaffe.

Focus on Reading Comprehension contains motivating activities which focus on a variety of crucial reading skills: following directions, sequencing, using context clues, finding the main idea, identifying supporting details, predicting outcomes, making inferences, comparing and contrasting, determining cause-and-effect relationships, and interpreting and evaluating information. The high-interest selections are designed to be used with students of varying abilities and are arranged within the sections from easier to more difficult. Most include a Challenge Activity to provide enrichment and to help you differentiate your lessons. Students may work individually or in small groups. 112 pp. Grades 4–6. 



The lessons and activities in this book align with the following Common Core State Standards*: 

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.1, 5.1, 6.1 

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.2, 5.2, 6.2 

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.3, 5.3, 6.3 

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.4, 5.4, 6.4 

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.6, 5.6, 6.6 

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.10, 5.10, 6.10 



Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text. 

Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text, including how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges or how the speaker in a poem reflects upon a topic; summarize the text. 

Compare and contrast two or more characters, settings, or events in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., how characters interact). 



Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative language such as metaphors and similes. 

Explain how a series of chapters, scenes, or stanzas fits together to provide the overall structure of a particular story, drama, or poem. 

Describe how a narrator’s or speaker’s point of view influences how events are described. 



By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poetry, at the high end of the [grade-level] text complexity band independently and proficiently. 




*Authors: National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, Council of Chief State School Officers 

Title: Common Core State Standards English Language Arts 

Publisher: National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, Council of Chief State School Officers, Washington, D.C. 

Copyright Date: 2010