"Brain Feelers" - Reading for Comprehension

Claire, third grade teacher and creator of the blog, Under Our Big Top, shared this fantastic idea that will help your kinders think about literature that has been presented in the classroom and demonstrate their comprehension of what has been read. With a few simple steps and a few simple supplies from your craft closet {colored jumbo craft sticks, craft poms in assorted colors, and adhesive labels}, you can have a classroom set of your own "brain feelers"!

First, brainstorm a list of {generic} questions to ask your students or prompts for them to answer, such as...

• Retell the story.
• Is there a lesson to be learned from the story?
• Who was your favorite character?
• Describe the setting of the story.
• What happened in the beginning of the story?
• Describe an alternate ending to the story.

Once compiled, use a marker to script the questions onto the labels or word processing software to print the questions onto the labels, sticking each label onto a colored craft stick. After gluing a pom pom to each stick and letting them dry, store the "brain feelers" in a recycled paint can, mason jar, plastic cup, Pringles chip can, etc. and pull them out at the end of each story! This is a fantastic way to get every child to participate in the discussion and keep students' attention as they wait for a turn!