On below grade level days, you can use poetry, reader's theater, scholastic news, etc. You should also introduce vocabulary words from the story. So as the year progresses, you are to work downwards. Setting a purpose for reading is very important. It gives the students a focus.
Students rip the strip the rest of the way when they are ready to use it.
They can identity characters, setting, etc. At the end of this block, students meet as a whole group and discuss the focus question. Or to add more knowledge to whatever graphic organizer you used to begin this block. Cheryl shared that famous athletes need to practice, practice, practice to reach the top. These should be in another place in the room.