Teacher Commentary
The goal of this Whole Class Discussion is to make sure students understand the text. In other words, the purpose is to surface student’s thinking and to help them identify roadblocks, clarify confusions together and make the clarification processes visible. If a student brings up a roadblock, ask guiding questions to see if he/she (or other classmates) can find an answer or create a hypothesis. For example, after reading the last sentence, “Occasionally a travelling musician or bear-baiter would pass through,” a student may ask, “What’s a ‘bear-baiter?’” In response, you might ask:
● Is there any part of this term that you do understand?
● Can you make a guess or a prediction about this?
● What else do good readers do if they still don’t understand a term?

Any strategies that come up can be added to your Reader’s Strategy List (poster).

As a last resort, you may want to ask a student to do a quick Google search or offer the answer as an extra credit homework assignment. (If you are curious, bear-baiting is an arena-like blood sport where bears are tormented, usually by hunting dogs, for entertainment.)