Why Didn't I Think of That?

Book excerpt: Use newspapers, magazines, catalogs, and even junk mail as sources for reading-comprehension activities. For example, to practice identifying main ideas, separate newspaper stories from their headlines and then challenge students to reattach the right headlines to the right stories. Reproducible handouts lead students through additional clever, real-world activity ideas to develop the following comprehension skills: identifying the main idea and supporting details, distinguishing between fact and fiction, understanding cause-and-effect relationships, evaluating the role of tone and mood in persuasive writing, making generalizations, and drawing conclusions. Grades 4-8. Illustrated. Good Year Books. 84 pages.