Neil Armstrong Passage for Notetaking and Comprehension
Use this Neil Armstrong passage to help your students practice reading with a focus on notetaking skills.
This is another free resource for teachers and homeschool families from The Curriculum Corner.
The struggle in my classroom
One struggle I am seeing in my classroom is the ability to use a source for notetaking. Over and over again, when students are researching, they want to ask a search engine and use that answer as their source.
We have been working on this in my room. I have found that one of the biggest obstacles is that students have a hard time slowing down and reading a whole article. They can find an answer faster without reading. However, AI is not reliable and they are not learning to think about their reading.
I have started practicing researching by giving students articles. We have been reading and practicing how to take notes and how to find evidence together. On the reading we are doing, we are learning how to add notes that are meaningful.
Students are encouraged to add small sketches and phrases that help build their understanding of the reading. This might also include finding important words. For example, we had discussed word parts related to space before reading this article. During this reading, aeronautical stood out because one root was aero. Some students circled this and wrote the meaning.
The questions to accompany the article fit our 7 Habits focus for our school. Having to identify a habit and share evidence. This requires a deeper level of thinking than simply repeating a fact from the article.
About this Neil Armstrong passage
I began by having students read the article to themselves silently. I did not answer any questions or help with the decoding of any words. I encouraged students to circle or underline words they needed help with. They could also add question marks or other marks to show their reactions.
Next, I read the article to them. I have a mixture of levels in my room. However, I find that listening and following along is beneficial even for my stronger readers. Being able to slow down and think is something that many students need practice with.
This was a beginning of the year activity for 6th grade so for the most part, it was not a challenging read. This allowed us to focus on the skill of notetaking.
As we discussed, students added notes in the margins. For example, one student noted that 16 seemed very young to earn a pilot’s license. Another commented that testing the planes Armstrong did required courage.
One resource that might be helpful is this Think Marks for Reading post. It contains a free download that includes how to teach think marks and a resource for students.
You can download this free Neil Armstrong article and questions by clicking on the green apples below:
This is another free resource for teachers and homeschool families. You have permission to copy and use in your classroom or home. You may not sell or modify and sell any of these resources.