Open House

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Reading Skills

• Making predictions
• Making generalizations
• Making inferences
• Rereading

Overview of the "Open House" Strategy

Strong readers automatically make predictions, inferences, and generalizations when they read. Reluctant readers do not come by these skills naturally, but they can be taught the skills by practicing. The "Open House" reading strategy (also known as the "Tea Party") gives the students an opportunity to talk to each other about segments of a short story, chapter, or poem and predict what will happen next. They will make inferences and generalizations about the characters, setting, mood/tone, plot/action, conflicts, and point of view by discussing the segments. Before starting this activity, discuss the characteristics of an open house, making sure the students understand that people are supposed to mingle, talk, and share information.

Activity for the "Open House" Strategy 

Use this strategy with the first chapter of Wish You Well by following these steps:

1. Photocopy the first chapter of the novel (permission granted by Warner Books, Inc. to photocopy for educational purposes), and cut the chapter into segments, one segment for each class member. If you have a large class, you may wish to have the class members work in pairs in order to keep the segments from being too short.
2. After mixing the segments, distribute the segments to the students.
3. Give the students a few minutes to read silently their given segments.
4. Distribute the "To Discover" sheets.
5. Next, tell the students that they have 10 minutes to "meet and greet" as many "guests" in the room as possible. The idea is to create an open house atmosphere in which the students spend a minute or two with other students and share the information from the chapter as revealed in their given segment. Have the students record on their sheets what they discover from others.
6. After the open house, ask the students to return to their seats and take a few minutes to record additional questions, predictions, inferences, and generalizations related to the chapter. Ask for volunteers to share their discoveries, predictions, and questions. You may wish to compile and display the shared information on a chart, on an overhead transparency, or on the board.
7. Now, hand out the books and ask the students to read Chapter 1.
8. After the students are finished, ask them to write down the differences between their predicted information and the actual information. 
9. Follow up with a class discussion.

This activity works well with the first chapter of Wish You Well. It is also effective when used at a turning point in the middle or at the conclusion of the novel. This strategy works with nonfiction, such as reports and essays, poetry, and short stories. Customized "To Discover" pages will need to be created to match the objectives of the reading.

Assessment

Students may be assessed on participation in the mingling section of the "Open House" activity according to the following rubric: 

• EXCELLENT participation (Score 4): The student meets with at least four other class members and fills in all boxes on his or her "To Discover" sheet.
• ABOVE AVERAGE participation (Score 3): The student meets with at least three other class members and fills in all but 1 or 2 boxes on his or her "To Discover" sheet.
• ADEQUATE participation (Score 2): The student meets with two other class members and fills in 4 or 5 boxes on the "To Discover" sheet.
• BELOW AVERAGE participation (Score 1): The student meets with one other class member and fills in 2 or 3 boxes on his or her "To Discover" sheet.
• NO participation (Score 0): The student does not meet with any class members and fills in 0 or 1 box on his or her "To Discover" sheet.

Open House - To Discover...