One of the questions I get asked most every August is some version of this: “What do I actually teach during the first few days of reading block?”
And I get it. You have standards to cover, a pacing guide to follow, and about a million things competing for your attention during those first two weeks. It feels like you should be jumping straight into comprehension lessons.
Here’s the thing though. I used to do exactly that. I would pull out a great text, ask some solid questions, and wonder why my students were giving me one-word answers and blank stares. Why weren’t they using evidence? Why couldn’t they explain their thinking?
It took me a while to realize the problem wasn’t the lessons. The problem was that I had skipped the foundation. Students didn’t know how reading time was supposed to work. They didn’t know how to think out loud, how to talk to a partner, or how to go back into a text to find proof for their answer. I was asking them to run before they knew how to walk.
So I backed up. And what I’m sharing here is the progression I use now during the first ten days of reading instruction, the reading block lesson plans I wish I had from the beginning, to build the kind of readers who can actually do the work by October.
Days 1-2: Teach Students How Reading Time Works
Before any comprehension lesson, before any text evidence conversation, before anything else, students need to know how reading block works in your classroom.
This is not wasted time. This is the most important investment you can make during the first week of school.
During these first two days, I focus on three things:
Reading block expectations. What does independent reading look like? What do students do when they finish? How do they ask for help? Students need clear, specific answers to all of these questions before reading time can run smoothly.
Partner discussions. I introduce Turn and Talk early and we practice it a lot. I give students a simple question, model what a good partner conversation sounds like, and then have them try it. We debrief together. We do it again. This routine will carry us through the whole year so it’s worth spending real time on now.
Thinking before answering. From the very first day of reading instruction, I teach students that the fastest hand in the air doesn’t win in our classroom. We think first. I introduce “thinking time” and we practice it together. Students learn that a pause before answering is a good thing, not a sign that they don’t know the answer.
None of this requires a complex text or a detailed lesson plan. A short, engaging read-aloud and intentional practice of these routines is all you need.
Days 3-4: Model Your Thinking Out Loud
Once students know how reading time works, it’s time to show them how readers think.
This is where think-alouds come in. During days three and four, I do most of the heavy lifting. I read a short text out loud and narrate my thinking as I go. I make predictions. I ask myself questions. I notice when something surprises me or confuses me. I show students that good readers don’t just read the words. They have a conversation with the text in their heads.
Most students have never seen this modeled explicitly. They’ve been told to think about their reading but they’ve never seen what that actually looks like. Showing them changes everything.
A few things I focus on during these days:
- Predicting before and during reading and then checking those predictions
- Asking questions like “why did the author include this?” or “what does this make me wonder?”
- Noticing when something in the text is confusing and showing students what I do about it
Keep the texts short and accessible during these days. The goal isn’t comprehension complexity. The goal is making thinking visible.
Days 5-6: Introduce Text Evidence
By day five, students have practiced discussion routines and watched you think out loud. Now they’re ready to start doing some of that thinking themselves.
This is when I introduce text evidence, and I keep it very simple at first.
I read a short passage together, ask one clear question, and then ask students: “Where in the text did you find that?” That’s it. No formal writing yet. No RACES framework yet. Just the habit of going back to the text to find proof for their thinking.
A few things I focus on here:
- Teaching students that answers come from the text, not just from what they think or feel
- Practicing finding evidence orally before expecting it in writing
- Keeping expectations simple: one question, one piece of evidence, one discussion
The goal during these days is for students to start seeing the text as something they go back to, not just something they read once and move on from.
Days 7-8: Practice Explaining Thinking
Finding evidence is one thing. Explaining why that evidence matters is a completely different skill.
By days seven and eight, students have started identifying evidence. Now I want them to start talking about what it means. This is the piece so many students struggle with, and the only way to build it is through practice.
I keep most of this oral during these days. We discuss as a class. I ask follow-up questions like “so what does that tell us?” and “why does that detail matter?” Students practice explaining their thinking out loud before they’re ever expected to do it in writing.
Sentence stems help a lot here. Giving students phrases like “This shows that…” or “This is important because…” takes the pressure off finding the right words and lets them focus on the actual thinking.
Days 9-10: Introduce Written Response
By day nine, students have built discussion routines, practiced thinking out loud, found evidence in texts, and explained their thinking orally. Now they’re ready to put it on paper.
And I start small. One question. A short response. A simple structure they can follow.
I’m not looking for a five-sentence paragraph on day nine. I’m looking for a student who can write a sentence that answers the question and includes one piece of evidence from the text. That’s a win. That’s the foundation everything else builds on.
A few things that help during these days:
- Using a graphic organizer so students have a visual scaffold to follow
- Providing sentence stems for students who need them
- Celebrating small wins. A student who writes two sentences with evidence is doing something great
By the end of day ten, every student in your room has experienced the full reading response process. They may not be great at it yet. But they know what it looks like, and that’s exactly where you want them to be.
Why I Don’t Rush Into Difficult Comprehension Lessons
Here’s the truth: students don’t need harder texts during the first two weeks of school. Beginning of year reading instruction should focus on routines and skills, not complexity.
When I rushed into complex comprehension lessons early in my teaching career, I ended up spending October and November reteaching things students should have already known. Discussions felt chaotic. Written responses were surface-level. Students didn’t know what was expected of them.
When I slowed down and built the foundation first, everything got better. Faster. Discussions became richer. Responses became more specific. Students became more independent because they actually knew what to do.
The first ten days of reading instruction are not lost time. They are the foundation for every reading comprehension instruction lesson you’ll teach for the rest of the year.
A Yearlong Roadmap for Reading Comprehension
If you’re looking for a done-for-you resource that follows this same progression all year long, my Write to Understand™ resources are built exactly around this approach. Each activity walks students through reading a passage, discussing their thinking, finding evidence, and writing a structured response. The same skills you’re building during these first ten days, practiced week after week until they become automatic.
It’s not random comprehension activities. It’s a consistent, scaffolded system that takes students from where they are in August to where you need them to be in May.
👉 Want to try it first? Grab a free sample here: Write to Understand Free Sample
👉 Ready to use it all year? Browse the full K-5 bundle here: WTU Bundle on TPT
One Last Thing
You don’t have to figure out the first ten days of reading instruction on your own. And you don’t have to rush.
Build the routines. Model the thinking. Practice the skills. Let students get comfortable before you ask them to go deep.
Do that, and your reading block will look completely different by October.
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