014. This Routine Will Change Your Instruction
Comprehension is the heart of upper elementary instruction—and while we spend a lot of time teaching it, not all strategies give students the same results. What if there was one simple routine that could make comprehension skills more concrete, support higher-level thinking, and boost your students’ ability to retell and analyze text?
In this episode of Teaching Made Simple, I’m sharing exactly that: a strategy I call roadmapping. You’ll learn what it is, why it works, and how to use it in your classroom to help students break down any text into clear, manageable parts. This approach makes comprehension visible, connects directly to background knowledge, and builds the foundation for skills like author’s purpose, character analysis, and text-dependent analysis questions.
You’ll discover:
- The surprising research findings about comprehension strategy instruction.
- How roadmapping works step-by-step (and why 4 words is the magic limit).
- When to use this routine to get the biggest impact.
- Practical tips for scaffolding and starting small so students build confidence.
If you’ve been looking for a way to make comprehension instruction more intentional, concrete, and connected—this is it.
Links & Resources Mentioned in This Episode:
- Research study on comprehension strategies (insert your link)
- Video demonstration of roadmapping (insert your link)
