OPTIC: A Reading Strategy Recipe

Display slide 9 and introduce the It’s OPTIC-al instructional strategy. Tell students that this strategy helps students make observations (O) and predictions (P), identify titles and themes (T), cite evidence used for inferences (I) and draw conclusions (C). Tell students that they will, as a class, use this strategy to analyze the image they previously examined, The Shiner. Use the attached OPTIC Recipe Card Key document for guidance, if needed.

Display slide 10 and introduce a modified version of the Photo or Picture Deconstruction strategy. Under the “Observations” heading on their handouts, have students independently create a list of ten key, concrete observations that are most important to the understanding of the visual text. These observations would be key details that students would underline or highlight if the visual text were instead print text. In this setting, these concrete observations should be visual details only.

Invite students to each share out one detail. As they share, record their responses on the board.

Display slide 11. Ask students to make three predictions about what is happening in the art under the “Predictions” section of their handouts. Distribute three differently colored highlighters to each student. Have them highlight each prediction with a different color.

Show slide 12. Have students brainstorm potential titles for the art on their handouts under the “Titles” section. Invite students to share out their ideas. As students share, discuss how their titles give important information about the main ideas, or themes, present in the art.

Click on the slide to display the official title of the work, The Shiner, and discuss how the title focuses on the main idea and main detail of the artwork. Identify the artist and the time period of the work, which are two pieces of information that are also important to reading. Ask students to identify details in The Shiner that provide information about the artist, title, and time period of the work.

Move to slide 13. Have students turn their predictions into inferences by assigning evidence from their observations list to each prediction. Have them underline or highlight supporting evidence using the color-coding system from the prediction step of the lesson. Have them mark each piece of evidence in the same color as the prediction that piece of evidence supports. Discuss any important prior knowledge students possess that aids comprehension.

Display slide 14 and introduce the final part of the OPTIC strategy: Conclusions. Explain that drawing conclusions involves identifying who is pictured, what has happened, and where, when, why, and how it took place.

Display slide 15 and introduce the Pass the Problem instructional strategy. Tell students that they should pass their handouts around the room and fill in the one of the six blanks underneath the “Conclusion” heading each time they receive a new handout. Have them write one of their conclusions about who, what, when, where, why, or how next to the corresponding word. Explain that after they write one conclusion they must pass their handout to the right (or the direction of your choice) each time they hear the word “pass.” Ensure that students write their names on their papers before you have them begin passing.

Show slide 16 and have students pass their recipe cards to the right. Have them respond to the “Who” blank on the handout they receive. Allow one or two minutes for students to record their responses. Have students pass their recipe cards to the right and respond to the “What” blank on their handouts. Repeat this process until each student’s card has six different answers for each category, then have them return their cards to the original owners.