Star Wars Phonics and Reading Comprehension
Many of my students have been interested in Star Wars, so I love to use it as a teaching tool. I bought this set of books years ago, and it's been one of my favorite resources. The books are very basic, but still have interesting photos from the movies, so I've been able to use them with students of various ages. If a child is just beginning to read, you can use them as phonics readers. If a child can read more fluently, you can still use them for reading comprehension.
Some of the activities I did are below. For some students, I would also make a comprehension quiz for each book that would be the last day's activity. Each day of the week, we would read the book and do one of these activities.
1. Pre-Teach Vocabulary
If there are words in a story or reading passage that you think your student doesn't know, you can practice them before reading. This worksheet is one example of how to do that. You can also use pictures, flashcards, objects, videos, etc.
2. Make a Prediction About the Book
Before reading the book the first time, have students look at the book for clues about what will happen in the story. It may require some prompting (which is fine), but you can help the student use what they've observed from the cover to write a sentence of what they think the story will be about.
3. Watch a Video Clip
Many of these Star Wars phonics books or short stories are about one specific scene in the movies. You can search YouTube for a video clip of that scene and watch it with the student before reading.
4. Make a Story Map
After reading the book, you can have the student fill out this story map to review/summarize what happened in the story. There are different ways to do it.
You can have photos of the characters and setting cut out for the student to glue in the boxes, or the student can write or draw them.
For the “Beginning, Middle, End” sections, you can have the student write a sentence or draw a picture describing three events. Another option is for the teacher to write three sentences (one each from the beginning, middle, and end of the story) on strips of paper. The student can put them in order and glue them in the “Beginning,” “Middle,” and “End” boxes.
Another option is to have the student fill out the characters and setting reading. You can look over the first few pages of the book and fill out these sections to get the student familiar with the characters and setting before reading the book.
More Star Wars Books:
Meet Dr. Caldwell
Hi! I'm Dr. Nicole Caldwell and I've been working with students on the autism spectrum for about 12 years. My background is in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and Montessori. I have a Master's degree and PhD in special education with an emphasis in autism, and I love what I do! I currently work with children with autism in their homes on social, communication, and academic skills. I specialize in:
•Teaching math to students with math difficulties or math anxiety,
•Teaching science and coding to children with autism, and
•Working on language and communication by embedding learning opportunities into your child’s favorite activities. I think of this as “play to learn.”
If you’re in the Dallas/Rockwall, Texas area and would like to learn more about working with me, please send me an e-mail to nicole@positivelyautism.com and we’ll set up a free initial consultation.
