Description: The graphic organizer involves a picture of a sandwich that is split up by the ingredients. The top piece of bread is where the topic goes. The details go on the tomatoes, lettuce, and meat. The bottom piece of bread contains the concluding statement.

Advantages: This strategy can be used after reading a story to understand the contents. This strategy can also be used to help a child organize their own writing or to get started on a topic to write on. The bread can be their main idea they want to talk about, the toppings can be the three points they want to make, and the bottom piece of bread can be their point they want to reiterate in their conclusion.

Disadvantages: The sandwich may be too little for the children to fit all the details on. They may leave out smaller details that may be of greater significance. The sandwich chart leaves out many parts of the story.

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Description: An anticipation guide can be used as a before reading strategy.  An anticipation guide usually consists of statements in which the reader marks as correct or incorrect based on their knowledge before reading the book.  After reading the book, the reader then returns to the guide and can correct or look back on what has been taken away from the story and how their answers have changed.

Advantages: Anticipation guides allow a reader insight to what the book may be about. They also allow the reader to utilize or think back on prior knowledge. These are short and easy and work great for nonfiction books.

Disadvantages: Anticipation guides only work as a before reading strategy although they can be referred back to again when the story is finished. Anticipation guides also primarily only work best with nonfiction stories. The activity could be modified for fiction stories and could be based more on prediction than previous knowledge.

Source: "Let's Make Literacy 'Sparkle' For Your Students!" Packet (Carol Reimann) pg. 6

Description: Exit tickets or exit slips are an easy way to allow a child to reflect on what they have learned in the class or what they have taken away from an activity. This is an after reading strategy.  An exit ticket usually involves one question and the students must finish the slip before they leave.  The question can be a review of the lesson or a question about something they did not understand.

Advantages: Students are able to easily explain to the teacher that they do not understand something. The teacher is able to see what the student still does not understand or has questions about.  The teacher can use these exit slips in order to plan for future lessons and cater to childrens' needs.  Exit slips are a great informal assessment for teachers to give to their students.

Disadvantages: The question may not cover what the student does not know since the exit slip usually only involves one question. The student may feel uncomfortable writing down what they did not like or did not understand.

Source: "Let's Make Literacy 'Sparkle' For Your Students!" Packet (Carol Reimann) pg. 31