• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Reading Comprehension Strategies.org

Improve student reading comprehension

  • Home
  • FREE stuff
  • Reading Comprehension Strategy PDF
    • Asking Questions
    • Making Connections
    • Inferring
    • Evaluating
    • Finding the Main Idea
    • Repairing Comprehension
    • Active Reading
  • 6Cs Articles
    • 1. Axe Body Spray (Critical Thinking)
    • 2. Utility Bills (Citizenship)
    • 3. Pork Roast (Creativity)
    • 4. Airplane Wheel (Character)
    • 5. Rosa Parks (Communication)
    • 6. Building Bridges (Citizenship)
    • 7. California Surfer (Character)
    • 8. Green Leader (Collaboration)
    • 9. Service Dog (Critical Thinking)
    • 10. Devious Sips (Citizenship)
    • 11. Online Shopping / Fraud (Critical Thinking)
  • SEL Stories
    • 1. US fighter pilot terrified of flying
    • 2. Change The Game – Earn Your Leisure
    • 3. This App Can Close The Gap
    • 4. Ballet, Beauty, and Being Girly
    • 5. Born Here. Failed Six Years!
    • 6. Dwayne Johnson – Hardest Worker
    • 7. What if I took it off for you?
  • SHOP

Small business owner pays it forward by paying overdue utility bills for 36 families over the holidays

High-interest reading article about CITIZENSHIP.

A local business owner who once had his heating cut off because he struggled to pay the bills gives back to the community by paying the utility bill for 36 families in need.

The citizenship mini-lesson and discussion questions focus on the difference between being a citizen and being an ideal (active) citizen.

This article goes well with the ASKING QUESTIONS reading strategy.

Want to see exactly what you get before you buy this product?

  • Watch the PREVIEW VIDEO
  • Look at the PREVIEW PDF. 
    (It is a watermarked version of the entire PDF resource.)
I want to READ MORE

Get the Resource

Mike Esmond lives in Gulf Breeze, Florida. He paid the power bills for 36 families in need during the holidays in 2019.

Back in 1983, Mike had a hard time paying his own bills. He was behind on his payments at Christmas time, so they turned the heat off. Mike and his three daughters had no heat during the winter!

Today, Mike owns Gulf Breeze Pools and Spa near Pensacola. He wanted to give back, so he asked the city what he could do. The city gave him a list of families who were behind on their bills. The amount they owed added up to $4,600. Mike paid those power bills. The city sent holiday cards to those 36 families instead of overdue bill warnings.

A journalist for WEAR posted a photo of the holiday cards on Twitter.

“It is our honor and privilege to inform you that your past due utility bill has been paid by Gulf Breeze Pools & Spas. You can rest earlier this holiday season knowing you have one less bill to pay. On behalf of Gulf Breeze Pools & Spas we here at the City of Gulf Breeze would like to wish you and your family a happy holiday season.”

Mike told CNN he wanted to give his neighbors “a happier Christmas and take a little bit of stress out.”

“I actually lived that back in the 1980s… I experienced the same thing, having trouble paying bills. My gas was shut off, and we had no heating for the whole winter.”

Angela Cascio lives in the area with four kids. The youngest is only 7 years old and the oldest is 17. Angela was struggling to pay the bills. It was hard to find gifts for Christmas.

A reporter for the Pensacola News Journal wrote about how surprised Angela was. “Without [Gulf Breeze Pools] paying that bill, my kids’ Christmases would have greatly suffered.” 

“Angels absolutely walk among us, and they are the epitome of kindness and what ‘paying it forward’ means to me.”

“My kids are old enough that they see their mom struggle to make ends meet,” Angela said. “They saw me burst into tears when I read the card that Gulf Breeze Pools sent to me. I am forever grateful.”

Mike is a small business owner. He is also a war veteran. Mike has done other things to help out his community.

Citizenship Mini-Lesson

There is a difference between being a citizen, and being an ideal citizen.

(In the same way, is there is a difference between being a student, and an ideal student.)

One strategy to help us become better citizens who give back to our communities is to think about empathy and try to be more empathetic.

One definition of empathy is

  • Seeing with the eyes of another…
  • Listening with the ears of another…
  • Feeling with the heart of another…
Get the Resource

Filed Under: Reading Comprehension 6Cs Article

Primary Sidebar

Different Reading Strategies List (PDF)

Evaluating Reading Strategy: Lesson, video, handouts (that work with any text)

Evaluating Reading Strategy Lesson Plan

How to Infer – 4 PRO TIPS: 1. Figure out what the text is really saying even though it doesn’t say it like this. (Evidence from the text + your thinking = an inference) 2. Your inference cannot be directly in the text. It has to be something new that you figured out based on the text. 3. Use Somebody Wanted But So to think about the text and make inferences. 4. Use It says, I say, And so to explain your inference.

Inferring Reading Strategy Lesson Plan (Inferencing)

How to Make (Deeper) Connections - 4 PRO TIPS: 1. Connect with things you’ve read (text to text), things you’ve experienced (text to self), or things people know (text to world) 2. Avoid simple connections. Find things that are same-same but different. 3. Use one of these thought patterns: "This is like that, but… so…" or "A is like B, and B is _ so A is probably _" 4. Stop after every heading or paragraph and make a connection

Making Connections Reading Strategy Lesson Plan: How to make deeper Text-to-Self, Text-to-Text, and Text-to-World connections

4 PRO TIPS to the Repairing Comprehension Reading Strategy 1. Read a paragraph and SAY SOMETHING: Ask a question, Make a connection, Make an inference, Form an opinion 2. Does your SAY SOMETHING make sense with stuff you know about the world? If not, re-read the paragraph. Use PEEP to clarify your thinking. 3. Does your SAY SOMETHING make sense with stuff you already read in this text? If not, re-read the paragraph. Re-read the other stuff you already read.Use PEEP to figure out why it doesn’t make sense. 4. PEEP: Point, Evidence, Explanation, Point

Repairing Comprehension Reading Strategy Lesson Plan

Asking Questions Reading Comprehension Strategy - 4 PRO TIPS 1. Don't ask a question you already know the answer to. 2. Try to answer your own question. Use evidence from the text. 3. Ask lots of questions. Include higher-order thinking questions (why or how / would or might) 4. Stop after every heading or paragraph and ask a question.

Asking Questions Reading Strategy

FIND THE MAIN IDEA 4 PRO TIPS: 1. Focus on the BIG PICTURE (the entire article). Summarize the entire article in a word or phrase. What general point is the author trying to make? 2. Look for clues in key spots. (How is the text organized?) 3. Think about each paragraph. What is this paragraph about? (Where is the main idea in the paragraph? Beginning? Middle? End?) What role does this paragraph play?  4. Find the “best” main idea. The main idea is NOT always directly stated. The best idea has strong support from the beginning, middle, and end of the entire article.

Finding the Main Idea – Reading Comprehension Strategy Lesson Plan

Active Reading Strategies Lesson and Handouts: Works with any text!

Active Reading Strategies Lesson – Power Up Tool Kit

6Cs Reading Comprehension Articles

  • Axe Body Spray stops a Florida school bus due to a “hazardous materials incident”
  • Small business owner pays it forward by paying overdue utility bills for 36 families over the holidays
  • Pork roast cooked in a car during a record-breaking heat wave in Australia
  • Airplane wheel falls off during takeoff in Canada
  • Rosa Parks: Quiet Courage in Communication
  • Building Bridges between Police and Youth
  • California Surfer Breaks Stereotypes – Character Education
  • Green Leader Says It Shouldn’t Have Taken This Long – Collaboration
  • Service Dog – Is this Discrimination? (Critical Thinking)
  • Devious Sips, TikTok trends, and Active Citizenship
  • Online Shopping and Fraud – Critical Thinking – Article 011

SEL Reading Comprehension Articles

  • This US fighter pilot is terrified of flying…
  • Change The Game And Earn Your Leisure
  • This App Can Help Close The Gap
  • Ballet, Beauty, and Being Girly
  • Born Here. Failed Six Years!
  • Dwayne Johnson The Rock
  • What if I took it off for you? Reading Response Passage

Copyright © 2023 · Log in