Reading ComprehensionStrategies for Success

Developed by: Teri Crain-Pearce

Outcomes

Learn the seven research based strategies

readers use to comprehend and analyze text

Enhance the strategies taught in Houghton

Mifflin and Open Court with hands on ideas for implementation and linking what you are already doing.

Purpose of Reading The purpose of reading is to connect ideas on to the

page to what you already know. If you don’t know anything about a subject, then pouring words of text into your mind is like pouring water into your hand. You don’t retain much. For example, try reading these numbers:

7516324 This is hard to read and understand

751-6324 This easier because of chunking.

123-4567 This is easy to read because of prior knowledge and structure.

Hmmmmm….

“A single conversation across the table with a wise person is worth a month’s study of books.”

Table Talk

Discuss the following with your colleagues.

What do you do in your classrooms to INTENTIONALLY teach comprehension in:

Small groups A large group One-on-one Special Topics

Metacognitive Thinking

“Everything we felt was worth doing in the classroom, we first tested on ourselves through our own reading.”

Salvador, Late or Early

Read the excerpt and

jot down a word/phrase to jar your memory

List your thinking you used to gain meaning or understanding.

Thinking about reading

What do readers do to understand their reading?

What do readers do on “tricky” words?

Record your thoughts

Thinking About Reading

List reading behaviors students do to understand text.

Name what readers’ do on “tricky” words?

Comprehension

The important thing about reading comprehension is you think about it.

It’s like a puzzle,

you take it apart,

put the corners together

and then fill in the middle.

The pieces are characters we love and problems to

solve. Sometimes it’s like a jigsaw

brain-stretcher that fills your mind with

facts. But the important thing about reading comprehension is you think about it.

Reflection: Classroom Conversations with Kids

Are our conversations a safe and challenging place for kids to risk their thinking and observe our modeling?

Research Based Strategies

Research Based Strategies in Houghton-Mifflin

Comprehension Strategy Instruction

Predict/ InferQuestionMonitor/ ClarifyEvaluateSummarizePhonics/Decoding

WHAT?

Comprehension Strategies

For students to construct meaning from text, they must independently apply numerous strategies to synthesize the content information and to understand the author’s intent.

WHY?

Goal in Kindergarten and first grade is to co-participate in reading comprehension discussions.

Comprehension SkillsSequencingNoting detailsCause and EffectCompare and ContrastStory StructureMaking JudgmentsPredictionsDrawing ConclusionsFantasy or RealismMaking GeneralizationsAuthor’s Viewpoint

Strategy Instruction

Explicit instruction on strategies.

NAME IT! Teacher models and explains a strategy.

DEFINE IT!Teacher structures guided practice, giving students more responsibility for the task.

MODEL IT!Teacher provides independent practice

with feedback.

PRACTICE IT! Students apply the strategy in real

reading situations.

USE IT!

Modeling Think Alouds

Application

Direct Explanati

on

Teacher Modeling (“thinking

aloud”)

Guided Practice

Effective Comprehension strategy instruction is explicit, or direct. Research shows that explicit teaching techniques are particularly effective for comprehension strategy instruction. In explicit instruction, teachers tell readers why and when they should use strategies, what strategies to use, and how to apply them. The steps of explicit instruction typically include:

HOW?

Sample Text of a Think Aloud “When I am reading you’ll see me looking at the

text ( words) and showing you pictures like I always do. But you will see me stop and think out loud. I will probably look at the ceiling or put the book down so you’ll know when I am thinking out loud and when I am reading the story. “

“Today when I put the book down I am going to be sharing____________________.”

Name it define it model it practice it use it

Tips for Think Alouds

• Always remember to name the

strategy, define the strategy,

and use the strategy.

• Use and model the strategy in

a natural, authentic way.

• Prompt and motivate students

to use other strategies.

• Gradually turn the

responsibility over to students.

Comprehension Characteristics Confidence Risk-taking Self-corrections Vocabulary breadth and depth Ability to respond to questions Ability to elaborate answers Use of prior knowledge Self-monitoring Enjoyment of reading and expression

Connecting All the Pieces to Improve Comprehension

Fix-it Up

Fix-it Up Strategies: The Dance Between Decoding and Meaning

Cueing System Problem Solutions

Graph-o-phonic

Student continues to miscue on text.

Do the letters/sounds match?

Lexical Difficulty reading a word in variety of text other than original text.

Find and frame ___ Word analysis: root word?

Syntactic Substitutes visually similar word House/horse

Does this sound like__? Prompt: Try that again.

Semantic Meaning can vary Reread/ synonym

Schematic Inadequate schema Visualize

Pragmatic Lack of purpose What do I need to know?

Does this look right?Does it sound right?

Connecting All the Pieces to Improve Comprehension

Fix-it UpSchema

SURPRISING FACT

What you do BEFORE you read a text is more important if you want to foster students using comprehension strategies independently.

Strategy Focus: Schema

* Activate their knowledge before, during and after reading. * Use schema to make connections between the text and their lives, between the text and one another

the text and the world.

Connections To Text

Text-to-Self Connections

Text-to-Text Connections

Text-to-World Connections

Houghton-Mifflin uses Preparing to Read as a prompt for this kind of language in your reading .

Connections To Text

Author’s Style Connections

Text Structure

Inadequate personal schema

Houghton-Mifflin uses Preparing to Read as a prompt for this kind of language in your reading .

Text-to-Self

“This part of the story reminds me of when____________ and it helps me understand the story better because________________.”

Text-to-Text Connections

• Text-to-Text “This part of the story reminds me

another story _______and it helps me understand the story better because________________.”

Text-to-World

“This part of the story reminds me of ( other media sources)_____ and it helps me understand the story better because_____________.”

“Schema is what youknow; it’s your thinking in your

head.”

Schema

Readers use their schema to

enhanceunderstanding.

Schema

Readers distinguish between meaningful and

relevant connections and those that aren’t.

Schema

Schema

Readers build, change and revise

their schema when they encounter new information in the text, engage in conversations with others and gain personal experience.

“It’s impossible to have the sameschema as someone else. Peopledo different things, go different

places and read different books , so how could their schema be the

same?”

Schema

Soccer: Schema Examples

A minute for yourself

Schema is :________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Text-to-Self Connections

Chrysanthemum

This story is also on united streaming as another way to hear it.

Connecting All the Pieces to Improve Comprehension

Fix-it Up Schema/Prior Knowledge

Predicting/Inferring

Strategy Focus: Predictions

Good readers make predictions about what they are going to read based on what they already know ( SCHEMA) and text clues such as titles and pictures. As they read get new information, they confirm or revise the old predictions and make new ones.

Good Readers: Using Predictionso Determine meanings from unknown words

by using their schema, paying attention to textual and picture clues while rereading and engaging in conversations with others.

o Use their prior knowledge and textual clues to draw conclusions and form unique interpretations of the text.

Prediction Prompts

What does the title tell me?Is this fiction or non-fiction?How will this genre change how I read?What do I know about…format? Text

structure? Author’s writing style? Because of what has happened so far, I

can predict_______.Should I revise my prediction? Is the author

going the direction I predicted?

Prediction Frames

In your packet, there are some frames to help prompt your instruction in actively teaching predictions.

Prediction Pyramid Title Clues

Predict-O-Gram Challenge

Think It Over Follow the Clues

Bucket of Words Anticipation Guide

A minute for yourselfon Predictions…

What do I want to do to revise my comprehensioninstruction based on whatI have heard so far…..

Fat Santa

Good Readers: Using Inferring

Inferring is the process of creating a personal meaning from the text. It involves a mental process of combining what is read with relevant prior knowledge. (schema) They create meaning not necessarily stated explicitly in the text.

Proficient Readers when they infer: Draw conclusions Make reasonable interpretations of text that are

adapted as they continue to read and after they read.

Use the combination of background knowledge and explicitly stated information from the text to answer questions they have as they read.

Make connections between conclusions they draw and other beliefs and knowledge.

Make analytical judgments about what they read.

Proficient Readers are more able to: Remember and reapply what they have read. Create new background knowledge for

themselves. Discriminate and critically analyze text and

authors. Engage in conversations about what they

have read. Defend inferences with a description of

relevant, prior knowledge and specific text.

Teachers need to….

Allow a wider range of interpretations for fiction text and grant greater latitude for inferences, as long as the students use the text to defend their point of view.

Help students to narrow the range of interpretations for non-fiction text.

Pause….Case in Point…

One morning an elementary school teacher asked her class how many points were on a compass. She was surprised when one little boy raised his hand and said, ”Five.” She asked him, “Five? What are they? “ He counted them off: “North, south, east, west and where I am.”

Story Clues

Experience Clues

Inference

+

=

Prompts for Inferring

• Can you predict what is about to happen?• Why did you make that point?• Can you point/name something from the

book that helped you come to that thinking?

• What do you think the author meant by___? How did you come to that?

• What do you understand now that you didn’t before?

Yo Yes!

Connecting All the Pieces to Improve Comprehension

Fix-it UpSchema/

Prior Knowledge

Predicting/Inferring

AskingQuestions

Using questions as a strategy, good readers: Ask questions for many reasons. Determine whether their questions can be found

in the text or whether they will need to infer the answer from the text, their background knowledge and/or an outside source.

Understand that many of the most intriguing questions are not answered in the text, but left to the readers’ interpretation.

Understand that hearing others’ questions inspires new ones of their own, likewise, listening to their answers can inspire new thinking.

Good Readers:

Understand that the process of questioning is used in other areas of their lives, both personal and academic.

Understand that asking questions deepens their comprehension.

Einstein said…

I have no special talents, I am only passionately curious.”

When you ask questions,

If makes you want to keep reading so

you can figure them out.

It keeps the book in your head.

Asking Questions

Readers purposefully

and spontaneously ask

questions before, during and after

reading.

Asking Questions

Thick or Thin Questions????

Think of a recent read aloud you have completed with your students. Did you ask thick or thin questions?

Thick: they would need a 3x3 post-it to answer the question…

Thin: a sticky flag would suffice!

Classroom Ideas and Samples

Coding System with post-its When answers are found in a text use this code:T= text I=infer OS = Outside source

Xerox covers of a variety of text and allow the students to write questions right on the cover next to the source of their idea.

Pass out post-its to individuals and have them record their questions/answers and place it in their anthologies or books.

Q.A.R.Questions to support FictionQuestions to support Non-FictionTHIEVES TEXT STRUCTURE

Deep thinkersQuestion It!Pre-reading PonderingI WonderReciprocal Teaching

Support Materials

THE MITTEN

Connecting All the Pieces to Improve Comprehension

Fix-it UpSchema/

Prior KnowledgePredicting/

Inferring

SummarizingAskingQuestions

Summarizing: A definition

Good readers need to be able to extract information from reading. This information will

vary depending upon the text structure of the reading material. Some of it will include:

main idea supporting information text structure/ story structure identifying what ‘s important/what’s not author’s purpose

Summarizing/ Determining What’s Important in Text Fiction Summaries Can be supported by modeling using genre and story structure. Genre Setting Characters Problem Events Solution

Non-Fiction Reader need to identify text structure supports. Author’s purpose: Chapter titles Headings Captions Text Structure

THE IMPORTANT BOOK

Classroom Practices to Foster Summarizing

1. THIEVES strategy for non-fiction

2. Graphic organizers to help categorize

3. Modeling through think alouds how to arrive at a summary

4. V.I.P. strategy

Connecting All the Pieces to Improve Comprehension

Fix-it UpSchema/

Prior KnowledgePredicting/

Inferring

SummarizingAskingQuestions

Visualizing

Visualizing /Creating Mental Images Read Alouds can be a great source for

putting in this strategy. Don’t use the accompanying picture for the

first read through and allow the children to draw what they see in the “movie in their minds.” Discuss how making mental pictures is one of the powerful ways to help them understand a story.

Good Reader’s Checklist

Develop a broad background Know the structure of paragraphs Identify the type of reasoning cause/effect induction/deduction Anticipate and predict Look for organization: serial, chronologically, logically Create motivation and interest Highlight, summarize and review Build a good vocabulary Use systematic reading technique like SQR3 Monitor effectiveness

Connecting Comprehension to Houghton Mifflin’s Pieces

Comprehension Strategy 101

Goal: Engaged and Movtivated Readers!

What do you want to try this week

to engage your students in actively reading?