TEACHING COMPREHENSION
BACKGROUND INFORMATION FOR TEACHING COMPREHENSION
Sometimes it is difficult to teach comprehension because our comprehension skills are automatic. The skills are ingrained and quick; it's difficult to slow and break the process down. Skills readers utilize automatically to clarify include: adjusting thinking, rereading, interacting, clarifying etc.
As a teacher, it is the goal for our students to have an active and fluent skill set when constructing meaning with text. It is a goal to have all of our readers display the following comprehension process:
As a teacher, it is the goal for our students to have an active and fluent skill set when constructing meaning with text. It is a goal to have all of our readers display the following comprehension process:
- be able to have sufficient background knowledge
- be able to access background knowledge
- be able to monitor comprehension and recognize when comprehension breaks down
- be able to and willing to make the effort to revise and modify thinking
It is important to not place too much emphasis on strategies over the material being read. If too much importance is placed on utilizing strategies, students may feel strategy use is more important than overall comprehension.
"Comprehension instruction is not about teaching strategies for strategies' sake. Nor is it about making sure that kids 'master' the strategies. It is about teaching kids to use strategies purposefully to read any text, for any reason, and to walk away from their reading experiences with new understanding that may generate more learning. Comprehension strategies are interrelated, and we don't keep this a secret from the kids...We demonstrate how readers weave them together for a more engaged, rewarding read. What counts is that kids use strategies to become readers with diverse ideas and opinions" (Strategies that Work, 33).
SETTING THE SCENE
"In a thinking classroom, literacy is an active process. Teachers set a tone that values student curiosity and thinking and respects all voices and visions. We work hard to build a community of thinkers, expressers, listeners, and learners, a community where kids and teachers care and wonder about each others's interests and ideas and take time to talk about them, think about them, and explore them" (Strategies that Work, 35).
- Teachers should foster a passion for reading and a natural curiosity.
- They should also create a classroom environment that includes and places high value on collaborative learning and thinking, where everyone has a chance and voice.
- Students should be supplied with ample time for reading and writing practice.
- Explicit instruction in large groups, small groups and individual conferences allows for plenty of practice.
- Modeling thinking and using appropriate language that values the student and the student's thoughts creates a respectful environment.
- Providing authentic ways of responding to text, such as talking or writing.
- Utilizing responsive teaching and differentiated instruction
- Offer text of every genre, level, topic and type (book, magazine, newspaper etc.)
- Arrange the classroom in a way that fosters engagement in clusters or groups of students
- Make the reading areas comfortable in the classroom (rugs, lamps, pillows)
- Display anchor charts and student work, no more cutesy bulletin board without specific purposes
- Varieties of materials: sticky notes, charts, transparencies, journals, notebooks, clipboards etc.
PRIMARY STUDENTS AND COMPREHENSION INSTRUCTION
For younger students whose primary goal is word solving, it is important not to overwhelm them with meaning construction strategies. Both processes are too cognitively demanding to occur simultaneously. It is still important, however, to allow meaning making the most important purpose for reading.
Younger students' comprehension can be facilitated through conversations and teacher modeling of common comprehension strategies. Interactive read-alouds, shared readings, nonfiction texts, and writing are other opportunities for strategic instruction. Overall comprehension as a focus while reading, and modeling active thinking at younger grades may lead to students being more inclined to be active readers themselves.
Strategies encouraged for modeling and incorporating into instruction for younger students include:
- activating prior knowledge: thinking about what is already known about the topic
- predicting: thinking about what may happen next, as well as, going back and checking or modifying predictions
- visualizing: imagining what the events in the text would look like
- summarizing: retelling events in a particular order (sequential or by referring to story elements: setting, characters, problem etc.)
- questioning: asking questions about the text or asking questions directed towards the author
- monitoring comprehension: taking the steps to think about the text and if it makes sense, also utilizing fix-up strategies
The ISA contains more information for younger students comprehension instruction, evaluation and observational recording forms. These can be found on pages 294-297).
GENERAL COMPREHENSION INSTRUCTION
Comprehension instruction simply means instructing students how to create meaning when reading. Effective comprehension instruction has various components. The listing below contains a few, but is not exhaustive.
- teach with a specific purpose or ending goal
- teach responsively to individual needs
- model use of strategies
- let students know that the purpose for using a strategy is building meaning
- stress the importance of thinking while reading
- model responses to text orally and in writing
- utilize gradual release
- employ before, during and after strategies
- allow opportunity for guided practice and independent practice
- apply strategies to a variety of genres
- help with articulating how strategies interconnect and work with one another to create meaning
- allow plenty of time for reading and practicing
- allow time for discussion of text
- allow time for writing as a response to reading
- observe and confer with students
- use observations to guide instruction
GRADUAL RELEASE
In Strategies that Work, by Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis, the gradual release model is outlined in terms of comprehension strategy instruction. "For too long we have been telling kids what to do rather than showing them how. Now the way we deliver effective instruction always involves modeling and/or guided practice in one form or another" (32). The outline is described below:
- Teacher Modeling: The teacher explains how to use the strategy through explicit instruction , as well as, how to use the strategy while reading in order to understand text. The teacher also models thinking aloud to show strategy use.
- Guided Practice: The teacher guides a large group purposeful and engaging conversation. Teacher and students practice together within a shared reading experience. The teacher supports the students through scaffolding and provides specific and immediate feedback.
- Collaborative Practice: Students begin practicing the strategies with other students during partner reads and small group conversations. The teacher acts as a facilitator moving from group to group responding to needs of students.
- Independent Practice: Students move from group and partner work to individual work. Regular feedback should be supplied by the teacher.
- Application of the Strategy in Authentic Reading Situations: Students are encouraged to practice strategies while reading authentic texts. Students are also given the opportunity to use the strategy in a variety of genres and settings.
RELEASE OF STRATEGIES
When beginning strategy instruction, it is important to not dump all reading strategies on students at once. Strategies should be introduced one at a time, but short in duration. It is important not to spend weeks and weeks on a single strategy. Always remember, the end goal is students being able to flexibly use all strategies in order to build and create meaning. Instruction should be about using the strategy for understanding, not all about the strategy. As teachers, we need to remember why the strategies are used.
It is also important to refer back to and build on previous strategies. Teachers need to continually model, introduce and use strategies through the year and across all curriculum.
Although there is no set in stone order for releasing strategies, it is important to however start at the beginning with monitoring comprehension.
Since there is no right way of teaching strategies as far as sequence, it is important to consider what is best for your students and what they specifically need for facilitating their learning.
It is also important to refer back to and build on previous strategies. Teachers need to continually model, introduce and use strategies through the year and across all curriculum.
Although there is no set in stone order for releasing strategies, it is important to however start at the beginning with monitoring comprehension.
Since there is no right way of teaching strategies as far as sequence, it is important to consider what is best for your students and what they specifically need for facilitating their learning.
EXPLICIT INSTRUCTION
Explicit instruction should be varied for comprehension instruction to meet the needs of the students and to keep students engaged. Explicit instruction can occur in various ways and is not just about modeling strategies. Explicit instruction can occur during any part of the gradual release model. Some examples of how to explicitly teach comprehension strategies include:
- thinking aloud
- read-alouds
- interactive read-alouds
- lifting text
- guided discussions
- anchor lessons and anchor charts
- rereading for deeper meaning
COMPREHENSION STRATEGIES WORTH TEACHING
The following list contains comprehension strategies worth teaching that will help aide in the comprehension of text for struggling readers. The list is not exhaustive. Each comprehension strategy contains a link to provide further information. (See also, the next section for more detailed information)
SUMMARY OF READING STRATEGIES:
FROM TEACHER TALK TO READER'S INNER TALK
AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENT OF COMPREHENSION
It is important to be reflective of student understanding, as this can help shape instruction. Authentic assessments provide teachers with information necessary to monitor student progress, reflect on past instruction and learning, and to develop and design upcoming lessons.
- listen to student talk and conversation
- read over student responses looking for evidence of meaning construction
- confer 1:1 with students
- observe the students behavior and expressions
- construct anchor charts of learning and discussions (this makes learning visible)
- keep anecdotal notes
- NO DIORAMAS or COAT HANGER projects! Make it authentic, such as a book-talk or book review . Think of what you (an adult) would do after reading a book. Most likely discuss with others who read the book.
STRUGGLING (STRIVING) READERS
The Handbook of Reading Disability Research (2011), identifies struggling readers as those who struggle to read for a variety of reasons, including: cognitive, social, affective, societal or instructional issues.
Narrative comprehension intervention is designed as a planned activity aimed as promoting comprehension. Research led by Pearson and Fielding (1991) noted that intervention for narrative comprehension resided in two distinct categories:
Narrative comprehension intervention is designed as a planned activity aimed as promoting comprehension. Research led by Pearson and Fielding (1991) noted that intervention for narrative comprehension resided in two distinct categories:
- intervention that built background knowledge (topics, themes, structures)
- intervention that focused on specific questioning and skills during strategic times: before, during, and after
- a reader's ability to decode text (phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency)
- a reader's oral language skill
- a reader's dialect
- a reader's awareness
- a reader's use of comprehension strategies
- a reader's motivation