Reading Comprehension: Strategies for Success

1. Reading Comprehension: Strategies for Success 1 Presented by Katie Bain English Language Fellow

2. Session Objectives Participants will build upon a knowledge of strategiesthat can help improve students’ reading proficiency.

3. WHY READ?

4. Katie’s Top Ten ReasonsforWhy Reading is so Great!

5. Number 10 Reading is relaxing.

6. Number 9 Reading improves critical thinking skills.

7. Number 8 Reading helpsyouunderstandthe rules of languages.

8. Number 7 Reading helps you to acquire knowledge.  

9. Number 6 Reading opens your mind to new ideas.

10. Number 5 Reading helps you to determine your own ideas.

11. Number 4 Reading is a way to engage in a conversation with an author.  

12. Number 3 Reading develops your vocabulary.

13. Number 2 Reading bringsopportunity!

14. Number 1 Reading is FUN!!!

16. Reading Motivation • Are your students motivated to read? • What are ways to motivate students to read?

17. Reading Motivation is Important! A report of the Program for International Student Assessment (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2010) found that interest in reading predicted students’ reading comprehension. Across all 64 countries participating in the Program for International Student Assessment, students who enjoyed reading the most performed significantly better than students who enjoyed reading the least. (Gambrell, 2011, p. 172)

18. Seven Rules of Engagement!

19. Rule #1 “Students Are More Motivated to Read When the Reading Tasks and Activities Are Relevant to Their Lives” (Gambrell, 2011, p. 173)

20. Classroom Tip Students can keep a reading diary. They can draw, write, and discuss how what they have read connects to their lives.

21. Rule #2 “Students Are More Motivated to Read When They Have Access to a Wide Range of Reading Materials” (Gambrell, 2011, p. 173)

22. Classroom Tips • Download free books online! You can find several websites for downloading books on my website: www.elfellowkbain.wordpress.com • Read Aloud! Find books at the library and read them aloud to your classroom. • Do Book Talks! (Gambrell, 2011)

23. Rule #3 “Students Are More Motivated to Read When They Have Ample Opportunities to Engage in Sustained Reading” (Gambrell, 2011, p. 174)

24. Classroom Tip Allocate time in your lessons for students to READ independently, in Spanish or in English. Start off with having students read for only five minutes. Then gradually increase the amount of time you give for students to read. (Gambrell, 2011)

25. Rule #4 “Students Are More Motivated to Read When They Have Opportunities to Make Choices About What They Read and How They Engage in and Complete Literacy Tasks” (Gambrell, 2011, p. 175)

26. Classroom Tip Give students as many “bounded choices” as you can. This means, pre-select 3-5 options for reading materials and assignments and allow students to choose between your pre-selected options. (Gambrell, 2011)

27. Rule #5 “Students Are More Motivated to Read When They Have Opportunities to Socially Interact With Others About the Text They Are Reading.” (Gambrell, 2011, p. 175)

28. Classroom Tip • After allowing students to read silently, give students a chance to turn to a partner and do a “quick talk” about what they have just read. Give each person a one-minute turn to talk about what they have read. (Gambrell, 2011)

29. Rule #6 “Students Are More Motivated to Read When They Have Opportunities to Be Successful With Challenging Texts” (Gambrell, 2011, p. 176)

30. Classroom Tip • Guide students through “scaffolded” reading activities in which you help to make reading materials more accessible for students. (See more ideas for strategies later in the presentation!)

31. Rule #7 “Students Are More Motivated To Read When Classroom Incentives Reflect the Value and Importance of Reading” (Gambrell, 2011, p. 177)

32. Classroom Tip • Give real, specific, honest and deserved praise to your students, and give it as frequently as possible!

33. Reading Comprehension Strategies

34. Strategies Defined, Explained, and Practiced • Making Connections • Questioning • Visualizing • Inferring • Determining Importance/Main Ideas • Synthesizing/Summarizing

35. Making Connections

36. Making Connectionshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uql0IIIMJDY • Text-to-Self (T-S) refers to connections made between the text and the reader's personal experience.  • Text-to-Text (T-T) refers to connections made between a text being read to a text that was previously read. • Text-to-World (T-W) refers to connections made between a text being read and something that occurs in the world. (Scharlach, 2008)

37. Asking Questions\Questioning

38. Questioninghttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKPf2sfW7ck • Questioning Readers ask questions about the text and the author’s intentions and seek information to clarify and extend their thinking before, during and after reading. (Scharlach, 2008)

39. Visualizing

40. Visualizinghttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-E-X5XhbXiY • Mental pictures are the cinema unfolding in your mind that make reading three-dimensional. • Visualization helps readers engage with text in ways that make it personal and memorable.  • Readers adapt their images as they continue to read. (Scharlach, 2008)

41. Making Inferences

42. MakingInferenceshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gg0Mzj-iSws • Inferring • Usually referred to as "reading between the lines". • This strategy usually involves: • Forming a best guess using evidence -- context clues, picture clues, etc. • Making predictions • Drawing conclusions • Finding meaning of unknown words (Scharlach, 2008)

43. Determining Importance

44. DeterminingImportancehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOYtzoiI2XI This refers to the skill of identifying which ideas in a text are the most important. It also refers to being able to understand the main theme or concept of a text. (Scharlach, 2008)

45. Synthesizing/Summarizing

46. Synthesizing • Readers create original insights, perspectives and understandings by reflecting on text(s) and merging elements from text and existing schema. (Scharlach, 2008)

47. A summarization strategy WHOWANTEDBUTSO For example, after reading chapter one from The Jacket by Andrew Clements WHO: Phil WANTED: to get his brother’s jacket back from the nicekid named Daniel BUT: Daniel claimed it was a birthday present from his Grandmother SO: they ended up in the principal’s office

48. What happens to students when they become strategic? • Students know there’s more than one right way to do things. • They acknowledge their mistakes and try to rectify them. • They evaluate their products and behavior. • Learningincreases. • Self-esteemincreases. • Students develop and use a personal study process. • They know how to “try.” (2006, Opp-Beckman, L., Klinghammer, S. Shaping the way we teach English: Successful practices around the world. Washington, D.C.: Office of English Language Programs United States Department of State)

49. Teach Reading Strategies • Describe the strategy. • Model its use. • Provide ample assisted practice time. • Promote student self-monitoring. • Encourage continued use of the strategy. (2006, Opp-Beckman, L., Klinghammer, S. Shaping the way we teach English: Successful practices around the world. Washington, D.C.: Office of English Language Programs United States Department of State)

50. Why should we train students to use strategies? • Students begin to self-diagnose their strengths and weaknesses. • Students know what helps them to read efficiently. • Students develop a broad range of problem-solving skills. • Students make decisions about how to approach reading. • Students monitor and self-evaluate. • Students transfer successful strategies to new learning contexts. (2006, Opp-Beckman, L., Klinghammer, S. ShapingthewayweteachEnglish: Successfulpracticesaroundtheworld. Washington, D.C.: Office of English Language Programs ,United States Department of State)