Comprehension Slides

1. Comprehension Slides Beyond the Basal

2. Today’s Class • Mini Inquiry • Discuss Comprehension Instruction and strategies for teaching Comprehension • Discuss Reading Level and Readability • Explore Web Tools (in the computer lab)

3. Read Around Mini Inquiry • What would you like to know more about regarding your literacy instruction? • Take this time to explore the resources • Use the Read-Around sheet to jot down ideas • Talk to others about how they approach the issue • Take an idea to try (Come back and share what you did and let us know how it worked

4. Comprehension Quiz Take the quiz- • How did you do? • What did you do? • What does this tell us about comprehension? So what does this mean for comprehension instruction?

5. Exercise #1 1. Grw 11. dlghtfl 2. Knw 12. Hnd 3. Nd 13. crd 4. Ws 14. rmn 5. Whn 15. ths 6. Ld 16. btwn 7. Grdn 17. hncfrth 8. Flwr 18. mst 9. t 19. knw 10. Spps 20. Tw Taken from: Wilde, S. (2000). Miscue Analysis Made Easy: Building on Student Strengths. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann

6. Exercise #2 ll chldrn, xcpt n, grw p. thy sn knw tht thy wll grw p, nd th wy Wndy knw ws ths. N dy whn sh ws tw yrs ld sh ws plyng n a grdn, nd sh plckd nthr flwr nd rn wth t t thr mthr. I spps sh mst hv lkd rthr dlghtfl, fr Mrs. Drlng pt hr hnd t hr hrt nd crd, “h, why cn’t y rmn lk ths vr!” ths ws ll tht pssd btwn thm n th sbjct, bt hncfrth, Wndy knw th th, sh mst grw p. y lwys knw ftr y r tw. Tw s th begnnng f th nd.

7. Turn and Talk • What do the previous exercises say about what happens in your “Reader Mind” as you read? • What do they say about comprehension instruction • Make a connection- What does your comprehension instruction involve? Does it get to the Heart of Reading? • What questions do you have about comprehension instruction?

8. Comprehension • The process by which we read and get meaning from text • It is the heart of reading • It happens while we read and as a result of reading • Different types of texts require different comprehending strategies (Common Core stress reading of Informational Texts) • We also need to teach students how to think critically about texts. (Question, respond, challenge, connect)

9. Expository Text • Informational text (nonfiction books, textbooks, magazines, newspapers, etc.) • Children enjoy this & teachers should use this genre often • Various text structures: • Description • Collection • Causation • Response • Comparison

10. Persuasive Text • Purpose is to convinces a reader to believe or do something • Writer argues from a point of view • Examples: Speeches, Advertisements, News media talk shows

11. What Readers Do • Activate Prior Knowledge –Reader bring personality, present mood, and memories, to a text. Each person’s experience of a text almost as unique. What readers bring to a text affects their ability to comprehend the author’s words. • Make Connections –Experience and background knowledge help us make connections. These connections help us construct a deeper understanding of the text.-Text to Self-Text to Text-Text to World • Predict –Prior experience and background knowledge to form opinions as to what we think will happen in text.

12. What Readers Do • Question–Good readers assess what they already know and decide what they need to learn from a text. • Visualize– Readers create pictures in their minds as they read text. This is based on our prior experiences and background knowledge. • Determine What is Important – Using prior knowledge and determining a purpose for reading helps readers to separate unimportant information from key points.

13. What Readers Do • Infer– Reading between the lines to determine a character’s motivation and personality, to discover themes, and to identify the main points in informational texts. • Synthesize – This involves determining the main idea of a passage or chapter and choosing points that relate to that idea. • Monitor Comprehension – Being aware of and pinpointing confusing passages and vocabulary that cause meaning to break down and being able to tackle them on the spot.

14. Think about this quote Even though a number of effective strategies have been identified for use in the elementary- and intermediate-grade classrooms to help students succeed, startlingly few teachers actually use them. (Pressley, M., Wharton-McDonald, R., Mistretta-Hampston, J., & Echevarria, M., 1998)

15. Reading is Thinking Metacognition- "big thinking." You are thinking about thinking. During this process you are examining your brain's processing. Metacognitive Strategies- help students to "think about their thinking" before, during, and after they read. Teachers work to guide students to become more strategic thinkers by helping them understand the way they are processing information.

16. Comprehension • Meaning-making • A primary goal of literacy practices • Comprehension is difficult to measure because people understand texts differently • Focus less on “if” a student comprehended a text and more on “how” she comprehended it. • Focus on efforts to build students’ metacognitive awareness—their awareness of the strategies they use to think about texts

17. Teaching Comprehension • Reading should make sense! • If it doesn’t, you need to stop and ask why • Teach students to monitor their own reading • Noticing when things aren’t quite right • Reading the “world,” not just the word • Teach strategies for constructing meaning • Be wary of teaching comprehension strategies in lock-step or uniform ways • Flexibility • Intentionality

18. Explicit and Strategic Instruction Explicit Instruction • Demonstration (modeling) • Guided Practice • Independent Practice Strategic Instruction • Explains what to do • Shows how to do it • Explains when to use the strategy and when it might be useful (When and Why we’re doing it)

19. What Does it Look Like? Expository Text (Newspaper reading, 17:55) http://learner.org/vod/vod_window.html?pid=1882 Modeling multiple comprehension strategies (#9, the beginning) http://learner.org/vod/vod_window.html?pid=1988 Questioning and Discussion (#5, to 10:00) http://learner.org/vod/vod_window.html?pid=1823

20. Readability is based on the following assumptions • As reading material becomes more difficult, the length of the words tend to become longer. • Since reading material becomes more difficult according to grade level, it is possible to develop a scale which will reflect this. Readability

21. Smog Readability Scale • Word Readability • Online Resources • Lexile Measures • Ranges from 200L to 1700L • Used in many districts around the country and has been around for about 50 years • Children are assessed and given an “lexile score” • Database contains the lexile measures Leveling Texts

22. In groups of 3, discuss the Really Reading article • Use the discussion guide to record your thoughts • Be prepared for a whole group share Article Discussion

23. What are some things teachers need to consider about readability? • Why might a child be able to navigate a text with a readability above his/her reading level? • What else do we need to consider along with • readability when matching books and readers? Taking a Critical Look at the Process

24. Next Time Readers’ Workshop . The Workshop Approach also lends itself very well to differentiated instruction. This session will allow teachers see what it looks like and how it can be structured into the literacy block. We will discuss materials, activities and hear from those who use this approach.