Recommendation 2 Provide Direct and Explicit Comprehension Strategy Instruction Level of Evidence: Strong

1. Institute of Education Sciences Adolescent Literacy Practice Guide Recommendation 2Provide Direct and Explicit Comprehension Strategy InstructionLevel of Evidence: Strong

2. Helping students comprehend literature and content-area textbooks should be a high priority for upper elementary, middle, and high school teachers.

3. Four Ideas From Research On Teaching Comprehension Strategies • It may not be the particular strategies that make the difference in student comprehension. Rather, it may be the active participation of students in the comprehension process that makes the most difference.

4. Four Ideas From Research On Teaching Comprehension Strategies • Particularly powerful reading comprehension strategies include: •Asking and Answering Questions •Summarizing •Using Graphic Organizers

5. Four Ideas From Research On Teaching Comprehension Strategies • Multiple-Strategy Training results in better comprehension than Single-Strategy Training

6. Four Ideas From Research On Teaching Comprehension Strategies • Direct and explicit instruction is a powerful delivery system for teaching comprehension strategies.

7. Four Ideas From Research On Teaching Comprehension Strategies Steps for Direct and Explicit Instruction of a Reading Comprehension Strategy • Explain and model the strategy. • Use the strategy for guided practice. • Use the strategy for independent practice.

8. How to Carry Out the Recommendation

9. Teachers should carefully select the text to use when first beginning to teach a given strategy.

10. Show students how to apply the strategies they are learning to different texts, not just one text.

11. Ensure that the text is appropriate for the reading level of students.

12. Use direct and explicit instruction for teaching students how to use comprehension strategies.

13. Provide the appropriate amount of guided practice depending on the difficulty level of the strategies that the students are learning.

14. When teaching comprehension strategies, make sure students understand that the goal is to understand the content of the text.

16. Other Considerations • Many teachers lack preservice preparation to teach strategies. Provide professional development in direct and explicit instruction of comprehension strategies including coaching teachers in the classroom as they teach.

17. Other Considerations • The goal of using comprehension strategies is improved comprehension of all text materials that students read. Therefore, content teachers play a major role in teaching reading comprehension strategies.