Module 8: Comprehension Evidence and Strategies

1. Module 8:ComprehensionEvidence and Strategies

2. PPLSP Training Modules 1.Introduction to the Five Components of Reading 2.Introduction to the PPLSP and CBLA 3.Instructional Strategies 4.Phonemic Awareness Evidence and Strategies 5.Phonics Evidence and Strategies 6.Fluency Evidence and Strategies 7.Vocabulary Evidence and Strategies 8.Comprehension Evidence and Strategies 9.Reading Strategies for Secondary Teachers in other Content Areas 10. Bodies of Evidence and a Process for Building the ILP

3. Goals for this Module • To increase background knowledge about comprehension • To identify what you might look for and listen to when administering an assessment • To provide best practices in comprehension instruction • To provide effective skills to improve text comprehension

4. A Scientific Experiment In the 1960s, an experiment was done using a spectrometer. This consists of a huge electromagnet about the size of a bus and some detectors. When electrons crash into a target nucleus, a spectrometer measures their angles and energies as they bounce away. The electrons do not strike solid protons. They are actually striking vibrating clusters of quarks. Each proton is a cluster of three quarks; each neutron is too.

5. Now answer the following… • When did the experiment take place? • What device did the scientists use to conduct their experiment? Why was it useful? • What could this device do? • Why was the discovery so important to the field of science?

6. Causes of Reading Comprehension Problems • Unfamiliarity with text features & task demands • Undeveloped attention strategies • Inadequate cognitive development & reading experiences (Kame’enui & Simmons, 1990)

7. Causes of Reading Difficulties • Inadequate instruction • Insufficient exposure and practice • Deficient word recognition skills • Deficient memory capacity & functioning • Significant language deficiencies • Inadequate monitoring & self-evaluation (Kame’enui & Simmons, 1990)

8. What Is Comprehension? “Intentional thinking during which meaning is constructed through interactions between text and reader.” (National Reading Panel, 2000) “Comprehension is the reason for reading.” (Put Reading First, 2000)

9. Good Readers… • Read actively & with a purpose • Think about what they are reading • Make connections to what they already know • Connect events to their own lives • Apply their knowledge of vocabulary & language to make sense of what they read

10. Best Practices in Comprehension Instruction • Model the strategy of “think out loud” frequently • Instruct and encourage independent reading in a wide variety of genres • Encourage rereading to clarify • Model how to identify key words and concepts • Demonstrate how to create visual images • Show how to separate narrative reading strategies from expository techniques • Set a purpose for reading to encourage engagement, schema activation, focus and recall • Teach student how to create mental images, make connections • Clarify concepts and difficult portions to avoid misconceptions • Pose questions that encourage higher level thinking skills • Model for students how to generate questions before, during and after reading text to increase metacognition as well as comprehension • Scaffold inference instruction through explicit modeling, usage, practice and application

11. Importance of Strategies

12. Skill Areas Related to Comprehension • Background Knowledge/Schema Activation • Knowledge of Text Structure • Cognitive Monitoring/Metacognition • Retelling/Recalling • Literal Comprehension • Summarizing • Inferential Comprehension • Evaluative Comprehension (Pikes Peak Literacy Strategies Project, 2005)

13. Difficulties with Background Knowledge / Schema Activation • Does not personalize connections to text • Questions the possibility of connection • Does not apply prior knowledge • Lacks vocab/ideas/concepts to speak or explain extemporaneously given subject regarding text • Makes faulty connections between what is thought & read • Offers literal, short retelling with little attention to detail, purpose, structure

14. When administering an assessment, you might see and hear… Background Knowledge/Schema Activation Is the student… • --applying prior knowledge? • --making predictions? • --previewing the text? • --making connections? • --setting a purpose?

15. Background Knowledge / Schema Activation Strategies • Making Predictions Using Background Knowledge • Connections * Text to Text * Text to Self * Text to World

16. Difficulties With Knowledge of Text Structure • Unable to set purpose for or understand the relevance of reading • Relies on teacher to set purpose • Unable to distinguish text types (narrative, expository) • Lacks strategies to find info in text • Locate main idea, supporting details, conclusion, skim scan, predicting

17. Difficulties of Knowledge of Text Structure • Unable to use text to unlock literal/inferential questions • May not be able to identify cause & effect • May not utilize captions, interpret graphs, pictures to derive meaning • Not able to identify parts of the text (story structure—characters, setting, plot) • Difficulty understanding story elements • Difficulty understanding expository form

18. Knowledge of Text Structure Strategies Understanding the structure of print * Narrative form vs. Exposition form * Graphic organizers - Focus on story structure and relationships - Aide students to learn how to read informational text

19. Difficulties With Retelling/Recalling • Can’t recall what has been read or.. • May get the “big picture” & even make inferences but can’t remember..specifics even with literal questions • Gives limited details with understanding of context • Inability to connect significant details to meaning or outcome of reading • Has difficulty or cannot utilize graphic organizers effectively

20. When administering an assessment, you might see and hear… Retelling/Recalling Is the student… • --visualizing? • --retelling what is read?

21. Retelling/Recalling Strategies • Imagery * Mnemonic * Drama • SQ3R * Survey, Question, Read, Recite and Review

22. Difficulties with Summarizing /Literal Comprehension • Cannot differentiate between main idea/details • May not identify key information in retelling and/or writing • Unable to list or outline key ideas in topic • Repeats or recall of info is scant • Gaps of knowledge indicate lack of understanding • Offers superfluous information • Put information into their own words

23. When administering an assessment, you might see or hear… Summarizing/Literal Comprehension Is the student: • --summarizing? • --identifying main ideas and details?

24. Summarizing/Literal Comprehension Strategies Main idea/details *Collaborative strategic rereading Focus on getting the gist of the passage by working together to identify the most important ideas in a paragraph or section Summarize *Hierarchical summary Includes headings and subheadings with 2-3 supporting details from the text

25. What is Metacognition? • Thinking about thinking • Utilized by good readers to think about and control over their reading • Before reading, clarify purpose & preview the text • Monitor understanding & adjust reading speed during reading of material Elliott-Faust & Pressley (1986) as cited in NRP (2000)

26. Difficulties With Cognitive Monitoring / Metacognition • Does not check own comprehension • Lacking in outward signs of interacting with text—confusion, amusement, intensive study while reading • Appears distracted; no persistence in reading • Does not ask questions about the text • Rereading and/or self-correct is not present • Cannot make connections • Does not visualize what is being read

27. When administering an assessment, you might see and hear… Cognitive Monitoring/Metacognition Is the student… • --actively engaged with the text? • --self-correcting? • --rereading? • --generating & answering questions?

28. Cognitive Monitoring / Metacognition Strategies Question/Answer Relationship (QAR) * Right there * Think and Search * Author and You * On My Own Click & Clunk * Quick check of student’s comprehension --Thumbs up for click—comprehension --Thumbs down for clunk— misunderstanding

29. Asking/Answering Questions • Teacher questioning strongly supports & advances students’ learning from reading • Provides a purpose for reading • Focuses on what they need to learn • Encourages students to monitor their own comprehension through modeling (Put Reading First, 2000)

30. Effective questions improve learning by: • Providing a purpose for reading • Focusing attention on what they need to learn • Helping students actively think as they read • Encouraging students to monitor their comprehension • Reviewing content & relating what they have learned to what they already know

31. Questioning * Predicting - What might happen now? - What do you think might happen next? What are the clues? - What is the result going to be and how do you know? * Inferring - What leads you to believe that ____? - How does the author let you know that ____? - What in the information gives you the impression that ____? * Self questioning - What do I know about the topic? - What do I wonder about? - Is this making sense to me? - Do I need to stop and reread?

32. * Author questioning - Why did the author write this? - Do I need to ask questions about this? - What does the author mean by this? * Monitoring - How should I read this? - What do I already know about this topic? - Can I use context clues to figure out this word? * Summarizing and Synthesizing - What did the author say? - What is the major thing I need to remember? - Can I put what I read into my own words?

33. *Evaluating - What did I learn? - What do I still wonder about? - What did I agree/disagree with? - Did this piece end the way I thought it would? - What did I do well in my reading?

34. Difficulties when Drawing Inferences From Text • Offers only literal interpretation of text • Unable to predict or draw conclusions • Unable to select passages to support an inference • Difficulty asking / answering questions before / during / after reading

35. When administering an assessment, you might see and hear… Drawing Inferences from Text Is the student: • --predicting? • --reading between the lines? • --figuring out what the author hasn’t said? • --using clues from the text? • --making judgments?

36. Draw Inferences from Text Strategies Cognitive Modeling (Thinking Out Loud) • Ask a question out loud • Answer the question for them • Take them back into the text and have them reread it • Show them the line of reasoning • Proof Statement ClOZE Procedure

37. Research suggests that… • Involves more than thirty cognitive processes • Strategies should be taught directly • Students must self-monitor their understanding of material • Instruction & repeated practice is necessary • Strong, rich, varied vocabulary is key component for strong comprehension across a variety of texts • Students must assimilate vocabulary, concepts, & information with their prior experience

38. Does a Child Come to Mind? • Think of a student who needs help with a specific area of comprehension • Describe the types of needs the student demonstrates • Share with a partner or small group what strategies you might try in order to help this student

39. Final thoughts… • Instructional Delivery should… • Model strategies through explicit & frequent think alouds • Weave strategy instruction into everyday teaching • Utilize book clubs/literature circles • Teach students to create mental images • Encourage higher levels of thinking & problem solving through analysis, synthesis, evaluation, & application of judgments