The process of comprehending

1. The process of comprehending Lorraine Madden K-5 Literacy coach

2. Lorraine Madden Literacy Coordinator, K-5 Cranford Public Schools maddenlo@cranfordschools.org

3. What’s essential for Literacy learning Cognitive Strategies: Six processes people use to read, write, speak, and listen effectively

4. Deep Structure Surface Structure Semantic Graphophonic Cognitive Strategies Schematic Lexical Syntactic Pragmatic

5. Structure systems Surface Structure Systems • Set of skills that help readers/writers identify words and read fluently Deep Structure Systems • Set of skills and strategies that help readers/writers comprehend literally to grasp plot, comprehend deeply to probe ideas, and extend and apply their understanding

6. Reading Practices • Read Aloud • Turn and Talk • Partnerships • Jots • Conferring • Notebooks • Book Clubs • Mentor Texts • Notice and Name • Small Groups

7. Graphophonic system • Letter/Sound Knowledge • Alphabetic Principle • Phonemic Awareness • Decoding

8. Lexical System • Visual word recognition • Based on frequent visual exposure to words • Visual memory for all words

9. Syntactic system • Understanding (usually auditory) and use of language structures at the word, sentence, paragraph, and whole-text levels

10. Semantic system • Understanding word meanings from literal to subtle • Discussing or writing about associations related to words • Precision and word choice in writing

11. Organize these words in a meaningful way • Ecstatic • Melancholy • Discouraged • Satisfied • Elated • Delighted • Somber • Depressed • Content • Jubilant

12. Schematic system • Constructing meaning at the whole-text level (can be literal or inferential understanding of themes, ideas, and concepts) • Storing and retrieving relevant knowledge • Connecting the new to the known

13. Youtube: french Roast Animated Short film

14. Pragmatic system • Multiple experiences with ideas we’ve read or learned • Sharing and applying meaning • Constructing meaning (through oral, written, artistic, dramatic means)

15. Pragmatic system continued • Writing for specific audiences and purposes • Revising thinking based on interactions with others • Adopting the habits and mores of readers and writers

16. Read the following and take stock in what is going through your mind Cupcakes Brownies Boy scouts Alligator Vodka Crayon Baseball Pies Meatloaf Kahlua Guitar Belt Soccer Stew Hand Bread Hairbrush Scotch

17. Food. Music. Memory. She says: Cupcakes. Brownies. Pies. She says: Remember this. Bread. Stew. Sauce. She says: All that time. She says: Singing. All I taught you. She says: Crayons, Alligator. Boy Scouts. She says: Baseball. Soccer. Track. She says: I was there. Remember?

18. I say: Shouting. Silence. Shouting. I say: Remember this: Scotch. Vodka. Kahlua. I say: Cupcake. Meatloaf. Sauce. I say: Singing. All you would not tell me. I say: Crayon. Dancing. Guitar. I say: Belt, Hairbrush. Hand. I say: I was there. Remember? By Susan Marie Scavo (1999) From What Reader’s Really Do: Teaching the Process of Meaning Making, by Dorothy Barnhouse and Vicki Vinton (2012)

19. Takeaways: • Make Thinking Visible • Reading is Making Meaning • Talk, Talk, Talk

20. Comprehension strategies • Monitoring Meaning • Using Relevant Prior Knowledge, or Schema • Asking Questions • Inferring • Evoking Sensory and Emotional Images • Determining Importance • Synthesizing

21. Resources: To Understand: New Horizons in Reading Comprehension By Ellin Oliver Keene What Reader’s Really Do: Teaching the Process of Meaning Making By Dorothy Barnhouse and Vicki Vinton