COMPREHENSION

EDUC 417 Literacy through Language Arts BL6 SP15

1-2

What does research say about reading comprehension

instructional strategies?
Put Reading First (also Reading
Rockets)

Textbook

Strongest scientific support for

Monitoring comprehension
Using graphic and semantic
Authors support these
organizers
research-supported strategies
Answering questions
as most critical.
Generating questions
Activating prior knowledge
Recognizing story structure
Questioning
Summarizing
Analyzing text structure
Creating mental and visual
These received some support
from research
images
Making use of prior knowledge
Summarizing
http://mediaplayer.pearsoncmg.com/_
Using mental imagery
blue-top_640x360_ccv2/ab/streaming/myed
ucationlab/literacy/Research_on_Reading
_Comprehension_iPad.mp4

Comprehension Instruction Strategy:

Monitoring Comprehension
Metacognition thinking about thinking;

comprehension monitoring is a critical part of

this
Comprehension monitoring instructions teaches
students to
Be aware of what they do understand
Identify what they do not understand
Use appropriate fix-up strategies

Monitoring Comprehension
Comprehension monitoring strategies students can use (from
Put Reading First)
Identify where the difficulty occurs.
I dont understand the second paragraph on page 76.

Identify what the difficulty is.

I dont get what the author means when she says, Arriving in America was a milestone
in her grandmothers life.

Restate the difficult sentence or passage in their own words

Oh, so the author means that coming to America was a very important event in her
grandmother's life.

Look back through the text

The author talked about Mr. McBride in Chapter 2, but I dont remember much about
him. Maybe if I reread the chapter, I can figure out why hes acting this way now.

Look forward in the text.

The text says, The groundwater may form a steam or pond or create a wetland. People
can also being groundwater to the surface. Hmm, I don't
understand hoe people can
do thatOh, the next section is called Wells. Ill read this section to see if it tells me
how they do it.

Comprehension Instruction Strategy:

Graphic and Semantic Organizers
Graphic organizer

illustration of concepts and

interrelationships in a text,
using diagrams or other
pictorial device
Semantic maps are a type of
graphic organizer.
Very helpful with
informational texts; can also
be used with narrative texts

Graphic Organizers can

help with
Focus on text structure
Visual representation of
relationships
Writing summaries of text
Examples
Thinking Maps

Comprehension Instruction Strategy:

Answering Questions
Question-answering instruction helps students learn to

answer questions better, and therefore, learn more as

they read.
One type of this instruction shows students the
relationship between questions and where the answers
to those questions can be found (QAR).
See pp. 268 270 (Reutzel).

Introducing
QuestionAnswerRelationshi
ps

Vacca, J. L., Vacca, R.

T., Gove, M. K.,
Burkey, L. C., Lenhart,
L. A., & McKeon, C. A.
(2011). Reading and
learning to read (8th
ed.). Boston: Pearson

Comprehension Instruction Strategy:

Generating Questions
Teach students to ask their own questions.
Improves active processing of text and

student comprehension
Example
KWL Chart

KWL Chart
K
What do you know?

What do you want to find out? What did you learn?

Comprehension Instruction Strategy:

Analyzing Text Structure
Literature
Story structure the way the contents and events of a
story are organized into a plot
Story structure instruction helps students learn to
identify elements of the story and how the content in
organized.
May also include recognizing the features of different
literary genres
Example
Story Map

Comprehension Instruction Strategy:

Analyzing Text Structure
Informational Text
Understanding text structures
Understanding text features
Aids comprehension throughout student work

with a text (BDA Instructional Framework)

Before
During
After

Comprehension Instruction Strategy:

Summarizing
Summary the synthesis of the important ideas

in a text
Instruction in summarizing helps students
Identify main ideas
Connect the main or central ideas
Eliminate redundant and unnecessary info
Remember what they read

See p. 277 (Reutzel) and handout of sample lesson.

Other Comprehension Instruction

Strategies
Making use of prior knowledge
Examples
KWL chart
Knowledge Rating
Using mental imagery
Visualizing helps anchor new ideas in a readers mind by

connecting unfamiliar ideas and concepts to past

experiences.
Example activity for teaching visualization
o Three-step Freeze Frames Students work in pairs or
small groups to retell events in a text using dramatic
movement (without words almost like pantomime). See p.
261 (Reutzel).

Explicit Strategy Instruction

Scaffolding I do; we do; you do.
By explicitly teaching a strategy, you help the

students to become aware of, use, and develop

control over the strategy.
You want the students to learn not just what to do,
but also why, how, and when.
Components
Awareness and explanation
Modeling and demonstration (I do.)
Guided practice (We do.)
Application (You do.)
Vacca, R. T., Vacca, J. L., & Mraz, M. A. (2011). Content area reading (10th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

Three Levels of Comprehension (Thinking)

Literal understanding of information

stated explicitly in the text

Inferential use of background knowledge
as well as information from text
Evaluative requires the making of
judgments about what is read
Relates to three levels of questioning - See pp. 268 269
(Reutzel)

LITERATURE

Elements of Story Structure

Plot the sequence of events involving

characters in conflict situations

Characters the people or personified animals
in a story
Setting the location (including weather) and
time (time period, time of day, and passage for
time) of a story
Point of View the view point from which a story
is told
Theme the underlying meaning of a story

Plot
The sequence of events involving characters

in conflict situations
Three parts of the story
Beginning (introduction)
Middle (development)
End (Resolution)
EXAMPLE: The Tale of Peter Rabbit*

Graphic Organizers
to Use:
Story Map
Flow Map

Other important components of plot:

Conflict
EXAMPLE: The Ugly Duckling
Rising Action
Climax
*Mentor text use of example books or texts to
examine structure, characteristics of genres, devices
Falling Action
and to provide models for student writing

Character
The people or personified animals in a story
Characters are developed in four ways: through

Appearance
Actions
Dialogue
Monologue
EXAMPLE: The Tale of Peter Rabbit

Graphic Organizers to Use:

Bubble Map of character
traits
Venn Diagram(Double
Bubble) of two characters

Setting
The location (including weather) and time (time period,

time of day, and passage for time) of a story

Settings may be

Backdrop settings or
Integral settings.

EXAMPLE: Make Way for Ducklings

Dimensions
Location
Weather
Time period
Time both time of day and passage of time

Graphic Organizers
to Use:
Setting Map
Bubble Map to
give elements or
descriptive words

Point of View
The view point from which a story is told
Four points of view
First person through eyes of one character; told using I

Omniscient Reader can know the thoughts and feelings of each

character.
Limited omniscient (Third person) Reader knows the thoughts
of one character; told in third person.

EXAMPLE: Shiloh

EXAMPLE: The Giver

Objective Reader is eyewitness and confined to immediate

scene.

EXAMPLE: The Little Red Hen (Pinkney)

Theme
The underlying meaning of a story
Embodies general truths about human nature
May be stated explicitly or implicitly
Explicit state openly and clearly
Implicit suggested rather than stated explicitly
EXAMPLES: Sylvester and the Magic Pebble

Charlottes Web
Activity :
Sketch-to-stretch

Story Elements:
Activities to Pull Them All Together
Story Maps
Story Pyramids

Story Genres
3 Broad Categories
Folklore
Fables, fairy tales, myths, legends
EXAMPLE: Cinderella
Fantasies
Make-believe stories, set in imaginary worlds or in
future worlds where characters do impossible things
EXAMPLE: Bunnicula: A Rabbit-Tale of Mystery
Realism
Believable stories
May be contemporary (Hatchet) or historical (Sarah,
Plain and Tall)

Narrative Devices
Comparison
Similes uses like or as
Metaphors stated directly
Tuck Everlasting
Hyperbole exaggeration
The True Story of the Little Pigs, Shrek
Imagery descriptive language to create pictures in readers minds
Skellig
Personification attributing human characteristics to animals or

objects

Sylvester and the Magic Pebble; Chicka, Chicka, Boom, Boom

Symbolism using a person, place, or thing as a symbol to

represent something else

The Harry Potter books

Tone overall emotional felling

Bunnicula: A Rabbit-tale of Mystery

Teaching Students about Literature

Read aloud mentor texts and provide opportunities for

students to examine them closely and respond to them.

Teach minilessons about elements, genres, and devices.
Provide opportunities for students to write stories.

Helping Students Comprehend Literature

Guided Reading

Teacher directed
Small groups of students who read at the same level or use
similar reading strategies or skills
Scaffolding reading
Stories used should be at students instructional level.
Step-by-Step

Choose a book.
Introduce the book.
Read the book.
Respond to the book.
Teach concepts.
Do independent reading.

Helping Students Comprehend Literature

Readers Theatre
Dramatic representation by a group of readers
Not much action communication is through voices,
gestures and expressions

Responding to Stories

See options for differentiating handout.

Helping Students Comprehend Literature

Retelling Stories
Can be used by the teacher to determine childs level
of comprehension
Determining strengths and weaknesses can be used to
plan instruction
See assessment forms on pp. 258-259 (Reutzel).
Example retellings of Hey,Al

CCSS and Literature

See page 10 12 in

ELA standards.

Key Ideas and Details

Craft and Structure
Integration of

Knowledge and Ideas

Range of Reading and
Level of Text
Complexity

Notebook Assignment
Choose one of the books provided in class and, working

with a partner, develop a Story Analysis like the one on

page 244. Element
Story Analysis
Teaching Idea
Plot
Characters
Setting
Point of View
Theme

Choose one activity from one of the blue boxes in this

presentation and complete it for your selected book.

INFORMATIONAL TEXT

Nonfiction Books
Provide factual information about a variety of

topics
Use special text-structure patterns
Incorporate reader-friendly features such as
headings, glossaries, and indexes

The Best Nonfiction Books

Exemplify These Characteristics;
Accuracy
The information is factual, objective, and current.
Organization
Ideas are developed logically.

Design
The design is appealing.
Style
The style reveals the authors curiosity and enthusiasm

for the topic.

Types of Nonfiction Books

Alphabet Books organized around key words

beginning with each letter

Autobiographies life stories written by the featured
persons
Biographies accounts of a persons life written by
someone else

EXAMPLE: Flight

Concept Books explore topics

EXAMPLES: Storms, The Vegetables We Eat, Dogs and Cats,
Dirt
Directions provide set-by-step instructions that help

readers accomplish a task

Types of Nonfiction Books (continued)

Journals, Letters, and Speeches - written by real people
Multi-genre Books present info using more than one

genre; page layout is complex.

EXAMPLE: The Magic School Bus Inside a Hurricane

Photo Essays explore concepts by mainly using a

collection of photos

EXAMPLE: For Good Measure

Question-and-Answer Books Pose a question on each

page and provide a detailed answer

EXAMPLE: 1000 Questions and Answers

Reference Books include almanacs, encyclopedias,

dictionaries, atlases, etc.

Expository/Informational Texts Where do I start?

BDA Instructional Framework
Before reading
During reading
After reading
Text structures
Text features

BDA Instructional Framework

Before Reading
Establish purpose
Activate background knowledge
Sustain motivation and provide direction
During Reading
Guide an active search for meaning
Question/answer
Strategic reading
After Reading
Extend and elaborate ideas from the text
Vacca, R. T., Vacca, J. L., & Mraz, M. A. (2011). Content area reading (10th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

See handout.
Look at pp. 500-517 (Reutzel, Ch. 12).

Informational Text Structures

Nonfiction books are organized in patterns called

informational (or expository) text structures.

Description

The Vegetables We Eat

Sequence

All Stations! Distress! April 15, 1912: The Day the Titanic Sank

Comparison and Contrast

Twilight Comes Twice

Cause and Effect

Wiggling Worms at Work

Problem and Solution

Turtle, Turtle, Watch Out!
Packet on Informational Text Structures

Using Text Structure with Students

Teachers can use these text structures to
Create a graphic organizer for students to examine
before they read
Create a study guide to help students understand
the important points of a selection during and after
they read, and
Assess students reading comprehension.
Students can use text structures to become more
efficient readers of informational texts
Zarrillo, J. J. (2011). Ready for Revised RICA (3rd ed.). Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.

REMEMBER
Identifying patterns of organization is NOT the

ultimate goal of text structure teaching.

This ability is only beneficial as students internalize
knowledge about text structure and subsequently
use it to enhance their comprehension.
Teach students to use text structure to improve their
reading comprehension and writing organization.
Handout: 20 Strategies to Teach Text Structures
http://
usd262.com/modules/groups/homepagefiles/cms/3550/File/Curriculum/Literacy/Comprehension/Textstructure_resource
s.pdf

Nonfiction Features
Unique text features that make the text easier to read

and understand.

Table of Contents
Headings and subheadings
Photographs and drawings
Figures, maps, and tables
Margin notes
Highlighted vocabulary words
Glossaries
Review sections
Indexes

http://mediaplayer.pearsoncmg.com/_
blue-top_640x360_ccv2/ab/streaming/myeducationlab/contentareareading/Conten
t_Area_Text_Structure_and_Comprehension_iPad.mp4

From
http://www.literacyleader.com/
sites/litlead.essdack.org/file
s/Text%20Features%20Poster_Awa
g.pdf

Handout

Text Feature Treasure

Hunt

Teaching Text Features

Use scaffolding.

For example:
I DO - MODEL how to use the index to find the page number of

a specific topic. Use a think-aloud to explain your thought

process.
WE DO ASSIST the students by picking a topic and giving
the students the page number in the index where the topic
appears. Explain what multiple page numbers after the topic
means. Have students go to the relevant page and answer the
question(s) you pose.
YOU DO The students complete the entire process while you
observe and provide both positive and corrective feedback.
Zarrillo, J. J. (2011). Ready for Revised RICA (3rd ed.). Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.

CCSS and Informational Text

CCSS ELA Standards
From Greeneville City
http://
Schools:
www.corestandards.org
/assets/CCSSI_ELA%20S Common Core State
Standards Reading Text
tandards.pdf
Notebook Assignment:
Analysis of the Building
of Knowledge from
Grade Level to Grade
Level

Types & Resources K5

Available through this link:

http://www2.gcschools.
net/Download.asp?L=1&L
MID=115324&PN=Document
Uploads&DivisionID=311

Sources
http://www.readingrockets.org
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development,
NIH, DHHS. (2001). Put Reading First: The Research Building Blocks for Teaching
Children to Read (N/A). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Reutzel, D. R., & Cooter, R. B. Jr. (2015). Teaching children to read: The teacher
makes the difference (7th ed.). Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.
Tompkins, G. E. (2013). Language arts: Patterns of practice (8th ed.). Boston: Pearson.
Vacca, R. T., Vacca, J. L., & Mraz, M. A. (2011). Content area reading (10th ed.).
Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
Vacca, J. L., Vacca, R. T., Gove, M. K., Burkey, L. C., Lenhart, L. A., & McKeon, C. A.
(2011). Reading and learning to read (8th ed.). Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.
Zarrillo, J. J. (2011). Ready for Revised RICA (3rd ed.). Boston: Pearson Education,
Inc.