Comprehension Common Ground

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ComprehensionCommon Ground

• Celia Lundin
• Reading First Regional Coordinator
• clundin_at_esd101.net

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Purpose

• Develop common comprehension language.
• What does research show us about what works in
  comprehension. (National Reading Panel and LETRs
  Module 6)
• Use of the core programs to strengthen
  comprehension

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Common Ground Activity

• Each person will introduce themselves and give
  one fact about themselves.
• Each group will have 3-4 minutes to determine
  something NON-OBVIOUS that the group shares in
  common for example, birth order, allergies,
  favorite books, etc.
• Tables will share their common item.

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What is Comprehension?

• Comprehension isnt an entity by itself, but
  rather occurs as the culminating result of all
  the skills operating efficiently. A student who
  reads with comprehension can tie his knowledge of
  phonemic awareness and sound correspondence
  together to decode unknown words, rapidly and
  automatically recognize a great number of words
  by sight, and can instantaneously relate the
  meaning of the vocabulary words to his prior
  knowledge and connect the ideas within the text
  to make meaning. All this happens so efficiently
  that it appears effortless. The goal of all
  reading instruction is to help students
  ultimately be able to read fluently with
  comprehension.
• Ive DIBELd, Now What?, Susan L. Hall

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Working Memory and AutomaticityColorado Reading
First
Working Memory
Less Fluent Reader
More Fluent Reader
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Left Hemisphere Brain Activation Novice Good
Readers
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Left Hemisphere Brain Activation Experienced
Good Readers
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Left Hemisphere Brain Activation Dyslexic
Readers
What areas of activation are missing here?
..and multiple areas of Right Hemisphere are
activated
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Four Processing Systems
Concept Information Sentence Context Text
Structure
Fluency
Vocabulary
speechsound system
letter memory
Phonics
Phonemic Awareness
writing output
speech output
reading input
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Recent Studies Have Shown.

• 1) When first grade teachers spent about 30-40
  of their time on word work, at risk children
  scored above average in word recognition,
  phonic decoding and spelling at the end of first
  grade and tended to be better at all reading
  skills, including comprehension at the end of
  second grade

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Recent Studies Have Shown.

• 2) Teachers who spent less than 20 of their time
  on word work and who heavily emphasized reading
  comprehension in first grade had students who
  were less proficient in basic reading and
  spelling skills at the end of first and second
  grades and who did not show any advantage in
  reading comprehension.
• Studies quoted from LETRS Module 7

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Phonics and Comprehension DIBELs ISF, LNF, PSF
and NWF

• Read the passage M sccr Tm for one minute
• Turn to a partner and give a one-minute retell of
  this passage.
• What missing skills are affecting the
  comprehension of this passage? What interventions
  might help?

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Vocabulary and Background Knowledge (ORF, RTF,
and WUF)

• With a partner, one person will read the passage
  from I heard the Owl Call My Name
• One partner will score the Fluency Timing, then
  ask the retell questions. (Reader will turn
  passage over)
• Discuss results of the one minute timing? Did the
  way the reader read the passage make sense?

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Historical Common GroundWhat We Thought
Comprehension Was

• In the past 2 decades, how to teach and assess
  comprehension has changed dramatically.
• Past Comprehension Model
• If the student could read the words, they
  automatically understood what they read.
• Comprehension was a passive process.
• Teachers asked low-level factual questions
  (closed book).
• Teachers tested comprehension, but did not teach
  it.

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Current Model

• Comprehension is an active, on-going process.
• The teachers role now is to help students make
  connections between their prior knowledge,
  experience and the text. (Not enough to just
  mention to the students that they should be
  making connections.)
• The teacher now teaches students to be strategic
  in their understanding of the text. Modeling and
  guided practice is needed.

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Current Model

• LETRs Simple View Equation
• Decoding X Listening Comprehension
• Reading Comprehension

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Current Model

• What is Listening Comprehension?
• Language Background
  
• Ability
  Knowledge
• Listening comprehension sets an upper limit on
  reading comprehension.
• When listening comprehension improves, reading
  comprehension can improve.

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Factors that Contribute to Comprehension

• Text, reader, task, and context
• Academic language
• Selected teaching strategies for before, during
  and after reading that are supported by research.
• Teacher preparation which includes in-depth
  analysis of the text.

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Text Factors

• Density of the propositions (number of ideas in a
  sentence).
• Level of vocabulary
• Length of sentences
• Organization
• Illustration, titles, and graphics
• Student interest level
• Genre narrative of expository

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The Reader

• Language ability phonological, orthographic,
  semantic, syntactic, pragmatic.
• Attention, memory, cognitive capacity
• Background knowledge of topic
• Learned reading skill (decoding, fluency,
  self-monitoring, repair strategies).

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Terms for Lanuage ability

• Semantic study of word and phrase meanings
• Syntactic the rule system by which words can be
  ordered in sentences.
• Pragmatics the system of rules and conventions
  for using language and related gestures in a
  social context.

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The Task

• Reading for what purpose?
• Extrinsic motivators present?
• Intrinsic motivation expected?
• Consequences for reading?
• Presence of support and instruction?

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The Context

• Social context
• Language context
• Cultural context
• Is reading valued, shared, expected or visible in
  the childs community?
• Is the child reading in his/her first language?

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Academic LanguageWhat Can be Taught?
p. 16
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Academic Language

• More dense more ideas to be processed per
  sentence
• Longer sentences
• More unusual (low frequency) words
• More formal, conventional grammar
• Structured according to genre
• Tighter logic, less redundancy
• Fewer conversational clues

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Academic LanguageWASL Example

• Without developing WASL vocabulary first, the
  question
• According to the selection, what is the main
  difference between (the eagle and the swan)? Use
  two details from the selection in your answer.
• BECOMES
• .to the.., what is the .. ..between
  (the eagle and the swan)? Use two .. from the
  .. In your answer.

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Academic VocabularyTips from the Field

• Grade Level Teams meet and highlight words from
  the WASL stems that might cause problems for
  students.
• Grade Level Teams then decide order to teach,
  i.e.
• sequence, setting Kindergarten
• main idea, problem solution First
  Grade
• The GLEs can guide this process.

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Academic Language What Can Be Taught?

• Metaphoric Language
• Idioms
• It was raining cats and dogs.
• Colloquialisms
• That was hot!
• Metaphors
• Did you catch what I said?

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Academic PhrasesTeaching Tips

• Prepare the Text Anticipate what might be
  misunderstood.
• Give more examples of the expressions use.
• Ask students to paraphrase
• Ask students to use the expression themselves.
• Great References for developing this
• Isabel Beck Bringing Words to Life

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What Can Be Taught
p. 19
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Why Teach Sentence Comprehension?

• Written language structures are different from
  oral language.
• Syntactic awareness helps readers correct
  decoding errors.
• Efficient processing of sentence structure is
  necessary for overall comprehension

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Sentence structureWhy at the sentence level?

• Sentence types unfamiliar to children
• Passive voice
• Summer clothes should be replaced with
• winter clothes.
• Double negatives
• We had no idea she did not want to
• join us.
• Verb tense, auxiliary verbs
• Would it not have been easier to say
  yes.

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Sentence ComprehensionTeaching Tips

• Students should have focused, direct sentence
  practice. Ways to do this are
• Sentence completion
• Sentence coding
• Classification of sentence types
• Sentence starters
• Include daily sentence practice
• Use a variety of sentence manipulations.

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Sentence Coding

• The first restaurant served big, fat, rich
  crabcakes.

(Find the subject, and underline it once.)
(Box the subject noun.)
(Find the predicate, and underline it twice.)
(Draw a wavy line under the main verb.)
p. 28
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What Can Be Taught
p. 37
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Narrative Text Structure

• Setting
• Characters
• Problem/conflict or main character
• Rising Action as problem solving is attempted.
• Climax
• Resolution

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Expository Text Structure

• Structures may vary and include
• Describe/define
• Classification/example
• Compare/contrast
• Sequence/order

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Text StructureTeaching Tip Use the right
Graphic Organizer for the Purpose

• Partner Work What type of graphic organizer
  would you use for the following topic sentences
• 1. Many events over ten years led up to the civil
  rights March on Washington,DC.
• 2. A good cheerleader has many attributes beyond
  a pretty or handsome face.

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Graphic Organizers

• 3. Although we say that Mexican Americans and
  Spaniards both speak Spanish, the languages
  differ in many respects.
• 4.The class of working dogs includes those that
  hunt, herd, lead, carry, and protect.

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What Can Be Taught
p. 46
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Comparison of Core Programs
Houghton Mifflin Predict/infer Phonics/decoding Mo
nitor/clarify Question Evaluate Summarize
Reading Mastery Literal comprehension Main
Idea Sequencing Cause and effect Fact vs
opinion Context clues Viewpoint Supporting
evidence Character development Map skills Reality
vs fantasy Information recall Reference-book
skills
Harcourt Use decoding/phonics Look at word bits
and parts Self-correct Read ahead Reread
aloud Make and confirm predictions Sequence
events/summarize Create mental images Use context
to confirm meaning Make inferences
Open Court Setting goals Monitor
speed Visualize Sum up Make connections Predict As
k questions Clarify
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WA State Learning TargetsGrades 3, 4, 5
Literary Text Literary Comprehension
Comprehends important ideas and details LC01
Demonstrate understanding of theme or message and
supporting details LC02 Summarize with evidence
from the reading LC03 Make inferences or
predictions based on the reading LC04 Interpret
vocabulary critical to the meaning of the
literary text LC05 Order steps, sequence,
and/or parts from the reading Literary Analysis
Analyzes, interprets, and thinks
critically LA06 Demonstrates understanding of
literary elements and text features LA07
Compare and contrast elements within and between
texts LA08 Make connections (cause and effect)
between parts of text LA09 Analyze authors
purpose LA10 Extend information beyond text
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WA State Learning TargetsGrades 3, 4, 5
Informational Text Informational Text
Comprehension Comprehends Important Ideas and
Details IC11 Demonstrate understanding of main
ideas and supporting details IC12 Summarize
with evidence from the reading IC13 Make
inferences or predictions based on the
reading IC14 Interpret vocabulary critical to
the meaning of the text IC15 Order steps,
sequence, and/or parts from the
reading Informational Text Analysis Analyzes,
interprets, and synthesizes IA16 Demonstrate
understanding of text features and graphic
features IA17 Compare and contrast elements
within and between text(s) IA18 Make
connections (cause and effect) between parts of
text IA19 Analyze authors purpose IA20
Extend information beyond the text
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What are Common Comprehension Strategy
Expectations in Washington?

• With partner(s), take a brief look at the GLE
  comprehension expectations for your grade level.
• How do they compare to your core program.
• Teaching tip after you have used your program
  for a year, revisit this GLE evaluation sheet to
  analize core programs strengths and weaknesses.

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Teaching TipsBefore-Reading Strategy

• Teacher pre-reading of story to anticipate
  comprehension difficulties.
• Clear goal(s) are set and understood by the
  students.
• If you do not know where you are going,
• you will never get there.

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Before-Reading Strategies

• Discuss Key Vocabulary
• Preview the story, browse with a purpose
• Activate the existing relevant background
• Supply a prerequisite background
• Give a personal connection to the theme
• Use a story structure chart to supply the setting
  and characters
• Read once through without stopping.

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Before-Reading StrategiesTips from the Field

• Post comprehension strategy in the room for all
  to see.
• Refer to the comprehension strategy everyday
  prior to reading lesson.
• Make sure that students understand the
  background.
• Read the passage Untitled. Write
• down your idea of the passage context.

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Teaching TipsDuring-Reading Strategies

• Pose queries at critical junctures in text.
• Model the thoughts and questions of an inquiring
  reader by thinking aloud.
• Teach children to (a) ask for clarification, (b)
  summarize, (c) anticipate, and (d) ask questions
  of the author as they read.
• Visualize or construct a mental image of
  settings, events, concepts.

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During-ReadingTeaching Tip

• Keep the focus strategy or skill obvious.
• Listen to the following story from a core
  program. Determine from the questions asked, what
  is the comprehension skill or strategy that the
  students are to master?
• Share your answer with the group. How easy was it
  to determine the focus?

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During-Reading Strategies Question
and Queries

• Questions check to see if students know a
  specific piece of information they just read.
• Queries attempt to get students to think like
  the author, thinking about what they are reading
  to continually check for understanding.
• Watch the Brain as questions are asked.
• Watch the Brain and queries are posed.

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Teaching TipsExamples of Queries

• What do you think the author is trying to tell
  us?
• Do you agree that..
• Do you have another answer..
• What have we learned so far?
• Where in the story.
• Was that part clear to you?
• Can you say that in another way..

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Teaching TipAfter-Reading Strategies

• After reading activities should connect back to
  and support your original goal(s) set for
  reading.
• Summarize and synthesize information
• Practice retelling
• Take different perspective on ideas presented
• Apply what students have learned to different
  settings compare and contrast with other
  stories read.

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Lesson Design

• Look at the Handout Reading Comprehension
  Lesson Design
• How does this compare to your core program lesson
  design?
• What elements can you incorporate easily into
  your lesson design?

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Thank you!

• Please share with a partner, one idea or learning
  that you will take back with you to your
  classroom.
• Please remember to fill out the evaluation form.