Comprehension Strategies forStruggling Students

South Todd Elementary 7/30/2012Betsy MadisonBetsy.madison@grrec.ky.govBetsymadison.com

What is your definition of Reading Comprehension?

“intentional thinking during which meaning is constructed through interactions between text and reader” Durkin (1993)

“the construction of the meaning of a written text through a reciprocal interchange of ideas between the reader and the message in a particular text” Harris & Hodges (1995)

“reading comprehension is thinking guided by print” Perfetti (1995)

“the process of simultaneously extracting and constructing meaning through interaction and involvement with written language. It consists of three elements: the reader, the text, and the activity or purpose for reading” Rand Reading Study Group (2002)

What skills and knowledge are most critical for reading comprehension?

Comprehension ContinuumAnswering Literal Questions

Retelling Merging Thinking with Content

Acquiring Knowledge

Actively Using Knowledge

Short term recall

Does not demonstrate understanding

Can organize thoughts and put in own words

Does not necessarily demonstrate understanding

Connecting, inferring, questioning, determining importance, synthesizing, reacting to info

Demonstrates understanding

Reading to acquire knowledge and insight

Learn, understand, remember

Shows deeper understanding

Actively use knowledge and apply what has been learned to experiences, situations, and circumstances of daily life

Expand understanding and take action

Accurate and fluent word reading skills Oral language skills (vocabulary, linguistic

comprehension) Extent of conceptual and factual

knowledge Knowledge and skill in the use of

strategies to improve comprehension or repair it when it breaks down.

Knowledge of text structure and genre Reasoning and inferential skills Motivation to understand Interest in the task and materials

Proficient comprehension of text is influenced by:

Successful Readers Struggling ReadersContinuously monitor their reading to make sure they understand what they are reading

• Fail to use meta-cognitive strategies as they read

• Are often not aware when their understanding breaks down

Continuously make connections between the content of their reading and their prior knowledge (life experiences)

• Often lack subject-specific prior knowledge

• Do not automatically make connections between what they are reading/learning and what they already know

Successful Readers Struggling Readers

Automatically use a variety of effective reading strategies before, during, and after reading.

• Have limited knowledge of strategies for gaining information from text

• Do not automatically use those strategies

Set a purpose for reading and adjust their rate and strategy use depending on the text and content

• Often do not enjoy reading

• Lack understanding of the utility of reading

• Have little history of success to build on

You should suspect comprehension problems if a student… has know difficulty with phonemic

awareness, phonics, and/or fluency seems to have a weak vocabulary. is not able to summarize a passage or a book.

might be able to tell you what happened in a story, but can't explain why events went the way they did.

can't explain what a character's thoughts or feelings might have been.

doesn't link events in a book to similar events from another book or from real life.

seems to focus on the "wrong" aspect of a passage; for example, he concentrates so much on the details that the main idea is lost.

can tell the outcome of a story, but cannot explain why things turned out that way.

does not go behind what is presented in a book to think about what might happen next or why characters took the action they did.

brings up irrelevant information when trying to relate a passage to something in her own life.

cannot tell the clear, logical sequence of events in a story.

does not pick out the key facts from informational text.

cannot give you a "picture" of what's going on in a written passage; for example, what the characters look like or details of where the story takes place.

Reasons for Comprehension Difficulties

Lack of appropriate prior knowledge. Inability to relate content to prior knowledge. Over-reliance on background knowledge. Inability to read text fluently. Difficulty with decoding words; Inability to attend to meaning while reading. Inability to apply comprehension strategies. Difficulty with understanding meaning of

words.

Listening Comprehension is the first step

Refers to children’s understanding of stories and other texts that are read aloud to them

Lays the foundation for children to later be able to “understand what they read, remember what they read, and communicate with others about what they read” —National Institute for Literacy, 2001, p. 48

Listening Comprehension . . .

. . . is enhanced as children listen to stories that are read aloud, participate in discussions of stories, and engage in other literacy-related activities.

Listening Comprehension Instruction

When you read aloud, encourage children to ...

• Make predictions• Answer questions

about the book’s content

• Read and talk along

• Share their own interests related to the book content

• Ask questions of you and their peers

• Reenact or retell the story

Effective Read-Aloud Sessions

Schedule time for read-aloud sessions

Use a variety of grouping formats including one-on-one, small groups, and whole class

Select different types of books

Activate and build background knowledge

Teach new words and concepts

Stop a few times for reactions, comments, predictions, and questionsAvoid long discussionsDon’t stop read-alouds when students can read independently

It’s the talk that surrounds (before and after) the reading aloud of books that is so important for enhancing children’s oral language, vocabulary development, and listening comprehension.

Putting it all together

Step 1: Enhance content instruction Step 2: Embedded strategy instruction Step 3: Intensive strategy instruction for struggling studentsStep 4: Intensive basic skill instruction

Level 1: Enhance Content Instruction

Students with limited literacy skills typically do not acquire enough content knowledge to meet standards

Comprehension will not improve, long term, for struggling readers unless content area background knowledge is improved

When students have limited literacy, teachers must compensate for their limited skills in the ways they present content

Rather than COVERING content, try UNCOVERING content

“Give me a fish while you’re teaching me how to catch my own. That way I won’t starve to

death while I’m learning to tie flies.”

Level 2: Embedded Strategy InstructionLiteracy/Thinking Strategies teach students how to think about what they read Connect to Prior Knowledge Visualize/Graphically Organize Question Determine Importance in Text Monitor for Meaning Infer Synthesize

Level 3: Intensive strategy instruction for struggling students

Tier 1 Small Group Intervention Tier 2 or 3 Intervention Mastery of specific strategies for

struggling students Direct Instruction Think Aloud Modeling, Modeling, Modeling Name the strategy and positive

outcome

Level 4: Intensive Basic Skill Instruction

Phonemic Awareness Phonics Fluency Vocabulary Screening Re-Teaching Intervention

Gradual Release of ResponsibilityI do it. We do it.Y’all do it. You do it.

Comprehension Strategies

Procedures for Teaching Reading Comprehension Strategies• Direct instruction begins with

teachers modeling one strategy at a time (whole group instruction)• I DO IT

• Teachers use think-alouds to describe why, when, and how they are using the strategy to make meaning• I DO IT

• Teachers guide whole group in practicing the strategy• WE DO IT

• Teachers guide small groups, partners, or individual readers in applying the strategy• Y’ALL DO IT

• Phase out teacher direction until readers apply strategies independently• YOU DO IT

• Readers reflect on the benefits and challenges or using the strategy• I DO IT, WE DO IT, Y’ALL DO

IT, YOU DO IT

Connect to Prior Knowledge

Intentionally Activating Schema Text-to-Self Connections

Students compare what they are reading to their own prior knowledge & experiences

Students can better understand character, setting, events, etc… of a story because they’ve had a similar experience

These connections can be made by young students.

Engaging: I like learning when it’s about ME

Text-to-Text Connections Students compare what they are reading to something they’ve already read.

Encourage connections across genres (article to story, story to poem)

Helps students understand the concept of character, setting

Helps students learn to make predictions, anticipate problems and solutions

These connections can be made by young students

Text-to-World ConnectionsStudents compare what they are reading to a Real World Event

May require a little more teacher direction with young students

Helps students better understand both the Real World Event and the text

Prior Knowledge Thinking/Discussion Stems

That reminds me of… I’m remembering… I have a connection to… I have schema for… I can relate to… I already know…

“The limits of my language are the limits of my mind. All I know is what I have words for.” Ludwig Wittgenstein

Word Sorts Three Way Tie Frayer Model Most Important Word

Vocabulary Tools for Activating Prior Knowledge

Visualizing/Organizing

Visualizing/Organizing Good readers spontaneously create

mental images, anchored in their background knowledge, as they read.

Good readers use these mental images to give depth and dimension to their reading experience. This engages them and makes the text memorable.

Good readers use mental images to draw conclusions and recall significant details after the text is read.

Good readers modify their mental images as others share their images.

Visualize

Creating a mental image Making a picture in your head MODEL, MODEL, MODEL Ask students to draw the picture they see in their head

Ask students to write about the picture they see in their head

Visualizing Thinking Stems

I’m picturing…

I can imagine…

I can feel… I can see… I can smell…

I can taste… I can touch… I can hear…My mental images include…

Organizing Read with a pencil in hand Reading must be accountable

Students will be responsible for something as a result of the reading

Write Time Writing is an active vs. passive task Writing involves the whole body in

the process of thinking Writing clarifies perspective

Questioning

Questioning Students ask questions, while reading,…

If they are curious about something in the text

If they want to predict what will happen If they want to make something more clear

Asking the right questions allows good readers to focus on the most important information in a text.

Questioning Thinking Stems

I wonder… What if…? Why…? I don’t understand… It confused me when…

How could…?

Helps students see text as “someone’s ideas written down”

Deals with text through teacher-posed questions such as “What is the author trying to say?” or “What do you think the author means by that?”

Encourages discussion in which students are urged to think about constructing meaning

Questioning the Author

Question the AuthorQuestion the Author Prompts Student Responses

What is the author trying to tell you?

Why is the author telling you that?

Does the author say it clearly?

How could the author have said things more clearly?

What would you say instead?

Question Writing Practice What questions come

to mind when you see this picture?

List your questions in your reading journal.

At least one question must be an open question.

At least one question must come from the evaluating, creating, hypothesizing level on your Bloom’s chart.

Question Writing Practice What questions come

to mind when you see this picture?

List your questions in your reading journal.

At least one question must be an open question.

At least one question must come from the evaluating, creating, hypothesizing level on your Bloom’s chart.

Determining Importance

Determining Importance “…making sense of reading and moving

toward insight” (Goudvis & Harvey)

What are the most important ideas or information in this reading?

What should I remember?

In determining importance, readers identify important ideas and facts, enabling them to mentally organize and thus more easily comprehend the essence of what they are reading.

Keep it or Junk it

Who is “driving” this lesson?How does the teacher keep the students focused on the important information in the text?

Determining Importance Thinking Stems

What’s important here….What matters to me…One thing that we should notice…

I want to remember…It’s interesting that…

Understanding is one of the most cherished goals of education. Teaching for understanding can bring knowledge to life by requiring students to manipulate knowledge in various ways. For instance, understanding a historical event means going beyond the facts to explain them, explore the remote causes, discuss the incident as different people might see it from their own perspectives, and skeptically critique what various sources say.

Most Word

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Monitor for Meaning

Monitor for Meaning

Does this make sense?Does this look right?Does this sound right?

Fix Up Strategies1. Keep reading to see if things become

clearer.

2. Go back and read it again.

3. Skip it to see if it's important and come back to it.

4. Ask for help.

5.Use the strategies of questioning, inferring, synthesizing, determining importance, and activating background knowledge when encountering problems with the meanings of words, sentences, and passages.

6. Use decoding and world analysis clues from the context.

Writing to Learnto Monitor Meaning

Learning Log/Journal Dialogue Journal Double-Entry Journal Reading Response Journal Admit or Exit Slips Notemaking (not notetaking) Re-Write in own words

Inference

Two core sources of information:

In the Book(or video, photo, text…)The answer is there

In My HeadBackground knowledge comes into play.

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Author and You: Making InferencesQuestion It Says I Say And So

1. Read the question.

2. Find information from the text to help you.

3. What do you know about it?

4. Combine what you know with what the text says.

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Tools for Inferring & Predicting• QAR (Questions/Answer/Relationships)• Skimming• Picture Walks• Analogies and Metaphors• Classification• Cornell Notes

SynthesisThe ability to compile information in a different way by combining concepts or parts in a new pattern or proposing alternative solutions

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Synthesis Thinking Stems

Now I understand why… What would happen if….? I’m changing my mind about… I used to think ____, but now I think

___. My new thinking is…. I’m beginning to think… How could you connect…..?Talk Moves

Comprehension ScreenersMAPDibels Daze IRI (Individual Reading Inventory)Classroom Formative AssessmentText-based questions

Progress Monitoring Dibels Daze Comprehension Strategies Monitoring Sheet

Intervention Strategies FCRR Activities Comprehension Instructional Menu

Implications for Older Struggling Students

It’s usually a decoding problem Assume they struggle with vocabulary

Use whatever it takes to teach content Listening Comprehension Think Aloud Guiding Questions Small Group/Individual

• Literacy Thinking Strategies

• Teach content specific text structures

• Use highly motivational reading materials

Implications for Older Struggling Students

Putting it all together

Step 1: Enhance content instruction Step 2: Embedded strategy instruction Step 3: Intensive strategy instruction for struggling studentsStep 4: Intensive basic skill instruction

Conclusions About Comprehension Instruction

TEACH STRATEGIES

Do not just ask comprehension questions.

Eventually, show students how to combine these strategies and use

them concurrently.

How can I help you?