COMPREHENSION WITHOUT TEARS

HCI-NYGH CONFERENCE 24 JANUARY 2011

Mrs Rosalind Lee & Mrs Yeong-Loke LF

• Objectives• Introduction – theoretical background• Methodology• Strategies (ICT)• Survey Findings• Implications

ORDER OF PRESENTATION

STUDENT PROFILE

• Age of Technology• Reading skills – skimming,

scanning, interested in merely the gist of the information

• Uncomfortable to read for a prolonged period of time. Glare of the screen.

• Widely read?• Depth of reading?

READING SKILLS• Construction of meaning• Read, pick up information, connect information to

what we already know, interpret, read between the lines for deeper meaning, evaluate information and ideas• Internet technology – enhances and expands the curriculum beyond the physical classroom

READING SKILLS

• Teachers need to guide students to build up intensive reading and research skills.

• Need to reflect and review what has been read.

• Small group and cooperative learning activities that will help students to solve problems or work with concepts that were discussed within the reading.

MUST LEARNING BE TAUGHT?

• Hillocks & Vygotsky – “teachers who believe that kids will naturally grow and learn, are letting themselves off the hook.”

• Anything that is learned must be actively taught.

• Learning-centred teaching requires explicit teaching.

HILLOCKS & VYGOTSKY

• All knowledge is socially and culturally constructed. • What and how the student learns depends on what opportunities the teacher provides. • Learning is not “natural” but depends on interactions with more expert others.

VYGOTSKY

• Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) – texts that are chosen such that the child can learn with the assistance and support of a teacher, peers and the instructional environment.

• Students develop cognitive abilities when a teacher leads them through task-oriented interactions.

VYGOTSKY

• Allow the students to do as much as they can on their own, and then to intervene and provide assistance when it is needed, so that the task can be successfully completed.

• Challenging tasks so that they can successfully complete it with appropriate help.

• Scaffolding

TEACHERS’ ROLE

• Observe learners closely• Scaffold learning • Match individual and collective curricula to suit learners’ needs• Create environment of inquiry

Student Responsibility

Adult-Then Joint-Responsibility

Self -Responsibility

Zone of Actual Development

Zone of Proximal Development

What the student can do on his own, unassisted

Assistance provided by more capable others : teacher or peer or environment : classroom structures and activities

Transition from other assistance to self-assistance

Assistance provided by self

Internalisation, automisation

TEACHING MODEL - VYGOTSKY

Text characteristicsPre-reading tipsDuring-reading tipsAfter-reading tips

GUIDELINES TO DEVELOP LEARNERS’ ABILITIES

Text characteristics

• Good readers expect to understand what they are reading.

• Where there is unfamiliar vocabulary, teachers can introduce key vocabulary in pre-reading activities – encourage learners to use their background knowledge e.g. meaning of a title, illustration, key words.

• Lighten students’ cognitive burden.

• Teacher-directed : key vocabulary, ideas are explained.

• Interactive approach : teacher leads a discussion draws out information students already have and interjects additional information necessary for further understanding.

PRE-READING

• Skimming – reading rapidly for main points

• Scanning – reading rapidly to look for a specific piece of information

• Extensive reading – reading a longer text, often for pleasure

• Intensive reading – reading a short text for detailed information

PURPOSE OF READING

Active reading :• Making predictions• Making selections• Integrating prior knowledge• Skipping insignificant parts• Re-reading• Making use of

context or guessing

DURING-READING

DURING-READING

• Breaking words into component parts

• Reading in chunks

• Pausing• Paraphrasing• Monitoring

• Post-reading – focus on processes that lead to comprehension

• Discussing the text• Summarizing• Making questions• Answering questions

AFTER-READING

AFTER-READING

• Filling in forms and charts• Writing reading logs• Completing a text• Listening to or reading other related materials• Role-playing

Comprehension Without Tears

Suggested Strategies

Suggested Strategies

Clarifying Background •

Identifying

question types• Setting Questions

Feedback

• Answering

techniques• Good vs bad answers

Close TextualReading

AnalysingQuestions• Pre-Reading

• During- reading

• Post-reading

• Use of ICT

Clarifying Background• Source of the passage• Geographical features• Pictures• Movie/ video clips• Related websites• Contexts

Source of the Passage

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/26/world/africa/26iht worm.1451843.html?_r=2&pagewanted=1&sq=a%20rare%20and%20stubborn%20pestilence&st=

cse&scp=1

Refer Exercise 1

Geographical Features

http://www.africaguide.com/afmap.htm

Refer Exercise 1

Pictures/ Images (refer exercise 2)

Movie & Video Clips

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWDwJIBqjSU

Refer Exercises 2 & 3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddaNSHdgp6k

Related websites

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7693351 NPR Exercise 1http://s868.photobucket.com/albums/ab249/Codeman_photo/?action=view&current=213cd4e1.pbw&newest=1 Gallery slideshow Exercise 3

Research into Contexts

• Theodore Roosevelt• The Rough Riders• The American Civil War• Charles Dana Gibson• Frank Merriwell, the blue-blooded superathlete of Yale• The Princeton creations of F. Scott Fitzgerald• The Smithsonian Institution(see Exercise 3)

Analysing Questions• Identifying Question Types

See Exercise 1

Analysing Questions• Setting Comprehension Questions

See Exercise 2

• Use of DiscussionForum and SchoolWorkbins

Providing Feedback• Comparison of students’ answers

Based on Exercise 3

Survey Findings• Brief sharing of statistics

Implications

• On pedagogy

• On assessments

QnA Session