Make Reading Count

Why teach comprehension?

The ability to read words is necessary for comprehension, but not sufficient

Comprehension uses complicated cognitive processes that take time and practice

Teaching words alone is not enough!

Text Model

External building materials Text Pictures

Internal building materials Background knowledge Word knowledge Comprehension strategies

Comprehension is an interactive process of building understanding

Building a structure for comprehension

Comprehension breakdowns

Breakdowns in comprehension happen when: background knowledge is inconsistent with author’s

expectation vocabulary knowledge is inconsistent with author’s

expectation child has limited knowledge of English language child has few strategies to make processes work together

Good News: Each breakdown area can be taught! How stories work How to make inferences Strategies to build on text model

How to teach comprehension

Name strategies Teach kids when and where to use them

Inappropriate use of strategies are a waste of cognitive energy

Goal: Help kids develop a text model

Start early! Kindergarteners can learn to use text

information to understand what they read

PICTURE acronym

Predict – guess what will happen next Imagine – visualize, create a mental image Clarify – make sure your text model makes sense Try – ask yourself ‘how’ and ‘why’ questions Use – use what you know, background knowledge Review – summarize during and after reading Evaluate – Did this text meet my purposes? How is it

connected to other texts?

A tool to remember comprehension strategies

Comprehension-focused classroom

Lots of language talking as well as reading conversations about books

Teachers model thinking ask questions as they read encourage questions from students

High quality literature complex books and characters

You can’t teach comprehension quietly!

Connecting across grade levels

PICTURE acronym can be applied to all different age groups

CORE program materials offers strategies for use across grades

4th Grade challenge

Text is more complex and demanding

Kids are reading in areas with little background knowledge Reading to build background knowledge

May have word recognition problems or fluency problems

Why do comprehension scores decrease after 4th grade?

What can elementary teachers do?

Make sure kids can decode easily and well Give kids practice so they can read fluently Support development of:

Vocabulary Concept knowledge Comprehension strategies

Provide chances to interact with teachers, text, and peers

Assessment

Ask questions! Ask child to tell you what they understood from

the text Children with dyslexia

Assessment covers a spectrum of language skills, from decoding to comprehension

Dyslexics generally have higher vocabulary and comprehension ability than decoding ability

Video: Understanding Themes

Community School 200, Harlem, NY

Theme Scheme Focuses on underlying theme of story Helps kids understand messages, lessons Relates themes to other stories and real life

Helping kids make connections

Build coherent representation Connect parts of text Ask kids how pieces of information fit together

Read, then talk about it Ask “How does that connect with what we read

before?”

Vocabulary and comprehension

Teach little kids big words Allow kids to practice reading words they already

know and words they don’t know (literary words) Kids learn literary words from books, not from

everyday conversation – even in highly educated households

Make words the focus of instructional time everyday Explaining a definition is not enough Discuss good and better examples of uses of a

sophisticated word (example: “reluctant”)

Teaching vocabulary for literacy

Which words do you teach first?

No hierarchy for word knowledge Kids can learn complex words early on

One rule: Must be able to explain word using concrete, simple

terms

Ramifications of low vocabulary

Knowledge of word meaning and comprehension is almost the same thing If you have a good vocabulary, you will likely

be good at comprehension

Solutions: Teach big words to little kids Keep kids engaged with good literature and

inspired teaching

Children with learning disabilities

Take instruction to a sensory level Help child experience the word through

imagery Create a picture of the word’s meaning

Video: Students Take Charge

Frank Love Elementary School, Seattle, WA

Reciprocal TeachingPrepares kids to run discussions, taking turns as leaders Ask questions, generate a good discussion Summarize, find the main idea Predict outcomes

Importance of mental images

Good readers “make movies” in their heads when they read

Dual coding theory: reading involves interpreting verbal and nonverbal codes Interplay between verbal and nonverbal codes

gives text meaning Individual differences alter ability to get meaning

from text• Weak decoders have difficulty with verbal code• Weak comprehenders have difficulty with

nonverbal code

How can teachers improve mental imagery?

Start with mental image of word, then a phrase, then a sentence

Help kids connect images into a connected whole, not just separate images

Harder for kids with weak vocabulary

Research base: National Reading Panel Report of 2000 cited mental

imagery as helpful

Mental imagery for ELLs

Research project in Pueblo, Colorado 25,000 children Low socioeconomic status High percent minority Low-achieving on state tests

After 8 years of lessons on imagery and verbal processes, Pueblo out-performed the state

Characteristics of successful schools

For comprehension: Large capacity for collaboration; opportunity for

teachers to work together to discuss and practice techniques

For vocabulary: Willingness to go beyond traditional “look it up and

write a sentence” approach to teaching vocabulary Introduces hard words in interesting ways

Impact of federal funding

Reading First money brings new resources to low SES schools Commercial reading programs that define and

highlight comprehension strategies Classroom libraries – better books!

Institute for Educational Sciences supports research in comprehension

Using writing to improve comprehension

Writing is an extension of reading Expression is a way to interact with text Utilizes vocabulary, decoding, and mental

imagery

Students’ writing should create a mental image for reader Demands use of adjectives ‘Structure words’ to make writing richer

Teaching comprehension to ELLs

Define issues English labels for words they know in native

language? Difficulty with everyday conversation in new

language?

Opportunity to teach older kids (4th grade +) sophisticated words – ELL and native English speakers

Same teaching methods, some unique challenges

What can we learn from brain studies?

Studies are starting to focus on reading comprehension

Recent fMRI studies show that parts of the brain relate to mental imagery Hyperlexia: flip side of dyslexia

• Have strong decoding skills and weak comprehension

• Often on the autism spectrum Autism

• Studies show autistic children may be able to read individual words, but have difficulty accessing neural connectors to understand what they read

Comprehension assessment

Difficult to test whether kids have built a text model

Likely to underestimate comprehension of novice writers and spellers when evaluated in written form

Written test is an important way, but not the only way

Does written evaluation show what kids understand?

What can parents do?

Volunteer

Read to children and talk about what’s going on, ask questions

Final thoughts

Nanci Bell: Comprehension is now getting attention it

deserves Hopeful that we will find new information

about sensory components of comprehension Sharon Walpole:

Both decoding and comprehension are critically important to reading

Both can be taught Isabel Beck:

Use big words!

Thanks for watching!

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