Comprehension Strategy Instruction Carla Meyer Nora Vines RE 4030

Today’s Agenda Share Vocabulary Activities Blue Read Aloud Comprehension Strategy Instruction Reciprocal Teaching To do

Blue Read Aloud Model Vocabulary

What Do We Teach to Improve Comprehension?* Accurate decoding Reading Fluency Self monitoring of decoding (metacognition) *Pressley, M. (2000). What should comprehension instruction be the instruction of? In M.L. Kamil, P.B. Mosenthal, P.D. Pearson, & R. Barr (Eds.), Handbook of Reading Research: Volume III (pp. 545-561). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

BUT…. Teaching decoding, fluency, vocabulary, etc. is not enough.

Balanced Comprehension Instruction… Comprehension instruction should be balanced: Explicit instruction in specific comprehension strategies AND A great deal of time and opportunity for actual reading, writing, and discussion of text Duke, N.K. & Pearson, P.D. (2002)

What to Teach? When? What? Why? Before Preparing to Read Preview the material Identify the purpose Select a reading rate Activate prior knowledge Ask a question Make predictions To make meaning During Reading Strategically Determine importance Monitor understanding Make connections Make inferences Ask questions Visualize Re-read After Making Sense of the Material Summarize the text Evaluate the text Check answers to questions Written Response Graphically Organize To make meaing

How do we teach comprehension strategies? Explicit instruction Modeling Scaffolded practice Independent opportunities to practice

Explicit instruction (of strategies) Before reading, provide Declarative Knowledge: What strategy is to be learned and used Procedural Knowledge: How is that strategy actually employed Conditional Knowledge: When and why that strategy should be used

Modeling: Making Comprehension Visible When we teach decoding or fluency, it’s easy to model good techniques and to assess students’ progress. It’s visible. Teaching students to be expert comprehenders of text isn’t as easy to see.

Modeling: Use a Think-Aloud During a think-aloud, the reader verbalizes the thought process. The goal is to make the invisible thinking that goes on while reading public.

When to use a Think-Aloud? When you’re modeling reading comprehension strategies. That way, students can hear how you apply them. You might only use them for a part of a lesson—the part that you want students to notice.

Reciprocal Teaching Important Concepts Graphic organizers Basal series Gradual release of responsibility Zone of proximal development Constructivism

Strategies, strategies and more strategies So the goal is to help our students develop a full ‘toolbox.’ But, they can’t just learn about the tools, they have to learn how to use them, when they need to use them and which tools are most appropriate at a given time dependent on text structure, purpose and the level of difficulty. How does this relate to the different types of knowledge? Quick Write

Comprehension Under Construction Roles of participants: Foreman: Teacher, in charge of background knowledge and introducing roles Architect: Draws up blueprints of the building through prediction Job-inspector: “Get-it goggles” help the inspector clarify by attending to words and ideas Electrician: Questions to keep the group “wired” Bricklayer: cements understanding by summarizing and connecting main ideas

Reciprocal Teaching (RT) Introduction of the Four Comprehension Strategies ↓ Teacher-Led Stage Collaborative Stage Reciprocal Stage Metacognition Stage

Stages Teacher-Led Stage: During this stage the teacher models the strategies Collaborative Stage: Guided practice. Reciprocal Stage: Independent within groups. Roles are rotated on a lesson-to-lesson basis with attention to which strategies were implemented during reading group and/or self- selected reading. Metacognition: Moving toward independent use of strategies and attention paid to which strategies were most effective.

Practical Application Each group will be assigned a role: Architect (Predict) Job-inspector (Clarify) Electrician (Question) Bricklayer (Summarize) As I read ch. 1 of Blue aloud, make notes of predictions, vocabulary or ideas which may need clarification, questions you may have that would spark discussion, and main ideas to help you summarize the chapter. Share with the group and feedback.

Practical Application Choose a role in your small group (there can be multiple role players) As you read pages 19-27 in your small groups, play your part to construct meaning. Make notes as you work together and evaluate which strategies you think are most effective for comprehending Blue.

To Do… 2/7 Read: 2/7 Activities: Blue pages 27-85 Kucan Discussion article 2/7 Activities: Double Entry Journal for Blue reading Make notes of Tier 2 words as you read Free write from an image in your notebook Complete Polio Internet Workshop on your own

To Do… 2/12 Read: 2/12 Activities: Blue pages 86-131 Zumbrunn & Kraus NKH Ch. 5 2/12 Activities: Blue—Double Entry Journal