7 Paths to Improved Reading Comprehension Timothy Shanahan University of Illinois at Chicago www.shanahanonliteracy.com

youngballymun Literacy Framework Substantial amount of teaching time devoted to literacy teaching at all levels Balanced and thorough focus on all aspects of literacy teaching that raise achievement Word Knowledge (Decoding and Vocabulary) Oral Reading Fluency Reading Comprehension Writing

Reading Comprehension How do we improve students’ reading comprehension? 7 basic theories or approaches that need to be considered

1. Enabling Skills Phonological awareness Decoding Sight vocabulary Oral reading fluency

Enabling Skills Phonological awareness: teaching young children to hear the phonemes in words PA continuum: Word separations, syllable separations, onset-rimes, rhyming, phonemic awareness Learning to focus on abstract sounds separate from meaning

Enabling Skills Phonics: sound-symbol relations, connection of spelling patterns to pronunciations Speeds word learning Sight vocabulary and high frequency words

Enabling Skills Oral reading fluency Reading text accurately, quickly, with prosody Develops through secondary school

2. Language and Text Models The “simple model” holds that reading comprehension derives from decoding AND listening comprehension A fundamental theory is that students learn language based on sophisticated language models Similarly, the idea is put forth that text sophistication provides language models that students take in

Language and Text Models Teachers of younger children often simplify their language But it may be better to stretch children’s language, by providing more sophisticated models Rich vocabulary Specific words (this and that) Complex sentences

Language and Text Models Reading to children can increase the sophistication of the language model (while simplifying by freezing language) Reading to children has been found to be powerful, perhaps because it stretches the language teachers would use Also, useful because of repetition

3. Language Interactions In this theory, rich language models are necessary, but insufficient Language is learned not just from modeling, but from “motherese” and other supportive interactions

Language Interactions Unfortunately, school-age children get little interaction with adults in school Extended conversations are rare (teachers ask questions, students answer questions and teachers move on); multi-turn exchanges limited Adults help children to develop language by expanding and correcting their language

Language Interactions Adults help children to develop language by expanding and correcting their language Restating to correct student mistakes Recasting sentences to clarify relationships Asking open-ended questions Asking questions aimed at expanding or improving

Language Interactions Encouraging students to use particular challenging words Asking students to use complete sentences Allowing time to formulate responses

4. Vocabulary/World Knowledge “Prior” knowledge is critical in reading comprehension Instruction in world knowledge should expand comprehension (cultural literacy) Vocabulary instruction improves reading comprehension and it is an index of world knowledge

Vocabulary/World Knowledge Low vocabulary learning evidenced during the primary grade years Lack of direct instruction in programs Emphasis on decoding rather than meaning (sight vocabulary) Texts with single mentions and no explanations

Text Talk Read book to children (explain the words during the reading as necessary). Contextualize word in the story. Have children repeat the word to create a phonological representation of the word. Explain the meaning of the word using "student-friendly" definitions. Provide examples in other contexts Children provide personal examples. Have children say the word again to reinforce its phonological representation.

Text Talk Step 1: Read story. Explain meaning of words as they appear as necessary. Example: A Pocket for Corduroy

Text Talk Step 2: Contextualize word in story Example: “In the story, Lisa was reluctant to leave the laundromat without Corduroy.”

Text Talk Step 3: Have children repeat the word to create a phonological representation. Example: “Say the word with me.”

Text Talk Step 4: Explain the meaning of the word using student-friendly definitions. Example: “Reluctant means you are not sure you want to do something.”

Text Talk Step 5: Examples in contexts other than the one used in the story were provided. Example: “Someone might be reluctant to eat a food that they never had before, or someone might be reluctant to ride a roller-coaster because it looks scary.”

Text Talk Step 6: Children provide personal examples. Example: “Tell about something you would be reluctant  to do. Try to use reluctant when you tell about it. You could start by saying something like "I would be reluctant to _______.")”

Text Talk Step 7: Children repeat word to reinforce its phonological representation. Example: “What’s the word we’ve been talking about?”

Text Talk Keep revisiting the words Draw connections among the words

Vocabulary/World Knowlege Deep definitions Intensive and varied repetition Connections among words All modes of language Personal connections Review over time Teach word-learning strategies

Deep definitions Definition Synonym Antonym Category Picture (or symbol) Comparison Example Act it out

Intensive and varied repetition Four repetitions has no impact on learning 12 repetitions improve learning

Teach connections Semantic maps and feature analysis Teaching sets of words Building connections Comparisons

Semantic Map

All modes of language Reading Writing Speaking Listening Pictorial Kinesthetic

Personal connections Personal examples Word wizards Word consciousness

Review over time Review schedule Retesting

5. Strategy instruction Idea is that we can teach students intentional mental actions that will help them to process text effectively Literally hundreds of studies demonstrating the effectiveness of such approaches, at least with low readers

Reading Comprehension Strategies Summarizing (18) Questioning (27) Story mapping (17) Monitoring (22) Question answering (17) Graphic organizers (11) Mental imagery (7) Prior knowledge (14)

Strategies vs. Skills Strategies: Intentional Metacognitive Reflective Complex/multi-step Probability of success Approximation Skills: Automatic Over-learning Immediate Simple/single step Certainty of success Accuracy

Multiple strategies are best NRP found that instruction in combined sets of strategies (such as reciprocal teaching) were generally more effective than teaching single strategies

Clear explanations matter Studies show that how well teachers can explain mental processes makes a difference in student progress Core programs and professional development can give teachers guidance in teaching strategies clearly

Students need to learn the what, when, how, why of strategies.

Gradual release of control approaches are effective Modeling and explanation Guided practice and explanation Independent practice

Gradual release of control: I do it. We do it. You do it.

Gradual release of control: I do it. We do it. You do it together. You do it.

6. Coherent Mental Representation Interpretation of complex text comes from use of mental representations of simpler texts Teaching needs to ensure that students read texts in ways that result in coherent mental representations of the text base (essentially make these memories more like event memories)

Coherent Mental Representation Need for a thorough exploration of a story/selection with as little interruption as possible (repetition useful) Well structured memory (retelling)

7. Intellectual Rigor Ultimately, comprehension is about thinking and thinking is similar to physical processes Physical processes benefit from exercise and the idea here is that mental processes benefit from intellectual exercise Level of intellectual demand needs to be high for reading comprehension to develop (mental stamina)

Intellectual rigor Higher order questions that require more than memory (higher order requires reasoning—but what we want here is reasoning that requires use of information) Writing about text Debates and discussions of text

Teaching Comprehension 1. Enabling skills 2. Language models 3. Language interactions 4. Vocabulary/World Knowledge 5. Strategy teaching 6. Coherent mental representations 7. Intellectual rigor

7 Paths to Improved Reading Comprehension Timothy Shanahan University of Illinois at Chicago www.shanahanonliteracy.com