Literacy Assessment and Intervention November 14, 2006 Improving Comprehension Skills

Class Objectives  Establishing core concepts in teaching comprehension  Examining the theory and practice of teaching comprehension  Selecting comprehension strategies for tutoring  Connecting comprehension and word study

3 Important Concepts  Scaffolding  Zone of proximal development  Gradual release of responsibility

Improving the Reading Comprehension of America’s Children  How do the Clark & Graves and Block & Israel articles address each of these statements about teaching reading comprehension?  Small group activity

Narrative Text Structure  Characters  Setting  Plot Development (problem(s), solution(s))  Climax  Resolution

Johns and Lenski Comprehension Skills  Comprehension skills and activities Previewing text Activating prior knowledge Setting a purpose for reading Main point or idea Facts and details Sequence Making predictions Making inferences Visualizing Drawing conclusions

Multiple Intelligences  Use the descriptions to challenge yourself and your tutee to “think outside of the box.”  Do you know your predominant “intelligence”?

Word Study Derivational Relations Stage  Base Word: stands alone as a word after the affixes have been removed, e.g., agree, agreement, disagreeable.  Root word: does not stand alone as a word after the affixes have been removed, e.g., vis, visible, invisible.

Spelling-Meaning Connection  This stage connected to vocabulary building and comprehension.  Meaning related words are related in spelling, regardless of sound changes, e.g., compose, composition.  Errors occur at the junction of syllables and vowels in unaccented syllables.  Spelling is a direct visual link to “core” meaning (base or root word).

Word Study Reminders  3 layers of orthography Alphabet Pattern Meaning  Progressive Skill Development Recognize Recall Judge Apply