Reading Comprehension Strategies Making reading meaningful in content area classes Rebekah Paine READ 3463

What are reading comprehension strategies? Good readers use reading strategies to enhance their understanding of a text All teachers can use these strategies in their classroom to enhance their students’ understanding of text, engage students in their reading, and have students actively interact and respond to text

Why do students need to know and use strategies while they read? Reading is thinking! Active reading involves thinking and interacting with the text Reading becomes more purposeful when using these strategies Knowing and using effective comprehension strategies will help students become engaged, connect and interact with the text, merge their knowledge and experiences with their new learning to make meaning, and monitor their understanding of a text

Strategies That Enhance Comprehension Connecting Determining Importance InferringQuestioningSynthesizingVisualizing Click on a strategy to learn more about Click here for more information Click here for more information

Connecting When we choose texts that are relevant to our students’ lives they are able to make meaningful connections to what they read Students make connections to their reading by drawing on their background knowledge and previous experiences to relate to the the text Types of connections include: – Text-to-self (what they’ve experienced or seen) – Text-to-text (what they’ve read or learned else where) – Text-to-world (what they’ve learned or know about the world) Try these ideas in your classroom Try these ideas in your classroom

Connecting in the classroom Have your students use sticky notes while they read to record their connections – Have them label the sticky notes t-s, t-t, or t-w Let your students share their connections and participate in a class discussion – Let them know their thoughts are valued! Click here to learn about more strategies Click here to learn about more strategies

Determining Importance Students often have a hard time figuring out what’s important in the text Determining importance is a strategy readers need to know in order to sift through the text and pull out the most important information Try these ideas in your classroom Try these ideas in your classroom

Determining Importance in the classroom Have your students fill out a response chart as they read to record important facts and thoughts – For example, a three column chart labeled: Facts/Questions/Response Let your students use sticky notes labeled “L” for learned and “*” for important – To help your students in deciding which information is most important, determine the number of sticky notes they can use before they begin reading Click here to learn about more strategies Click here to learn about more strategies

Inferring Texts often require the reader to infer Readers infer by merging background knowledge with text clues to come up with an idea that is not explicitly stated by the author Inferring includes: – Drawing conclusions based on clues in text – Making predictions before and during reading – Using context to figure out the meaning of unfamiliar words/concepts Try these ideas in your classroom Try these ideas in your classroom

Inferring in the classroom Students can remember to infer while reading by using the equation: Background Knowledge + Text = Inference Let your students respond to text by using one of these charts: – Quotes or Picture from Text/Inference – Background Knowledge/Text Clues/Inference – Facts/Inferences Click here to learn about more strategies Click here to learn about more strategies

Questioning Readers should stop and think about their reading and record their questions Readers ask questions to: ?Clarify confusion ?Gain new information ?Figure out meaning ?Monitor their comprehension Readers ask question before, during, and after reading ? Enhance understanding ? Find specific information ? Expand thinking Try these ideas in your classroom Try these ideas in your classroom

Questioning in the classroom Let students use sticky notes coded with “?” while they read to write down the questions they have – Encourage your students to go back and write “A” for answer along with a brief answer or page number if they find the answer in the text Let students respond to the text while they read using a Questions/Fact response chart Instead of having your students focus on answering questions, try having them focus on asking the questions Click here to learn about more strategies Click here to learn about more strategies

Synthesizing Synthesizing is more than summarizing! When readers synthesize, they merge the information from the text with their thinking Synthesizing includes: – Seeing the big picture – Integrating information with existing knowledge – Sifting important ideas from smaller ideas Try these ideas in your classroom

Synthesizing in the classroom To introduce the idea of synthesizing, began by asking your students to record a summary on the top half of a page and their response on the bottom half Let your students respond as they read by using a think chart – What the Piece is About/What It Makes Me Think About – Background Knowledge/Facts/The Whole Idea Try having your students use a graphic organizer to organize important ideas from the text Click here to learn about more strategies Click here to learn about more strategies

Visualizing Visualizing is a strategy that readers use by combining the text with personal knowledge to form pictures in their minds Visualizing allows readers to: – connect deeper with the text – imagine and feel – see the words come to life Try these ideas in your classroom Try these ideas in your classroom

Visualizing in the classroom Let your students draw what they visualize as they read – Engages all students, especially those who have trouble writing their thoughts – Allow students to share what they draw Let students respond to text using a “I see…, I hear…, I can fell…, I smell..., I can taste…” response chart Click here to learn about more strategies Click here to learn about more strategies

Strategies make a difference Reading is an important part of all classes By encouraging your students to use these strategies and providing them with the opportunities to do so, students will receive practice in all of their classes and become more active readers and thinkers

Work as a team Ask for ideas, resources, and more information from other teachers in your school Share with your team what you are doing in your class especially if your students seem to really enjoy it Ask your students what they would like to do and consistently seek their feedback and input

Suggested Books Pick up one of these books to further your understanding of reading comprehension strategies and what you can do in your classroom to enhance your students reading experiences: – Harvey, S. & Goudvis, A. (2007). Strategies that work: Teaching comprehension to enhance understanding (2nd ed.). Portland, ME: Stenhouse. – Irvin, J.L., Buehl, D.R., & Radcliffe, B.J. (2007). Strategies to enhance literacy and learning in middle school content area classrooms(3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson/Allyn & Bacon. – Beers, K. (2003). When kids can’t read: What teachers can do. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Resources The information from this presentation is a combination of the knowledge I have gained through several readings, class lectures, and discussions in my READ courses at TWU. A majority of the information is from: Harvey, S. & Goudvis, A. (2007). Strategies that work: Teaching comprehension to enhance understanding (2 nd ed.). Portland, ME: Stenhouse.