1. 7 Paths to Improved Reading Comprehension
Timothy Shanahan
University of Illinois at Chicago

2. 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

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

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

5. 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

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

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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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

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

15. 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

17. 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

18. 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.

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

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

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

22. 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.”

23. 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.”

24. 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 _______.")”

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

26. Text Talk
Keep revisiting the words
Draw connections among the words

27. 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

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

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

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

31. Semantic Map

32. All modes of language Reading Writing Speaking Listening Pictorial
Kinesthetic

33. Personal connections
Personal examples
Word wizards
Word consciousness

34. Review over time
Review schedule
Retesting

35. 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

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

37. 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

38. 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

39. 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

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

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

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

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

44. 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)

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

46. 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)

47. 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

48. 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

49. 7 Paths to Improved Reading Comprehension
Timothy Shanahan
University of Illinois at Chicago