1. Enhancing Reading Comprehension
Brought to you by the CCS ESL department

2. HOW IMPORTANT IS BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE?
Part 1: Before Reading
HOW IMPORTANT IS BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE?

3. The Importance of Context
The procedure is actually quite simple. First, you arrange things into different groups depending on their makeup. Of course, one pile may be sufficient depending on how much there is to do. If you have to go somewhere else due to lack of facilities that is the next step, otherwise you are pretty well set…
-important because we must build background knowledge
-Use Google Images or illustrated materials
-United Streaming or Brain Pop
-have a brief discussion with students to find out what they already know about a topic
-connect the topic to students’ lives and explain why it’s important to learn
“Pull out your Importance of Context paper”

4. Pre-Teaching Vocabulary
-Use a word wall and refer to the words often
-have students make dictionaries
-students must use the words several times in speaking and writing
-teach four or less new words per day (10 or less a week)
-teach academic words (content and testing), synonyms and multiple meanings

5. Vocabulary Words Word Definition Symbol Example 1. Right Angle
An angle of 90 degrees
The corners of a square are right angles. 2.
Force
A push or pull on an object
The force from the punch knocked him out. 3.
Imperialism
When one country dominates other countries
The stronger country takes from the weaker. 4.
personification
Giving human characteristics to objects
The flower was crying for rain.
-look at the example for your content area (students would draw their own symbols)

6. Appropriate Text Adapted Text District Text
-know your students’ OTELA scores (speaking and listening are usually higher), IEPs?
-have suspected struggler read a few sentences from the text to check student’s fluency and comprehension to determine appropriate materials
-ESL and special ed teachers will possibly have resources to lend

7. Appropriate Text: McCarthy Example
Easier Version:
Student knew all of the words in this version.
In the harder version the student thought McCarthy might be a communist. In the easier version he realized McCarthy was trying to stop Communism.
Student – “When I’m not stopped for difficult words, I can understand the story.”
Student has passed all OGT except Science
Harder Version:
Sensational
Dis/loyalty
Pressed
Reduced
Nevertheless
Accusations
Sparked
Hysteria
Subversives
Suspicion
Undistinguished
Arouse
Menace
Piling
Baseless
Unprovable
Crusade
Smear tactics
Subcommittee
Merely
Reputations
Targets
Former
Integrity
Conspiracy
Immense
Infamy
Dwarf
Inability
Triumph
Tactics
Sympathizers
Presented
Conscience +5

8. Using Adapted Readers TRUE OR FALSE?
The more we read, see and hear, the more we know.
Students recall more from reading summaries than entire chapters.
Summaries work better for teaching any subject.
Reading summaries promotes short term memory, while reading chapters promotes long term memory.
Why We Make Mistakes (Research from Carnegie Mellon University)
System overload – must focus attention
CMU compared 5,000 word chapters with 1,000 word summaries. In all cases the summaries worked better.
Trying to remember too much from long chapters could result in missing the main idea.
The CMU research contained excerpts from several subject areas. The findings concluded the subject made no difference. In all cases the summaries worked better.

9. Part 2: During Reading

10. Part 3: After Reading