2. Reading Comprehension: Helping Learners Focus on Meaning An online tutor training SCALE UNC-Chapel Hill

3. Session Goals Develop an understanding of reading comprehension Gain an awareness of strategies tutors can use to facilitate reading comprehension

4. A newspaper is better than a magazine, and on a seashore is a better place than a street. At first it is better to run than to walk. Also you may have to try several times. It takes some skill but it’s easy to learn. Even young children can enjoy it. Once successful, complications are minimal. Birds seldom get too close. One needs lots of room. Rain soaks in very fast. Too many people doing the same thing can also cause problems. If there are no complications, it can be very peaceful. A rock will serve as an anchor. If things break loose from it, however, you will not get a second chance. Bransford, J. D. & Johnson, M. K. (1972). Contextual prerequisites for understanding: Some investigations of comprehension and recall. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 11,717-726.

5. What is reading?

6. Reading is Actively using a system of semantic cues, syntax cues, and visual cues to construct meaning. “Comprehension results from an interaction among the reader, the strategies the reader employs, the material being read, and the context in which reading takes place. Knuth, R. A. & Jones, B. F. (1991) What does research say about reading? [on-line]. Available: http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/stw_esys/str_read.htm

7. Tutors can implement specific strategies Before the learner reads While the learner reads After the learner reads

8. Pre-reading strategies Activate background knowledge Introduce unknown concepts Encourage learners to predict

9. Activate background knowledge

10. A newspaper is better than a magazine, and on a seashore is a better place than a street. At first it is better to run than to walk. Also you may have to try several times. It takes some skill but it’s easy to learn. Even young children can enjoy it. Once successful, complications are minimal. Birds seldom get too close. One needs lots of room. Rain soaks in very fast. Too many people doing the same thing can also cause problems. If there are no complications, it can be very peaceful. A rock will serve as an anchor. If things break loose from it, however, you will not get a second chance. Bransford, J. D. & Johnson, M. K. (1972). Contextual prerequisites for understanding: Some investigations of comprehension and recall. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 11,717-726.

11. Introduce unknown concepts or vocabulary

12. Encourage learners to predict

13. During reading strategies What makes sense? Re-read Skip it and keep reading Look at the picture Look for smaller words/chunks Sound out the first part of the word Sound out all parts of the word

14. After reading strategies Asking questions Extension activities

15. Effective questions Factual questions Inference questions “On my own” questions http://www.bankstreet.edu/literacyguide/quest.html

16. Extension activities Extension Activities

17. Review Reading is actively using a system of semantic cues, syntax cues, and visual cues to construct meaning. Pre-reading strategies include activating background knowledge, introducing unknown concepts, and encouraging prediction.

18. Review Tutors should encourage learners to be independent readers by providing them with strategies they can use while reading. After reading, tutors should provide activities and questions that encourage the learner to think about the meaning of the text.

19. Your SCALE online training is complete! Read. Write. Act.