K-2 Comprehension K-2 Comprehension ConnectionConnection

K-2 Comprehension K-2 Comprehension ConnectionConnection

Mia Johnson and Lora DrumCCS Curriculum Specialist

What is comprehension?What is comprehension?

The key word in each of the definitions is

“meaning”. If readers can read words, but are

not able to construct meaning, then are they

really reading?

Turn and talk to a partner, giving them your definition of comprehension

Comprehension is “intentional thinking during which meaning is constructed through interactions

between text and reader” (Harris and Hodges, 1995).

•Comprehension is a process in which readers construct meaning by interacting with text through the combination of prior knowledge and previous experience, information in the text, and the stance the reader takes in relationship to the text (Pardo, 2004).

What does comprehension look What does comprehension look like in my classroom?like in my classroom?

Take 40 sec. and “Jot Thoughts” about what you think this looks like in a K-2 classroom.

Anticipation GuideAnticipation Guide

True/False Statement True/False

Teaching comprehension means teaching a series of skills.

If children are reading at an instructional reading level, comprehension will take care of itself.

Comprehension skills and strategies are not the same.

If children successfully learn how to decode, then comprehension will take care of itself.

What does the research say?What does the research say?“Comprehension can be improved by teaching students to

use specific cognitive strategies or to reason strategically when they encounter barriers to understanding what they are reading. Readers acquire these strategies informally to some extent, but explicit or formal instruction in the application of comprehension strategies has been shown to be highly effective in enhancing understanding. The teacher generally demonstrates such strategies for students until the students are able to carry them out independently.”

(National Reading Panel, 2000)

More research…More research…Explicit comprehension instruction in K-2

is not only possible, but wise and beneficial rather than detrimental to overall reading instruction.

“To delay this sort of powerful instruction until children have reached the intermediate grades is to deny them the very experiences that help them develop the most important of reading dispositions – the expectation that they should and can understand each and every text they read.” (p 257) Diane Snowball

What should we teach in primary What should we teach in primary grades?grades?

Text structure elements, visualizing, summarizing, predicting based on prior knowledge, questioning, clarifying and

Fluent word recognition.

(Duke and Pearson 2002)

……but these are six year olds!but these are six year olds!

““The Five-to-Seven Shift”The Five-to-Seven Shift”

During this age range, children become able to think “multi-

dimensionally,” a requirement of comprehension, and to reason with

others in group settings.

The University of Chicago 1996

So what’s a teacher

supposed to do?

So, these children So, these children areare ready to acquire ready to acquire comprehension strategies, but they tend comprehension strategies, but they tend

to not to be proficient decoders.to not to be proficient decoders.

“ “ If we want children to reason their ways If we want children to reason their ways through texts during a time when they cannot through texts during a time when they cannot

yet read, then the social context for yet read, then the social context for comprehension acquisition must be a read-comprehension acquisition must be a read-

aloud of text.” (p.144)aloud of text.” (p.144)

Smolkin & Donovan, 2002Smolkin & Donovan, 2002

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVKkyc_ne4M

Seven Comprehension StrategiesSeven Comprehension Strategies• Fix-Up Strategies• Predicting• Visualizing• Making Connections• Inferencing• Questioning• Determining Importance• Summarizing• Synthesizing

But where is main idea, cause But where is main idea, cause and effect, compare and contrast, and effect, compare and contrast,

point of view,…point of view,…

“What the panel (The National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance research panel) refers to as ‘strategies’ are not the same as comprehension skills typically listed in core reading programs, nor are they teaching activities.” p. 11

So what is the difference So what is the difference between a STRATEGY and a between a STRATEGY and a

SKILL?SKILL?•A strategy is a thinking process that is used consciously and intentionally to achieve a goal

•A strategy is an intentional mental action during reading that improves reading comprehension.

•A strategy is a deliberate effort by a reader to better understand or remember what is being read.

Gradual Release of ResponsibilityGradual Release of Responsibility

Effective strategy instruction involves a gradual release of responsibility from the teacher to the learner (Duke & Pearson, 2002) so that over time your students gradually take over the responsibility for decision making and putting the strategies into practice.

Gradual Release of ResponsibilityGradual Release of Responsibility

ExplicitDescription

T T T T

TeacherModeling

S T T T

Collaborative Use

S S T T

GuidedPractice

S S S T

IndependentUse

S S S S

Fix-up strategiesFix-up strategiesStudents pay attention to whether they

understand what they are reading and when they do not, they reread or

use strategies that will help them understand what they have read.

There many There many different ways different ways to say these to say these

simple things. simple things. The goal is to The goal is to

teach the teach the strategy and strategy and not focus on not focus on the character the character

or what we call or what we call it, but on how it, but on how

we use it!we use it!

PredictingPredictingStudents think about what they already

know and use that knowledge in conjunction with other clues to construct meaning as they read.

VisualizingVisualizing

• Text Samples• Mini lesson: meet

with a partner, one read, one sketch, big book with informational text/narrative.

Students develop a mental image of what is described in

the text.

InferencingInferencing

Ex. Cape Hatteras is in North Carolina. North Carolina is east of the Mississippi. Cape Hatteras is east of the

Mississippi.

All Dogs are male or female. Lora’s dog had 4 puppies. She named the boys Bill and Bob. The other two dogs must be

girls.

Students generate information that is important to constructing meaning but that is missing from, or not explicitly stated in,

the text.

InferencingInferencing

1. Work with your table group.2. Open your envelope and take out the symbols.3. Using the three symbols, make an inference as to

what your story might be about.4. Record your inference on the index card.

Making ConnectionsMaking ConnectionsStudents make personal

connections with the text by using their schema. There are three main type of connections we make while reading: text to

self, text to text, and text to world. Text to Text Connection:

Chrysanthemum and

Owen by Kevin Henkes

Determining ImportanceDetermining ImportanceStudents distinguish the difference

between fiction and nonfiction, narrative and expository to question

and synthesize important and unimportant information.

Determining ImportanceDetermining Importance

QuestioningQuestioningStudents develop and attempt to answer questions about the

important ideas in the text while reading, using words such as where or why to

develop their own questions.

Questioning the Text

By Stephanie Harvey We work on questioning for several weeks in many

ways: marking texts with stick-on notes; sorting them according to importance; bringing our

questions to book clubs for discussion; talking about questions unanswered by the author; and recording

questions on charts.

Read the following selection.Read the following selection.

The blue whale is as long as a basketball court. Its eyes are as big as softballs. Its tongue weighs as much as an elephant. It is the biggest animal that has ever lived on earth-bigger than any dinosaur.

Book:Davies, Nicola. Big Blue Whale. Illustrated by Nick Maland. Candlewick, 1997. 27 pages

Let’s try these questions:Let’s try these questions:

• How long is a blue whale?

• Are blue whales bigger than dinosaurs?

• Was there ever a dinosaur as long as a basketball court?

• I wonder why the author wrote about a basket -ball court?

SummarizingSummarizing

Who, What, Where, When , Why,

and How?

Students briefly describe, orally or in writing, the main points of

what they read.

Do you have blank paper, sticky Do you have blank paper, sticky notes, …notes, …

That is all you need!

SynthesizingSynthesizing

Find the match to your puzzle and put them together. You and your new partner….

Students generate new information which makes the reader re-evaluate their schema to form new schema.

““Synthesizing is like baking a Synthesizing is like baking a cake—all the different parts cake—all the different parts mixed together become a mixed together become a

whole whole new thing.”new thing.”

David Harris;David Harris;

Strategies That WorkStrategies That Work

Summarizing vs. SynthesizingSummarizing vs. Synthesizing

• “Summarizing is part of synthesis. You can’t synthesize if you don’t know how to summarize. Summarizing is the act of briefly presenting the main point. When teaching summary, teachers should encourage readers to retell information by including important ideas but not telling too much.” Stephanie Harvey

Some caveats...Some caveats...The effectiveness of instruction in comprehension strategies

depends critically on how they are taught, supported, and practiced

Common instructional mistakes• Strategies taught as “ends in themselves” -- memorized• Too much focus on the strategies themselves, and not enough

on constructing the meaning of text.• Can go astray if students spend too much time thinking about

how they should process the text rather than thinking about the text itself.

Too much time on the “explicit instruction” part and

notenough time on the

collaborative, scaffolded, application/

discussion part will result in the loss of focus: comprehension!

Let’s recap:Let’s recap:The Big Ideas of Strategy InstructionThe Big Ideas of Strategy Instruction

Effective, long-term instruction should involve teaching students to use multiple strategies as needed to improve their comprehension of text.

Effective instruction requires many opportunities for students to collaborate and discuss text using strategies to structure discussion.

The focus of strategy instruction should always be on

constructing the meaning of the text

Effective strategy instruction always involves explicit description and

modeling of strategies by the teacher.

(Gradual Release Responsibility)

Effective strategy instruction always involves extended discussions of text in which the teacher scaffolds student

strategy use.

(Guided Reading Groups)

The purpose of strategy instruction is to stimulate student’s thinking about the meaning of text (by providing guided

opportunities for them to actually think about, and interpret text)– ultimately, their attention needs to be on the text

and not on the strategies.

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