W E E K 7

Stages of a Reading Comprehension Lesson

Teaching of Reading

Intensive Reading

Requires close reading with thorough understanding

Two types of intensive reading

INTENSIVE

READING

TEXT-BASED SKILL-BASED

Text-based vs. Skill-based Reading

Text-based

Understanding specific texts as closely as possible

Very common in Malaysian classrooms where students employ various reading strategies in tackling the text they are reading

Text-based vs. Skill-based Reading

Skill-based

Focuses on a particular reading skill, for instance, inference or prediction.

Instead of working on a single text, skill-based will employ different texts to develop specific reading strategies.

The Different Stages of Reading

Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3

PRE-

READING

WHILE-

READING

POST-

READING

Stages of a Reading Comprehension

Lesson

The Different Stages of Reading

To help students understand the text they are reading, teachers can stimulate students’ thinking through reading activities that are specific to each stage.

Pre-Reading

Pre-Reading

What do you think is the purpose of pre-reading activities?

Readers who have more prior knowledge about a reading passage are able to comprehend the passage better compared to those who do not have much prior knowledge.

Knowledge of content and the target culture & knowledge of language play a significant role in reading comprehension

Benefits of Pre-Reading Activities

Tap appropriate schemata

Prepare students

for the text

Pre-reading activities

Better reading Comprehension

Purpose of reading establishedStudents’ interest towards the

text is developed

The Purposes of Pre-Reading Activities

To establish the purpose in reading (e.g. Why am I reading this? What do I want to get from it?)

To develop the students’ interest in the reading material

To preview the text

To reflect on what they already know

To invoke the appropriate network of schemata

To provide the necessary background knowledge

Pre-Reading: Possible Activities & Tasks

Anticipate content through:

music & sounds

pictures, illustrations, cover page etc.

preface & introduction

the index or the table of contents

the key words or key ideas in the text

chapter titles

headlines, the opening sentence & the closing sentence

the title, the first sentence & the first few words of every paragraph

blurbs & biographical information of the author

Pre-Reading: Possible Activities & Tasks

Semantic Mapping Match titles & pictures, illustrations, cover page,

etc. Match titles & text or short descriptions of text Discussion on what students know about the topic Quiz to familiarize students with some of the ideas

that will be dealt with in the text Arranging a possible story line Skimming for the gist of the text Scanning for specific information

Examples of Pre-Reading Activities

Example 1

Look at the front cover.

What do you think the little girl and her mother are doing?

What can you see in the picture?

Can you guess who has come to join them for tea?

Example 2

Play recorded sounds (glasses breaking, spraying, screeching of brakes).

Pupils listen and guess the sounds.

Show pictures & objects.

Play recorded sounds again.

Pupils identify the sounds heard & pick the correct pictures.

Example 3

Say & show some actions.

Pupils follow.

Call a pupil to say & do the action.

The other pupils follow.

E.g. Stamp your foot.

I am stamping my foot.

Clap your hands.

I am clapping my hands.

Each group is given a set of jigsaw puzzles.

Pupils arrange them to form pictures.

Display word cards. Say the words.

Pupils put the word cards on the pictures identified.

Show a puppet/toy & talk about it.

Put up a series of pictures & question the pupils about the pictures.

Show some toy animals.

Play the recorded sounds of the animals shown and the pupils imitate.

Put the toys into a box.

A pupil picks a toy from the box.

The others make the sound of the animal picked.

Example 3

To build students’ anticipation about the theme of the passage.

Do you know what to do if a fire breaks out in your school? Which of these things should you do and which should you not do?

Panic & scream

Leave the building quickly

Leave everything behind

Push your classmates

Line up in the school field

Run and hide under the tables

Phone home

While-Reading

While-Reading

What do you think is the purpose of while-reading activities?

Readers work on the content and the language of the text for comprehension to be achieved

E.g. Readers will find out the main ideas, monitor their comprehension & adjust their reading strategies.

The Purposes of While-Reading Activities

To understand:

The language & content of the text.

The function of the text (e.g. giving information, direction, instruction, persuasion).

The organisation of the text (e.g. main ideas vs. supporting details & sequence of events).

While-Reading: Possible Activities

Self-questioning – formulate questions on what they would like to find out from the text or what they do not understand

Retelling & paraphrasing Drawing plot progression Distinguishing main ideas from supporting details Describing characters, setting etc. Summarizing Sequencing Expanding information Reconstructing information – delete the punctuation or

paragraphing & get students to reconstruct the original form

Transferring information (maps, tables, graphs, flow charts)

Following instruction – make or construct something

Changing the beginning, middle or ending

Selecting an appropriate summary

Matching information – characters & quotations, causes & effects, pros & cons

Catching the mistake

Role play-certain sections of the text

Compare & contrast – differentiate facts from opinions

Examples of While-Reading Activities

Distribute a handout with instructions on making a paper puppet.

Pupils read the instructions.

Pupils follow the instructions and do the paper puppet.

Pupils use the paper puppet to role play.

Pupils pick a prop related to a character in the story read (e.g. a wand, a mask, a crown, a shoe, a cane).

Pupils role play the character.

Examples of While-Reading Activities

To study the chronological sequence in the text.Read the recipe for a chocolate cake. The instructions are not in the correct order. Can you reorder them?

To develop scanning skills.Put (√) for the correct answer and () for the wrong answer.

To make comparisons based on the reading text.Compare and contrast Burger King and McDonald’s by completing the chart below.

Post-Reading

Post-Reading

What do you think is the purpose of post-reading activities?

After reading the texts, a review of what has been read is carried out:

Moral values learned & other implications are discussed

Extension work such as projects, role-play & dramatisation

Personal responses to the text & evaluation of both the text & the author

The Purposes of Post-Reading Activities

To recall, apply & consolidate what was read

To gain the overall understanding of the text

To make a global evaluation of the text

To evaluate the author’s effectiveness in writing

To compare & contrast writer’s values to the values of the reader

To detect the author’s biases or prejudice

Post-Reading: Possible Activities & Tasks

Recognising implications Drawing inferences & conclusions Making moral judgements Reassessments & reinterpretations of key issues,

events, themes, etc. Writing dialogues, plays or reports Summarising overall events in visual written

forms Analysing author’s intention & attitude Recognising author’s prejudice & biases Reviewing & consolidating what was read

Divide pupils into pairs.

Each pair is given a set of pictures to complete a family tree based on the story.

Pupils create their own family tree.

Divide pupils into groups.

Give an envelope with word cards to each group.

Pupils will create a similar rhyme using the word cards.

Pupils pick a character from the story.

Pupils discuss the personality traits of the characters with their group members.

Pupils then fill bubbles around the character with his/her personality trait.

Pupils are paired.

Pupil 1 is the reporter & pupil 2 is the chosen character.

The reporter will interview the character with guidance.

Pupils create their own book cover for the story read.

Examples of Post-Reading Activities

To recognise implications & make conclusions of the text read.

Imagine that you have been asked to give a speech on the hazards of pollution. Now, write a speech. Include the following points:

To make moral judgement

Write what you must and must not do in school, at home and in town to keep the environment clean.

Literacy Hour

An effort to improve teaching and learning situations

The Ministry of Education introduced innovative practices for primary classrooms including the English Hour, Big Books and CD-ROMs in 2002.

English Hour is a revised English Language Programme which was based on the model used in the UK “Literacy Hour”.

The focus of teaching in the English Hour is on developing language with story books.

Teachers are encouraged to read with students every day during the shared reading session.

The English Hour is hoped to provide active engagement and to produce high quality interaction:

Active engagement and high quality interaction means that the teacher and pupils are always talking to each other or discussing with each other about the ideas in the story or about spelling, grammar, pronunciation, etc.

(Ministry of Education, 2002b, p. 35).

In the context of the English Hour, Big Books were introduced to inculcate good reading habits among the students, while the CDROMs were hoped to provide greater opportunities to use English in an IT rich environment.

The daily English Hour comprises a four- step activity:

Step 1: Shared reading (15 minutes);

Step 2: Teaching points – pronunciation, spelling, word attack skills (15 minutes);

Step 3: Guided Reading or writing and independent work (20 minutes) and;

Step 4: Summing up (10 minutes).

(Ministry of Education, 2002a, p. 23).

1. Whole class shared text work

The lesson starts with the whole class working on a shared text where the teacher is able to model effective reading or writing and where all pupils can actively participate.

2. Whole class shared sentence/word work

Then comes a short period of word level or sentence level work.

The focus of this part of the lesson is to teach and consolidate phonic knowledge which the children can then apply in their reading and writing or on spelling or sentence construction.

3. Guided reading & Independent work

Twenty minutes of the lesson is for independent work where pupils apply their literacy skills in meaningful tasks individually, in pairs or in groups.

The teacher works with small groups to improve specific skills through guided reading or writing.

Plenary

The final 10 minutes of the lesson is the plenary session which allows teachers and children to reflect on and assess what has been learnt and to think about how to develop what they have learnt further.

Tutorial Task

Select a piece of text from the primary school textbooks (Years 1-6)

Based on a selection of texts, discuss a possible sequence of teaching a text-based reading lesson.

Prepare activities for pre-reading, while-reading and post-reading stages.