Camille Blachowicz, Donna Ogle-Reading Comprehension, Second Edition_ Strategies for Independent...

READING COMPREHENSION

READINGCOMPREHENSION

Strategies for Independent Learners

SECOND EDITION

Camille BlachowiczDonna Ogle

THE GUILFORD PRESSNew York London

2008 The Guilford PressA Division of Guilford Publications, Inc.72 Spring Street, New York, NY 10012www.guilford.com

All rights reserved

Except as noted, no part of this book may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrievalsystem, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,microfilming, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher.

Printed in the United States of America

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Last digit is print number: 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

LIMITED PHOTOCOPY LICENSE

These materials are intended for use only by qualified professionals.

The Publisher grants to individual purchasers of this book nonassignable permission toreproduce all materials for which photocopying permission is specifically granted in afootnote. This license is limited to you, the individual purchaser only, for use with yourown clients or students. Purchase by an institution does not constitute a site license.This license does not grant the right to reproduce these materials for resale,redistribution, or any other purposes (including but not limited to books and handoutsor slides for lectures or workshops). Permission to reproduce these materials for theseand any other purposes must be obtained in writing from The Guilford Press.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Blachowicz, Camille L. Z.Reading comprehension : strategies for independent learners / Camille Blachowicz, Donna

Ogle. 2nd ed.p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.ISBN 978-1-59385-755-4 (pbk.: alk. paper) ISBN 978-1-59385-756-1 (hardcover: alk. paper)1. Reading comprehensionStudy and teaching (Elementary)United States. 2. Reading

(Elementary)United States. 3. Individualized instructionUnited States. I. Ogle,Donna. II. Title.

LB1573.7.B53 2008372.47dc22

2008007820

To my coauthorC. B.

To BudD. O.

About the Authors

Camille Blachowicz, PhD, is Professor of Education at National-Louis University,where she also directs the Reading Program and the Reading Center. She is the au-thor of several books and numerous chapters, monographs, and articles on vocab-ulary and comprehension instruction and on working with at-risk readers. Dr.Blachowicz was a Fulbright Fellow to Italy and is active in professional organiza-tions and staff development nationally and internationally. She is in the sixth yearof codirecting the Literacy Partners: Advanced Reading Development Demonstra-tion Project (ARDDP), a project on coaching and school literacy improvement, inthe Chicago Public Schools. In 2003 she was named to the roster of OutstandingTeacher Educators in Reading by the International Reading Association.

Donna Ogle, EdD, is Professor of Education at National-Louis University, a mem-ber of the Reading Hall of Fame, and a past president of the International ReadingAssociation (20012002). She currently is directing two multischool projects inthe Chicago Public Schools: Project ALL (Advancing Literacy for Learning) andthe Transitional Adolescent Literacy Leadership (TALL) Project. She is also SeniorConsultant to the Chicago Striving Readers Research Study. Dr. Ogle is the authorof many publications related to the topic of comprehension development and hasparticular interest in informational reading and learning. She works internation-ally in professional development projects and is an editorial reviewer for Lectura yVida, the Spanish-language journal of the International Reading Association.

vii

Preface

As authors of this book, we are excited to share with you our experiences inclassrooms, working with students and teachers to develop good models of read-ing comprehension instruction. Our thinking has been formed by many years ofobserving students as they negotiate their own comprehension and learning in awide variety of settings. We are constantly impressed by how much students learnand how capable they become in contexts that support, challenge, and developtheir learning and journey toward independence. Another thing we know is thatwe also learn by observing good teachers . . . and good teachers learn by watchingtheir students, and other good teachers, as they fine-tune their instruction. Fur-thermore, good teachers know they have been effective when their students be-come independent and can take responsibility for their own learning. These expe-riences explain our subtitleStrategies for Independent Learners.

In this edition, we have added information reflecting new learning in informa-tional literacy, in content and academic vocabulary development, and in compre-hension with multiple textsprint and electronic. Current examples of field-testedindependent reading programs, updates on federal initiatives such as StrivingReaders and the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), and newstrategies and teaching ideas provide a rich collection for teachers use.

Chapter 1 sets the stage by presenting some examples of good comprehen-sion embodied in students we have known and watched. We hope that you willfind their stories as interesting and informative as we found the actual students.They represent many ages, ethnic groups, and settings (urban, suburban, andrural); they exemplify both the similarities and differences among good compre-henders; and they provide living examples of the model for comprehension that

ix

underpins this book. Chapter 2 relates these observations of students in action tothe research on comprehension, sets forth our model of comprehension, and endswith a model of good instruction with ideas for diversification for a varied studentpopulation. Taken together, these two chapters form the theoretical and best-practices bases of the book.

The next two chapters present topics that are prerequisites for good instruc-tion. Chapter 3 describes the classroom and instructional organizational issuesthat have to be considered for good instruction to take place. Chapter 4 deals withfinding a starting point for instructionusing assessment to help set appropriategoals for instruction. These are the nuts-and-bolts practical issues that can makeor break a good comprehension development program.

Chapters 59 describe instructional and learning strategies for some commoncomprehension goals: reading for information; reading fiction; developing vocabu-lary; engaging in research; and performing tasks, studying, and taking tests. Chap-ter 10 caps off the book by talking about the encouragement of lifelong readingand learningevery teachers goal. Each of these chapters refers back to the mod-els of comprehension and of good instruction and differentiation presented inChapter 2.

We suggest that you start to use this book by reading Chapters 1 and 2 toground your thinking. Then you can dip into the other chapters in any order thatmakes sense for your own learning and teaching. To make this book as interactiveas possible, each chapter starts with a graphic organizer, which is intended tohelp you see the topics and issues that we feel are important. Also in each orga-nizer is a chart of important strategies and other resources and their location in thechapter in case you want to use the chapter as a handbook. Finally, in thePutting It All Together section of each chapter we highlight some of the instruc-tional and differentiation issues that relate to the topic presented.

After working on this book for several yearsyears full of discussion, argu-ment, laughing, and learningand then having the chance to revise it with thesuggestions and examples from so many readers, we look forward to your input.Wed like to hear your comments and suggestions by e-mail or snail mail.

CAMILLE BLACHOWICZDONNA OGLENational College of EducationNational-Louis University5202 Old Orchard Road, Suite 300Skokie, IL 60077

[email protected]@nl.edu

x Preface

Acknowledgments

What makes it possible for us to do our work is the wonderful support of ourcolleagues, friends, students, and families. Each and every one of our colleagues inthe Department of Reading and Language at National-Louis University is an out-standing teacher and researcher. Their support, encouragement, constructive criti-cism, and friendship have been priceless and meaningful well beyond the scope ofthis book.

We would also like to thank the hundreds of teachers and students with whomwe have worked for their intelligence, dedication, and generosity. After over 30 yearsin the classroom for each of us, we are still exhilarated by the quality and dedicationof those who choose to be teachers, and thankful that they let us share in their work.Special thanks go to the members of the Reading Leadership Institutea group ofmaster teachers, administrators, and curriculum directors with whom we maintainan ongoing relationship that includes the sharing and testing of ideas. Their influencehas been formative in all the parts of this book, and many of their ideas are containedand credited within. Donna gives particular thank yous to the Project ALL teamwith whom she has worked in refining ideas for content literacy, especially AmyCorrea and Debbie Gurvitz. Camille sends kudos to Char Cobb, Kristin Lems,Ann Bates, and all our ARDDP partners for their contributions, along with the manycolleagues whose examples are cited in the book. Anne Horton and Tracy Pawlukhave provided substantial help in putting together the manuscript and dealing withmany crises and emergencies in their ever-capable ways. Our editors at The GuilfordPress, Craig Thomas and Chris Jennison, as well as Natalie Graham and FredBernardi, have been stalwart and insightful during the production process. Also,many thanks to our husbands, families, and closest friends, who have had to put upwith the emotional overload that putting thoughts into writing entails. Their en-couragement and support are much appreciated.

xi

Contents

CHAPTER 1. Learning about Comprehension from Good Readers 1

Meet Our Readers 2A Look at These Readers 6Looking to the Future 13Putting It All Together 22

CHAPTER 2. A Closer Look at Comprehension: Context, Processes, Strategies,and Instruction

25

Comprehension Is Motivated and Purposeful 26Comprehension Is a Process That Is Constructive 27Comprehension Is Skillful and Strategic 33Comprehension Is Self-Monitored and Self-Regulated 36Putting It All Together: The Teachers Instructional Role 37

CHAPTER 3. Creating an Effective Classroom for Comprehension Instruction 43

Space 46Materials for Instructional and Independent Reading 47Time and Curricular Components 49Patterns for Work and Learning: Organization

for Instruction 54Putting It All Together 61

CHAPTER 4. Finding a Starting Point: Ways to Assess Comprehension 63

The Classroom Fluency Snapshot 66Matching Students with Materials 71Using Questions and Retellings for Comprehension

Assessment 79

xiii

Think-Alouds: Online Monitoring 86Rubrics for Comprehension 88Putting It All Together 90

CHAPTER 5. Strategies for Reading for Information 91

A Personal Example 93Developing Students Engagement with Informational Texts 95Strategies for Active Reading of Informational Text 113Putting It All Together 127

CHAPTER 6. Strategies for Reading Fiction 129

Teachers as Model Readers 131Scaffolding to Develop Students Engagement in Reading 135Developing the Joy of Literature Discussion 157Putting It All Together 166

CHAPTER 7. Strategies for Vocabulary Development 176

Starting with Students: Vocabulary for Many Purposes 178Developing Word Awareness 181Developing General Vocabulary Knowledge 196Developing Content and Academic Vocabulary 198Developing Independent Strategies 203Putting It All Together 213

CHAPTER 8. Strategies for Engaging in Research 214

Examples of Teachers and StudentsEngaging in Active Research 217

Developing Students Researching Skills 231Teaming with the School Librarian/Media Specialist 236Putting It All Together 236

CHAPTER 9. Strategies for Performing Tasks, Studying, and Taking Tests 238

Reading to Perform Tasks 238Reading to Learn: Studying and Test Taking 247Putting It All Together 262

CHAPTER 10. Strategies That Encourage Lifelong Reading 263

What Lifelong Readers Are Like 264How Teachers and Schools Develop Lifelong Readers 267Putting It All Together 282

References 283

Index 295

xiv Contents

READING COMPREHENSION

CHAPTER 1

Learning about Comprehensionfrom Good Readers

We begin our book by introducing some children who have become real read-ers, rather than by describing instruction or even a theory of reading comprehen-sion. Then we look more broadly at what readers need to do to be consideredgood comprehenders in our society. Indeed, we can almost equate readerwith comprehender, for we know that reading is comprehendingmaking senseof what is read. (Figure 1.1 is a graphic organizer illustrating the topics we coverin this chapter.)

What do good comprehenders look like? Pause for a moment and see whetheryou can picture a good reader in your minds eye. If you are a teacher, it may beone of your students. If you are not yet a teacher think of yourself or a classmate.Then think of another good reader who is different. Thats just what we have donein beginning this book. We hope that by creating images of what good readers arelike, we can more easily consider what our responsibilities are as teachers to createclassrooms full of these empowered, confident readers. The students are our bot-tom line; they shape our instruction and are the reasons we make innumerable ad-justments in our teaching on a daily basis. In later chapters, we discuss ways toreach children who are not able readers. But, for now, lets think about some ac-tive readers we know. From these descriptions, we want to develop a shared un-derstanding of the depth and breadth of the deceptively simple term reading. Aswe think about the many students with whom we have worked and who we knowin personal ways, their individuality stands out. At the same time, so do manycommonalities. A rich group portrait begins to emerge.

1

Meet Our Readers

Sara loves to read. She spends free time in the school library helping the librariansshelve books. She orders books from a book club regularly and has her own col-lection of prized books at home in her room. Her favorite authors right now areCynthia Voigt and Paula Danziger. In class she readily takes part in book discus-sions. This year she even persuaded her teacher to add two books to the selectionsthe teacher had planned for a unit on Growing Up in America. Sara demon-strates good comprehension of story plot and great sensitivity to characters. Sheoften makes comparisons between fictional situations and those she has experi-enced personally. Sara also writes prolifically; she is in the process of composingher first novel. As much as she thinks of herself as a reader and writer, however,when it comes time for science and social studies, Sara does not show the same en-thusiasm for reading or for the textbooks and resource materials the teacher pro-vides. She gravitates to fiction and postpones the expository reading that is as-signed in class. Her teacher this year has noted that Sara does not seem to think of

2 READING COMPREHENSION

Resource LocatorStrategies and Resources Discussed in Chapter 1

NAEP and Other Assessments p. 14Standards pp. 1522

FIGURE 1.1. Graphic organizer for Chapter 1.

ways to organize what she is learning from informational materials, as she canwhen she is reading fiction.

Ken is a different reader. His family has moved frequently, and he is interestedin geography and history. He keeps Cobblestone and Muse magazines in his deskand will pick up books about states and locales where he has been when he isasked to read longer texts. He doesnt read a lot in his free time but enjoys readingduring assigned reading periods. Ken takes a leadership role in his class when theintegrated science/social studies units are underway. He knows how to navigatethe Internet and prints out articles that help the team hes on collect the informa-tion they need. He loves to ponder maps and charts of the rainforest areas of theworld and to trace the effects of El Nio. In the class study of sub-Saharan Africa,Ken brings in articles from National Geographic and National Geographic Worldthat extend learning. Ken doesnt write much but will illustrate and make com-puter charts of concepts the group is working on to present in their reports. He isalso good in helping his classmates connect pieces of information they gather fromvarious resources. He has a clear idea of how to chunk information, develop cate-gories that reduce the discrete items of information, and connect them together.He sometimes enjoys helping his social studies team prepare their group presenta-tions, and he provides creative suggestions for ways to represent their findings.

Carlos is in a traditional school and must use the textbooks that form the coreof reading in all curriculum areas. Last year in sixth grade, Carlos had a teacherwho taught him how to read textbooks by mapping each chapters main ideas in agraphic organizer. He gained confidence in using this strategy and now regularlymaps assigned chapters and fills in information on graphic organizers, akin tothe ones we use at the beginnings of the chapters of this book, while he reads. Hismother helps him review his chapter maps before exams, and he feels successful inreading for learning. He also likes to use the computerized encyclopedias that areavailable and makes good use of the headings and subheadings by turning theminto questions to guide his readinga strategy that his teacher recently explainedto the class. In literature, his teacher has introduced the genre of mysteries and forthe first time he has found some fiction that he really enjoys reading. He is eventaking some of these books home to read independently. His teacher has encour-aged him to write to the author of several of the books he likes, and he is draftinga letter on his computer. Because the literature curriculum is basically genre-based,Carloss performance seems very uneven. When he likes a novel or short story, heputs much effort into reading it and adds much to class discussions. However, atother times he can be hard to motivate. At home he reads the sports page of the lo-cal newspaper with his dad, and he devours each issue of Sports Illustrated forKids the day it arrives at his house. He also does a lot of reading in the Boy Scoutsmanual, as he is working on merit badges and has many projects to complete.Carlos finds he has to read this material carefully and reread it many times in or-der to follow directions accurately. He often stops and gets help from one of his

Learning about Comprehension from Good Readers 3

parents, because the vocabulary is tough. His dad noted in the teacher conferencehow persistent Carlos can be when he is motivated to finish a project. On week-ends Carlos gets on the computer and plays games, some of which involve readingand figuring out puzzles.

LaToya is the real writer and poet in her class. She would rather do her ownwriting than spend lots of time reading. She plays with words and likes to createpoems and raps for special occasions. She is also theatrical and a good speaker, sowhen the class turns stories into Readers Theater, she is the first to volunteer. Herparents report that she has always liked words and that she began to speak at anearly age. Her reading interests are varied, but when she wants to just escape-read, she generally reads realistic fiction. She has favorite poets and transcribespoems into her own private journals. Sometimes she is impatient when the classengages in book discussions; she would rather work alone. However, LaToya is anactive participant when the class compares stories to movies and video produc-tions or when they engage in discussions to compare books she likes. Her interestis often sparked by the other students comments, and she sees details and noticessubtle differences in interpretations. She also brings reports of her familys discus-sions of movies and TV programs. Sometimes she also reports on talk at homeabout stories that make headlines in the newspaper. It is clear that LaToya gains agreat deal from oral communication both at home and at school, despite her impa-tience.

Maria, a fourth grader, likes reading material that is very graphic. Her choiceof books and magazines depends on the number and quality of their illustrations.The first books she remembers as being really engrossing were The Magic SchoolBus books. She vividly recalls poring over Ms. Frizzles escapades inside the earthand in the water treatment plant. More recently she has discovered graphic novelsand is building a collection that she shares with her close friends. When theteacher reads aloud to the class, Maria likes to draw pictures, so that she can reallysee what the author is describing in words. She uses the same strategy of draw-ing and illustrating when she needs to read for social studies and science; she canget more out of pictures and maps than many kids can from the running text. Thisyear her teacher had Maria create a collage of the characters and setting of thecore novels they read in literature. Other classmates really admired her work, andthe collages stimulated good talk about the stories. Everyone enjoyed looking atthe pictures she found, and several other students started collecting pictures thatthey put in their journals. On standardized tests, Maria sometimes does not scoreas high as the teacher thinks she should. Either short, disconnected passages poseproblems for her, or she doesnt put effort into them. Her comprehension scoreson individual assessments are better and reflect what she can actually do. Thecomputer has also helped Maria read more, because the text and illustrations areboth important. At home, she does read newspapers, comics, and books about herfavorite TV characters, the Simpsons.


The dictionary and encyclopedia are friends to Jamie both in book formand online. Everyone else in his sixth-grade class thinks this is weird, but hedoesnt care. His family likes to play Pictionary and other word games; he hasgrown up in a word-filled environment. Crossword puzzles and jokes with wordplay tickle this emerging adolescent and he often does puzzles online for fun.Keeping print material short and concrete is another value Jamie holds. Histeacher has tried hard to find books that he will read and has resorted toskinny chapter books. His favorites are short mysteries, especially the DonaldJ. Sobol books. When the class is reading a regular novel and discussing it,Jamie has a hard time staying with the book. The teacher notices that he bringslittle emotional engagement to the discussions; questions that ask for personalconnections dont elicit much response from him. Recently she has tried to gethim to do more writing with his reading, so that he comes to discussions withthought-out answers. This is helping to some extent, but Jamie still is very con-crete in his reading responses. He does like to read music, both at church and inhis clarinet lessons; he finds reading music and also singing lyrics to songs relax-ing. His sight reading is strong, and he picks up both the music and the lyricseasily. His collection of music on his iPod is important to him and he uses itwith Garage Band. His facility with words helps him in classroom work. Hedoesnt put much energy into studying but finds he can remember well and of-ten links things he has to learn with music he hums to himself. His first choicefor information learning is the Internet and he is a master of Google. He doesntmind doing worksheets and other homework assignments that are short, and heusually finishes the homework that is assigned quickly in his free time. He doeswell on these assignments and doesnt show any problems with detailed kinds oftasks. When his class is engaged in small-group work, Jamie takes part but isnot a leader. He has a few close friends and feels comfortable in these relation-ships and with some of the friends he has made online.

Nikki enjoys reading in her fourth-grade class but doesnt want to risk takinga book home because her little brothers and sisters are likely to tear it up or ruin itin many creative ways. She particularly likes it when her teacher reads aloud inclass: She can see the images in her head, and enjoys closing her eyes and visualiz-ing the scene. When the teacher asks for predictions of what will happen next instories the teacher reads orally, Nikki often volunteers good ideas; she follows aplot well and is sensitive to characters and their motives. The teacher notes, how-ever, that Nikki does not make as many predictions in her own reading, as evi-denced by her bland responses to written questions. This causes some concernbecause she wants Nikki to become more personally engaged as she reads. Nikkienjoys learning lists of new and difficult spelling words. She enjoys street rhymes,jingles, rap, and poetry, and after school she teaches friends jump-rope and clap-ping routines with complicated lyrics. Cooking from recipes is something she likesto do with an older woman who lives in her building. She reads carefully, knowing


that she must be exact with the ingredients she uses. Nikki does well in school andis proud of her ability as a reader. Just this year her teacher has introduced manynew links between novels and the social studies units they study. Nikki becamevery interested in the Birmingham, Alabama, bombings of 1963 from the way theteacher connected them to The Watsons Go to Birmingham1963 (Curtis, 1995),which the teacher read to them as part of their study of the United States and theracial issues in the South. She hadnt thought much before about how many storiescan be grounded in real events, but she has begun to ask these questions and lookfor connections.

A Look at These Readers

All of the students described above are successful in school and are considered tobe good readers by their peers, by their teachers, and by themselves. Yet it is clearthat they are very different from one another. Before you read further, you maywant to reflect on how you would describe the similarities and differences amongthese good readers. What are some of the qualities they possess that make themgood readers? Below we discuss some of the major areas we think are importantin differentiating these good readers. We also raise some issues that come fromthese comparisons for us to think about as teachers. The three categories we dis-cuss are these: the readers preferences in materials, their preferences in styles ofengagement in reading, and their use of strategies.

Readers Preferences in Materials

First, we can see that good readers have preferences. The most obvious is that dif-ferent readers like to read different things. Traditional realistic fiction is one genrethat Sara chooses for her personal reading, but Ken, Carlos, Maria, and Jamie allgravitate toward different forms of nonfiction, and LaToya and Nikki resonate topoetry. For Jamie, the Internet is an important source of information. Even thesedistinctions are very broad, since there are enormous varieties within any basickind of reading preference. For example, Sara doesnt like to read all works of fic-tion. She has particular kinds of books and specific authors that she enjoys morethan others, and these preferences change periodically. She is influenced by herfriends and by what the librarian highlights as new and interesting. A look at herreading log for the past 3 years illustrates her range of reading. Her favorite au-thors have changed periodically. Three years ago she read several books by BeverlyCleary. The next year she indicated that her favorite was E. L. Konigsburg. Thenshe discovered Cynthia Voigt, and she continues to read from this authors series.Sara does not like adventure or animal stories but regularly selects contemporaryrealistic fiction about children, especially when it involves issues with which she


can identify and make personal connections. Luckily Sara has had teachers and li-brarians who have listened to her and helped her find the right books for her in-terests and abilities. They have also tried to broaden her reading interests and tointroduce her to books set in other places and times, as well as books in other gen-res (e.g., fantasy and historical fiction).

Recognizing the variety of interests these good readers have underscores theneed to provide a broad range of materials for reading instruction. We know chil-dren learn to love reading when they find their own interests and themselvesrepresented in the materials they read. There are materials available at all gradelevels on a wide range of topics. One of our responsibilities as teachers is to makesure that our selection includes some of each students favorites.

Many children have not had experiences that make them love reading. Forthese children who are not as interested in reading as those described above, theneed to take time to help link their interests to reading is even more important.We, as teachers, need to listen to our students and find some clear entry points fortheir reading. We can do this in several ways. We can confer with children abouttheir interests and find connections between these interests and print materials. Wecan use interest inventories that help students identify their own experiences andpreferences. We can read to children from a variety of materials and pique theircuriosity about the world of literature and language. Most important, we can lis-ten to and watch our students to find the right moments to connect them withreading materials. During the Olympics children generally get excited about thesports and about particular athletes. One whole school decided to learn about andfollow the Olympic events. Children selected the athletes and events they wantedto study, and a daily TV news program was developed by the students to sharetheir informative reporting. During the devastating tornado season of 2008, sev-eral teachers used this current event to introduce children to books and news arti-cles about tornadoes, and many became engrossed in reading and learning. Whenone family had a new baby, another teacher found two books that helped ease thechilds apprehensions and emphasized the wonder and mystery of new life. By lis-tening carefully to students, we teachers can bring interests and print together forchildren.

Like Carloss teacher, we must not only recognize students preferences buthelp them expand the range of genres and materials they read through exposureand motivational experiences in our classrooms. We can do this in many ways.Some teachers have a list of genres they use each year and build units aroundthem. Others have students independently select books and materials to read froma genre wheel and guide students to read from a wide variety of materials. Stillother teachers do book talks and bring in interesting materials regularly to showstudents all the varieties of materials available. In many schools the librarians arewonderful resources in helping students expand their reading. They, too, often dobook talks and introduce students to the range of materials available on whatever


topic is selected. Librarians have been known to find just the right book for justthe right occasion almost miraculously!

We address this whole topic of selection of materials for instruction morefully in a later chapter, but there are some basic considerations that we can hold inmind. First, because children have such varied interests, we need to make a widevariety of high-quality materials available to our students. This means that weneed to introduce these materials to students and help them find their own prefer-ences. Then we need to extend those preferences and deepen them. A majorunderutilized source of reading material is childrens magazines. If we think of ouradult reading, we often spend more time reading magazines and newspapers thanany other materials. Second, many current materials include a high proportion ofthe content presented in visual formin pictures, charts, cartoons, graphs, or ta-bles. Publishers have shifted the ways they present information in response to themuch more visual orientation and short span of childrens interests. How do weread these texts where much of the content is presented in captions and dia-grams? We need to help children become familiar with reading in this new mode,where attention to visual presentation of ideas is central to the comprehension ofthe whole text. Books like The Magic School Bus series are illustrative of this newtype of presentation.

Children also need to learn to read from and with multiple sources on thesame topic if they are to be successful in our society. With so many interesting in-formational books now available to young readers, as well as so much material onthe Internet, we need to help children get in the habit of reading several sources toverify and clarify information. None of the information on the Internet has beenreviewed for accuracy in the way material printed in books is. Any point of viewor idea can be included on a website that children may find. Therefore, they needto learn to check information in multiple sources and to evaluate the more author-itative ones. We suggest ways to do this in Chapter 8 of this book. The habit ofreading more than one source is also valuable when reading fiction. Comparinghow different authors handle the same topics or themes gives young readers adeeper understanding of and respect for point of view and perspective in humanexperience, as well as commonalities across cultures.

Readers Preferences in Styles of Engagement

The readers described above all have differences in the ways they engage best withprint, in addition to their obvious preferences in genres and in kinds of materials.Some students fall into their books and become part of whatever the author hascreated, like our reader Sara. During silent sustained reading she loses herself inher reading and seems to forget where she is. Others in the class notice her facialresponses to her reading; sometimes she even gasps or laughs audibly. Books takeher places!


For other students, like Carlos, time at home is best for getting involveddeeply in longer books. In class, he does best when focused on a text with a read-ing guide to help him. The noises and movements in the classroom distract himeasily and he doesnt seem to have the same total identification with what he readsthat characterizes Sara. Ken needs a computer at hand to pull together his ideas,and he doesnt seem as willing to lose himself in his reading. He stays outside butis very aware of what happens. Some of the other readers engage more deeply byusing other senses. Maria needs to draw, and LaToya needs to turn things intorhyme and poetry, to comprehend print material fully and deeply. So not only dowe teachers need different materials for such students, we need some options forreading and responding to print, even when the students are reading core books orworking with a core text. Becoming engaged as a readerunderstanding deeplyand feeling the ideasmeans different things for different readers.

Different social arrangements also come into play with our students learning.Sara likes time alone and enjoys responding in her own journal to what she reads,though she is happy to be part of a response group after she is all done reading if itis a book she likes. Ken like to work in a group but focuses on being the leader, asdoes Carlos. These boys are good leaders, and other students generally followtheir ideas and dont challenge their ideas much. When challenges do occur, theycan create some tension in the groups, so their teachers are careful both to makethe rules for small-group discussion and projects clear and to monitor the stu-dents participation. LaToya and Nikki like to be active group members, and bothshare and listen well. LaToya helps draw others into the discussions by giving en-couraging feedback when ideas are shared. Both girls like opportunities to createshort dramas and Readers Theater productions, and enjoy being part of a per-forming group. These children like having their performances and quick word playappreciated, and they need an audience for their efforts. Maria, by contrast, is an-other solitary learner who likes to get lost in her picture books. The pace of classdiscussions often causes her to fall behind and get frustrated, though she does liketo partner with Nikki when they have chosen the same book. Jamie hardly everdemonstrates his understanding of what he reads well in a group setting. Hisword-processed papers and responses are much better reflections of his under-standing and appreciation. He is likely in a group to try to do other work of hisown, or just to drift off.

The ways teachers organize classroom activities and opportunities make a dif-ference in how the students grow in their comprehension, too. We see how ourgood readers learn from and with each other. Ken helps others learn about thecomputer and how to use it to build knowledge and check their ideas against othersources. His ease with the computer helps others enjoy this form of learning. Be-cause his teacher encourages students to work together and learn from each other,he has become a real resource. Students learn that they can value each other anddo not have to depend solely on the teacher. In LaToyas classroom many visitors


come and share their ideas about books. By hearing older students and adults wholike reading talk about their experiences and favorites, the students acquire modelsfor their own developing tastes and for their identification as parts of a literatecommunity. The school itself has a commitment to visible literacy, and eversince she was in the primary grades LaToya has enjoyed adults and older studentswho share their own reading. She even remembers a policeman who read to themin first grade. Each year the third graders have a special day when they dress uplike their favorite book characters. The younger and older students get to guesswho they are and can ask questions about the characters as the third graders visiteach class. All of these experiences help create a community where reading andcomprehending are valued and enjoyed. LaToya and her fellow students havelearned a great deal from these regular shared experiences.

These students, like all others, have preferences in how they engage with otherstudents in class. Some do better with discussion and verbal exchanges, some pre-fer individual engagement, and some need more teacher guidance and direct expla-nation. Their stamina and attention span for reading also vary; some need to bemore physically active or socially engaged to make reading meaningful. So in agood-comprehension classroomthat is, a classroom where the teacher is en-suring that all students can develop their ability to read and comprehend withconfidencevarious groupings for learning must exist, both to let students workwhere they are strong and to help them develop new skills and stamina. Eventhough students clearly have preferences, a teachers job is both to honor thesepreferences and to broaden the students horizons. All students need to know howto become self-regulating readers. There will always be times when students mustdo work or read alone. Readers also must know how to participate in group dis-cussion and work together. They will comprehend more fully as they learn to lis-ten to classmates, extend discussion by sharing personal ideas, and participatepositively in exchanges. Even the opportunity to summarize what one has read(like telling about a TV program or movie one has seen) is important, and this skillimproves with practice. Oral reading, dramatic reading, and forms of interpreta-tion provide powerful ways to help students connect the emotions and perspectiveof characters. Therefore, in teaching we must assess how our students engage mostnaturally and easily with reading, and we must support all of our students so theycan feel comfortable and confident when operating in many ways as readers in andoutside our classrooms.

Strategies Readers Possess

The students we have described vary in the types of strategies they employ whenengaging with print material, just as they vary in the kinds of materials they like toread regularly. They are also in the process of developing different repertoires ofstrategies to fit different reading needs, purposes, and materials. Sara has a good


understanding of story structure and characters and can engage personally andemotionally with a story. Her discussion skills and social sensitivity in discussionare well developed, and as a reader she identifies with adults, such as the librarianshe admires. She is limited sometimes in her work with nonfiction and class text-books. Both her lack of motivation in these areas and her possible lack of skillsneed to be recognized and worked with, so she can become a fuller reader.

Ken sees the big picture in his work. He can formulate questions and orga-nize information from many sources to answer his own questions. He has alsolearned to create graphics that depict the relationships among ideas; he seems towork well with images. We dont know whether he uses these same imaging andorganizing strategies when he reads fiction. He may, but his teachers need to findout more about ways to connect his various interests and extend his strategic pro-cessing. He is good at leading his group in inquiry and so has developed ways todescribe what he does and how to engage others in the process. This probablymeans that he is developing metacognitive control over his reading.

Unlike Ken, Jamie focuses on details. He loves to amass esoteric informationon all sorts of topics. However, he needs instruction on seeing the overall ways inwhich these details connect. His teacher is using graphic organizers to help roundout his comprehension and also is focusing the critical reading of websites.

Carlos excels at school task reading. He has learned from instruction how tomap chapters and apply this strategy to textbook learning. His basic comprehen-sion is always strong. Hes a good student and learns quickly, but he needs adultor teacher input to get moving. He is just beginning to develop interest in andawareness of the fictional genres that are already familiar to his classmates. Underhis teachers guidance, he is now making more personal connections to what hereads and thinking of authors as people who share ideas. Carlos has also learnedthe importance of rereading when using printed material to perform tasks. Heknows how to fix up his understanding when something does not make sense;he has learned to ask his parents for help. Now the teacher wants to find outwhether he can turn to other resources (e.g., glossaries and dictionaries) to clarifyideas on his own.

LaToya and Nikki thrive on word play and performance but are less patientwith genres that dont lend themselves to this exploration. Like Maria, they re-spond best to shorter text, shorter assignments, and opportunities to transformstandard texts into nontraditional formats. They can use this interest in creatingtheir own texts as a way of reviewing key ideas they read in other textbooks andstories. LaToya also makes personal connections with what she reads. Her habitof writing about her reading in her personal journal is a powerful strategy that shecan elaborate on as she grows as a reader.

These students illustrate why we as teachers must provide instruction on read-ing comprehension strategies that can be applied to many different types of mate-rials, and must continually guide even good readers to broaden their strategies to


meet the many needs of contemporary literacy. Ken cant always be the leader;Sara needs to deal with informational material, not just poetry or pictures. All thereaders must deal with the structure and vocabulary of many genre and content ar-eas. Our first task as teachers is to determine what strategies students use regularlyand successfully and then to develop an instructional program that broadens theirrepertoires of strategies to include those useful for the major purposes of reading.

Good readers approach reading actively. First, we prepare before actually let-ting our eyes fall on the page. We reflect generally on the kind of material we areabout to read. We think of the genre; perhaps something about the author has at-tracted us to the text. We may read the books dust jacket and think about thesummary provided there. We begin to activate our own information and experi-ences connected to the text. In this generally very rapid prereading activity, wealso begin to form questions that will guide our reading: What is Diceys problem?Where did the Great Pyramids come from? When did South Africa begin apart-heid, and what really brought it to an end? What do girls in Native communities inCanada do to indicate their maturity? What teams won the games last night? Howcan we really deal with conflicts in our families among siblings? These are justbrief examples of the kinds of questions that come to us as we begin to read.

The second general phase of reading occurs as we connect with the words andillustrations provided by the author. At this time, we are actively connecting ideaswhile reading and monitoring the meaning-making process. We connect ideasacross sentences and paragraphs; we form images and predict where the author istaking us. We revise our ideas as we take in new information. When there is confu-sion, we may engage in ways of fixing up problems so that comprehension isongoing.

During and after reading, we readers engage in reflection about what we haveread. We usually connect it to other texts, events, and experiences in our own life.We reflect on the authors point of view and compare it with other experiences wehave had: Does this make sense? Are there other ways of describing, explaining, orinterpreting this? In this process we both summarize, reflect, and extend what wehave read, making the act of reading our own and using what we have gained in amore global way.

An active, constructive process characterizes most reading. However, specificstrategies are particularly suited to specific materials and purposes. For example,reading for a course in which where there will be an examination of the depth ofour mastery of the material we may need to employ strategies that deepen our un-derstanding and memory. In some cases, visualizing what we read helps create adeeper understanding. In other cases, underlining with a pen and/or making notesin the margin or on a separate sheet of paper helps us sort out very dense texts andcreate a sense of the relatedness of different parts. If there are many characters in anovel, then keeping a chart of names, relationships, and so on can deepen thereading. Rereading, note making, and rehearsing key ideas are just a few strategies


for absorbing difficult content. Students need to know how and know when to usestrategies that are most appropriate for particular tasks and materials. As teachers,we cannot simply define what our students already do well or what we like toteach. We need to have a clear sense of the range of strategies all readers shouldhave at their disposal and to ensure that our students develop these. We need tobegin with where our students are, and then to extend their strategic knowledgeuntil they are competent with multiple types of texts and the various purposes forwhich we read.

Later in this book, we describe in detail several very useful strategies studentscan develop to increase their effectiveness as comprehenders. These include brain-storming and predicting before reading, visualizing, making maps and graphic or-ganizers during reading, various forms of note making, writing two-column notesand double-entry journals, and many more. The number of ways to describe thisactive reading process is almost overwhelming, and most of us find some strategieswe prefer over others to use in our teaching. What is most important is that weshare with students the nature of reading in its multiple forms and purposes, andthat we help them develop a repertoire of powerful strategies so reading is enjoy-able and they comprehend successfully. The range of teaching strategies is greatand is needed to motivate and interest the range of students in our classes. How-ever, the number of actual reading comprehension strategies students need is muchsmaller.

Looking to the Future

When we think about our students as readers, we begin with a description ofwhere they are today in their development. We also need to look ahead to see whatand how they will need to read in the future. This leads us to an exploration of thevarious purposes for reading. A look at materials used for reading instruction overthe last few decades points out that we have often depended on enjoyment of liter-ature and practice with narratives to become good readers. Now there are so manydifferent varieties of reading, and so many everyday demands, that we must go be-yond narratives. Studies of the range of reading done by adults and students dem-onstrates that less than 25% of reading is done in narrative texts (Snowball,1995). So, as teachers, we must extend what comes naturally to usteaching withstories and pieces of literature that exemplify many forms of reading, so that stu-dents develop competence with multiple literacies. The range of interests in a nor-mal classroom lends itself to this extension, because students bring so many pref-erences with them.

As teachers, we need to look at students preferences in reading but also toconsider the big picture. What counts as literacy in todays society, and whatkinds of uses do adults make of reading? From this forward look, it is apparent


that literacy fulfills personal goals (pleasure, expression, confirmation of beliefsand religious values, etc.) and also is crucial for daily life (work, interactions athome) and for civic activities (political action, etc.). One of the clearest shifts inreading comes from the technological revolution in the use of the computer. In-creasingly, much information and many business and personal communicationscome from interactions on computers. Readers will do well to be selectiveto de-termine what sources and websites and what aspects of more general topics theywant to pursue, and to think critically about what they are gaining in information.

When we think ahead to what children will need to be able to do in secondaryschool and postsecondary education, then our priorities have to include reading tolearn. They must be able to comprehend very densely written and abstract mate-rial in a wide range of content areas. This leads us to know that we must helpyoung readers develop strategies for dealing with textbooks, tables of contents,maps, and other simple book resources. We must also help them learn to use a va-riety of expository texts, functional materials, and sets of directions. Comprehen-sion takes on new dimensions when we think of these reading challenges. At upperlevels, most of us teachers assume that students can comprehend the basic ideas oftexts; what we want is more thinking. We want problem solving and critical re-sponses to ideas; we want students who can form interpretations and defend them.We lay the foundations for this in elementary and middle school, but the fruits ofour efforts come throughout life.

Recognition of a broad view of reading comes from many sources and is re-flected in the newer forms of national standardized assessments, especially the Na-tional Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Most large-scale assessmentsnow have passages that require the reading of narrative, poetry, informationaltexts, and functional reading (reading to perform a task). This broader definitionof reading is also reflected in most state standards and related assessments. Thesepublic documents include the expectation that students will be able to read andconstruct meaning from individual pieces of text, to combine ideas across texts(intertextuality), and then to think critically about what they read. In states likeMichigan and Illinois, some test items on the state assessments require students toinclude open-ended writing in their responses. In addition, several states include intheir standards and some in their assessments expectations that students not onlywill read in more traditional ways but will be able to use technological resources,to select appropriate materials, and to create meaningful products as a result oftheir research and reading. (Two Illinois state goals, with standards that reflectthese expectations, are presented in Figures 1.2 and 1.3. Figure 1.4 is VirginiasGrade Four standards.) Other state assessments, like those in Maryland, have rec-ognized the need to use information and have created problem-solving tasks forgroups of children to engage in over a period of 1 week as part of their state evalu-ation. So, whereas we teachers have traditionally looked at reading in elementaryschools as primarily being for enjoyment, we now have to develop more functional



STATE GOAL 1: Read with understanding and fluency.

Why This Goal Is Important: Reading is essential. It is the process by which people gaininformation and ideas from books, newspapers, manuals, letters, contracts, advertisementsand a host of other materials. Using strategies for constructing meaning before, during andafter reading will help students connect what they read now with what they have learned inthe past. Students who read well and widely build a strong foundation for learning in all areasof life.

A. Apply word analysis and vocabulary skills to comprehend selections.

EARLYELEMENTARY LATE ELEMENTARY

MIDDLE/JUNIORHIGH SCHOOL

EARLY HIGHSCHOOL

LATE HIGHSCHOOL

1.A.1a Applyword analysisskills (e.g., pho-nics, word pat-terns) torecognize newwords.

1.A.2a Read andcomprehendunfamiliar wordsusing root words,synonyms, ant-onyms, word ori-gins andderivations.

1.A.3a Applyknowledge ofword origins andderivations tocomprehendwords used inspecific contentareas (e.g., sci-entific, political,literary, mathe-matical).

1.A.4a Expandknowledge ofword origins andderivations anduse idioms, anal-ogies, metaphorsand similes toextend vocabu-lary develop-ment.

1.A.5a Identifyand analyzenew terminologyapplying knowl-edge of wordorigins and deri-vations in a vari-ety of practicalsettings.

1.A.1b Compre-hend unfamiliarwords using con-text clues andprior knowledge;verify meaningswith resourcematerials.

1.A.2b Clarifyword meaningusing contextclues and a vari-ety of resourcesincluding glossa-ries, dictionariesand thesauruses.

1.A.3b Analyzethe meaning ofwords andphrases in theircontext.

1.A.4b Comparethe meaning ofwords andphrases and useanalogies toexplain the rela-tionships amongthem.

1.A.5b Analyzethe meaning ofabstract con-cepts and theeffects of partic-ular word andphrase choices.

B. Apply reading strategies to improve understanding and fluency.



EARLY HIGHSCHOOL

LATE HIGHSCHOOL

1.B.1a Establishpurposes forreading, makepredictions, con-nect importantideas, and linktext to previousexperiences andknowledge.

1.B.2a Establishpurposes forreading; surveymaterials; askquestions; makepredictions; con-nect, clarify andextend ideas.

1.B.3a Previewreading materi-als, make predic-tions and relatereading to infor-mation fromother sources.

1.B.4a Previewreading materi-als, clarify mean-ing, analyzeoverall themesand coherence,and relate read-ing with informa-tion from othersources.

1.B.5a Relatereading to priorknowledge andexperience andmake connec-tions to relatedinformation.

(continued)

FIGURE 1.2. Illinois state goal 1 for English and language arts, and its accompanyingstandards. From Illinois State Department of Education (2007). Copyright 19972008,Illinois State Board of Education, reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.


1.B.1b Identifygenres (formsand purposes) offiction, nonfic-tion, poetry andelectronic literaryforms.

1.B.2b Identifystructure (e.g.,description, com-pare/contrast,cause andeffect,sequence) ofnonfiction textsto improve com-prehension.

1.B.3b Identifytext structureand create avisual representa-tion (e.g.,graphic orga-nizer, outline,drawing) to usewhile reading.

1.B.4b Analyze,interpret andcompare a vari-ety of texts forpurpose, struc-ture, content,detail andeffect.

1.B.5b Analyzethe definingcharacteristicsand structures ofa variety ofcomplex literarygenres anddescribe howgenre affects themeaning andfunction of thetexts.

1.B.1c Continu-ously check andclarify for under-standing (e.g.,reread, readahead, usevisual and con-text clues, askquestions, retell,use meaningfulsubstitutions).

1.B.2c Continu-ously check andclarify for under-standing (e.g., inaddition to previ-ous skills, clarifyterminology,seek additionalinformation).

1.B.3c Continu-ously check andclarify for under-standing (e.g., inaddition to previ-ous skills, drawcomparisons toother readings).

1.B.4c Readage-appropriatematerial with flu-ency and accu-racy.

1.B.5c Evaluatea variety ofcompositions forpurpose, struc-ture, contentand details foruse in school orat work.

1.B.1d Readage-appropriatematerial aloudwith fluency andaccuracy.

1.B.2d Readage-appropriatematerial aloudwith fluency andaccuracy.

1.B.3d Readage-appropriatematerial with flu-ency and accu-racy.

1.B.5d Readage-appropriatematerial with flu-ency and accu-racy.

C. Comprehend a broad range of reading materials.



EARLY HIGHSCHOOL

LATE HIGHSCHOOL

1.C.1a Use infor-mation to formquestions andverify predictions.

1.C.2a Use infor-mation to formand refine ques-tions and predic-tions.

1.C.3a Use infor-mation to form,explain and sup-port questionsand predictions.

1.C.4a Use ques-tions and predic-tions to guidereading.

1.C.5a Use ques-tions and predic-tions to guidereading acrosscomplex materi-als.

1.C.1b Identifyimportantthemes and top-ics.

1.C.2b Makeand supportinferences andform interpreta-tions about mainthemes and top-ics.

1.C.3b Interpretand analyzeentire narrativetext using storyelements, pointof view andtheme.

1.C.4b Explainand justify aninterpretation ofa text.

1.C.5b Analyzeand defend aninterpretation oftext.

1.C.1c Makecomparisonsacross readingselections.

1.C.2c Compareand contrast thecontent andorganization ofselections.

1.C.3c Com-pare, contrastand evaluateideas and infor-mation from vari-ous sources andgenres.

1.C.4c Interpret,evaluate andapply informa-tion from a vari-ety of sources toother situations(e.g., academic,vocational, tech-nical, personal).

1.C.5c Criticallyevaluate infor-mation from mul-tiple sources.

FIGURE 1.2. (continued)

reading that takes in all of the various purposes for which our students read nowand will need to read in the future.

At the same time that reading assessments are changing to reflect new expec-tations, the national educational standards movement has also embraced a broadsense of what is important for good readers to be able to accomplish. Across theUnited States, groups of educators have spent a great deal of time discussing whatis most important for students to know and to be able to do. The results of thesediscussions have been written in statements of standards and then benchmarks ei-ther at specific grade levels or for a few grades at a time. (For example, in Illinois,we have established benchmarks for the early elementary/primary level, up to andincluding grade 3; the intermediate level, for grades 36; and the middle/juniorhigh level, for grades 68.)

As we worked to develop state standards, we had long discussions about theintermingling of process in Illinois statements (e.g., make predictions) and con-tent or outcome statements (e.g., understand basic concepts or identify basicstructure of the text). We also felt that students should be aware of their ownprogress in making sense of text. Successful readers need this ability to self-monitor and to engage in effective fix-up strategies. Finally, we chunked manyof our specific ideas under three key standards: comprehend, read strategi-


1.C.1d Summa-rize content ofreading materialusing text organi-zation (e.g.,story, sequence).

1.C.2d Summa-rize and makegeneralizationsfrom contentand relate topurpose ofmaterial.

1.C.3d Summa-rize and makegeneralizationsfrom contentand relate themto the purposeof the material.



1.C.1e Identifyhow authors andillustrators expresstheir ideas in textand graphics(e.g., dialogue,conflict, shape,color, charac-ters).

1.C.2e Explainhow authors andillustrators usetext and art toexpress theirideas (e.g.,points of view,design hues,metaphor).

1.C.3e Comparehow authors andillustrators usetext and artacross materialsto express theirideas (e.g., fore-shadowing, flash-backs, color,strong verbs, lan-guage thatinspires).

1.C.4e Analyzehow authors andillustrators usetext and art toexpress andemphasize theirideas (e.g.,imagery, multiplepoints of view).

1.C.5e Evaluatehow authors andillustrators usetext and artacross materialsto express theirideas (e.g., com-plex dialogue,persuasive tech-niques).

1.C.1f Use infor-mation pre-sented in simpletables, mapsand charts toform an interpre-tation.

1.C.2f Connectinformation pre-sented in tables,maps and chartsto printed orelectronic text.

1.C.3f Interprettables that dis-play textual infor-mation and datain visual formats.

1.C.4f Interprettables, graphsand maps inconjunction withrelated text.

1.C.5f Use tables,graphs andmaps to chal-lenge argu-ments, defendconclusions andpersuade others.



(continued)

FIGURE 1.3. Illinois state goal 5 for English and language arts, and its accompanyingstandards. From Illinois State Department of Education (2007).

STATE GOAL 5: Use the language arts to acquire, assess and communicate information.

Why This Goal Is Important: To be successful in school and in the world of work, students mustbe able to use a wide variety of information resources (written, visual and electronic). Theymust also know how to frame questions for inquiry, identify and organize relevant informationand communicate it effectively in a variety of formats. These skills are critical in school acrossall learning areas and are key to successful career and lifelong learning experiences.

A. Locate, organize, and use information from various sources to answer questions, solveproblems and communicate ideas.



EARLY HIGHSCHOOL

LATE HIGHSCHOOL

5.A.1a Identifyquestions andgather informa-tion.

5.A.2a Formulatequestions andconstruct a basicresearch plan.

5.A.3a Identifyappropriateresources tosolve problemsor answer ques-tions throughresearch.

5.A.4a Demon-strate a knowl-edge ofstrategiesneeded to pre-pare a credibleresearch report(e.g., notes,planning sheets).

5.A.5a Developa research planusing multipleforms of data.

5.A.1b Locateinformation usinga variety ofresources.

5.A.2b Organizeand integrateinformation froma variety ofsources (e.g.,books, interviews,library referencematerials, web-sites, CD/ROMs).

5.A.3b Design aproject relatedto contemporaryissues (e.g., real-world math,career develop-ment, commu-nity service)using multiplesources.

5.A.4b Designand present aproject (e.g.,research report,scientific study,career/highereducationopportunities)using various for-mats from multi-ple sources.

5.A.5b Research,design and pres-ent a project toan academic,business orschool commu-nity audience ona topic selectedfrom amongcontemporaryissues.

B. Analyze and evaluate information acquired from various sources.



EARLY HIGHSCHOOL

LATE HIGHSCHOOL

5.B.1a Selectand organizeinformation fromvarious sourcesfor a specificpurpose.

5.B.2a Determinethe accuracy,currency andreliability ofmaterials fromvarious sources.

5.B.3a Chooseand analyzeinformationsources for indi-vidual, aca-demic andfunctional pur-poses.

5.B.4a Chooseand evaluateprimary and sec-ondary sources(print andnonprint) for avariety of pur-poses.

5.B.5a Evaluatethe usefulness ofinformation, syn-thesize informa-tion to support athesis, and pres-ent informationin a logical man-ner in oral andwritten forms.


5.B.1b Citesources used.

5.B.2b Citesources used.

5.B.3b Identify,evaluate andcite primarysources.

5.B.4b Use multi-ple sources andmultiple formats;cite accordingto standard stylemanuals.

5.B.5b Credit pri-mary and sec-ondary sourcesin a form appro-priate for presen-tation orpublication for aparticular audi-ence.

C. Apply acquired information, concepts and ideas to communicate in a variety of formats.



EARLY HIGHSCHOOL

LATE HIGHSCHOOL

5.C.1a Write let-ters, reports andstories based onacquired infor-mation.

5.C.2a Create avariety of printand nonprintdocuments tocommunicateacquired infor-mation for spe-cific audiencesand purposes.

5.C.3a Plan,compose, editand revise docu-ments that syn-thesize newmeaninggleaned frommultiple sources.

5.C.4a Plan,compose, editand revise infor-mation (e.g.,brochures, formalreports, propos-als, researchsummaries, anal-yses, editorials,articles, over-heads, multime-dia displays) forpresentation toan audience.

5.C.5a Usingcontemporarytechnology, cre-ate a researchpresentation orprepare a docu-mentary relatedto academic,technical oroccupationaltopics and pres-ent the findingsin oral or multi-media formats.

5.C.1b Use print,nonprint, humanand technologi-cal resources toacquire and useinformation.

5.C.2b Prepareand deliver oralpresentationsbased on inquiryor research.

5.C.3b Prepareand orally pres-ent original work(e.g., poems,monologues,reports, plays,stories) sup-ported byresearch.

5.C.4b Produceoral presenta-tions and writtendocuments usingsupportiveresearch andincorporatingcontemporarytechnology.

5.C.5b Supportand defend athesis statementusing various ref-erences includ-ing media andelectronicresources.

5.C.3c Takenotes, conductinterviews, orga-nize and reportinformation inoral, visual andelectronic for-mats.

5.C.4c Preparefor and partici-pate in formaldebates.



FIGURE 1.4. Virginia state standards document.

cally, and use word analysis and decoding skills. However, we also knew thathow readers use their reading abilities is critical. We crafted another standard forinquiry and research, indicating our recognition that readers read differently whenthey want to find information to create some persuasive or informative product.Because multimedia presentations are a key to successful communication, we em-bedded use of technology in how students access and present information. Individ-ual districts are also concerned that students develop and use technology in theirliteracy experiences. (See Figure 1.5 for an example of a local districts standardsin this area.)

In reviewing other states standards, we have found many similarities. No lon-ger is reading a single narrative all that we want students to be able to do. Readingacross different texts, reading critically, and reading that enables students to syn-thesize and represent ideas are all important comprehension outcomes. This cer-tainly does raise the stakes in literacy. There is also new emphasis on the processes


FIGURE 1.5. An example of a local districts standards for development and use of tech-nology in literacy experiences. Used by permission of Northbrook (Illinois) District 27.

Technology Scope and Sequence6-7-8

Keyboarding

Locate Home Row Use two hands when typing Type 20 wpm in keyboarding program Consistently use Home Row

Painting/Drawing

Use the floor fill (paint bucket) Use the pencil tool Create rectangles/ovals Resize/scale graphic Use the paintbrush/adjust paintbrush

size Save/retrieve paint or draw document Know the difference between paint

and draw Import a graphic into a paint/draw

program Use group/ungroup/lock/unlock

Multimedia (MM)

Understand purpose of multimedia Add test to MM presentation Import/create graphics to enhance

MM presentation

Add sound to MM presentation Add motion to MM presentation

Telecommunications

Navigate the Internet with use of abrowser

Perform search for specific information Understand acceptable-use policy Understand modem vs. network

connection Compose e-mail Retrieve e-mail Send e-mail

Research Tools

Use electronic research tools Use an online catalog Gather data with computerized sensory

measuring devices (probes) Evaluate the value, authority, and

quality of reference resource Choose most appropriate reference

sources Use appropriate search techniques to

search for information (CD-ROMs, Web)

of reading, matching strategies with text structure and purpose, and demonstrat-ing comprehension in a variety of waysfrom recognition of important authorideas to interpretation and application of these ideas in new forms. Many also in-clude critical evaluation of ideas and the creative use of information in new ways.

Workplaces also require literate performance and have become concerned inrecent years about the level of literacy of high school graduates. As an indicationof their concern about the preparation needed for workers in the future, they havecreated statements of what they think citizens need to be able to do. The SCANSReport (U.S. Department of Labor, 1991) (developed to reflect business needs)emphasizes that we must prepare citizens for the work force who can communi-cate, solve problems, work on teams, and read and think critically. This reportstresses that our society will need young people who can identify problems, askappropriate questions, locate resources and information, and formulate and testsolutions to the problems. The ability to communicate effectively what they find isalso valuable.

Think about what you consider essential for your students to do well if theyare to be good comprehenders. Are their personal selection of reading materialsand engagement in reading important? Is the ability to discuss with others whatthey like about a story essential? Is flexible vocabulary development one of yourconcerns? Where does the use of informational, especially expository, text enterinto your expectations? Do you watch for and evaluate strategy use and flexibilityin your young readers? Do you expect your students to be able to monitor theirown comprehension and correct themselves when meaning goes awry?

Putting It All Together

We have begun our book by focusing on particular students in classrooms andthen have introduced the perspective of the larger society, with an emphasis onhow standards and assessment demands are changing. We want to get you to thinkabout the richness and complexity of the terms good reader and goodcomprehender from both of these important perspectives. As teachers, we alwaysneed to balance what we know about children and their individual developmentwith what we know about the social context and expectations in which they liveand grow. Our jobs are to create classrooms in which both perspectives are re-flected. By thinking of the larger picturethe picture of the world beyond the indi-vidual learnerwe can make wiser decisions about the use of our time and theways we scaffold for learning. Our vision becomes clearer.

As teachers, we must think about our students as individuals, too. We hopethat the students described in this chapter can help us focus on the need to thinkabout the wide variety in the individuals we want to nurture and help develop intocompetent and flexible readers and thoughtful members of society. As we have


looked at some typical good comprehenders, we have recognized both their com-monalities and their differences. We have discussed these as differences in prefer-ences for materials, differences in engagement, and differences in strategies. Werealize that all these students are likely to be found in any one classroom. This va-riety does not mean that for us as teachers, the task is an impossible one. Rather, itmeans that in an organized and planned curriculum, we need to account for eachof these issues and to plan for variety.

As we recognize individuality and honor it in how we provide activities in theclassroom, we also know that part of our role as teachers is to extend our stu-dents knowledge and skills to ensure their success in the future. We need to beginby discovering the different preferences of our students, and then find materialsthat will stimulate them to read more deeply in their areas of interest. We alsoneed to extend their reading to a much broader range of materials and genres. Wemust observe students preferred styles of engaging with reading, noting where andhow they read most effectively and how they like to share their responses to theirreading. When these varieties are made public within the classroom, all studentscan learn from each other and develop a more flexible repertoire of styles of en-gagement. As teachers, we also need to watch our students to determine whatstrategies they use while reading. These strengths can then be built on both indi-vidually and for the whole class. New strategies can be introduced to extend stu-dents successes with the broadening range and difficulty of print materials andbooks students encounter in literacy-rich classrooms.

Teachers regularly do a great deal to create reading comprehension programsthat work for their own students. Much of this comes almost automatically after afew years of experience. At first it may seem overwhelming. We hope it wont feelthat way for long! Focusing on major priorities and involving the students in creat-ing their own reading programs can make teaching a most exciting and enjoyablecollaboration. The books, newspapers, technological resources, and magazinesavailable today are outstanding. To make our task more manageable in this book,we have focused on the three major dimensions of program planning that corre-spond to the three aspects of differences among readers.

The first dimension of planning is providing a rich variety of materials. InChapter 3 we provide practical examples of ways in which your materials collec-tion can provide the appropriate variety for your students. This doesnt necessarilydemand a bigger budget, just a wiser way of thinking about what you purchaseand how to locate other resources. A good thing to remember is that a teacherdoesnt need to teach directly with all these materials. Building in self-selectionand personal reading time ensures that students will be exposed to a variety of ma-terials. Teacher-guided instruction can expose them to the genres that are appro-priate for each age level.

The second dimension is to consider varieties of engagement with text. Weknow that students vary in their preferences. What we as teachers need to do is to


scaffold their learning so that they can become effective in a few key structures.These should include individual reading, such as that done in sustained silent read-ing or in Readers Workshop. The students also need to participate in paired andsmall-group reading experiences. And, finally, they need to participate in teacher-guided reading on a regular basis.

Third, we have seen that students naturally choose from a variety of strategieswhen engaging in reading. Maria makes cartoon notes; LaToya writes down frag-ments in her journal; Ken uses the computer to record; Carlos uses study guides.Classrooms can make use of these naturally chosen strategies by having studentsmake their preferred strategies visible in group work. This also allows teachers tointroduce new strategies that can be effective alternatives and to discuss when apreferred strategy may not be useful in a particular instance. In later chapters, welook at strategic reading in general (Chapter 4) and through specific lenses, as var-ied by genre and purpose.

Purpose is the last issue we have raised in this chapter. Its clear that we allread for our own purposes, and that these are many and varied. For the classroom,we want to look both at purposes that emerge naturally and at those that our cur-riculum and school learning dictate, that match our standards, and that preparekids for the future. This means not only reading literature for personal aestheticresponse, but also reading for information, reading to solve problems, and readingto perform tasks. We also recognize that society and schooling demand their ownpurposes for reading. Therefore, what need to be included in our classrooms arenot only what students themselves have as personal purposes, but also what we aseducators know the students will need to be able to do to successfully negotiatethe variety of reading tasks they encounter as they grow.

Think, now, of what you most want and need to learn. After you read Chap-ter 2, look over the rest of the book and find chapters that will be most helpful asyour starting points. Then fill in additional information and consider alternativessuggested in the book. We hope that as you are reading, you will try the generalideas against what you are doing now. We also hope you will engage in usingsome of the specific teaching ideas with children you are teaching to read well. It isas you make the vision real that comprehension and implementation come to-gether.


CHAPTER 2

A Closer Look at ComprehensionContext, Processes, Strategies, and Instruction

In Chapter 1, we introduced you to a variety of good readers, to illustrate the factthat the term good comprehender is wide enough to describe a variety of differ-ent reading behaviors. Just as we all look a bit different, so each of us puts aslightly different spin on what we understand, based on the experiences webring to reading, our own interests and inclinations, and our strengths and learn-ing styles. But in the same way that, underneath all that surface variety of humanappearance and performance, all human skeletons are organized in a similar way,so the process of reading and big movesthe big strategies that underpin goodcomprehensionhave some similarity. In this chapter (see the graphic organizer inFigure 2.1), we examine the skeleton of comprehensionwhat strategies read-ers need to master for good comprehension. We focus on the strategic and con-structive aspects of our model of reader-based comprehension.

What Carlos, Ken, Jamie, Maria, LaToya, Sara, and Nikki (see Chapter 1) allhave in common are a solid underpinning of reading strategies and the persistenceand stamina to complete their reading tasks, both personal ones and school ones,successfully. Lets look further at Maria to examine the concept of comprehensionas a strategic process in more detail. Maria watched a program on PBS that reallycaptured her interest. It was about the migration of the monarch butterflies toMexico. She became intrigued and went online where she found a lot ofgood information at both the bsi.montana.edu/web/kidsbutterfly/ and the Calla-way Gardens Butterfuly Center at www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Multimedia.jsp?id=m-3977. She also went to her school library and found the books Mon-archs (Lasky, 1993) and The Life Cycle of a Butterfly (Kalman & Reiach, 2002) inher classroom library. As she read, she enjoyed the texts and pictures, which con-

25

firmed what she had learned on TV and added new knowledge to what she had al-ready learned. She developed a personal interest as she constructed her ownknowledge base. She thus became engaged in the process of learning about but-terflies. Engagement has several characteristics: motivation, purpose, skills andstrategies, knowledge, and self-regulation. It is also a social activity as well as anindividual one. Lets look at each as we think about Maria.

Comprehension Is Motivated and Purposeful

Maria started looking for books on butterflies every time she went to the library,and her fascination made it easy for her family and friends to buy her birthday


Resource LocatorStrategies and Resources Discussed in Chapter 2

Double-Entry Journal p. 31Process Conference p. 32Before-Reading Strategies p. 33During-Reading Strategies p. 34After-Reading Strategies p. 34Word-Learning Strategies pp. 3637Primary Reader Bookmarks pp. 3738Elementary Reader Bookmarks p. 39

FIGURE 2.1. Graphic organizer for Chapter 2.

presents. Soon her room was full of butterfly books and butterfly posters; shewore butterfly clips in her hair and drew butterflies on all her folders. Gradually,as she became a butterfly expert, her questions became more specific. For exam-ple, she decided that she wanted to know more about the monarchs life cycle. InAn Extraordinary Life: The Story of a Monarch Butterfly (Pringle, 1997), shelooked at the table of contents and saw a chapter titled An Extraordinary Life.Rather than thumbing through the whole book, she went immediately to thatchapter and found that it was a detailed description of the monarchs mating hab-its, birth, development, and life cycle. She started looking at the indices of newbooks for this information, and looked on the World Wide Web as well.

Maria began a notebook of drawings, with descriptions of the different typesof butterflies she knew. Her girlfriend, Nikki, started to look at some of the booksand began writing poems with the first letter of each line starting out with a differ-ent variety of butterfly. The two pals were called the butterfly girls by theirclassmates, and they shared some of their learning with the first-grade class whenthey visited their reading buddies in that class. When their own class went on toits next unit, which was on New Zealand, the girls carried over their interest tothis new topic as well.

Thinking about Maria, and the many kids who become hooked on dino-saurs, American Girl dolls, or other topics, we can see that comprehension is aninterest-driven process where the purpose for reading can change over time. Mariahad an interest in what she was reading and had questions she wanted to answer.At first, her question was just to know more. Later her questions became de-tailed, specific, and sophisticated. After reading the Lasky (1993) book and WhereButterflies Grow (Ryder, 1989), she became interested in the monarchs life cycle,leading her to the Pringle (1997) book. Her search process also changed as herpurpose changed. Rather than looking at titles alone, she moved to examining ta-bles of contents for likely chapters and read part of books or determined her ownorder for reading depending on her purpose. Finally, as her interest grew and shewent beyond monarchs to other butterflies, she would consult the index first whenshe wanted information on particular butterflies and moths. Maria, always theartist, also looked for excellent illustrations and gravitated toward books in whichthe illustrations and diagrams carry a significant amount of information, such asAmazing Butterflies and Moths (Still, 1991).

Comprehension Is a Process That Is Constructive

What we have seen Maria doing is what researchers have found most goodcomprehenders do. Comprehension doesnt happen at one point; rather, it is aprocess that takes place over time. During this time, good readers are active inconstructing meaning through the processes of interacting or transacting with

A Closer Look at Comprehension 27

what they read and integrating this knowledge with what they already know(Harvey & Goudvis, 2007; Anderson, Hiebert, Scott, & Wilkinson, 1985; Paris &Oka, 1986; Rosenblatt, 1985). Our knowledge and experiences, as well as ourpresent context, influence how we understand, value, and remember what we read(Pearson, 1985; Rumelhart, 1975). Even perception is affected by knowledge andcontext. If you were shown Figure 2.2 and were then asked, What letter is this?,most likely you would say B. But if the question was What number is this?,then you would probably interpret the same marks on the page as 13. We reactin this way, attributing different meanings to the same physical signs, because ourknowledge is organized into structures called schemata (plural for schema). Aschema is a mental information organizer that helps us make sense of what wesee, hear, or otherwise experience. We fit new information into an existing schema,which also fills in the blanks of what we may not directly perceive. For exam-ple, if you are walking down a street and see a flashing sign La Casa de Ramnover a glass-fronted room with tables, chairs, and flatware, you will probablythink restaurant, activating your schema for restaurant and all your priorknowledge. You know that if you go in, someone will take your order, youll eat,and youll pay for your dinner. Even though no one tells you this directly, activat-ing the restaurant schema allows you to construct this understanding, usingwhat you experience and what you already know.

Schemata are linked as well. La Casa de Ramn will activate your Mexi-can schema, and you wont be expecting Italian food. But schemata are change-able as well. If you go into the Helman Afghan Restaurant, you will find that somecultures use bread, not flatware, to pick up and eat food. So you expand, refine,and change your schemata as well. And, because of our cultural differences, wehave differently tuned schemata that give rise to different predictions and interpre-tations. Sometimes these can lead to misconceptions, as when (after agreeingLets go out to eat) you dress for a fancy French restaurant and your date showsup to take you to Ye Local Greasy Spoon.

But lets go back to Maria and her butterfly learning. First we can think aboutthe process Maria was engaged in. Her comprehension was a result of buildingknowledge, reading actively for specific purposes, and doing something with herknowledge. The process of full comprehension involved her in strategic actions be-fore, during, and after reading. Before reading, she formulated some questions and


FIGURE 2.2. The knowledge- and context-depen-dent nature of perception: Is this the letter B orthe number 13?

made some predictions about content. For example, after Maria looked throughAmazing Moths and Butterflies just to find out a bit more about monarchs, themention of butterfly migration for egg laying stimulated her desire to know moreabout this process. So she went to An Extraordinary Life: The Story of a MonarchButterfly with these questions: What is the life cycle of the butterfly like? Howlong does it take to become an adult? These questions became her purposes forreading and caused her to use the table of conten

Camille Blachowicz, Donna Ogle-Reading Comprehension, Second Edition_ Strategies for Independent...

Documents

Transcript of Camille Blachowicz, Donna Ogle-Reading Comprehension, Second Edition_ Strategies for Independent...