Sharing some ideas presented at NSW DET Training “Reading Matters” by Debbie Francis

Adapted by Barbara Schaffer

Reading MattersComprehension Strategies

Assessment

READINGTeaching and

Learning

Critical Aspects

Teaching Strategi

es

Comprehension

Strategies

The Four Literacy Resource

s

Literacy Session

sGrouping &

Differentiating

• Modelled• Guided

• Independent

Sourcing and

Selecting Texts

Super 6Teaching

IdeasDecoding Fluency

Vocabulary

• Before

• During

• After

Learning to READReading to Learn

K-6 Continuum

K-6 Syllabus

Things to Consider -whole school approach

• Common philosophies;• Metalanguage• Links to writing ,talking and listening

Assessment

READINGTeaching and

Learning

Critical Aspects

Teaching Strategi

es

Comprehension

Strategies

The Four Literacy Resource

s

Literacy Sessions

Grouping &Differentiating

• Modelled• Guided

• Independent

Sourcing and Selecting Texts

Super 6Teaching

IdeasDecoding Fluency

Vocabulary

• Before

• During

• After

Learning to READReading to Learn

K-6 ContinuumK-6 Syllabus

• Common philosophies;• Metalanguage• Links to writing ,talking and listening

Changes in the nature of reading are reflected in all the syllabuses

known Less known

New /unknow

n

Familiar Less familiar

Unfamiliar

Concrete More

generalised

Abstract

How the nature of Reading Changes

How literacy demands change

• How do literacy demands change as students move from the early years, into the middle years and through to the later years of schooling?

• How do early, middle and later years teachers use modelled, guided and independent teaching strategies to cater for increasingly complex literacy demands?

A sense of how the text has been constructed Identifying facts and opinions Identifying more than one theme Analysing the intent of the author Identifying what they already know Knowing to spend time on the new

There is an increased emphasis on reading strategically and efficiently

through

An introduction to quality literacy teaching

Literacy teaching learning

Literacy in the early, middle and later years

  Putting planning for literacy into practice: A middle years teacher’s perspective

Modelled teaching – Later years

Guided teaching – Early years

Guided teaching – Middle years

Guided teaching - Later years

Independent teaching – Early years

Independent teaching – Middle years

Videos available on curriculum support website.\athttp://www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au/literacy/publications/index.htm

 

The critical aspects of literacy development

Vocabulary knowledge

Comprehension

Reading texts

Aspects of writing

Aspects of speaking

Phonics

Phonemic awareness

Concepts about print

Unconstrained skills

Constrained skills

Individually read through:Balanced and integrated literacy teaching p. 16

Explicit and systematic literacy teaching p. 17 What is it? What do teachers do? What does it look like in a literacy lesson?

Compare and discuss your understandings with a partner or the group.

Comprehension involves responding to, interpreting analysing and evaluating texts. (NSW.DET.2009)

Comprehension should go hand in hand in with building knowledge in a particular content area.

Comprehension is the key to learning

What is Comprehension ?

No single standard for everyone on every text

We can revise and improve our understanding

Students may misunderstand a great deal but partial understandings are building blocks for better understanding

Students need to know that comprehension is built recursively through rereading and rewriting. (Scott Paris 2009

Help students understand what comprehension is

Comprehension

KnowledgeComprehension

Knowledge

Literacy Continuum

Within in each aspect, threads indicate areas of knowledge . For example the Comprehension aspect includes the following threads;

Strategies and skills Inferring Perspective /opinions/discussing making and confirming predictions Comparing and contrasting of multiple texts /sources/purposes Influence /positioning Features (ways ideas are presented ) Main ideas, central themes , retell ,summary

What are the Threads

High correlation between teacher expectation and student performance.

The impact of expectations is particularly significant for students from cultural and linguistic backgrounds that differ from those of the majority school culture.

High expectations applies as much to literacy development as it does to other areas if the curriculum.

Low or negative expectations affect not only a a students progress and achievements but also their self image and sense of identity

Expectations

End of Stage One

Eighth cluster of markers:• Refers to prior knowledge and experiences to build understanding of a text.• Justifies predictions about sections of a text.• Builds understanding of a text by using knowledge of text organisation and features, e.g. referring toheadings and sub-headings to locate information.• Draws conclusions by using clues in a text.• Identifies more than one perspective or point of view when represented in texts.• Articulates the main idea and provides a synthesised retell that captures key events in texts.• Creates mental images to capture ideas in texts.

End of Stage 2

• Interprets text by inferring connections, causes and consequences during reading.• Responds to and interprets texts by discussing the differences between literal and inferred meanings.• Interprets the meaning of a text by seeking further information in other sections of a text or in different texts.• Identifies ways texts present different perspectives.• Evaluates text accuracy and credibility by comparing texts on a similar topic.• Analyses and evaluates the relative importance of key ideas and information in a text to construct an overview.• Responds to and analyses texts by discussing the ways language structures and features shape meaning.• Responds to and interprets texts by integrating sources of information in texts.

Twelfth cluster of markers: Interprets and critically analyses texts by responding to inferred meaning

within a text and justifying interpretations using evidence. Reinterprets ideas and issues by creating innovative personal responses to

ideas and issues in literary texts through oral, dramatic, written and multimodal presentations.

Critically analyses a wide range of imaginative, informative and persuasive texts in different forms to compare how ideas are presented.

Explains how texts can be interpreted from a variety of perspectives by discussing the ways that different views and values are presented.

Interprets texts by identifying and discussing multiple purposes within the same text.

Interprets and analyses several different texts on one topic to present a summary of information and ideas that show an understanding of the topic.

Analyses texts to compare how language structures and features are used to position readers and viewers.

Analyses and evaluates how written information and visual images shape meaning by comparing texts on the same topic.

End of Stage 3

Experiences and knowledge of the students Concepts in the text Vocabulary Amount of abstraction and complexity of ideas Text layout and visual features Familiarity with the text type and structure The purpose for which the text will be used

by the students .

Factors that affect the supports and challenges of any text, include:

Increasing explicit instruction for the use of comprehension strategies is the most widely cited current recommendation for improving reading comprehension in all students.

So what do we mean by explicit instruction

We need to explicitly teach What is the strategy Why is it important How and when do you use it ?

Explicit Teaching of Comprehension Strategies

LEARNERS MAKE PERSONAL CONNECTIONS FROM THE TEXT WITH:

Something in your own life (text to self)

Another text (text to text)

Something occurring in the world (text to world).

Example questions/statementsThis story reminds me of my holiday ,This character has the same problem that I read/saw/heard in another text.I saw a program on television that presented things described in this text.Does this remind me/you of something?Has something like this ever happened to me/you?

Example teaching ideaBook and me: Students create two columns with headings Book/Me.Prior to and during reading students add details about the connections between the book and their lives.

We use information fromgraphics, text and experiences

We do this while reading/ viewing or listening.

We anticipate what will be read/viewed/heard.

We actively adjust (comprehension)

GOOD READERS PREDICT WHAT WILL COME NEXT

Example questions/statementsWhat do I/you think will happen next?What words/images do I/you expect to see or hear in this text?What might happen next? Why do I/you think that? What helped me/you make that prediction?Were my/your predictions accurate? How did I/you confirm my/your predictions?Have I/you read/seen/heard about this topic anywhere else?---

Example teaching ideaBefore and after chart: Students list predictions before and during reading. As they read students either confirm or reject their predictions.

Learners pose and answer questions that clarify meaning and promote deeper understanding of the text.

Questions can be generated by the learner, a peer or the teacher.

GOOD READERS ASK QUESTIONS TO

BETTER UNDERSTAND THE TEXT

Example teaching ideaWonderings: Using post-it notes, students list all the questions they have about the text. As they read students continue to write questions. When an answer is found for the wondering students remove the post-it note.

GOOD READERS ASK QUESTIONS TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE TEXT

Example questions/statementsWhat in the text helped me/you know that?How is this text making me/you feel? Why is that?When you read/viewed/ listened to that text did it remind me/you ofanything I/you know about? Why did it remind me/you of that?What did the composer of the text mean by …?Whose point of view is this? What points of view are missing?

We stop and think about the text and know what to do when meaning is disrupted.

GOOD READERS MONITOR THEIR OWN UNDERSTANDING

Example questions/statementsIs this making sense?What have I/you learned?Should I/you slow down? Speed up?Do I need to re-read/view/listen?What can help me/you fill in the missing information?What does this word mean?What can I use to help me understand what I’m/you’re reading/viewing/hearing?

GOOD READERS MONITOR THEIR OWN UNDERSTANDING AND SEEK

CLARIFICATION

Example teaching ideaCoding: As they read students code the text with post-it notes +I understand? I don’t understand! I fixed it up myself*This is important

Learners create a mental image from a text read/viewed/heard.Visualising brings the text to life, engages the imagination and uses all of the senses.

Good readers put together everything they have learned to

understand what they read.

Visualising and imagining brings the text to life, engages the imagination and uses all of the senses

Example questions/statementsWhat are the pictures I/you have in my/your head as I/you read/view/ listen to this text?Can I/you describe the picture or image you made while you read/ heard that part?How did the pictures in my/your head help me/you to understand the text?.

Good readers put together everything they have learned to

understand what they read.

Example teaching ideaSketch to stretch: As a passage/story is read students sketch their visualisation. In groups they share their sketches and discuss reasons for their interpretation.

Example questions/statementsWhat things will help me/you summarise this text list, mind map, note-taking, annotations, etc?What are the main ideas and significant details from the reading/viewing/listening?If you were to tell another person about the text read/viewed/heard in a few sentences, what would you tell them?What is the main theme? How is it connected to the world beyond the text?In what significant ways does this text relate to/elaborate on the topic that you have been investigating?Can you create a metaphor for the text that you have read?

Good readers are able to determine the main ideas and put them into their own words.

Example teaching ideaKey words: Students highlight words they believe are key tounderstanding the passage. These words are written on post-it notesand placed on the page. After reading the students close the book andarrange the key words in an order that supports a cohesive summary

Learners identify and accumulate the most important ideas and restate them in their own words.

Good readers are able to determine the main

ideas and put them into their own words.

Discussion is described as “a dialogic classroom event in which students and teachers are cognitively, socially and affectively engaged in collaboratively constructing meaning or considering understandings.”Almasi 2002

The role of conversations in comprehension

So what’s going on in this part ? What do we know that we didn’t know

before? What’s new ? What was the author trying to get us to

understand here ? Can you say something about that ?

Begin with the general rather than the specific

Anyone want to share something that was tricky or confusing?

How about this part here………………. Where it says ………………?

I got confused by …………..what do you think about this part ?

What was the author trying to get us to think ? How ?

Invite and support clarification of the tricky parts

View questions as a scaffold trying to get to the big picture and not a quiz to check understanding .

Authenticity encompasses the use of real texts but it is also about purpose .

Using authentic texts can align the teachers purpose for reading with the students purpose for reading

When reading texts on a topic that they are interested in students: Use more comprehension strategies Have a greater recall of information and ideas

Authenticity is Important

Rich experiences with a variety if forms and types of texts are crucial to improved student achievement .

Types of Texts

Factual

Texts

Literary

Texts

http://youtu.be/bGKNLikKZj4

Reflective ResponseHow can I helps students to see the relevance this text and the

themes and ideas it contains has to their world

CollaborationWhich collaboration activities will help deepen their

understanding.

Return to the Text How can I encourage a second reading to facilitate

deeper meaning

Read CarefullyWhat strategies will assist students to read with purpose

and clarity

Framing the text What support do my students need before they begin to read

or view a text ?

Model for teaching challenging texts

Deep Understandi

ng

Surface Understandin

g

Draw on students’ existing background knowledge

Build students’ background knowledge Take students on a virtual tour of the text Use outlines to scaffold understanding

TEACH VOCABULARY EXPICITLYFocus on the key vocabulary

What support do my students need before they begin to read or view a text ?

Framing the text

Brainstorming Concept maps, mind maps etc. Before and after charts, KWL Making predictions Making connections, topics, authors,

texts ,experiences Think alouds

Read Carefully

What strategies will assist students to read with purpose and clarity

Dictagloss, Jigsaw Analysing text layout/structure Graphic organisers Skimming Web searches/ research Videos /DVDS

/poems/artworks/photographs/diagrams Guest speakers /excursions

Return to the Text

How can I encourage further or closer reading to help deepen understanding

Reading to Learn