What are the two major theories of comprehension?

WHAT ARE THE TWO MAJOR THEORIES OF

COMPREHENSION?

Benedictine University 1

Unless stated otherwise the content of this section is based on Chapter 11 – Gunning, T.G. (2010) Assessing and Correcting Reading and Writing Difficulties. Boston, MA.: Pearson, Education, Inc.

The goal of comprehension:• Is not just arriving at the right answer• It is twofold, incorporating

1. The right answer and…2. An explanation of what the student is to do to arrive

at the answer

Comprehension Goals…

Theories of Comprehension• Schema Theory

– Comprehension is not merely getting meaning from text

– Comprehension involves bringing meaning to text, based on our schema (relevant background knowledge/ past experiences)

– Comprehension depends on our schema for world knowledge and our schema for text

• Situation Model– Readers create in their minds (verbal or visual)

representations of what they have read

What Influences Comprehension?

• Match between the knowledge and the language of the reader and the author

• Ability of the reader to integrate information across the text

• Organization of text by the author or use of structure by the reader

• Ability of the reader to respond personally


Adapted from Reading Diagnosis for Teachers: An Instructional Approach by Barr et. al.

WHAT ARE THE CAUSES OF COMPREHENSION

DIFFICULTY?



Effective Readers• Read with a purpose• Read actively• Attempt to connect ideas in sentences together –

Rather than just decoding the words• Ask why and how questions to create cause and

effect relationships• Use a variety of strategies• Use background knowledge to build meaning

Struggling Readers• Lack basic decoding skills• Have a limited vocabulary• Overuse background knowledge• Fail to read for meaning• Lack reading strategies• Do not use strategies appropriately• Read texts that are inappropriate for their reading level• May be instructed using inappropriate teaching

techniques• May be subjected to inappropriate instructional settings

DIRECTED READING ACTIVITY

(DRA)



Directed Reading Activity• DRA (Betts, 1946) is a strategy that provides

students with instructional support before, during, and after reading

• The teacher takes an active role in preparing students to read the text by pre-teaching important vocabulary, eliciting prior knowledge, teaching students how to use a specific reading skill, and providing a purpose for reading

Benedictine University 9Web Source: http://www.nea.org/tools/18345.htm

Directed Reading Activity• In preparation for a Directed Reading Activity

(DRA), consider:– What is schema?– How do you teach comprehension to students?– What does it mean to make a connection

to a story? • DRA’s support teachers in:

– Challenging students to read for deeper and more comprehensive meaning in text




WHAT STRATEGIES CAN BUILD

COMPREHENSION?

Metacognition•Metacognition is:

– Knowledge about when and how to use particular strategies for learning or for problem solving

•Metacognition enables students to take control of their learning

•Strategic readers implement metacognition skills by: – Being aware of a variety of strategies to help aid their

understanding of text – Knowing when and how to use the strategies

Web Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metacognition

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metacognition

Metacognitive Awareness• Below average readers:

– Can perform similar to above average readers when taught specific strategies to aid in their learning

– However, after only two weeks, the below average learner will often fail to use the strategy again• This suggests re-teaching at defined intervals

• Strategies are teachable and learnable– Students must be taught to generalize them

across a variety of contexts (how and why they work)• Teachers must teach strategies systematically and

scaffold students learning

Metacognitive Awareness• Low achieving readers are often not cognizant of

their thought processes• Metacognition involves:

– Knowing Oneself as a Learner– Regulating– Monitoring– Correcting

Steps in a Strategy Lesson

1. Introduce the strategy2. Demonstrate and model the strategy3. Guided practice4. Independent practice and application5. Assessment and re-teaching6. Ongoing reinforcement and

implementation


Types of Reading Strategies

• Preparational Strategies• Organizational Strategies• Elaboration Strategies


Preparational Strategies• Activating prior knowledge• Previewing• Predicting• Setting a goal/purpose

GET READY…

Organizational Strategies• Deriving main ideas• Organizing details• Summarizing• Creating graphic organizers

GET SET…

Elaboration Strategies• Inferences

– Skilled readers are better at making inferences This involves additional processing and a fuller

representation of the meaning of the text, leading to better retention of the materials

Techniques designed to improve the inferring ability of low-achieving readers must compensate for their overreliance on prior knowledge, inadequate use of text and lack of flexibility in reasoning about what is being read

• Prior Knowledge Prediction Strategy– Prior knowledge prediction strategy steps

Create questions, pre-reading discussion, silent reading, post-reading discussion, verify inferences


GO…

Elaboration Strategies• Responsive Elaboration

– Is a teacher prompt made in response to a student’s erroneous answer

– The focus is on the process – not the answer• QAR – Question-Answer Relationships

– Teaches students the 4 major types of questions • It says…, I say…, and so…

– Students make inferences by looking at what the text says (it says), what they have to say about it (I say), and what happens when you put it all together (and so)

• Imaging


GO…


Unless stated otherwise the content of this section is based on Chapter 6 – Barr, R. et. al., (2007) Reading Diagnosis for Teachers: An Instructional Approach. Boston, MA.: Pearson, Education, Inc.

WHAT INSTRUCTIONAL PROCEDURES HELP INCREASE STUDENT COMPREHENSION?

Types of Instructional Procedures

• Interactive Procedures– Interactive procedures view the teacher as the

“guide” and the readers control and monitor their own reading

• Reorganizing Material Procedures– Reorganizing procedures focus on students’

abilities to interpret and evaluate the information in the text


Interactive Procedures• Directed Reading and Thinking Activity (DRTA)• Know-Want- Learn (KWL)• Generating Interaction between Schemata and

Text (GIST)• Reciprocal Teaching/Modeling• Questioning the Author

Reorganizational Procedures

• Question-Answer Relationships (QAR)• Guided Reading Procedure• Text Structure Instruction• Sentence Level Comprehension

– Highlighting Anaphoric Relations– Focusing on Connective Terms– Sentence Combining


What is the Framework for Teaching Content

Area Reading?



The Quiet Crisis!“The educational careers of 25 to 40

percent of American children are imperiled because they do not read well enough,

quickly enough, or easily enough to ensure comprehension in their content courses in

middle and secondary school.”- The National Research Council


Enablers• Content area teachers can become enablers when

they rely too heavily upon…– Summarizing text– Using labs– Using simulations– Using audio-visual aids

• INSTEAD, teachers should focus upon:– Encouraging students to READ their text– Teaching students techniques to overcome the challenges of

reading specific content by effectively incorporating learning methods and technologies

– Using labs, simulations, and audio-visual aids to support, not replace, the text


Content Area Reading• Content area reading involves using many of the

reading strategies addressed during Session 3• As experts in their specialized areas, content area

teachers must:– Teach students to transfer the comprehension skills they

already possess to the content area texts– Teach students the strategies that are particularly helpful

for reading their specific content area texts • For example:

– In social science, many textbooks are set up using “main idea-detail” text structure

– Teaching students how to utilize knowledge of the text structure can help students more effectively comprehend the text they are reading


Framework for Teaching Content Area Reading

• Step 1: Establishing Key Ideas– Choosing two – to – four key concepts helps focus a

lesson and allows the teacher to guide students in their reading

• Step 2: Preparing for Reading– Activate schema and build background knowledge– Establish Key Vocabulary (5-7 words)– Build Reasoning Skills and Strategies

• Emphasize strategies needed for understanding– Establish a Purpose– Motivate Students


• Step 3: Guided Reading– Silent reading with guiding questions, study guide, etc.

• Step 4: Discussing the Reading• Step 5: Rereading

– Expand, clarify and organize information• Step 6: Extending and Applying

– Write a report or essay, conduct an experiment, create a one-sentence summary, additional reading, etc.


Framework for Teaching Content Area Reading

What Instructional Techniques

Aid Learning in the Content Areas?



Before Reading TechniquesBefore reading techniques provide an overview, build background knowledge and vocabulary, set goals, and establish strategies for reading• Examples include: [To learn more about the topics below, click on the orange

title links provided]

– Anticipation Guide • Used to disprove erroneous beliefs. It is useful to have students jot

down why their beliefs are correct or incorrect based on text statements (see page 416)

– Frayer Model• Develops concepts through discovering relevant attributes,

considering irrelevant attributes and noting examples and non-examples (refer to page 417)


http://www.justreadnow.com/strategies/anticipate.htm

http://www.justreadnow.com/strategies/anticipate.htm

http://www.justreadnow.com/strategies/frayer.htm

During Reading TechniquesDuring reading techniques assist students in distinguishing between relevant and irrelevant information, and between important and unimportant details. During reading techniques organize information, make inferences, visualize settings, generate questions, summarize, and integrateExamples include: [To learn more about the topics below, click on the orange title links provided]• Frame Matrix

– Categorizes information and demonstrates the relationships between key ideas

• Strategy/Study Guides– Helps students organize information from the text. – Questions or other activities that help students become independent readers. (see page 420)

• Pattern Guides – Uses text structure to organize notes

• Glossing– A reading road map

• Writing Intensive Reading Comprehension Thinksheets– Designed to promote a transaction between reading and writing


http://www.justreadnow.com/strategies/analysis.htm

http://www.justreadnow.com/strategies/graph.htm

Glossing SpecificsA “gloss” contains “margin notes” (on separate sheet of paper aligned with text) meant to give the reader an easy-to-read overview of the textKey characteristics:• Highlights important information• Paraphrases difficult segments• Gives the meaning of essential vocabulary• Highlights pertinent photos, charts and drawings• Provides an easy-to-read summary of the

important information


Writing Intensive Reading Comprehension Thinksheets

• Thinksheets guide students through text by providing specific questions meant to be answered while reading the text

• The questions break up text into manageable chunks• Students put all the information together and write an

extended response as the final step of a thinksheet• Thinksheets begin as 5-10 minute exercises and gradually

become longer• In addition, the amount of teacher assistance provided by

the thinksheets is gradually reduced• See sample on page 423-424 in Assessing and Correcting

Reading and Writing DifficultiesBenedictine University 35

After Reading TechniquesAfter reading techniques focus students on integrating the information they have just read with knowledge they already possessExamples include:• Reflection

– Whole class or small group discussion guided by a series of questions or the pre-reading/during reading guide or strategy

• Graphic Post-organizer – See samples on page 427

• Extend and Apply Knowledge– Experiments– Surveys– Observations– Read trade books/periodicals– Watch interviews


How Do You Imbed Collaborative Approaches Into

Content Area Instruction?



Collaborative ApproachesCollaborative approaches have proven to be extremely powerful in improving comprehension of low-achieving readersExamples include:• ReQuest

– The student and teacher ask each other questions about every sentence modeling higher level thinking

– Questioning lasts for about 10 minutes – Students then predict what the rest of the selection will be about– Student completes the reading on his/her own

• Review examples discussed in Session 3• Reciprocal Teaching (page 432-433)• Question the Author (pages 433-437)


How Can Accessibility of Textbooks in the

Content Area be Ensured?



Textbooks in the Content Areas

• The amount students learn depends on the quality and appropriateness of their textbooks

• Many content area texts are written a year or more above grade level


Textbook Accommodations• Adapt key chapters of texts

– Eliminate nonessential details– Expand on key concepts– Signal main ideas– Simplify language (fewer pronouns, easier

structure, easier vocabulary)– Give lots of examples

• Audio versions of texts– From publisher– Recordings for the Blind and Dyslexic

• Low level content/classic literature texts – Gunning – pages 438, 441

• Use adapted and abridged classicsBenedictine University 41

Check the Readability!• To ensure that textbooks and trade books are accessible for

students, teachers should be aware of the readability of the text• Readability is the ease with which written material

can be understood• Most readability formulas only take into account the sentence

length and difficulty of vocabulary– Difficulty of vocabulary can be determined by:

• Checking words on word lists • Counting syllables

– Review the different readability formulas on pages 539-541• Subjective factors also affect the readability of information

– Graphics, page layout, writing style, density of conceptsBenedictine University 42

More Information Focusing on Content Area Comprehension Instruction


Want More Information About Content Area Comprehension Instruction?

• Check out these texts for more information:– Nonfiction Matters: Reading, Writing, and Research

in Grades 3-8 • Stephanie Harvey

– Do I Really Have to Teach Reading? Content Comprehension, Grades 6-12• Cris Tovani

– Teaching Reading In Social Studies, Science and Math• Laura Robb


EDUC 603:Estimation of Readability Written Assignment Due Week 4


Estimation of ReadabilityEDUC 603: Estimation of Readability – Assignment #4 (Syllabus – page 3)

• Choose a trade book and a content area book from the grade level of your choice

• Use the Fry readability formula (Gunning, page 540) and the subjective readability formula (Gunning, page 542) to estimate the readability level of the texts

• Compile your results and reflect on the appropriateness of using these books at the assigned grade level

• See the rubric for this assignment in the Rubric Folder on-line

• Estimation of Readability – Written Assignment is due at the end of week 4


What are the two major theories of comprehension?

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