Comprehension Definition
Comprehension is the ability to determine the meaning of text. Comprehension shifts the focus from the understanding of the individual word to the understanding of a passage as a whole. It is a complex process that requires a significant amount of practice and the development of skills.
Comprehension Factors-7
- Word Analysis: Determine the meaning of individual words.
2.Background Knowledge: Previous experience with the topic of a text
3.Reading Experience: Awareness of concepts of print and previous exposure to implementing reading skills
- Vocabulary: Knowing the meaning of words in the text
5.Fluency: Read the passage effortlessly
- Self-Monitoring: Ability to know and check if reading makes sense and apply strategies if it does not.
7.Text Characteristics: Understanding of text structures and text features based on the type of text they are reading
3 levels of depth in comprehension
- Literal Comprehension
2 .Inferential Comprehension - Evaluative Comprehension
Literal Comprehension- Skills
- Main Idea- most important in the text and sentence that represents entire text
- Recall Facts- 5 Ws
- Point of View- 1st, 2nd, 3rd person
Inferential Comprehension- Skills
- Theme- message author is trying to convey
- Predicting- making an educated guess
- Main Idea- infer what the main idea is, graphic organizers
Evaluative Comprehension- Skills
- Character Development- analyze character traits and see how character changed
- Fallacies- supported by reason or not
Stages of Comprehension: 5
- Answering literal questions
- Retelling
- Combining thinking with content
- Acquiring knowledge
- Using Knowledge
Listening Comprehension- definition and 5 skills with definitions
Listening Comprehension is important in reading comprehension because you must hear a word before you can say it, read it, or write it.
Skills:
Passive listening or appreciative listening - music, theater, oral reading
Discriminative listening - distinguishing sounds, phonemes, and non-verbal cues
Informational or precise listening - retelling, sequencing, finding details
Strategic listening - summarizing, inferring, finding the main idea
Critical listening - analyzing, synthesizing, evaluating
Metacognition
One of the most important instructional strategies you will use is metacognition. Metacognition is the process of thinking about your own thinking and learning.
Metacognition strategies-10
Predicting- Use clues from the text to think about what might happen next
Questioning- Ask questions to help you understand
Clarifying- Monitor your own reading to make sure you understand the words or ideas. If you aren’t sure what a word means or what is happening, you do something to fix it, or clarify your thinking
Summarizing-Tell in your own words the most important details from the story in order
Visualizing-Create images in your mind as you read using the descriptions in the text
Making Connections- Connect what you read to what you already know (Text-to-Text, Text-to-Self, Text-to-World)
Inferring- Use clues from the text and your background knowledge to understand what is not explicitly stated
Synthesizing- Bring ideas together to make a new idea
Determining Importance- Identify and think about the most important ideas and information
Reviewing- Stopping once in a while to review what you have read so far and what has changed since you started reading the story
3 Stages of Reading
- Before Reading- Previewing, predicting, prior knowledge, purpose, vocab
- During Reading- questioning, monitoring, rereading, note taking, paragraph shrinking
- After Reading- summarize, sequence, discussion, application
How to teach before reading-6
- Building background knowledge- know what the text will be about
- KWL chart- know topic, want to learn, learned after reading
- Anticipation guides- highlights important info and facts from text, students decide if it is true or false
- Circle maps- thinking map that aligns with 8 cognitive processes (main topic then have connections around circle)
- THIEVES- Title, heading, introduction, every first sentence, visuals and vocab, end of text questions, summarize thinking
- Mini lessons
student’s prior knowledge
schema
How to teach During and after reading-12
- Interactive read aloud- text being read out loud to students with planned and purposeful stopping points to model a specific comprehension skill through think-alouds
- Reciprocal teaching-scaffolded application of 4 roles: predicting, clarifying, questioning, summarizing
- Graphic organizers- tools that provide visuals to show connections between thoughts and ideas.
- Story maps-students can map the story by determining the characters and setting. Then, students work to complete a plot diagram outlining the exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution.
- Sequencing- Students can write the events of the story in order. The graphic organizer could also include the words that align with each event, such as first, then, next, after, last, etc., if needed as a scaffold.
- Summarizing- using “Somebody, Wanted, But, So, Then”. 5 Ws
- Bubble Maps- type of Thinking Map. They are used to describe a subject or topic.
- Multi-flow map-used to analyze reasons and results (cause and effect).
- Close reading and annotating- Close reading is a way to analyze a text by focusing on the specific details to gain a deeper meaning and understanding. Annotations can be used in close reading to mark up the text.
- Discussions- about text, through questioning
- Literature circles- small groups of students reading the same text. Each student has a role: Discussion director, word wizard, star summarizer, commanding connector
- Response journals- a notebook where students write about their reading.
Paraphrasing RAP strategy
Read sentence or paragraph
Ask yourself what are the most important details and underline them
Put those details in your own words and then revise it to 10 words
Literary Text
Fictional text that is usually used to tell stories and entertain
Informational text
Nonfiction text that describes or explains a topic using facts and visuals
Literary vs. Informational Analysis Skills- 1.Key details and ideas
Literary- describing characters, settings and major events, determining main theme, message or moral, using details to retell story or make inferences about characters
Both- summarizing story and making inferences
Informational- identifying main topic of a text, describing connection between events, concepts or ideas, quoting or paraphrasing, explaining how main idea is supported by details
Literary vs. Informational Analysis Skills- 2.Author craft and structure
Literary- recognizing various characteristics of genres, compare/contrast 1st and 3rd person narration, describe how words and phrases contribute meaning to text
Both- authors point of view and purpose
Informational- determining and clarifying the meaning of words or phrases in a text, locate key info in text, recognizing common text structures, analyze author’s development or idea or argument
Literary vs. Informational Analysis Skills- 3. Integrating knowledge and ideas in and across texts
Literary-Compare/contrast experiences of characters in different stories, comparing/contrasting similar themes/topics from a variety of cultures
Both-using illustrations to explain how they contribute to the text
Informational-Describing logical connections to sentences and paragraphs, using info from multiple print or digital sources to locate info to solve a problem efficiently, evaluating logic or credibility of an argument
Genres: 4
- Nonfiction- prose, true, paragraph/sentence organization, types: personal narrative, memoir, literary criticism, journalism
- Poetry- emphasis on imagery or feelings, rhythm and meter, organized in stanzas and lines, often focus on single moment, image or feeling, meant to be heard and read
- Fiction- prose, created from imagination, based on plot line, characters, organized in paragraphs/sentences, types: short story, novella or novel
- Drama- meant to be performed for an audience, character list, organized in acts, scenes, lines and numbers, plot based, types: comedy, tragedy, history, romance
Subgenres: Nonfiction
- Nonfiction
Biography- A biography is an informational text that tells the story of a person’s life, but is told by someone else.
Memoir- A historical account or biography written from personal knowledge
Subgenres: Fiction
- Fiction
Realistic-Fictional story using made-up characters that could happen in real life
Historical-A fictional story that takes place in a particular time period in the past. The setting is real, but the characters are made-up
Mystery- is a type of literary text that centers on solving something (e.g., a crime) using clues in the text. It often contains suspense, a lot of dialogue, and strong setting details.
Fairy Tale- a story about good and bad magical characters, such as fairies, gnomes, elves, giants, and trolls. Fairy tales are often told from generation to generation. They often have happy endings. “Cinderella” is an example of a fairy tale.
Fantasy-a highly imaginative story about characters, events, and settings that cannot exist in real life
Folktale- a type of story that is based on the traditions and beliefs
of a people and repeated from generation to generation in a culture. They usually teach a lesson and often use animal characters to represent human qualities; for example, “The Three Little Pigs.”
Myth- a story told to explain the unknown or teach what is important in a culture and is passed down from generation to generation. It often includes non-human characters and may offer explanations for natural occurrences (e.g., storms, earthquakes, sun rising).
Subgenres: Drama
- Drama
Drama- a story in the form of a play, written to be performed.The use of stage directions and character dialogue provides meaning to the text
Play-a written work performed on a stage. It is written as lines of dialogue to be spoken by actors, has stage directions to indicate setting and action, and may have long sections (acts) and short sections (scenes).
