Tool 06
Comprehension
Objectives
Teachers will:
Incorporate what they learn about the multiple processes of reading comprehension into their instruction.
Reflect and determine how to guide the development of students’ mental models during pre, while, and post reading.
Use a Framework to plan comprehension lessons
Part 1: Introduction - Considering Reading Comprehension
Topic 1: Common Approaches to Teaching Reading Comprehension
This topic visits the world of reading comprehension that most teachers are familiar with: Using comprehension strategies. It sets the expectation that there is more to reading comprehension than the comprehension strategies commonly used to teach comprehension.
Topic 2: The Simple View Revisited
The Reading Rope (Scarborough) is presented to remind teachers that there are many contributing skills that work together for reading comprehension to happen. Each of the strands in the rope are investigated as independent yet integrated components.
The phases of word recognition development (Ehri) are revisited as well.
Part 2: Research - The Process and The Product of Reading Comprehension
Researchers have worked to separate the processes that occur during reading comprehension from the product of reading comprehension. Once teachers understand this and can clearly differentiate between the two, approaches to reading comprehension will become better targeted and productive.
Topic 1: Process and Product, Understanding the Difference
Teachers are introduced to the Mental Model, the situation model, enduring understanding.
The Mental Model is the overall representation of the meaning of the text. It is the result of the integration of the text and the reader’s multiple interactions with that text.
Topic 2: Comprehension – The Process
Teachers will be led to create a reading or listening comprehension lesson with their own reading materials as they work through this section of Tool 6.
Knowledge of the language comprehension skills can help us understand the processes that are key players in reading comprehension.
Topic 3: The Product of Reading Comprehension aka The Mental Model
The product is a mental depiction that forms beyond a verbatim or literal recall of information that is read. The Mental Model defines one’s own comprehension and understanding of the information that was read.
Part 3: Practice - Reading Comprehension in the Classroom
Topic 1: Prepare for the Classroom Videos
As teachers watch the lessons presented in Part 3, they are guided to observe and identify when the teacher is targeting a process that will help students develop a product of their listening or reading comprehension.
Topic 2: The Comprehension Lesson
The classroom videos begin with highlights from two complete reading comprehension lessons. One is taught with a second grade group and the other is with a fifth grade class. In both lessons, children are reading expository text. Both use a process called TWA to guide the students through the comprehension process and focus on a product.
Topic 3: Linking Ideas Across Sentences
The video lessons in Topic 3 illustrate a clever way to help students understand that sentences have linking ideas that connect to each other. The linking ideas work together to help us create our Mental Model.
Topic 4: Learning About Connectives
These video lessons demonstrate sentence combining using an engaging, systematic, and explicit process. The practice has positive effects on writing and for comprehension
Topic 5: Comprehension with Little Ones
Comprehension does not need to take a back seat when students are reading simple text. These video lessons show how comprehension can be a part of a decodable text lesson.
Expository text is very different from narratives and demands a lot from a young reader. Another lesson shows how to be explicit when teaching how informational text works.
Part 4: Planning - The Process and The Product of Reading Comprehension
Topic 1: Planning Framework
The Berger Framework is used to guide teachers’ planning of comprehension lessons. Teachers are guided through steps to help them incorporate the content of Tool 6 and examine a text as they plan.
A discussion of the important role of the questions we ask before, during and after comprehension lessons is discussed. Examples of open ended questions are provided and teachers are asked to keep the question stems close by during their lessons.
Graphic organizers are included in the discussion.
Part 5: Wrap Up
Topic 1: Summary
A summary of the main learnings in Tool 6, reading comprehension, is provided. Teachers are reminded that teaching reading comprehension requires planning for both the process and the product.
Topic 2: Conversation with an Expert
Dr. Danielle McNamara from Arizona State University discusses her research on reading comprehension.