COMPREHENSION STRATEGIES FOR THE CONTENT AREAS

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COMPREHENSION STRATEGIES FOR THE CONTENT AREAS

• Angela Stockman
• Erie 1 BOCES
• astockman_at_e1b.org

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Defining COMPREHENSION

• What does this mean in YOUR classroom?

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Research Jigsaw

• Select an article to read from those provided in
  your binder.
• Please sit with those that are also reading your
  chosen article.
• Count off by 4s.

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Reading Tasks
NUMBER ASSIGNED READING TASK
1 MAKING CONNECTIONS
2 QUESTIONING
3 DETERMINING IMPORTANCE
4 INFERRING
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TALKING POINTS

• Discuss the insights youve gathered from the
  article with your smaller group.
• Which points are worth discussing with everyone?
  Record them on your flip chart.

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Synthesizing the Research

• What do we KNOW about reading comprehension?
• What do we need to know more about?

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The Essential Components of Comprehension

• Surface Structure Systems
• Deep Structure Systems

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Understanding the Importance of Text Structures

• Narrative Text
• Expository Text
• Procedural Text

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Q Which content area text
demands the MOST from readers?
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A Mathematics

• 40 of all math achievement
• test errors are reading errors.
• NASSP, 2005

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ELA Lesson Planning Eleven

• Anticipatory Set Activate Connections
• Author
• Vocabulary
• Purpose
• Narrative Text
• Read Aloud
• Discussion
• Character, Plot, Point of View, Theme

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The Profile of a Proficient Thinker

• Good readers and thinkers do the following as
  learners
• They CONNECT
• They DETERMINE IMPORTANCE
• They QUESTION
• They INFER
• They VISUALIZE
• They SYNTHESIZE

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Making Connections

• Requiring students to connect helps them
• make sense of new information by seeing
• the links between
• TEXT AND SELF
• NEW LEARNING AND REAL LIFE EXPERIENCES
• TEXT AND TEXT
• NEW LEARNING AND PREVIOUS LEARNING
• TEXT AND WORLD
• NEW LEARNING AND WORLD EVENTS

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Determining Importance

• Requiring students to determine what is
• most important from a text helps them
• focus on key ideas, themes, and concepts
• sift information into mental categories, so
  that irrelevant information can be discarded
• understand learning as a whole, rather than
  hyperfocusing on one element

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Questioning

• Holding students accountable for asking
• the questions enables them to
• explore new learning with greater depth
• behave as active, rather than passive,
  participants in learning
• anticipate questions that may be asked of them in
  class and on assessments
• direct classroom discussions and learning

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Understanding Question-Answer Relationships
In the Book In My Head
Right There The answer is easily found in the text, usually in one succinct sentence. Author and Me The answer is not in the text. The reader combines previous knowledge and understandings from the text to form an answer.
Think and Search The answer is in the text, but requires gathering information from different areas of the text. On My Own The answer is not in the text. The reader uses previous experiences to respond.
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Inferring

• When we require students to infer, we help them
• merge text clues with their own knowledge, so
  that they grasp the deeper essence of text.
• Make their own discoveries without the direct
  comment of the author/teacher

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Visualizing

• When we require students to visualize, we help
  them
• make words and new learnings real and concrete
• live in the stories they read and lessons we
  teach them
• enhance confusing meanings with mental imagery

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Synthesizing

• Requiring students to synthesize enables them
• to
• combine new information with existing information
  to create an original idea, new line of thinking,
  or new creation
• make judgments about new learning and the world
  they live in
• grow as learners and as people, as their thinking
  evolves

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Explicit InstructionTeaching Students HOW to
Think

• Introduce the Strategy
• Modeling Think Aloud
• Guided Practice
• Independent Practice
• Assessment and Reflection

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How do we hold them accountable for THINKING??

• How do we assess thinking???

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Tools for Holding Thought
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Gradual Release of Responsibility
PROPORTION OF RESPONSIBILITY FOR TASK COMPLETION
ALL TEACHER JOINT RESPONSIBILITY ALL STUDENT
INDEPENDENT EXPERIENCES
DEGREE OF STUDENT INDEPENDENCE
COOPERATIVE EXPERIENCES
EXPLICIT GUIDED EXPERIENCES
SHARED EXPERIENCES
TEACHER THINK ALOUDS
DURATION OF STRATEGY (WEEKS)
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CONTENT AREA PERSPECTIVES

• Which strategies are of greatest importance in
  your content area? Why?
• Which ones do your students struggle with most?
• How can you better support them without extending
  your instructional time?

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Instructional FrameworkFor Supporting
Comprehension

• THEN
• Anticipatory Set Activate Prior Knowledge of
  Content
• Input Direct Instruction of Content
• Modeling of Content
• Guided Practice
• Independent Practice
• Assess Comprehension of Content

• NOW..
• Anticipatory Set Activate Prior Knowledge of
  Content and Focus Skill
• Input Direct Instruction in Use of Skill AND
  Content
• Modeling (Think Aloud) Use of Skill and Content
• Guided Practice (Active Thinking)
• Independent Practice Skill and Content
• Assess Comprehension of Content and Use of Skill

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District-Wide Initiatives

• Developing a Systematic Approach
• For
• Comprehension Strategy Instruction

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Lesson Building
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References

• Giardiello,M. 2004. Reading is Thinking
  Integrating Thinking Strategies Across All
  Content Areas. Cheektowaga, NY Cheektowaga
  Central Schools.
• Goudvis, Anne, and Harvey, Stephanie. 2000.
  Strategies that Work Teaching Comprehension to
  Enhance Understanding. Maine Stenhouse
  Publishers
• Hoyt,L., Mooney, M., and Parkes,B. 2003.
  Exploring Informational Text. Portsmouth, NH
  Heinemann
• Keene, Ellin Oliver, and Zimmermann, Susan. 1997.
  Mosaic of Thought. New Hampshire Heinemann
• Tovani,C. 2000. I Read It, But I Dont Get It.
  Portland, ME Stenhouse Publishers
• Tovani,C. 2003. Do I Really Have to Teach
  Reading? Portland, ME Stenhouse Publishers.
• Tovani, C. 2005. Comprehension Strategy
  Instruction. Ellicottville, NY Curriculum Camp
  X.