1.Reading Comprehension and Vocabulary Development
November 3, 2005
2.Comprehension is “The Point”
“. . . reader’s process of using prior experiences and the author’s text to construct meaning that is useful to that reader for a specific purpose.” (p. 252)
3.Theories of Comprehension
Schema Theory
Mental/Situation Models
4.Factors Affecting Comprehension
Decoding and fluency skills
Vocabulary
Background knowledge
Academic vs. conversational vocabulary
Understanding structure of written language
Processing abilities
Understanding the purpose for a reading
Cognitive abilities/skills
5.Comprehension is “The Point”
“. . . reader’s process of using prior experiences and the author’s text to construct meaning that is useful to that reader for a specific purpose.” (p. 252)
6.Assessing Reading Comprehension
Graded passage with comprehension questions
Story re-telling
Think-alouds (to see how student is attempting comprehension
Assessing background knowledge
7.Maze:
Jose went to the fair. He had to go through a big (hole/gate/tunnel) to get into the fair. Jose ate lots of good (food/mud/it). He had fun at the (dance/zoo/fair).
Picture Cards: story re-tellings; answering comprehension questions
Assessing Reading Comprehension
8.Teachers who were excellent at facilitating comprehension:
Built language at every opportunity
(Vocabulary)
Activated/built students’ background knowledge (schema)
Provided a purpose for reading
Followed up on that purpose after reading
Taught prediction
Continuously motivated students to read for meaning
Taught strategies to identify the main idea
9.Example Strategy:Read -- Ask -- Paraphrase (RAP)
Read paragraph to yourself.
Ask yourself what is the main idea.
Put the paragraph into your own words and tell it to your partner.
Switch roles.
10.Story Grammar Questioning
Read the story and construct a story grammar using the elements you identified
Write one question for each of the major story elements.
Ask student to answer story grammar questions (using blank story map OR orally OR in pairs OR in small groups)
11.Vocabulary Development
Children typically learn approximately 3,000 words per year!
Gain new vocabulary through school (instruction) and through family activities, trips, hobbies, reading independently, etc.
12.Stages of Word Learning(adapted from Dade & O’Rourke, 1971)
I never saw it before!
I’ve heard of it or I can pronounce it, but I don’t know what it means.
I recognize it in context - It has something to do with. . .; I know one of its meanings
I know it. I know what it means and can use it in several ways or contexts.
13.
14.
15. What it is and What is Isn’t:
It is:
hard
It isn’t:
soft
16.Comprehension Repair Strategies
Click – Clunk
Read on.
Reread sentence.
Reread paragraph or section.
Look for information from a resource such as a dictionary or glossary.
Ask someone else for help.
17.Content through reading guides
Teacher can develop guide questions or student or small group can develop questions.
Students can work with guides independently or in small groups.
18.Content through strategy use
RAP
Graphic Organizers
Directed Reading-Thinking Activity (DR-TA)
K-W-L
Say-Something Paired Reading
Question-Answer-Relationship Guide
Admit-Exit Strategy
19.Content through modifications to text
Increased font size
Braille
Highlighted texts
20.Content through varying mediums
Tape-recorded books
Books on CD
Buddy-reading
E-books
www.academicmaterials.com/ entrance.htm
21.Content through Read-Alouds
Teacher reads a selection aloud to entire class
Good as ‘grabbers’/hooks
Allow students to focus on content vs. decoding
May aid in memory b/c of multiple avenues of input
Model fluent oral reading (support language acquisition for ELL students)
22.Content through Shared Reading
Teacher reads aloud while students are looking at text
Be explicit about the purpose of the reading
Model and teach a specific strategy (e.g., inference, text features, map reading)
Provide a follow-up activity that allows students to practice the modeled strategy