Module 7: Reading Comprehension and Informational/ Expository

A sixth-grade teacher has students work in small groups to begin to develop a KWL chart before they read a textbook chapter about the human brain. Using a KWL chart in this way is most likely to help the students: A. connect their background knowledge to information in the chapter. B. identify main ideas and supporting details in the chapter. C. synthesize information from various sections of the chapter. D. visualize the terms and concepts in the chapter.

A. connect their background knowledge to information in the chapter.

A fifth-grade class is about to begin reading a text about the European exploration of North America. Before they begin, the teacher has the students brainstorm what they already know about the topic. After reading the text, she encourages them to share any additional information that they may have thought of as they were reading. These activities are likely to promote the students' comprehension primarily by: A. encouraging them to connect new information to prior knowledge of the topic. B. helping them determine the author's purpose and point of view. C. encouraging them to use context cues to make appropriate inferences. D. helping them analyze the text in terms of main ideas and supporting details

A. encouraging them to connect new information to prior knowledge of the topic.

A sixth-grade class is working on an Internet research project about various natural resources and their uses. The teacher could best support students' effective use of the Internet for their research by: A. providing students with a checklist of questions that prompt critical evaluation of information on Web sites. B. giving students a list of Web sites that have been preapproved based on the sites' reading levels. C. encouraging students to search for Web sites that are easy to navigate and that contain familiar vocabulary. D. teaching students to employ a variety of search engines to locate relevant Websites.

A. providing students with a checklist of questions that prompt critical evaluation of information on Web sites.

A fifth-grade teacher plans to have students read a chapter about the American Revolutionary War from their social studies textbook. The following is an excerpt from the chapter. The Battle of Bunker Hill took place on June 17, 1775. At the time, the American army occupied the area from Cambridge to the Mystic River. American troops gathered in Cambridge Common on the evening of June 16, 1775, and set out for Bunker Hill. Upon reaching Bunker Hill, however, officers decided to move to Breed's Hill, a smaller hill closer to Boston. The teacher asks students to locate and mark places mentioned in the chapter on a map as they read. This activity is most likely to help students: A. use visualization to facilitate their comprehension of the text. B. paraphrase content to make the text more understandable. C. connect elements in the text to their background knowledge. D. identify the text's main ideas and supporting details.

A. use visualization to facilitate their comprehension of the text.

Two proficient readers are answering post-reading comprehension questions about a chapter in a content-area textbook. The first student demonstrates exceptional recall of details from the chapter but has difficulty answering questions about the gist of the chapter. The second student can give an outstanding summary of the chapter but has difficulty remembering specific facts from the chapter. Which of the following best explains the most likely reason for the students' varied understanding of the text?These are the answer choices: A. The first student is more proficient than the second student at using metacognitive comprehension strategies to make sense of the text. B. Each student applied different reading comprehension skills when reading the text. C. The second student is more proficient at reading for literal understanding than for inferential understanding. D. Each student brought a unique set of prior experiences to the reading of the text.

B. Each student applied different reading comprehension skills when reading the text.

A teacher can best help sixth graders to draw inferences from informational text by asking them to complete which of the following statements? A. In my opinion . . . B. The passage suggests . . . C. In comparison . . . D. The author's first point is . . .

B. The passage suggests...

A fifth-grade teacher gives students a reading guide to complete as they read an informational text. The reading guide contains several questions to answer and a chart to complete, as well as comprehension aids for potentially challenging vocabulary and passages. This activity is likely to be most effective for achieving which of the following instructional purposes? A. teaching students to adjust their reading rate based on text difficulty B. encouraging students to interact with the text C. supporting students' development of reading fluency D. fostering students' motivation to read cooperatively

B. encouraging students to interact with the text

A third-grade teacher periodically reads aloud from a chapter in content-area textbooks and describes his thought processes as he reads. Following is an example: "'The moon does not shine on its own. The sun's light reflects off the moon.' Hmm. I'm imagining that the sun is like a flashlight shining on the moon in the dark. 'As the moon rotates, only the part that faces the sun is visible from the Earth.' I'm not quite sure what "visible" means, but it sounds kind of like vision, which I know has to do with eyes. It probably means the part that we can see from the Earth. Now, that makes me wonder— why do we see different amounts of the moon at different times? Let's see if the next part of the chapter explains this . . ." This practice is most likely to promote students' reading proficiency by: A. exposing them to new vocabulary in context. B. modeling for them metacognitive comprehension strategies. C. giving them an example of fluent oral reading. D. summarizing for them the main ideas of an expository text.

B. modeling for them metacognitive comprehension strategies.

Skimming is likely to be the most effective strategy for accomplishing which of the following reading tasks? A. evaluating the validity of information on an Internet Web site B. previewing a chapter in a content-area textbook C. synthesizing information from various sources for a research report D. studying specific facts for a content-area exam

B. previewing a chapter in a content-area textbook

An English Language Learner reads academic texts fluently in her primary language but is struggling to understand her content-area textbooks in English. This student would likely benefit most from engaging in which of the following activities? A. translating textbook reading assignments from English into her primary language B. receiving reading comprehension instruction with texts written in her primary language C. learning to use metacognitive reading strategies with English text D. reading texts in her primary language that cover the same material as her English textbooks

C. learning to use metacognitive reading strategies with English text

A fifth-grade teacher plans to have students read a chapter about the American Revolutionary War from their social studies textbook. The following is an excerpt from the chapter. The Battle of Bunker Hill took place on June 17, 1775. At the time, the American army occupied the area from Cambridge to the Mystic River. American troops gathered in Cambridge Common on the evening of June 16, 1775, and set out for Bunker Hill. Upon reaching Bunker Hill, however, officers decided to move to Breed's Hill, a smaller hill closer to Boston. Based on this excerpt from the chapter, which of the following graphic organizers would best promote students' awareness of the chapter's text structure? A. outline B. Venn diagram C. timeline D. semantic map

C. timeline

Which of the following text features are students likely to find most useful when previewing informational texts such as library books for a research project? A. index B. bibliography C. glossary D. table of contents

D. Table of contents

A sixth-grade teacher gives students several persuasive essays that present contrasting opinions on a current social issue. The teacher then asks students to consider the following questions as they read the texts. 1. What is the author's opinion on the issue? 2. How might the author's background influence his or her opinion? 3. What evidence does the author use to support his or her opinion? These questions are likely to be most effective for helping students: A. monitor comprehension of informational texts. B. identify the theme in expository texts. C. draw inferences from informational texts. D. analyze point of view in expository texts.

D. analyze point of view in expository texts.

A third-grade teacher observes that students who read aloud fluently also demonstrate greater comprehension of expository texts. The best explanation for this is that fluent readers: A. possess a self-awareness that allows them to use metacognitive skills efficiently. B. have already developed the base of background knowledge typically covered by textbooks. C. have well-developed skills for decoding any level of text word by word. D. are able to focus their full attention and cognitive resources on the meaning of a text.

D. are able to focus their full attention and cognitive resources on the meaning of a text.

Inferences

require reading between the lines to pick up what is not directly stated but is suggested or implied from information presented;guess + evidence, where evidence is drawn from students' prior knowledge and from what clues are provided in the text