Chapter 7: Guiding Reading Comprehension

Constructing Three-Level Comprehension Guides:

1. Begin Construction of the Guide at Level II, the Interpretive Level 2. Next, Search the Text for the Propositions and Explicit Pieces of Information needed to Support the Inferences you have chosen for Level II 3. Decided Whether you want to add a Distraction or Two to Level I and Level II 4. Develop Statements for Level III; the Applied Level 5. Be Flexible and Adaptive

Procedure for Intra-Act

1. Comprehension 2. Relating 3. Valuation 4. Reflection

The Three-Levels of Comprehension

1. Literal 2. Interpretive 3. Applied

Procedure for DR-TA:

1. Title 2. Stop 3. Setting, Introduction of characters, initiating event 4. Stop 5. Main Character's Response to Initiating Event 6. Stop 7. Attempts made to Alleviate Problem and Achieve Goal 8. Stop 9. Outcomes or consequences of attempts, resolution of problem 10. Stop 11. Main Character's reaction to event

Planning a QtA Lesson

1. identify major understandings and potential problems with a text prior to its use in class 2. segment the text into logical stopping points for discussion 3. develop questions, or queries, that model and demonstrate how to "question the author"

5 Steps to Teaching OARs

1. introduce the concept of QARs 2. begin by assigning students several short passages from the textbook 3. continue the second day by practicing with short passages 4. review briefly on the third day 5. apply the QAR strategy to actual content area assignment

Procedure for KWL

1. introduce the strategy in conjunction with an new topic on text selection 2. identify what students think they know about the topic 3. generate a list of student questions 4. anticipate the organization and structure of ideas that the author is likely to use in the text selection 5. read the text selection to answer the questions 6. engage students in follow-up activities to clarify and extend learning

Procedures for GRP

1. prepare students for reading 2. assign a reading selection 3. as students finish reading, have them turn their books face down 4. help students recognize that there is much that they have not remembered or have represented incorrectly 5. redirect students to their books and review the selection to correct inconsistencies 6. organize recorded remembrances into some kind of an outline 7. extend questioning to simulate an analysis of the material and a synthesis of the ideas with previous learning 8. provide immediate feedback, such as a short quiz, as a reinforcement or short-term memory

Procedure for Discussion Webs

1. prepare your students for reading 2. assign students to read the selection and then introduce the discussion web by having the students work in pairs to generate pro and con responses to the question 3. combine partners into group's of 4 to compare responses, work toward consensus, and reach a conclusion as a group 4. give each group 3 minutes to decide which of all the reasons given best supports the group's conclusion 5. have your students follow up the whole-class discussion by individually writing their responses to the discussion web questions

5 Points of Think-Alouds

1. student should develop hypotheses by making predictions 2. students should develop images by describing pictures forming in their heads from the information being read 3. students should link new information with prior knowledge by sharing analogs 4. student should monitor comprehension by verbalizing a confusing point 5. students should regulate comprehension by demonstrating strategies

Frame of Mind

~How do you think-alouds, reciprocal teaching, QAR's, and QtA's model reading/thinking/learning strategies for students as they interact with texts in a discipline? ~Describe the procedures associated with each of these literacy-related instructional strategies: KWL, KWHL, directed reading-thinking activity, guided reading procedure, intra-act, and discussion web. How do these instructional strategies support thinking and learning with text? Which of these strategies may be particularly useful when adapted to your content area? ~Why and when should teachers use reading guides? ~How can you engage your students in close reading of texts within your discipline?

Instructional Strategies

~KWL ~Discussion Webs ~Guided Reading Procedure (GRP) ~Directed Reading-Thinking Activity (DR-TA)

Modeling Comprehension Strategies

~Think-Aloud's ~Reciprocal Teaching ~Question-Answer Relationships (QARs) ~Questioning the Author

Reading Guides

~Three-Level Comprehension Guides

Questioning the Author (QtA)

~a comprehension strategy that models for students the importance of asking questions while reading ~identify major understandings and potential problems with a text prior to its use ~segment the text into logical stopping points for discussion ~develop questions, or queries, that model and demonstrate how to "question the author" ~Planning a QtA Lesson ~Guiding the QtA Discussion

3. Valuation

~a valuing exercise that has students come to grips with what the material means to them by either agreeing or disagreeing with declaration statements

1. Prepare your Students for Reading

~activate prior knowledge, raise questions, and making predictions about the text

KWL

~an instructional strategy that engages students in active text learning ~begins with what students KNOW about a topic ~moves to what students WANT to know as they generate questions ~leads to a record or what students LEARN as a result of the strategy ~follow-up includes discussion, graphic organizers, and summary writing ~Procedure for KWL

1. Begin Construction of the Guide at Level II, the Interpretive Level

~analyze the text selection, asking yourself, "What does the author mean?"

4. Review Briefly on the Third Day

~assign a longer passage with up to 6 questions ~first, have students work in groups to decide the QAR category for each question and the answers for each ~second, assign a second passage, comparable in length, with 5 questions for students to work on individually ~third, discuss their responses either in small groups or with the whole class

Revoicing

~assist students as they express their ideas; filter the most important information and help students who are struggling to express their ideas by rephasing their statements

Applied Comprehension

~attempt to read beyond the lines to seek significance or relevance in what they say and mean

5. Apply the QAR Strategy to Actual Content Area Assignment

~decide on the appropriate QAR strategy and write out their answers

5. Be Flexible and Adaptive

~develop a format that will appeal to you and your students and try to avoid crowding too much print on the reading guide

5. Have your Students Follow up the Whole-Class Discussion by Individually Writing their Responses to the Discussion Web Questions

~display the students' responses to the question in a prominent place in the room so that they can be read by others

Marking

~draw attention to certain ideas by either paraphrasing what a student said or by acknowledging is importance with statements such as "good idea" or "that's an important observation"

4. Give each Group 3 Minutes to Decide which of all the Reasons given best Supports the Group's Conclusion

~each group selects a spokesperson to report to the whole class

Guided Reading Procedure (GRP)

~emphasizes close reading ~requires students to gather information and organize it ~places a premium an accuracy ~Procedures for GRP ~semantic mapping

Discussion Webs

~encourages students to engage in text and each other in thoughtful discussion by creating a framework for them to explore texts and consider different sides of an issue in discussion before drawing conclusions ~use cooperative learning principles ~use a graphic display to scaffold students' thinking about the ideas they want to contribute ~Procedure for Discussion Webs

3. Combine Partners into Group's of 4 to Compare Responses, Work toward Consensus, and Reach a Conclusion as a Group

~explain it is OK to disagree but to keep an open mind during discussion

Phase I of Reciprocal Teaching

~find text selections that demonstrate the four comprehension activities ~generate appropriate questions ~locate summarizing sentences and develop summaries for each selection ~note difficult vocabulary and concepts

Interpretive Comprehension

~focus not only on what author's say but also on what author's mean by what they say between the lines

2. Begin by Assigning Students Several Short Passages from the Textbook

~follow each reading with one question from each of the QAR categories on the chart; then discuss the differences between a "right there" question and answer a "think and search" question and answer, an "author and you" question and answer, and a "on your own" question and answer

Directed Reading-Thinking Activity (DR-TA)

~fosters critical awareness and thinking by engaging learners in a process that involves prediction, verification, interpretation, and judgement ~use open-ended questions ~Procedure for DR-TA:

Semantic Mapping

~help student's produce the author's main ideas in relation to one another

Scaffolding

~help students comprehend texts better than they would it left to their own resources

4. Develop Statements for Level III; the Applied Level

~help students connect what they know already to what they read

Intra-Act

~lays the groundwork for reflective discussion ~students engage in a process of valuing as they reflect on what they've read ~requires small groups ~Procedure for Intra-Act

Phase II of Reciprocal Teaching

~make decisions about which comprehension strategies to teach based on student needs

Question-Answer Relationships (QARs)

~make explicit to students the relationships that exist among the type of question asked, the text, and the reader's prior knowledge ~where answers are found? ~5 Steps to Teaching OARs

Turning Back

~make students responsible for figuring out ideas and turning back to the text for clarification

Guiding the QtA Discussion

~marking ~turning back ~revoicing ~modeling ~annotating ~recapping

2. Assign Students to Read the Selection and then Introduce the Discussion Web by having the Students Work in Pairs to Generate Pro and Con Responses to the Question

~partners work on the same discussion web and take forms getting down their reasons in Yes or No columns, use key words and phrases, and have an equal number in each column

1. Comprehension

~promotes an understanding of the reading material to be learned

Annotating

~provide information that is not in the text so that students can understand the concepts fully

Three-Level Comprehension Guides

~provide the framework in which students can interact with difficult texts at different levels of comprehension ~scaffolding

2. Next, Search the Text for the Propositions and Explicit Pieces of Information needed to Support the Inferences you have chosen for Level II

~put these into statement form

Think-Aloud Steps:

~select a passage that contains points of difficulty, ambiguities, contradictions, or unknown words ~have students listen as you model thinking aloud ~have students practice with patterns ~have students practice independently ~encourage students to transfer the process to other readings

1. Introduce the Concept of QARs

~show students a description of the 4 basic question-answer relationships

Literal Comprehension

~students read the lines of the content material and stay with the print sufficiently to get the gift of the author's message

Recapping

~summarize the main ideas as a signal to move on in the lesson; can be done by either the teacher or the students

4. Reflection

~teacher facilitates as groups discuss how they responded to the statements

Organizing Principle

~teachers guide students' reading by modeling how to read, think, and learn with texts and scaffolding instruction in teh use of comprehension strategies that allow students to learn with text in meaningful ways

Think-Aloud's

~teachers make their thinking explicit by verbalizing their thoughts while reading orally ~Steps: ~5 Points

2. Relating

~team leader is responsible for shifting discussion from important ideas to groups personal reactions and values

In the Text: Think and Search

~the answer is in the text, but the words used in the question and those used for the answer are not in the same sentence; you need to think about different parts of the text and how ideas can be put together before you can answer the question

In your Head: Author and You

~the answer is not in the text; you need to think about what you know, what the author says, and how they fit together

In your Head: On your Own

~the text got you thinking but the answer is inside your head; it is not directly answered by the author; you need to think about what what you already know about the topic in order to answer the question

In the Text: Right There

~the words used in the question and the words used for the answer can usually be found in the same sentence

Modeling

~think aloud about an issue that is particularly difficult to understand; one that students are unable to reach without assistance

3. Continue the Second Day by Practicing with Short Passages

~use one question for each QAR category per passage ~first, give students a passage to read along with questions and answers and identified QAR ~second, give students a passage along with questions and answer; this time they have to identify the QAR for each ~last, give students passages, decide together which strategy to use, and have them write their responses

3. Decided Whether you want to add a Distraction or Two to Level I and Level II

~we have found that a distractor maintains an active response to the information search, mainly because students sense that they cannot in indiscriminately check every item and, therefore, must focus their information search more carefully

Reciprocal Teaching

~you model how to use four comprehension activities (generating questions, summarizing, predicting, and clarifying) while leading a dialogue ~2 Phases