Reading: Comprehension

Ms. Smith is trying to help her student's distinguish between fact and opinion. She assigns an article and asks them to underline facts and circle opinions. What instruction could she give to help her students distinguish between the two?

A fact is something that could be proven true or false, even if the supporting evidence isn't included in the text.

K-W-L Chart

A graphic organizer used throughout a unit that shows what students know (K), want to know (W), and learned (L)

Venn Diagram

A graphic organizer with two or more overlapping circles used to illustrate/examine similarities and differences between two subjects.

Which of the following statements describes the main differences between a literary and a non-literary text?

A literary text relies on figurative language and imagery to tell a story, while a non-literary text uses facts and details to inform the reader on a particular topic.

Think-Pair-Share

Active learning activity in which the teacher provides a prompt, the students consider it individually (THINK), then pair up and brainstorm responses or solutions (PAIR), and then the students then share their results with the class (SHARE).

A teacher notices that her students are struggling with visualizing a story as she reads it aloud. Which of the following strategies could she implement to help students improve in this area?

After reading a section of the story out loud, the teacher asks the students to draw what they "saw" in their minds on a blank piece of paper.

Chronological Order

An organizational approach that follows an orderly progression of events based in time.

Problem and Solution

An organizational approach where the author presents a problem and possible solution

Compare and Contrast

An organizational approach where the author provides similarities and differences about two ideas

While reading aloud to her students, Ms. Cearing hopes to improve students' reading comprehension. Which activity could she choose to accomplish this goal?

Ask students to pause and visualize what was just read in their minds.

A fifth-grade teacher has decided to repeat a novel she taught the year before but is hoping to improve the way she structures instruction with the first portion of the book. The first chapter contains long paragraphs that describe the setting and introduce many characters, and this seemed to frustrate and confuse her class. It wasn't until the characters and conflict were well established that they enjoyed the book. The teacher would like to minimize the negative initial responses this year. Which of the following activities may help her students get off to a better start?

Ask the students to draw visual representations of the setting and/or characters described in the first chapter.

Schema (when reading)

Background knowledge a reader brings to a text.

Students are reading a nonfiction article about the events leading up to WWII. Which of the following graphic organizers would most likely help them comprehend the article?

a timeline

Subheading

a title for a smaller portion of text

A 6th-grade teacher is asking students to compare a pair of persuasive articles about global warming. She would like to incorporate at least one question from each level of reading comprehension. Which of the following questions would fall under the category of evaluative comprehension?

Choose one article and explain the author's point of view. Then compare it with the point of view of the other article. Which do you agree with and why?

Sentence Stems

Common sentence starters provided to students to use when generalizing, summarizing, or transitioning between ideas.

Heading

a title of a section

Which of the following should a teacher do before giving the first science textbook reading assignment to a class?

Go through the text with the class pointing out headings, pictures, key words, definitions, and other assistance available on the page.

Mr. Hendrix, a third-grade English Language Arts teacher, wants to support his students in becoming self-directed critical readers. Which of the following activities would best help Mr. Hendrix accomplish this goal?

Have students use a Venn diagram to identify and compare the character traits of the protagonist and the antagonist of three different narratives.

A teacher is asking students to evaluate an argument in a persuasive text. Which of the following sentence stems would best support this goal?

In my opinion...

A sixth-grade teacher had decided to use literature circles with her class to work through a new fiction text they're reading. She will provide the groups with guided questions and discussion ideas to complete during and after their reading sections. What question could the literature circles ask to encourage students to make connections to the text?

In what ways is the main character relatable to yourself or someone you know? How does this likeness help you understand his motivations and actions?

A sixth-grade teacher uses the following excerpt as part of an activity to expose her students to various forms of informational text. If you look at a map of the World, you will see, in the left-hand upper corner of the Eastern Hemisphere, two islands lying in the sea. They are England and Scotland, and Ireland. England and Scotland form the greater part of these islands. Ireland is the next in size. The little neighbouring islands, which are so small upon the map as to be mere dots, are chiefly little bits of Scotland,—broken off, I dare say, in the course of a great length of time, by the power of the restless water. After reading the excerpt together once, the teacher asks her students to read the paragraph again on their own and create a rough sketch of the described map. In what way will sketching the map support student comprehension of the text?

It requires the student to reread and visualize the image being described by the text.

Analyze (Bloom's Taxonomy)

Level 4. Connect different ideas

Evaluate (Bloom's Taxonomy)

Level 5. Justify a stance

Create (Bloom's Taxonomy)

Level 6. Produce original thoughts or work

Which of the following activities would most help Mr. Hanson's students work on inferential comprehension skills?

Mr. Hanson asks various students to explain possible effects of different events in the narrative.

A fourth-grade teacher is planning a lesson to help facilitate student use of metacognitive skills to require students to self-monitor while they are reading a text. Which of the following activities would she use in this lesson?

Pair students and require them to stop at multiple preselected locations in the reading of a text to perform "think alouds."

A fifth-grade class is beginning a research project in which the students will be independently reading information about an assigned topic. Which of the following reading activities would best support student comprehension of this new information?

Paraphrase difficult sections of the text.

Transition Words

Phrases and words used to link sentences, paragraphs, and ideas together. First, next, last, on the other hand

Paraphrase

Putting something that was read, heard, or viewed into your own words.

A teacher wants to model for students how to pull the main idea(s) from a nonfiction text. Which activity below would be the most effective way to demonstrate this for the students?

Read a text that's projected for the class and take notes in the margins while reading.

In order to improve reading comprehension, Mr. Parks should encourage his students to do which of the following before reading a narrative text? Select all answers that apply.

Read the "About the Author" section. Preview illustrations, the title, or bolded vocabulary words.

An ESL teacher is reading a narrative with her class of English language learners. She provides the students with only the first half of the reading and then asks them to write an ending to the story with a partner. After reading their endings aloud to the class, she then asks the students to explain what details in the story helped them to write their endings. This strategy is likely to be most effective in promoting which of the following English-language proficiency standards in reading?

Students will make predictions about and draw conclusions from a text.

Organizational Structure

Text structure can include cause/effect, problem/solution, main idea/details, and/or sequence

Evaluative Comprehension

The ability to analyze text by questioning whether it is fact or opinion, determining if there is faulty reasoning, and explaining how the characters are developed. Explain why you think this story is factual or an opinion.

A third-grade teacher is facilitating literature circles for her class with books that tie into their current social studies unit. The class will be allowed to choose a title from a set of books that she has pre-selected. The teacher introduces each option by showing the front cover, reading the title, and reading the back of the book. Once students choose their book and begin reading it, they will be given opportunities to meet with other students who are reading the same book. All group members are encouraged to use direct quotes from the text to support the ideas they share with their group. Which of the following best describes the teacher's motivation for choosing books based on the current focus of their social studies curriculum?

The cross-curricular focus will both provide students with applicable background information for the text and extend their understanding of the topics being discussed in social studies.

Mrs. King tells her fifth-grade students that she is going to explain and model a strategy that should help them learn how to self-monitor their own comprehension. Which strategy would be most effective to introduce this strategy?

The teacher starts reading aloud as she is displaying the text on a slide or students are following along in a book; the teacher then pauses and asks a question aloud to herself about what she is reading.

A sixth-grade teacher had decided to use literature circles with her class to work through a new fiction text they're reading. She will provide the groups with guided questions and discussion ideas to complete during and after their reading sections. Which question stem would encourage students to use context clues to increase their vocabulary?

The word "_____" means ______. I know because in the text it says, "_____."

A reading teacher has designed a lesson focused on skimming and scanning texts for significant features. What is the purpose of developing this skill?

This skill will help students locate information more quickly.

Cause and Effect

a writing method in which the author explains reasons why something happened or the effects of something that has happened

Draw Conclusion

To make final comments/summation over what has been read or written.

How does identifying transition words help readers construct meaning?

Transition words clarify how ideas relate to one another.

Literal Comprehension

Understanding of the facts in the written text such as stated main idea or specific details.

Inferential Comprehension

Understanding parts of the written text without it being stated explicitly such as determining cause and effect, drawing conclusions, and making predictions.

Mr. Simmons wants his class to compare and contrast information about a subject using a variety of genres. Which of the following instructional strategies should Mr. Simmons use?

Venn diagrams

A sixth-grade teacher had decided to use literature circles with her class to work through a new fiction text they're reading. She will provide the groups with guided questions and discussion ideas to complete during and after their reading sections. Which question stem would encourage students to relate their own lives to the reading?

When ____ said _____, it reminded me of when I _____.

A teacher wants to model for students how to determine the meaning of words within a nonfiction text. Which activity below would be the most effective way to demonstrate this for the students?

While reading aloud to the class, the teacher pauses to define vocabulary terms using context clues.

Summarizing

Writing or speaking a brief description of more extensive information by covering only the main/most important points, without details.

Table of Contents

a text feature found on a page before the start of a written work that lists chapter names or section titles along with their corresponding page numbers

Index

a catalogue list at the end of the text containing all of the topics discussed

Bloom's Taxonomy

a hierarchy of levels of knowledge; each level has associated verbs teachers can use to start questions

Glossary

a list of important words to know along with their meanings

Anticipation Guide

a series of statements used to preview and activate prior knowledge before reading a text

Which of the following skills best demonstrates successful reading comprehension? Select all answers that apply.

accurate decoding of new words connecting previous reading experiences and life experiences to the reading

A third-grade teacher is assigning an informational text that compares the education system in the United States to that of another country. Which of the following would be a useful strategy to use while they read the informational text?

add details to a Venn diagram

Which of the following texts would be the most likely to contain a bar graph?

an article discussing graduation rates in local school districts

Modeling

an instructional strategy in which the teacher demonstrates a concept or skill and students learn by observing

An example of evaluative comprehension is when a reader:

analyzes the word choice of the author.

Graphic Features

charts, graphs, photos, and graphic organizers

In order to help students learn to use metacognitive strategies during reading, a teacher should:

conduct a think-aloud while reading, focusing on asking questions and making predictions.

A first-grade teacher would like to model metacognitive reading strategies with her students. Which of the following activities would be best for the teacher to implement to accomplish this goal?

conducting a think aloud in which the teacher reads the text orally, stopping along the way to ask questions and model making predictions

Before reading a literary piece, an elementary teacher will ask the class, "What do you know about...?" Which of the following best describes the purpose of this question?

connect to the student's schema

A student who is typically a strong reader and specifically loves to read fiction narratives struggles more with content specific informative texts. The teacher regularly implements pre-reading and during-reading activities for the class as a whole, but which of the following strategies would be the most helpful for this specific student when reading the more challenging informative texts?

decrease reading rate

A third-grade teacher is introducing a unit on plants. Part of the unit plan calls for students to read complex texts on the topic, many of which contain unfamiliar vocabulary words. The teacher takes the students on a nature walk to sketch several types of plants and talk about their favorite ones. The teacher also takes the class out to the school vegetable garden to discuss the differences and similarities between the different plants. These pre-reading activities will help the students:

gain additional background knowledge before reading the texts.

A fifth-grade class has recently started a unit on rainforests. The teacher puts the students into small groups and asks them to list everything they know about rainforests. The teacher then leads a group discussion in which students share the content of their lists and make their ideas into a web, shown here: Making a content web as a class is likely to further students' ability to remember and utilize academic information they have read by:

helping students categorize their thoughts to better comprehend what they have learned about a new topic.

Mrs. Wright is reading a fiction story aloud to her class. She stops throughout to model the think-aloud strategy. In her think-aloud moments, she makes predictions about what will happen next and reflects on what the characters learn throughout each plot event. What level of reading comprehension is she modeling for her students?

inferential comprehension

A second-grade teacher seats students in partners according to ability levels. Each pair receives one of three differentiated fictional texts. After they have had an opportunity to read the story, each pair completes the sentence stems below. Then, the teacher holds a whole group discussion in which the students share their findings. This story reminds me of a time when ___________. I felt like that character when ____________. If I were that character I would _____________. I am like_________(character name) because we both _________. If ___________ happened to me I would __________. These sentence stems prompt students to:

make textual connections.

Annotate

making notes in a text and questioning unfamiliar ideas while reading something new

A teacher is reading aloud to the class from a retelling of "Jack and the Beanstalk," and during the reading she pauses to think aloud. Below is part of her think-aloud along with the text she is reading. The teacher's dialogue is italicized. Once upon a time, there lived a boy named Jack. He and his mother lived in a tiny cottage on a farm near the outskirts of town. They didn't have much money, and the shelves in the pantry were bare. The harvest was over, but not much food was saved for the winter. Oh no, what will they do in the winter without food? I wonder how they can get some money. Maybe they have crops from the harvest to sell. Jack's mother decided that they must sell their cow. "Please take the cow to town and sell her so we can buy some food," Jack's mother said. So off Jack went with the cow in tow. I bet a cow will sell for $400. They'll be able to buy so much food! On his way to town, Jack met a man on the side of the road. "Hey there, lad, that's a nice looking cow! I'd like to buy it! Here are five magic beans that, when planted, will grow to reach the sky!" Jack was amazed, and quickly said yes. He held the magic beans in his hand and thought, "Wow! Magic beans! Mother will be so happy." Hmmm...I wonder. I think my mother would be very disappointed and sad if I came home with only five beans instead of money. Do you think his mother will be happy with Jack? During this think-aloud, the teacher is modeling which of the following text analysis skills?

making predictions

Individual expository reading in the fourth-grade classroom often requires students to use which of the following strategies to promote their success as they are reading content information?

mapping information from the text

The statement, "Ask students to recall a time when they felt disappointed and what they did to feel better" is most appropriate in which of the following sections of a kindergarten language arts lesson plan?

pre-reading strategy

A third-grade teacher reads the following passage from a story: "As Jimmy was brushing his teeth before going to bed, he heard a terrible roar come from the garage. Jimmy didn't know what could be making that terrible noise, but he left a light on in the closet while he slept that night." The teacher then asks students questions about their thoughts on the events of the passage and what might be happening. Which of the following would this activity best promote?

predicting

A sixth-grade teacher allows her students to choose a persuasive text from a few preselected options. Regardless of the article they choose, each student will receive the following post-reading questions: What is the topic of the article? What is the author's opinion or perspective on this topic? What reasons does the author present to support his perspective? Does the author provide any evidence? If so, where did the author find the evidence? Do you find the author's perspective, reasons, and evidence persuasive? Why or why not? When viewed collectively, what is the instructional purpose of the post-reading questions?

promoting close reading of persuasive texts

As part of a unit on weather systems, a first-grade class will be reading a scientific, informational text with many new, tier-three vocabulary terms. Before this reading takes place, the teacher has students write about their favorite type of weather, identify the current weather outside over the course of a week, and watch a few videos depicting different types of weather systems. The main purpose for these pre-reading activities is to:

provide students with ample opportunities to activate and build upon background knowledge before reading the complex text.

A fourth-grade teacher has assigned the independent reading of a section from the social studies textbook in order to evaluate her students' ability to comprehend informative nonfiction texts. Of the various reading comprehension skills, which of the following will be specifically important for comprehending this text?

recalling key details from the text

The development of reading comprehension skills is important in elementary students. Which of the following is the LEAST important strategy in promoting reading comprehension among elementary students?

relate oral language to semantics

A fourth-grade teacher incorporates reading fiction and nonfiction passages aloud to her class regularly. When she reads a particularly dense or confusing paragraph, she will comment on it to the class, something like, "Whoa, that was a lot of information." Then she will try to paraphrase and go back to reread if necessary. What skill is the teacher modeling for her students?

self-monitoring

Caption

short explanations below photos

A teacher reads a non-fiction passage aloud to her class. She occasionally stops and asks questions that relate the text to concepts taught in the previous week. The students are using the skill known as:

synthesizing: Synthesizing is connecting previous knowledge to new knowledge.

A few times a week, a fifth-grade teacher reads a complex informational text with a small group of students. One day, a student says, "When I read from the top to the bottom of the page, I don't always remember what it said." The best way for the teacher to help this student would be to:

teach the student self-monitoring text strategies such as rereading and notetaking.

A fifth-grade teacher passes out the following diagram to the class. After reading a science article, the teacher divides students into small groups and gives each group a copy of the chart. Within each group, the students discuss the main idea and supporting details present in one of the paragraphs of the article. After each group has an opportunity to record their thoughts on their copy of the chart, the teacher puts each group's chart up on the board in the same order as the article. Finally, the teacher leads a whole class discussion on the findings of each group. This activity is likely to develop students' reading abilities by:

teaching students a method of summarizing the main points in a longer text

Reading Comprehension

the ability to read a text and understand its meaning

Metacognition

the ability to think about one's own thought process

Main Idea

the central point of the passage

Reading comprehension is:

the process through which a reader creates meaning and understanding from a text.

A third-grade teacher assigns students an expository text to read with a set of five questions. More than half the class misses the same question about the article's main idea. Which of the following topics should the teacher cover to help students with this concept?

the purpose of titles, subtitles, and topic sentences

Which strategy would best help students to self-monitor and reflect upon a text during reading?

think-aloud

Inferential comprehension is when a reader:

understands information that is not stated explicitly.

Literal comprehension is when a reader:

understands the facts or ideas in a piece of writing.

A third-grade class has just finished reading an informational text about emergency services and first responders and a second article on natural disasters. The class is then broken up into small groups to discuss the texts and answer some comprehension questions. Each group is provided with a handout listing the following sentence stems: In paragraph ___, the author says ... According to the text ... For example ... The reading says ... The teacher reminds the students to use the sentence stems while answering the comprehension questions. Providing students with these stems will best encourage them to:

use evidence from the text to support their answers.

A fifth-grade class has recently started a unit on rainforests. The teacher puts the students into small groups and asks them to list everything they know about rainforests. The teacher then leads a group discussion in which students share the content of their lists and make their ideas into a web, shown here: Following the whole-class discussion of the organizer, the teacher distributes a copy of it to every student in the class. Throughout the unit, the teacher can help students utilize the web to continue their learning by showing them how to:

use the web to monitor their reading comprehension by adding new information to it after each reading assignment.

Literary Device

used by authors to communicate specific idea to the reader

Mrs. Jones is teaching her students how to use graphic organizers to assist with understanding different texts. Which of the following would be the least effective activity?

using a timeline to show the sequence of events in a persuasive text

Which of the following will best enhance reading comprehension in a sixth-grade classroom?

using graphic organizers to compare two reading selections

Mrs. Jones is a fourth-grade reading specialist and has been asked by a number of teachers how to enhance the comprehension skills of their students, especially with expository text. Mrs. Jones checks for the teachers' understanding of various comprehension strategies. Which one of the following responses is NOT a comprehension strategy?

using phonological awareness skills