READING COMPREHENSION

Developing Deep
Understanding

During this session, you will:

deepen your understanding of reading

comprehension
understand the importance of fluency, vocabulary
and prior knowledge in comprehension
identify comprehension strategies
recognise the importance of talk in comprehension
become familiar with teaching practices that
promote deep comprehension

Reading Comprehension is

a consuming, continuous and complex activity,

but one that, for good readers, is both satisfying
and productive. (Duke & Pearson, 2002)

a thinking process involving readers strategic

interaction with the text. ( McLaughlin & Allen,
2009)

Reading Comprehension is

Proficient comprehension requires active

cognitive engagement in which readers
construct meaning and use metacognitive and
self-regulatory strategies to make sense of
texts. (Pressley, 2000)

Reading Comprehension is

Comprehension involves responding to, interpreting,

analysing and evaluating texts. (DET, 2009)
* Respond to = answer, give a reply, react
* Interpret = explain, translate, represent, construe
* Analyse = determine constituent parts, examine
critically
* Evaluate = find or state value of, appraise carefully

A Comprehension Activity

Reflect:
1. Did you understand the text?
2. How did you complete the task?
3. Did the task require real comprehension of
the text?
4. What could have been done to help you
comprehend the text?

Reading Comprehension Research

Most of what we know about reading

comprehension has been learned since 1975.
Unlike decoding, oral reading, and reading
readiness, there is a lack of controversy about
teaching comprehension.
Much work on reading comprehension has
been grounded on studies of good readers.

Skilled Comprehenders

Recognise the words on the page automatically.

Decode unfamiliar words quickly.
Read texts fluently.
Know a lot of word meanings and know a lot about

the world.

Skilled Comprehenders

Have a repertoire of comprehension

strategies and they know when and how to
combine them.

Employ metacognition to monitor their

reading processes.

The Importance of Fluency

Fluency refers to readers mastery over the

surface level of texts they read the ability
to accurately and effortlessly decode the
written words and then give meaning to
those words through appropriate phrasing
and oral expression of the words.

The Importance of Fluency

Fluency is the bridge between phonics /

word decoding on the one side and
vocabulary (word meaning) / comprehension
(passage meaning) on the other side.

Fluency means making decoders skills so

automatic that they can focus on the
meaning of the passage.

The Importance of Fluency

Fluent reading allows the mind to concentrate

on comprehension.

If decoding does not happen quickly, the

decoded material will be forgotten before it is
understood.

Target norms of words correct per minute:

By end of Year 1 = 30-60 / Year 6 =120-160

Teaching Fluency

Many educators are not familiar with fluency or

how it might be incorporated into classroom.
MAP: Model Fluency
Assisted Reading
Practice Repeated Readings
Also important that students are explicitly
taught how to navigate through a variety of
texts and how this relates to the purpose of
reading.

The Importance of Vocabulary

Vocabulary knowledge correlates strongly

with reading comprehension.

Adequate reading comprehension depends

on a person knowing between 90% and 95%
of words in a text. (Nagy & Scott, 2000)
Knowing that percentage allows the reader
to get the main idea and then be able to
work out unfamiliar words.

The Importance of Vocabulary

The Fourth Grade Slump relates to a large

language gap in low income students.
Need explicit vocabulary instruction and the
provision of an environment that accelerates
the incidental acquisition of vocabulary, which
is how most vocabulary growth takes place.
Word knowledge is cumulative. The more
words a student knows, the easier it is to
learn new words.

Teaching Vocabulary

1. Provide rich and varied language

experiences
2. Teach individual words
3. Teach word learning strategies
4. Foster word consciousness

The Importance of Prior Knowledge

Prior knowledge about a topic

profound effect on comprehension.

has

Our knowledge is organised in complex,

relational
structures
called
schemata.
Comprehension is a matter of activating or
creating schemata that relate to the text and
lead
the
reader
to
a
meaningful
interpretation.

The Importance of Prior Knowledge

Prior knowledge allows the reader to make

connections, predict and interpret.

Reading requires the reader to make

inferences that depend on prior knowledge
not on de-contextualised inference skills
(Hirsch, 2003).

The Importance of Prior Knowledge

The point of a comprehension strategy is to

activate the students knowledge. If the
relevant prior knowledge is lacking,
conscious
comprehension
strategies
cannot activate it. (Hirsch, 2003)

The Importance of Prior Knowledge

The Matthew Effect Students with prior

knowledge continue to grow as readers and
learners, with increasing access to texts,
yet those with limited prior knowledge risk
falling further and further behind due to
reduced text access.

Teaching Prior Knowledge

Building the field

Connecting known to unknown
Range of language and text experiences

Strategies Good Readers Use

Good readers are active readers

Have clear goals in their mind for reading

and constantly evaluate whether the text, and

their reading of it, is meeting their goals.
Look over a text before reading, noting

structure and relevant parts

Strategies Good Readers Use

Frequently make predictions

Read selectively, continually making decisions

about their reading what to read carefully,

what to read quickly, what to reread, etc.
Construct, revise and question the meanings

they make as they read

Strategies Good Readers Use

Try to determine the meaning of unfamiliar

words and concepts in the text.

Draw from, compare, and integrate their

prior knowledge with the text.

Think about the author of the text their

style, beliefs, intentions, etc.

Strategies Good Readers Use

Monitor
their
understanding,
adjustments as necessary.

making

Evaluate the texts quality and value.

Read different kinds of texts differently.
Process content before, during and after reading.

Reading Comprehension Instruction

A large volume of work indicates that we can help

students acquire the strategies and processes used by

good readers and therefore improve comprehension.

Yet, reading comprehension instruction has been,

and often is, a neglected area of teaching.

Why ???

Reading Comprehension Instruction

Pearson (2001) espoused the need to

curricularize
reading comprehension strategy instruction.
Comprehension instruction should be balanced

explicit instruction in specific comprehension

strategies and a great deal of time and opportunity
for actual reading, writing and discussion of text.

Comprehension Strategies

Predicting
Making Connections
Visualising
Questioning
Summarising
Monitoring

Comprehension Strategy Instruction

1. Explicit description of the strategy and when and

how it should be used.

2. Modelling of the strategy in action Think Alouds
3. Guided practice
4. Independent practice
** Need to coordinate strategies other strategies
should also be referenced, modelled, and
encouraged throughout the process.

The Importance of Talk

Comprehension improves when we

engage students in rich discussions that
allow students to integrate knowledge,
experience, strategies and textual
insights. (Pearson, 2008)

The Importance of Talk

Through in-depth, authentic conversations,

we can help our students to delve more
deeply as thinkers, clarify ideas and verify
information.

Comprehension as a social constructivist

process. Learning develops through talk
and interactions with others.

The Importance of Talk

There is an important link between oral

language and reading comprehension

Small group conversations motivate
students, foster higher order thinking and
promote comprehension
Provides an authentic context to use
academic and meta language
Increases the responsibility of the learner

The Importance of Talk

Traditionally, the teacher asks questions and very few

learners speak. Students quickly learn that if they are
quiet long enough, a more verbal peer will provide a
response. We need to shift this interactional pattern to
distributed discourse so that all students must interact,
allowing the distribution of cognition and more active
engagement in learning.

The Importance of Talk

discussion is defined as a dialogic

classroom event in which students and
teachers are cognitively, socially, and
affectively engaged in collaboratively
constructing
meaning
or
considering
alternate interpretations of texts to arrive
at new understandings. (Almasi, 2002)

The Importance of Talk

Such discussion requires the type of critical

and evaluative thinking that is essential to
achieving higher levels of comprehension. It
requires participants to have a questioning
attitude, engage in logical analysis, make
inferences, make evaluations, and make
judgements about the texts they read.

The Importance of Talk

Questions asked during traditional teacher-led

discussions of text tend to be literal, factual
and known-answer questions. Research has
found that this type of teacher questioning
diminished students cognitive, affective, and
expressive responses; interrupted student
discourse; and led to decreased motivation,
cognitive disengagement, and passivity.
(Skidmore, Parent-Perez & Arnfield, 2003)

The Importance of Talk

When teachers persist in asking literal

questions,
students
adjust
their
expectations, values, and purposes for
reading accordingly. In short, they learn
that only literal understandings are valued.
Thus, they focus on literal readings of texts
rather than critical, higher level or
interpretive readings. (Almasi & York, 2002)

Developing Accountable
Conversations about Texts

Modelling
Shift to a distributed discourse model
Scaffolding with temporary support Release
responsibility
Use of open-ended, higher order questioning,
queries and probes / Discussion starters
Effective comprehension routines (e.g.
Reciprocal Teaching / Literature Circles /
Questioning the Author / Reading Conferences)

Developing Accountable
Conversations about Texts
Invitations to deeper conversation
e.g. What are your questions? What are you
wondering?
What are the most important ideas here?
What conclusions can we draw?
What evidence from the text supports your
thinking?
How might this compare with?
What might the author want us to believe?

Developing Accountable
Conversations about Texts
Discussion Stems
I wonder
I realised
This part made me think of
I feel / I like / I can infer
The authors purpose may be
If I could change something, I would
An important point was

A Supportive Classroom Context

A great deal of time actually reading

Experience reading real texts for real
reasons
Variety of texts at multiple levels
An environment rich in vocabulary walls
that teach
High-quality talk about texts

A Supportive Classroom Context

Motivation and engagement

Rich texts broader perspectives, varied
vocabulary, unpredictable comprehension
patterns, engaging and interesting.
Texts chosen to help teach strategy
Differentiated instruction Stage appropriate
texts with scaffolding to support
All students expected to gain deep
understanding

Quality Teaching Deep

Understanding

About the learning the students demonstrate

Demonstrate their grasp of central ideas and
concepts
Explore relationships, solve problems, construct
explanations, draw conclusions in relatively
systematic, integrated or complex ways.
Opportunities may include: problem solving in a
group,
developing
or
answering
probing
questions, providing reasoned arguments for a
point of view.

Reading Comprehension
In summary, the important factors:
Fluency
Vocabulary
Prior/Background Knowledge
Range of integrated cognitive strategies
High
quality
discussion
student
responsibility
Supportive
classroom
environment
and
practices

Reading Comprehension
So what does a classroom that fosters deep
comprehension

look like
sound like
feel like