Comprehension Mini-Lesson Primer

Comprehension Mini-Lesson Primer

Introduction

Reading mini-lessons can strengthen students' reading comprehension by providing explicit explanations (Duffy, 2009) of reading strategies. As Duffy notes, not all students will need this type of in-depth, explicit instruction. However, it is important that teachers know how to analyze and teach comprehension so they can effectively teach mini-lessons when needed and can also support students' development and application of comprehension strategies as they engage in discussions of text. Research suggests that the goal of reading comprehension instruction is to help students become strategic readers who can use a variety of strategies flexibly to monitor and make sense of a wide range of different texts read for a wide range of different purposes. In other words, the goal is not to teach a list of specific comprehension strategies in isolation but to help students become self-regulated readers who can selectively draw on a range of comprehension strategies to meet their comprehension goals and challenges.

Since thinking and comprehension occur inside the head, its often difficult to teach students how to get better at these task. Paris and colleagues (Paris, 1985; Paris et al., 1983) found that students benefit when teachers make their thinking public-- bringing their strategic moves and connections out into the open for students to see and to examine. Similarly, The model that we recommend for explicit teaching of reading strategies is the guided release of responsibility model (Pearson & Gallagher, 1983). When utilizing this model, teachers carefully select a strategy to teach based on students' needs. Then, they 1) introduce the lesson to students, helping them using why they are learning it and how it will be helpful when they are reading; 2) explicitly model their thinking around the strategy while reading text; 3) guide students through their own use of the strategy through scaffolded assistance, encouraging student to think aloud and discuss with others; 4) have the students independently apply the strategy to their reading; and 5) assess student understanding of the strategy and the text to which it is applied. In the subsequent sections, each of these components is described in greater detail.

College of Education, University of Washington Box 353600 Seattle, WA 98195-3600 coe@u.washington.edu

Selection of the Strategy

Research has identified a small number of effective strategies that improve aspects of comprehension (e.g. self-monitoring and fix-up, making inferences, visualizing, summarizing, questioning, evaluating) as well as effective approaches that teach students to coordinate multiple strategies as they read. When selecting strategies to teach explicitly or to scaffold less explicitly during discussion of text, it is important to select strategies that are authentically useful and applicable to the text students are reading. For example, if students are reading a narrative text that includes flashbacks, it would be helpful for them to understand the structure of that type of narrative so they understand the story. Again, it is important to stress that the goal is not to have students learn or practice strategies in isolation but to help them learn to use combinations of strategies selectively to construct meaning while they are engaged in natural reading situations.

As Duffy (2009) writes, explanation of strategies is only for students who need the explanation. When selecting strategies or topics for mini-lessons, it is important to consider the needs of the readers, as well as the purpose of the intended strategies for reading. (Note that on the mini-lesson template the strategy is noted as the process objective.)

Introduce the Strategy

Once teachers select the targeted strategy for instruction, it is important that they plan to introduce the strategy to the students. Duffy (2009) outlines three components to include in this introduction: 1) A reference to the real reading being pursued 2) A statement of what the students will be learning and how it will be used 3) A statement of the "secret of doing it." The following is an excerpt of an introduction for a prediction lesson, taken from Duffy, 2009:

We are reading this story today to collect information we can use on our class project on whales. But we are also going to learn to use clues from the title to make predictions about what is going to happen in the story we read today. For each prediction, you will be able to tell me how to use the title as a clue to come up with your predictions. The secret to doing it is to examine the title, and to think about what you already know from your experience with the topic, and to base your prediction on what your experience has taught you about it. (p. 51)

College of Education, University of Washington Box 353600 Seattle, WA 98195-3600 coe@u.washington.edu

Explicitly Model the Strategy

After teachers introduce the strategy, they should model using the strategy in action, talking aloud to make their thinking "visible" to students, as they use the strategy in the process of constructing meaning from an actual text. This is often referred to as a "think-aloud," where the teacher and the students talk about what they are thinking and how they are doing that. Thus, it is important that teachers have a clear idea of how they actually use the targeted strategy. The more teachers understand about their own thinking, the better they can model for students how to think about and problem solve while reading. In other words, the better than are equipped to model and to support comprehension. The following excerpt, taken from Duffy, 2009, demonstrates explicit modeling:

Let me show you how to make predictions. Pay attention to what I do so you can use it as a starting point when you try to make predictions. When I make predictions, I look at the topic we are reading about and I think about what I already know about the topic and base my prediction on that experience. I say to myself, `What does my experience tell me is likely to be happening in this story?' For instance, the story has the word circus in the title, so I think to myself, `what do I already know about circuses?' Then, I say, `I have been to a circus. What happened when I went to the circus is probably what will happen in this story.' And so my prediction is based on what I already know from my experience."

Not all students need this type of explicit teacher modeling. Some may be able to more actively participate in co-modeling and thinking aloud with their teachers and classmates, and some may need even less teacher modeling or no modeling at all (See Duffy for a clear explanation of this graduated support). Whatever the level of support, it is important that "thinking is made public"--that students are helped to understand and talk about the cognitive work of using strategies to comprehend during reading. This work of thinking aloud is often challenging for teacher candidates, many of whom have never had to "deconstruct" their own processes of comprehension. It requires a great deal of practice.

College of Education, University of Washington Box 353600 Seattle, WA 98195-3600 coe@u.washington.edu

Provide Scaffolded Assistance, or Guided Practice

After teachers have introduced and explicitly modeled the strategy, it is important that they give students several opportunitiesto practice the strategy authentically. During this time, teachers are present to prompt, guide, coach, and even reteach as needed. It is important here to distinguish between opportunities to practice strategies on a text read by a teacher and opportunities to practice strategies when students are reading instructional/independent level texts.

? Opportunities to practice strategies orally: In a whole class mini-lesson that includes readers of varying abilities and levels, a teacher may decide to have the students practice the strategy orally. Using the previous prediction lesson example, a teacher may decide to read a few more pages of the text and then ask the students to make a prediction based on the part just read aloud. The students could share their predictions and explain their thinking behind the predictions with a partner and the teacher could discuss these predictions with the whole class. While this is a meaningful exercise in getting the students to begin to think about the strategy, it is important to remember that the students did not actually do the reading here and were prompted to use the strategy. Consequently, it would be important to have the student practice utilizing the strategy while reading an instructional level or independent level text (during a small group reading lesson or during independent practice).

? Opportunities to practice the strategies in instructional/ independent leveled texts: In small group mini-lessons that includes readers of similar abilities or levels, the teacher would have students apply the strategy more strategically while reading a text. Again, it is essential that students are supported in explaining their thinking and that teachers are available to prompt, guide, coach, or reteach across multiple opportunities for students to apply comprehension strategies with a range of different types of texts.

Independent Practice

After having opportunities for scaffolded practice, students should be encouraged to apply their comprehension strategies while reading independently. It is important that students have access to texts of appropriate difficulty and complexity so that application of comprehension strategies is possible. Texts that are too easy will not stretch the reader; texts that are too difficult will overwhelm and make application of comprehension strategies impossible.

College of Education, University of Washington Box 353600 Seattle, WA 98195-3600 coe@u.washington.edu

Summary Teaching reading comprehension is difficult because reading is a fluid process. Thus, when planning for mini-lessons, it is important for teachers not to "proceduralize" comprehension, or teach comprehension rules. Our aim is to teach students to use comprehension strategies flexibly and strategically; to have a variety of of strategies they can readily use when encountering challenging parts of text and when reading closely and carefully to construct meaning.

College of Education, University of Washington Box 353600 Seattle, WA 98195-3600 coe@u.washington.edu

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