Comprehension Strategies - Harrisonburg City Public Schools



Comprehension Strategies

By Gerald G. Duffy

| |How do you know you need to teach this |Big Understandings |Student Objectives |What is the “secret” to doing it? |

|Strategy |strategy? |(what we must “clear up” for our students) | | |

| |Students continue to keep reading even when|The meaning getting is the purpose of reading |By the end of a given lesson, |Students must: |

| |what they are saying no longer makes sense.|One must actively construct meaning – it will not happen without effort |students will be able to use |* Look for clues to the topic |

|Predicting |When you ask, “What will happen next?” the|Predicting is an example of how readers actively construct meaning |topic clues the author provides|* Think about what they already |

| |students give NO response. |Predicting is not a wild guess – it is a thoughtful hypothesis based on |and what they already know to |know about the topic |

| | |clues |make predictions when reading |* Predict what they think will |

| | |Predicting is a matter of “reading between the lines”, or inferring, using|the book _________, and they |happen based on their prior |

| | |prior knowledge |will be able to explain how |knowledge |

| | | |they did it. | |

|Monitoring, Questioning, |Students’ reading does not sound like they |Comprehension is an active, probing process. |By the end of a given lesson, |Students must: |

|and Repredicting |are talking because they are working too |Predicting is only the FIRST step. |students will be able to |* Keep the original prediction in |

| |hard to decode words. When asked questions |Predictions change as we read. |describe how they talk to |mind. |

| |about the predictions they made, they guess|Predicting – monitoring-repredicting is a cycle that is repeated over, and|themselves as they monitor, |* Keep asking whether the |

| |or give NO response at all. |over and over again. |question and re-predict during |prediction continues to make |

| | | |the reading of the book |sense in light of new |

| | | |________________. |information from the text. |

| | | | |* Use new information in the text |

| | | | |and prior knowledge about the |

| | | | |information to make new |

| | | | |predictions. |

| |In discussing narrative text that has been |We need to explain what we mean when we say meaning is “implied” or is |By the end of a given lesson, |Students must: |

| |read, you note that students cannot answer |“between the lines”. |students will be able to state |* Note the clues embedded in the |

| |questions about character traits or mood or|Authors compose text based on their experience background and we construct|information ( author’s name) |text. |

| |other information the author implies but |meanings based on what the author’s words make us think about |has not directly stated but | |

|Inferring |does not state explicitly. |Authors often leave information out of their writing, expecting readers to|instead has inserted “between |* Access their own experiences |

| | |infer it |the lines” of the book |regarding these clues. |

| | |Comprehension is an active process of constructing meaning, which means we|___________, and students will | |

| | |must infer |be able to describe the |* Make predictions about the |

| | |Inferring is virtually the same process as predicting |thinking they used to do it. |implied meaning based on their |

| | | | |experience with the clues the |

| | | | |author provides. |

| |How do you know you need to teach this |Big Understandings |Student Objectives |What is the “secret” to doing it? |

|Strategy |strategy? |(what we must “clear up” for our students) | | |

| |Students keep on reading even when what |Good readers stop reading when a problem is encountered |By the end of a given lesson, |Students must: |

| |they are reading no longer makes sense, OR |Strategies learned can be applied when meaning blocks are encountered |students will be able to look |* Stop when the text stops |

|Look Backs as Fix-It |they stop at certain points in the story |Previously learned strategies can be combined and learned together |back in the text OR sometimes, |making sense |

|Strategies |when the text no longer makes sense but | |look forward in the text to |* Identify what is “blocking” the |

| |make NO attempts to fix the problem. | |solve a problem that is |meaning |

| | | |blocking meaning “getting” and |* Think about what strategy they |

| | | |they will be able to describe |know that could be used to fix |

| | | |the thinking they did to solve |the problem |

| | | |the problem. |* Apply the strategy |

| | | | |* Test to see if the problem is |

| | | | |fixed |

| | | | | |

| | | | | |

| | |Explain that authors have a purpose for writing that reflects what they |By the end of a given lesson, |Students must: |

| |Students cannot correctly answer questions |think is most important |students will be able to state |* Put themselves in the place of |

| |about what the author wants readers to |Author’s topic’s and the authors most important idea are not necessarily |the most important thing an |the author |

| |think is most important. |the same |author is telling them, AND |* Identify words and phrases |

| | |Questioning as one reads is particularly essential |they will be able to describe |(the details) that might be |

|Main Idea | |Not everything in a text is equally important |the thinking they did to decide|clues to what is important |

| | |Determining the main idea is like predicting, but that the predictions we |what was most important. |* Use the details to make a |

| | |make about the main idea early in the text must be combined together with | |prediction about what is |

| | |what we predict is most important at the end of the text | |important by asking questions |

| | | | |about what, in their experience, |

| | | | |and the clues seem to say about |

| | | | |what the author thinks is most |

| | | | |important |

| | | | |* Combine predictions made early |

| | | | |in the text with predictions |

| | | | |made later in the text |

| | | | |* Ultimately decide what the |

| | | | |main idea is by saying “If I |

| | | | |had written this and said |

| | | | |things this way, what would |

| | | | |that say about what I |

| | | | |thought was important?” |

| | | | | |

| | | | | |

| | | | | |

| |How do you know you need to teach this |Big Understandings |Student Objectives |What is the “secret” to doing it? |

|Strategy |strategy? |(what we must “clear up” for our students) | | |

| | | | | |

|Theme |Students cannot discuss the important |Stories and poems can be read for fun, but authors of stories and poems |By the end of a given lesson, |Students must: |

| |messages found in stories or poems, OR they|also have “big ideas” or “themes” they want to convey about life and |students will be able to state |* Put themselves in the place |

| |show no evidence of understanding that |living |a theme for the story they just|of the main character in the |

| |narratives convey messages that go beyond |To determine a theme, readers must engage in proactive questioning of the |finished reading, and they will|story |

| |the story line itself. |author |be able to describe the |* Note the author’s use of |

| | |Theme is an interpretation based on one’s experience and background: |thinking they did to determine |descriptive language for |

| | |therefore, different people may see different themes within a given story |the theme. |clues to how the character |

| | |or poem | |feels or thinks |

| | |Ideas can be combined together and they can be labeled as “sub themes”, | |* Ask themselves questions |

| | |these “sub themes | |about what, in their own |

| | |can be put together to make a “main theme” | |experience, the clues about |

| | | | |the character and about what |

| | | | |is happening to the character |

| | | | |makes them think or feel in |

| | | | |each part of the story |

| | | | |* List what the clues make |

| | | | |them feel or think for |

| | | | |each part of the story (i.e. |

| | | | |list sub themes for each part |

| | | | |of the story |

| | | | |* Combine the sub themes and |

| | | | |ask themselves, “What do |

| | | | |these sub themes together |

| | | | |seem to say about what |

| | | | |message the author may be |

| | | | |trying to convey?” |

| | | | | |

| |When you ask students to “tell you about” a|The meaning of “beginning, middle and end” |By the end of a given lesson, |Students must: |

| |story or a piece of expository text, they |Some information in text is more important than other information |students will be able to |* Understand the concepts of |

|Summarizing |recite virtually everything that happened |Well-written texts have structure, and that looking for text structure |provide a short summary of a |of beginning, middle and end |

| |or report unimportant information and omit |will help them summarize |book they have read, and they |* Know the parts of story |

| |important information. |How to identify text structures in stories and in expository text. |will be able to describe how |(story structure, or story |

| | | |they used their knowledge of |map). |

| | | |story structures to create a |* Review the book to identify the |

| | | |summary. |parts of the story. |

| | | | |* Include just those parts in the |

| | | | |summary. |

| |How do you know you need to teach this |Big Understandings |Student Objectives |What is the “secret” to doing it? |

|Strategy |strategy? |(what we must “clear up” for our students) | | |

|Drawing Conclusions |Students are unable to answer questions |Authors often want readers to draw conclusions, even though they may not |By the end of a given lesson, |Students must: |

| |such as “What does the author want you to |say so explicitly or do not specify exactly what conclusion should be |students will be able to figure|* Think about the topic being |

| |be thinking in that section of the text?” |drawn |out what conclusion an author |discussed and ask what the |

| |or, with older students, “What conclusion |Readers must be assertive creators of meaning |wants them to draw, (even |author wants readers to think. |

| |can you draw from this text?” |Drawing a conclusion is a prediction about what the author wants the |though it may not be stated), |*Use experience about clue |

| | |reader to conclude |and they will be able to |words to predict a conclusion. |

| | |That like main idea and other comprehension strategies, the reader must |describe the thinking they did |* Put themselves in the author’s |

| | |pretend to be the author and, on that basis, think what conclusion the |to draw the conclusion. |shoes and ask, “Why would I |

| | |author might draw | |say what is being said here if I |

| | | | |were the author?” |

|Evaluating |You note that students accept what they |Not everything you read is factual or true |By the end of a given lesson, |Students must: |

| |read at face value or justify positions by |That it is acceptable to disagree with what one reads, and that good |students will be able to read a|* Read what the text says. |

| |saying things such as “I believe it because|readers make judgments about what they read |selection and take a position |* Use their own experience |

| |it says so in the book.” |That evaluating requires assertive, proactive thinking |regarding _________, and they |background to note if there |

| | | |will be able to describe the |are gaps or inconsistencies |

| | | |thinking they did to make their|or flaws in the logic |

| | | |judgment. |* Based on their prior knowledge |

| | | | |answer questions such as “What |

| | | | |do I think about this? Do I |

| | | | |agree? Do I have a different |

| | | | |view? |

|Synthesizing |You observe that students can not compose a|Different information about a common problem can come from different |By the end of a given lesson, |Students must: |

| |statement combining information from two or|sources |students will be able to |* Think about the content of |

| |more sources or that they have difficulty |That being a good reader and thinker requires using information from |combine ideas from several |each story |

| |creating a diagram combining information |several sources at once. |stories into a single message |* Decide how the stories are |

| |from different sources. |That reading is not so much receiving understandings as it is creating |that fits all the stories and |alike and different |

| | |understandings |they will be able to describe |* Identify common elements |

| | |That information can be grouped together, or classified, by common |the thinking they did to |* Use experience about the |

| | |characteristics |combine the ideas. |common elements to create |

| | | | |a synthesis |

Compiled by Staci Hartman

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