Nature of The Learner - Reading Recovery Council of North ...

Deepening the Reading Comprehension Experience

W. Dorsey Hammond

Deepening The Reading Comprehension Experience

W. Dorsey Hammond, Emeritus.

Salisbury University * Oakland University

Three Guiding Principles of Reading Comprehension

Comprehension is a natural act. Young people are highly disposed to make sense of their world, including what they read.

Comprehension is not only the goal of reading but a major contributor to the learning to read process.

Comprehension is dynamic and variable. It is far greater than the sum of its parts.

The Nature of The Learner

Good News ! Young people want their world, even their

books to make sense and in most instances they are willing to work very hard at it.

We don't need to teach children how to comprehend. They have been doing this successfully since birth. What we must do as teachers is take this natural and powerful inclination and help students maximize it in multiple situations in school and beyond.

The Nature of The Reading Process

Reading is a process of using multiple cueing systems of semantics (meaning), syntax (word order), and phonics(visual) cues.

Removal of any one of these three cues makes learning to read more difficult. From the beginning stages of learning to read, the meaning component is an essential contributor.

Constructing meaning while reading facilitates word processing and fluency.

The Comprehension Experience

Comprehension is variable and lacks clear boundaries.

Numerous attempts to simplify comprehension.

Alternative is to accept comprehension as the dynamic and ill-structured domain that it is.

What are those reading behaviors and instructional practices used by teachers that dramatically impact students' ability to learn from texts?

Factors Impacting The Comprehension Experience

Prior Knowledge/Preconceptions Interest Intention Focus Ref lection

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Deepening the Reading Comprehension Experience

W. Dorsey Hammond

Prior Knowledge and Learning

Students come to the classroom with preconceptions about how the world works. If their initial understanding is not engaged, they may fail to grasp the new concepts or information that are taught, or they may learn them for purposes of a test but revert to their preconceptions outside the classroom.

Bransford et al. (2000)

How to Engage Students with Text

Raise Interest or Curiosity and Engagement Will Follow

Sources of Interest: the learner and the topic the learner and their disposition attractive and engaging text mediation thru skilled instruction

How Have We Addressed Comprehension Instruction in Recent Past?

Instruction characterized by various themes

Ancillary or indirect approaches Factor Analysis or sub-behaviors approaches

Strategies approaches Naturalist approach

Accessing Preconceptions-Bones

Of Our Body-Grade 3

Teacher: Let's talk about what we have been discussing in our groups.

Charlie: Bones break sometimes.

Lisa: Then you put it in a cast. You wear the cast a long time.

T:

Why do you think we need bones?

Wm: You'd have to have bones or you'd be like a jellyfish.

Dean: You couldn't stand up. You'd just flop over.

T:

What else?

Saira: There are different kinds of bones. Some are big. Some are little.

Charlie: Some are straight and some are curved, I think.

Darren: Is your skull a bone?

T:

What do you think?

Darren: I don't know. It is hard like a bone but I don't know whether it is

a bone or not.

Accessing Preconceptions-continued

T:

What else?

Zane: We have lots of bones. Everybody does.

T:

(smiling) How many are a lot?

Zoe: Some of us think maybe twenty but some of us think more than that.

Andra: We think maybe about 100 bones.

T:

Talk about that

Andra: Well we have lots of little bones in our hands and in our feet. So we think there are at least a hundred bones.

T:

Do we have all of our bones when we are born?

Zoe Oooh. That is a good question.

Gaby: I don't think you could have all of your bones when you are a little baby. There isn't room.

Saira: Maybe they are all there... just really ,really tiny.

Accessing Preconceptions-continued

Tom: T: Tom: T: Maria: Eddie:

Tom: T:

We talked about whether your teeth are bones. What do you think? We think they are but we aren't sure. What are inside of bones? Are they hollow? Some birds have hollow bones.. I think there is something inside. I don't know what it is called but I think it is important. . I think it helps make you healthy; something inside the bones, Good thinking. How do we keep our bones healthy? (Conversation continues briefly and then the teacher says." Let's read to find out."

Students begin to read silently and energetically.

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Deepening the Reading Comprehension Experience

W. Dorsey Hammond

The Bones in Your Body

You were born with more than 300 bones in your body. As you grow, some of the bones grow together, so when you are fully grown, you have 206 bones. The bones make up your skeleton which protect and support the organs and muscles inside your body. Tendons connect your bones to muscles so you can move.

Your bones were very soft when you were born. Your blood carries special cells into your bones and they make your bones harder and stronger.

Inside your bones is a soft and spongy material called marrow. Some is red and some is yellow. The yellow marrow stores fat. The red marrow makes red blood cells to replace old cells that die. It makes more than two million new red blood cells each second!

Your bones are connected by ligaments. Ligaments are made of collagen, so they are flexible. Because of that, you can bend and move easily.

You have different kinds of bones; long bones, short bones and flat bones. The bones in your arms and legs are long bones. The main bones of your wrists and ankles are short and as wide as they are long. Your rib bones are thin and flat. You have 24 rib bones.

Your backbone is made up of thirty-three bones. You have twenty-eight different kinds of bones in your head. Eight are in the skull that protects your brain. Each of your hands has twenty-seven bones.

Although your bones are strong, they can break. When a bone breaks, it creates cells and blood vessels. These cover over the broken parts and keeps growing until the pieces grow back together. Then the bone is like new again.

To keep your bones healthy you need calcium and vitamin D. You need to drink two eight ounce glasses of milk a day and even more when you are a teenager. Green vegetables like broccoli and kale have calcium. So do cheese and fish. You can also get vitamin D by being in the sun for a short time.

Exercise is also important. The best exercise puts weight on your bones to make your bones work hard...

Excerpted from The Comprehension Experience by Hammond & Nessell

Responses After Reading Informational Text-Options

o No Response o Teacher asks specific questions o Teacher requests retellings or summaries o Teacher requests students write about what

they have learned o Teacher invites students to talk about what

they have read and learned.

Framework for Discussion

of Informational Text

? Did we find the answers to our questions and what did we learn?

? Which questions are still unanswered and what new questions have been raised?

? What did we learn that we didn't think or talk about before the reading?

? What were the most interesting or surprising ideas we learned?

? What have we learned by reading this text? What do we now know that we didn't know before we began reading?

Factors Impacting The Comprehension Experience

Prior Knowledge/Preconceptions Interest Intention Focus Ref lection

Bones in Your Body

Below are some ideas about bones in our body. Some are true and others are not. Show whether you agree with each idea by writing an A(agree) or D(disagree). When you aren't sure, use your best guess.

___1 We have more than 200 bones in our body. ___2. We have just a few bones when we are born. ___3. Our skull is made up of several bones. ___4. All of our bones are hard. ___5. Material inside our bones produces blood cells. ___6. Our bones are held together by ligaments. ___7. Exercise is good for our bones.

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Deepening the Reading Comprehension Experience

W. Dorsey Hammond

What Does Attention to Preconceptions, Interest, Intention,

Focus and Reflection Produce? More engaged readers

More motivated readers

More attentive readers

More persevering readers Enhanced Comprehension

Engaging with Literature

Interest and anticipation are paramount. Initial engagement with literature is

different than with informational text. Contribution of prior knowledge changes

with literary text. Earlier entrance into text. Nature of discussion and reflection

changes.

The Relatives Came, by Cynthia Rylant

T: What is the title of our story? Students in unison: The Relatives Came

T: What do you think our story will be about? S1: Relatives coming. I think they are coming from a long way. T: What makes you think so? S2: They got all that luggage. S3: Or maybe they are going to stay a long time. S4: They are going real fast. Looks like they are excited to get there.

They are hanging out the window. T: Do you think their relatives will be happy to see them? S5 I hope they know they are coming. S6: They are going to be really surprised if they don't know. T: Let's find out. Read the first four pages silently.

Students are anxious to find out and begin reading immediately.

During The Reading Experience

Students read silently. Pause at designated points. Discuss what they have learned (what has

happened). Return to text as necessary to clarify & support

thinking. Predict what might happen next (all reasonable

predictions are entertained. Resume reading to discover and test hypotheses.

Story Synopsis

As students read silently they discover that these relatives are coming from Virginia, having traveled all day. When they arrive, their relatives and supper are waiting. These relatives stay for weeks and weeks, helping with chores, fixing things, singing and playing. Finally, they return to Virginia to pick their purple grapes. They leave their relatives house that now seems too big and too quiet and dream of next year.

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Deepening the Reading Comprehension Experience

W. Dorsey Hammond

Maximizing Engagement w/ Narrative Text

The students' curiosity is high because they don't know what is going to happen next. They are reading to discover.

They are engaged because they have speculated about upcoming text and thus have an investment in text outcomes.

They have not been directed to attend to a skill or strategy while reading.

They have not been encouraged to share personal anecdotes about their similar experiences with the text.

They are reading silently so as not to be distracted. The students are on task and on text.

Factors That Lessen Engagement and Intensity

1. Providing an overview or summary of text.

2. Asking learners to attend to a specific skill while reading.

3. Telling students what to read to find out.

4. Requiring students to read orally on first encounter with text.

Questions That Focus or Distract from Attention to Text

On-Text Questions

Off-Text Questions

What is happening in our story?

What are we learning?

What does this mean to you?

What do you think will happen next?

How do you think this problem might be solved?

Have you ever had this experience?

What would you do in this situation?

How does this connect to something that has happened to you?

Note: These may be appropriate questions, but usually at a later time.

Responses to Literature

Interpretive Response Thematic Response Author's Craft Response Metacognitive Response Moral or Ethical Response Intertextual Response Personal or Episodic Response

Addressing Instruction in Language, Vocabulary Other Skills & Standards

Theme: Engage Students In Deep Experiences With Literacy Before Talking Or Instructing About Literacy

Advantages 1. Provides meaningful context & prior experiences for learning. 2. Attitudes of learners are more cooperative. 3. Instruction is more efficient.

Vocabulary Instruction- Example

They had an old station wagon that smelled like a real car and in it they put an ice chest full of soda pop and some boxes of crackers and some bologna sandwiches, and up they came from Virginia.

The Relatives Came, Rylant

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Deepening the Reading Comprehension Experience

W. Dorsey Hammond

Metacognition and Skilled Readers

Strong relationship between metacognition and successful readers.

Metacognition (def) awareness of one's own learning and thinking processes. knowledge of our knowledge, thinking about our own thinking.

Metacognitive Responses-5th Grade

Darian: I knew the hatchet was going to be important in this story but I didn't think about using it to make a fire.

Gary: Brian didn't either until he had a dream about it. Judith: I didn't either. I didn't think about the sparks when I was

reading it. Teacher: Why do you think that was so? Judith: I think I was so worried about what animal might be

sneaking in the shelter that I didn't pay attention to the part about the sparks. Camille: Maybe it was a good thing the porcupine tried to get in the shelter and Brian had to throw the hatchet. Ian: Ooh. I hadn't thought about that.

Hammond & Nessell 2011

Metacognitive Awareness of What Good Readers Do

I know as a skilled reader I begin with what I already know. I always try to make sense of what I am reading. I read with a purpose: I know why I am reading and what I am

reading to find out. I ask myself questions, before, during and after reading. I think ahead to what might happen next in my story or what

might be the answers to my questions. I know as a good reader I often read a text or parts of a text

two- three or more times in order to understand what I am reading.

Hammond & Nessell 2011

Multiple Opportunities to Nurture Deep Comprehension

Directed Group Reading of Narrative Directed Group Reading of Informational

Texts Book Club and Literature Circles Individualized Reading/Self Selection Interest Area Investigations or Project Based Learning Opportunities Through The

Instructional Day

Comprehension Across The Curriculum

People don't usually think of Michigan when thinking of Maple Syrup production. Actually only New York and Vermont produce more.

T: Let's talk about we know here? S1: Michigan is number 3. We are third T: What else do we know? S2: New York is number one and Vermont is second. T: Are we sure? S2: Well they say New York and Vermont produce more. S3: Maybe Vermont is 1st and New York 2nd. I've never heard of New York Syrup. T: Does the author really tell us for sure who is number one? S4: Not really S2: So why might the author put New York first then? S3: Maybe he put them alphabetically or...just thought it sounded better. S2: Oh...but I still think New York is probably number one. It is much bigger. T: Interesting. What have we learned about what authors sometimes tell us, or

don't tell us?

Text-Based Inferences-Example

Grade 6 students reading a text about crocodiles. In the context of their discussion, the teacher asks, "According to this article how much might a large crocodile weigh?" S1: It doesn't say. T: Actually it does. Let's see if we can find it.

Students immediately return to the text and begin conferring with a peer. S2: Well here it says that the babies weigh four ounces. S3: So we know how much a baby weighs. S4: Here is something. It says the ratio of the adult to the baby is 4,000 to one. T: Can we do something with that? S5: Well.....that means that the adult weighs 4,000 times more than a baby. So if you

multiplied 4,000 times 4 ounces.... You get.... 16,000 ounces. S6: So. That doesn't tell us much. T: What would you like to know ? S6: How many pounds is that? S7: Does anyone know how many ounces in a pound? Then you could just divide. T: We could look it up , but, I happen to know that there are 16 ounces in a pound. S7. Sixteen into 16,000 is a thousand pounds? Oh, wow! S2: Yes...a thousand pounds.

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Deepening the Reading Comprehension Experience

W. Dorsey Hammond

The Critical Role of Talk for Deep Comprehension

Talk clarifies our own thinking. Talk instantiates ideas in our own mind. Talk allows for alternative perspectives. Talk introduces new thinking to an individual. Talk builds scaffolds for deeper thinking. Talk encourages careful listening. Talk promotes social interaction and

tolerance.

Becoming a Nation of Readers

Skilled readers are:

o Constructive o Fluent o Strategic o Motivated o Lifelong

Anderson et al. 1985

Comprehension and The Common Core Standards

Three Alternatives

# 1 Disregard the Common Core State Standards

#2 Align Local Curriculum to the CCSS

#3 Embed the Common Core Standards in the Context of Deep Experiences with Text

Summary of Issues

The impact of prior knowledge or preconceptions. The impact of interest through mediation. Importance of staying focused while reading Importance of reflection. How metacognition enhances skilled reading. Multiple opportunities for skilled reading and

deep comprehension. Embrace the Complexity of Reading

Comprehension.

The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read nor write but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.

Toffler

What Accrues From a Focus on Critical Thinking and Deep Comprehension?

Satisfying and Rewarding Teaching.

Our Mission Accomplished at District, School or Classroom Level.

Makes Teaching and Student Learning Memorable.

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