Comprehension Sarah Benavides, Monica Rodriguez

and Jenny Strang!

What is comprehension?

• Comprehension is the understanding and interpretation of what is read as well as to be able to accurately understand written material. !

Children need to be able to

•  decode what they read; •  make connections between what they read and what they already know; and •  think deeply about what they have read.!

What is the difference between listening and reading comprehension?

•  When we listen and comprehend at the same time a person must solely depend on their ears to understand what is being said. Therefore our brain must focus more on the activity than when we engage our sight.

•  When reading the material our brain picks up the vocabulary and helps to define it and comprehend it almost immediately. You may rely on your sight for comprehension.

Why is comprehension important? • Without comprehension, reading is nothing more than tracking symbols on a page with your eyes and sounding them out.

•  People read for many reasons but understanding is always a part of their purpose.

•  Reading comprehension is important because without it reading doesn�t provide the reader with any information.

Hieroglyphics

Imagine being handed a story written in Egyptian hieroglyphics with no understanding of their meaning. You may appreciate the words aesthetically and even be able to draw some small bits of meaning from the page, but you are not truly reading the story. The words on the page have no meaning. They are simply symbols. !

What grade/levels do students begin to comprehend?

• Learning to read is arguably the most important work of students in the early elementary grades.

• Learning to read lays the foundation for future learning and understanding across all areas of the curriculum.

What grade/levels do students begin to comprehend? • Without this foundation, students will struggle to achieve academically in not only reading and writing, but also in areas such as math, science, and social studies.

Three Important Theories on Reading Comprehension

• There are three important theories on reading comprehension:

•  the Schema Theory; • Mental Models, •  the Propositional Theory, • and four categories of strategies to improve reading comprehension based on these theories: Preparational, Organizational, Elaboration, and Monitoring.

•   �

What is schema? •  Schema!Theory!is:!!

• Gunning!(1996)!defines!a!schema!as!the!organized!knowledge!that!one!already!has!about!people,!places,!things,!and!events.!

•  !Kitao!(1990)!says!the!schema!theory!involves!an!interacFon!between!the!reader’s!own!knowledge!and!the!text,!which!results!in!comprehension.!!

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What is Schema to a child ? •  Each!schema!is!"filed"!in!an!individual!compartment!and!stored!there.!In!aLempFng!to!comprehend!reading!materials,!students!can!relate!this!new!informaFon!to!the!exisFng!informaFon!they!have!compartmentalized!in!their!minds,!adding!it!to!these!"files"!for!future!use.!

•  !Based!on!the!Schema!Theory,!!

depending!on!how!extensive!their!"files"!!

become,!their!degree!of!!

reading!comprehension!may!vary.!

What do theorists say about Reading Comprehension? Some!theorists!say!children!!

need!to!analyze!the!!

text!first!with!a!teacher,!before!!

reading!on!their!own.!!

• Others!argue!that!children!should!and!must!learn!to!decode!words!in!the!story!using!their!learned!phonic!skills,!then!go!back!and!reread!the!story!just!for!comprehension.!

• Most!theorists!agree!that!young!readers!need!a!!

toolbox!of!reading!strategies!in!which!to!choose!!

from!in!order!to!comprehend!and!analyze!the!text.!!

These!tools!will!teach!the!child!how!to!self!monitor!!

so!that!the!context!makes!sense.!!

National Reading Panel

Why is Schema important to comprehension

•  Forming!a!schema!is!the!most!basic!comprehension!tool!used!by!students.!As!they!become!more!advanced,!they!can!build!on!their!base!of!schemas!and!create!mental!models!throughout!the!reading.!The!most!complex!comprehension!tool!is!forming!a!series!of!proposiFons,!which!are!constantly!updated!throughout!the!text.!

Why is Vocabulary important to comprehension?

Children!need!a!reach!environment!of!new!words.!!!

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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Dr. Isabel Beck & Margaret Mckeown & Linda Kucan

What is the difference between literal and inferential comprehension questions?

A Literal question asks the reader to recall facts explicitly stated in the text. The can be located �On the lines� Who, what, when, where, and How. • Who is the main character? • What is the name of the main character? • Where did the main character live? • When did John visit their parents? • How many times the main character did appear?

Comprehension strategy

What is the difference between literal and inferential comprehension

questions? An inferential question asks the reader to read �between the lines� by:

•  Comprehending using inference or inferring main ideas, sequence, cause and effect, character traits, and predicting outcomes. Any student, who has previous knowledge of a lesson, is able to answer to inferential questions.

What is the difference between narrative and expository/informational text?

• A narrative text has a story; it has characters, a setting, a problem and a solution. It is also told from a person�s perspective.

•  A narrative text will always have an author�s purpose. It can also be an autobiography or biography.

• An expository/Informational text has information we need to learn.

The primary purpose is to convey information. It comes in different forms as brochures, books, magazines, Internet or a CD Rom.

Relationship (QAR) Question Answer QAR: a strategy used to help students understand the different types of questions. Before introducing this activity the students must know the four different types of questions they might have. Those are:

•  Right There Questions: Literal questions whose answers can be found in the text. Often the words used in the question are the same words found in the text.

•  Think and Search Questions: Answers are gathered from several parts of the text and put together to make meaning.

•  Author and You: These questions are based on information provided in the text but the student is required to relate it to their personal experience. The answer is not in the text, the student must have a connection between text to text, text to themselves, text to the world..

•  On My Own: These questions do not require the student to have read the passage but he/she must use their background or prior knowledge to answer the question. There is a little bit more thinking, and analyzing.

Reciprocal Teaching Reciprocal Teaching: is an instructional activity where the students become the teacher while doing small reading groups. Teachers model, then help students learn to guide group discussions using four strategies which are:

•  Summarizing •  Question •  Clarifying, and •  Predicting

Questioning the Author This strategy will engage students actively with a text. Students will not be taking information from the text; they will be formulating their own questions to the author. This activity will help students to learn more. Some examples are:

•  What is the author's message? • Does the author explain this clearly? • How does this connect to what the author said earlier?

KWL chart • This chart is used to enhance their comprehension. Students will write underneath the K, What they know, underneath the W, what they want to know, and at the end of the lesson as a closing activity students are required to write what they have learned. Students can share with their tables or partners.

Venn Diagram: •  this can be used to help students understand how some event, issues, concepts, and categories can be different and the same as well. It can be used with all contents.

Discuss different types of comprehension activities for use by teachers

Discuss different types of comprehension activities for use by parents

Comprehension strategies

can be taught using material that is read to children, as well as using material the children read themselves !!

References • http://www.readingrockets.org/helping/target/comprehension/

•  http://www.k12reader.com/what-is-reading-comprehension/