READING INDEPTH Comprehension involves responding to interpreting analysing

READING IN-DEPTH

• Comprehension involves responding to, interpreting, analysing and evaluating texts. (NSW Department of Education and Training Literacy Continuum) • Comprehension is an active process between the reader and a text, a process that is both ‘intentional and thoughtful’ (The National Reading Panel 2000)

• The goal of reading is for readers to transact with text in order to comprehend. (Rosenblatt 1978) • Transaction implies that a reader’s personal experiences shape his or her understanding of narrative and expository text, indicating that response is personal and may vary. • Reading can be defined as a thinking process. (Smith 1997) • Suggesting that reading is about cognition indicates that the focus of instruction should not be on the print, but rather on how readers connect with the print. Teaching Comprehension Strategies Booklet originally developed as part of the Focus on Reading 3 -6 program

• Good learners use a variety of comprehension strategies simultaneously. They know how to deliberately apply specific strategies to aid their comprehension, particularly with regard to challenging texts. (Pressley 2002)

• It has been found that less able ‘comprehenders’ usually focus more on word accuracy rather than comprehension monitoring and generally have weak metacognition skills. (Cain and Oakhill, 1999; Nation et al. , 2005) • Students with poor comprehension generally are poor at making inferences and integrating information. (Nation et al, 2005) • They tend to read superficially, are less likely to participate in constructive processes and are unsure of when to apply their prior knowledge during reading.

• Research has shown that there are sources of comprehension problems that are independent of decoding. (Williams, 2005) • Researchers have also identified students who can not comprehend text effectively in spite of successful decoding. (Caccamise &Snyder, 2005; Duke and Pressley &Hilden 2004)

• Providing students with explicit instruction in comprehension strategies can be an effective way in helping them overcome difficulties in understanding texts. (Grahame &Bellert, 2004) • The more explicit the comprehension strategy and self-regulatory instruction, the higher the likelihood that the learner will make significant gains in comprehension. (Manset-Williamson & Nelson, 2005) • As learners become more competent and confident of their comprehension, the less support they require from the teacher. (Duke and Pearson 2002)

Reflection • What are the skills and strategies that my students need in order to comprehend text? • How do I currently teach these comprehension skills and strategies in my classroom?

• “Teachers must create the environments in which students are challenged to read a wide range of texts deeply and thoughtfully. With the goal of deep thinking, teachers in this kind of learning environment invite responses and reactions, and stretch students’ thinking to levels of reflection they might not reach on their own. ” (Linda Hoyt 2009)

• Efferent: (Here/Hidden)The information (facts) readers extract from the text • Aesthetic: (Heart)Expressive responses that invite learners to share their thinking • Critical / Analytical: (Head)Readers interrogate the text, the author, the issue and the purpose (Linda Hoyt 2009)

• In setting the stage for comprehension, teachers explicitly model how good readers reach into a text, cracking open the thinking process of an expert reader in a way that students can replicate. • Teachers explicitly demonstrategies and tools readers use to record their thinking, exposing their thinking and their written responses in a highly visual way that students can follow as a model for their own thinking and writing. Revisit Reflect Retell Time – Tested Strategies for Teaching Reading Comprehension Linda Hoyt

• It is vital that, “Teachers support their students’ strategic reading through lessons that attend explicitly to how to think while reading. ” (Hiebert, Pearson, Taylor, Richardson, and Paris 1998)

Comprehension – Cognition and Metacognition • Comprehension strategies are the cognitive and metacognitive strategies readers use to accomplish the goal of comprehension. • Comprehension strategies are interrelated and rarely used in isolation. Teaching Comprehension Strategies Booklet originally developed as part of the Focus on Reading 3 -6 program.

Comprehension – Cognition and Metacognition • Cognitive strategies are mental processes involved in achieving something. (For example, making a cake) • Metacognitive strategies are the mental processes that help us to think about and check how we are going in completing the task. (For example, ‘Is there something that I have left out? ) Teaching Comprehension Strategies Booklet originally developed as part of the Focus on Reading 3 -6 program.

• Cognitive strategies, such as predicting, assist in understanding what is being read. • Metacognitive strategies allow individuals to monitor and assess their ongoing performance in understanding what is being read. (For Example, as a text is being read the reader might think: I don’t understand this. I might need to reread this part. ) Teaching Comprehension Strategies Booklet originally developed as part of the Focus on Reading 3 -6 program.