Literacy Across the CurriculumLiteracy Across the Curriculum

Reading ComprehensionReading Comprehension

Presented by Shirley Cain, Eustacia Lowry-Presented by Shirley Cain, Eustacia Lowry-Jones, Marilyn Sweat- Locklear, Kay Pittman, Jones, Marilyn Sweat- Locklear, Kay Pittman,

Linda Price, and Mary Kathryn StoneLinda Price, and Mary Kathryn Stone

• Introduction and Story

• Comprehension Tree Activity

Current EmphasisMost state and district accountability efforts are

based on reading comprehension performance.

Adequate Yearly Progress AYP in reading is determined by reading comprehension tests

So where do we stand?

Current Research

• Research indicates that in North Carolina from 1992-2009, Hispanic students, black students, and students of lower socio-economic status had an average reading score ranging from 26 to 28 points lower than that of white students or students of higher socio-economic status.

Reading

Remember Goal Summaries

The Problem with Reading Comprehension

Is it a Reading Comprehension Problem?

• Or is it a decoding problem?

• Or is it a word meaning problem?

• Or is it a fluency problem?

• Or a “thinking about text” problem?

Effective Strategies that Boost Reading Comprehension

• Use Cornell Note-taking Strategy as you view the video:

• Doing What Works: Video• In groups, discuss the important information

from the clip…record your information on chart paper

• Sharing session, then post on the wall.

Reading Comprehension Skills

• Author’s Purpose• Cause and Effect• Classify and Categorize• Compare and Contrast• Draw Conclusions• Fact and Opinion• Figurative Language• Important Details

• Inferences• Main Idea• Making Predictions• Mood• Sequencing• Theme• Tone• Word Meaning

Remember Comprehension Analysis Sheet

• Summarizing • Questioning • Story mapping • Monitoring • Question answering • Graphic organizers • Mental imagery • Prior knowledge • Multiple strategies

What does it mean to teach a Reading Comprehension strategy?

Gradual release of control:

I do it. We do it.

You do it.

Reading is ThinkingReading is Thinking

Sense ItSense It

Making Inferences/ Draw Conclusions

Making Inferences/ Draw Conclusions

Connect To TextConnect To Text

Ask QuestionsAsk Questions

Summarize/ SynthesizeSummarize/ Synthesize

Decide What’s

ImportantDecide What’s

Important

Build FluencyBuild Fluency

Expand VocabularyExpand Vocabulary

Predict and ProvePredict and Prove

Check UnderstandingCheck Understanding

What does it mean to teach a Reading Comprehension strategy?

• Modeling matters.• Clear explanations are important.• Students need to know who, what,

where, when, and why of strategies.• A Combination of Strategies is Best!!!

What does it mean to teach a Reading Comprehension strategy?

• Massed and intensive practice leads to greater learning.

• Practice in a rich variety of contexts.• A culture focused on making meaning—

don’t lose sight of the text.

Teachers should…Teachers should…•Model the strategyModel the strategy•Walk through each stepWalk through each step•Think aloud Think aloud ( Students should see how the strategy impacts how they think about what they are reading.)

Comprehension Activity

1. Provide a range of answers.

2. Turn the question into a true or false statement .

3. Don’t ask the question – give the answer and ask “why is it correct?”

4. Don’t focus on the answer, focus on how to work it out.

5. Ask questions that explore opposites, differences, categories and exceptions.

Good Readers:•Think about what they read while reading•Use context clues•Make connections•Make inferences and draw conclusions•Synthesize and summarize information•Ask questions•Visualize the text•Determine what is important versus what is interesting•Know what to do with the important information to better understand what they read•Use fix-up strategies (such as writing in the margins, rereading, highlighting important information, drawing graphic organizers on the side in the margins)

Research Suggests That:Research Suggests That:•Implementing any reading strategy Implementing any reading strategy will result will result in comprehension in comprehension improvement.improvement.•Techniques that appear to be Techniques that appear to be particularly effective in bringing particularly effective in bringing students into stronger and more direct students into stronger and more direct engagement with difficult texts are:engagement with difficult texts are:Drum rollDrum roll

• SummarizingSummarizing• Asking/Answering Questions Asking/Answering Questions • Usage of Graphic OrganizersUsage of Graphic Organizers• Teachers who utilize more than Teachers who utilize more than

ONEONE strategy in their instruction strategy in their instruction tend to see the tend to see the GREATESTGREATEST gains. gains.

Select a text that works well with the Select a text that works well with the technique you are planning to introduce.technique you are planning to introduce.

SummarizingSummarizingA strategy that helps students put into their own A strategy that helps students put into their own words what they have just read.words what they have just read.

““Fortunately and Unfortunately”Fortunately and Unfortunately”

““Savings and Loan”Savings and Loan”

• Newspaper Articles• Kidsville News• Picture Books• Internet Sources

Question-Answer RelationshipQAR

• Goals of QAR1. To teach students the strategies for correctly

answering questions on high stakes tests.

2. To teach students these strategies in a manner that improves their reading comprehension and their ability to apply higher level thinking to text.

Components of QAR

“Right There”According to…

Who, What, Where, How Many, …

“Think and Search”Main Idea

Cause and EffectCompare and Contrast

“Author and You”Author Implies…

Passage Suggests…Speaker’s Attitude/Tone

“On My Own”In Your Opinion

Based on Your Own Experience

““Give Me Five” Give Me Five”

Comprehension Think Clouds

   address the needs of not only the ESL/ELL learners, but all 

levels of learners and learning styles ; by using "Think Clouds" 

we help to develop students' comprehension, monitoring as

they read.

What is the difference between SIOP and Best Practices of Good Teaching?

Best Practices of Good Teaching

  • Best practices are

strategies to achieve success in content areas with ALL students; not necessarily a

     TARGETED population!

     Sheltered  InstructionObservation Protocol

(SIOP) • SIOP is an approach for

teaching grade-level academic content to ESL/ELL in strategic ways that make the subject matter concepts comprehensible while promoting the students' English language development!

 

         Comprehension Strategies

• Using THINK CLOUDS and MODELING  to show students how to monitor their comprehension 

• BEFORE, • DURING, and• AFTER  they read, can significantly help to

nurture and grow strong and strategic readers!!!!!

   Marzano's Bucks....BIG BUCKS!!!! using your brain can make you rich.... 

•  Hands-on, interactive comprehension game w/ BIG BILLS!!!! • Divide class into cooperative learning teams; assign tasks

within the teams; students/teacher will develop various levels of questions based on Marzano's levels of questioning; the higher the level of question the bigger the bill students/teachers will use the questions to quiz each other on various literature read in class.

• The team with the most MONEY or the BIGGEST BUCKS WIN!!!!!!

What is Sheltered Instruction?(The SIOP Model)

• SAFE PLACE

• PROTECTION FROM THE LANGUAGE DEMANDS OF

MAINSTREAM INSTRUCTION, WHICH IS BEYOND

THE COMPREHENSION OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE

LEARNERS. 

• EMPHASIS ON SCAFFOLDING AND STUDENT

INTERACTION

• BRAIN-BASED

• USE OF CONTENT AND LANGUAGE OBJECTIVES

• FOCUSES ON POSITIVE SELF-ESTEEM

  (8) SIOP COMPONENTS

1.LESSON PREPARATION

2.BUILDING BACKGROUND (SCAFFOLDING)

3.COMPREHENSIBLE INPUT

4.STRATEGIES

5.INTERACTION

6.PRACTICE & APPLICATION

7.REVIEW & ASSESSMENT

8.LESSON DELIVERY• 90% STUDENT  TALK• 10% TEACHER TALK• 90% STUDENT ENGAGEMENT     

    (5) LANGUAGE DOMAINS   

• LISTENING 

• READING 

• SPEAKING 

• WRITING  

• THINKING    

Why are reading comprehension skills particularly important for ELLs?

•English language learners (ELLs) often have problems mastering science, math, or social studies concepts because they cannot comprehend the textbooks for these subjects. ELLs at all levels of English proficiency, and literacy, will benefit from explicit instruction of comprehension skills along with other skills.

Support ELL students will need…

•Identify vocabulary words that you think might be difficult for students to understand when they read the text. Write ELL-friendly definitions for each - that is, simple, brief definitions ELLs can easily understand.•Model think-alouds. For example: verbalize a confusing point or show how you use a strategy to comprehend something. "This sounds very confusing to me. I better read this sentence again."•Demonstrate fix-up strategies. For example: I need to think about this. Let me rethink what was happening. Maybe I'll reread this. I'll read ahead for a moment.•Partner ELLs with more dominant English speakers and ask each student to take a turn reading and thinking aloud with short passages.

Utilize text features to build ELL comprehension

Teach students how to use these tools for informational or expository reading:Titles Headings Bold Print Captions Side Bars MapsGraphs Pictures Bullets

Excellent Website for ELL students

Let’s explore!

• www.englishforeveryone.org

EOG Tips to Remember• The first and last selections are NEVER field test items.• If a student is having trouble with a question, they can skip it, but MUST

come back to it BEFORE moving on to the next selection.• Have students use the blank paper to help track their bubbles on the

answer sheet.• Talk with your students BEFORE EOG about their Target Scores.• The Healing Garden• Cobblestone• Boys of America• Ranger Rick• Highlights for Children• The Children’s Magazine• *Released tests from DPI show the sources from which the selections are

derived.

Third Grade PassagesFourth Grade PassagesFourth Grade PassagesFifth Grade PassagesFifth Grade PassagesKids News RoomKids News RoomTexas ResourcesTexas ResourcesNCDPI Released TestsNCDPI Released TestsMy Test BookMy Test Book

FoldablesFoldablesFlorida ResearchFlorida ResearchKBUM ReadingKBUM ReadingReading LadyReading LadyPPPSTPPPSTQAR BookmarksQAR BookmarksELL DPI ResourcesELL DPI ResourcesWIDA Resource Guide (ELL)WIDA Resource Guide (ELL)

In Closing

• Sixty years ago, I knew everything; now I know nothing.

• Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.

• -Will Durant

Schools must complete 30 hours of literacy training.