Week 2: Assessment and Instruction of Comprehesion of Narrative Text and Informal Text

Week 2:  Assessment and Instruction of  Comprehension of Narrative Text and Informal Text

Within Context is the reader and the text, while running through it all is the purpose for reading. 

  

***Any definition of Reading that does not include comprehension is not accurate.***

How to help readers demand meaning from text

INGREDIENTS OF COMPREHENSION

1.  Reading is active because it involves the reader having a conversation with the text. 

2. Background knowledge to create interest, predictions, conclusions, and understanding. 

3. Higher level thinking to create predictions and inferences.

4. Narratives are recommended because they are made for enjoyable reading/comprehension.

Narratives have characteristics (story setting, tone, characters, theme, sequence of events...) that when identified by the reader help the reader make predictions and sense of the material. 

BEFORE READING

BUILDING BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE

FOR COMPREHENSION:

Making Predictions

1.  Use title, pictures before reading to predict what will happen in the story. 
2.  Use key words to create predictions and interest.
3.  Semantic Impressions--students create a story with words from their reading 
4.  Predicted or Probable Passages--students predict how the words given will be used in the story using story grammar. 

A note of caution—sometimes students do not understand the purpose for making predictions and want to be right and may even look ahead, but teacher can model the fun and process of making a prediction and revising it as needed  

 

STRATEGIES FOR IMPROVING COMPREHENSION DURING READING

1.  Direct Thinking and Reading Activity or DR-TA (Strauffer, 1975 & 1980)  models the processes that good readers use.

• Uses title and pictures to predict what the story will be about. 
• Rereading a section and stopping to confirm initial predictions or revise prediction
• Repeating the process while reading
• Reflecting about the whole story   

   2.  DR-TA with or without justification

   3.  Silent DR-TA

   4. Use Content Free Questions

• Who is the main character? Why do I think so?
• Who are the other important characters? Why do I think so?
• What is the character's problem?
• How does the character try to solve the problem?
• Do I agree with what the character did? Why? 
• Do I like or dislike this part of the story?Why? 
• How did the story end? Would I change it? Why?
• Is there anything I don't understand? 
• What surprised me about the story?
• If I were going to write the author what would I say? Explain.

 

 

5. Use Discussion Cards---Naming Things is Powerful 

Create a set of cards is created per student include literary elements or story grammar elements (Character--main, important, character's actions, motives, beliefs, flat, dynamic, similarities; setting; tone; identify problem; solution; questions; connections (to self, world, another text) exposition; climbing action; resolution; and climax.     

 

 

 

6. Monitoring Responses to Reading

As the student reads he or she will respond to the text by using symbols or icons such as !, ?, * to express likes, questions, good point, or equivalent to.

7. Think Alouds  are teaching a skill by reading a book or a part of a book and modeling your thinking for your students.

YouTube Videos 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpTsCh31jPU 

Rubric For Student Response

 http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/lesson_images/lesson139/rubric.pdf

Rubric For Teacher Performance

http://www.phy.ilstu.edu/pte/311content/testconstruction/write_rubric.html  

 

STRATEGIES FOR IMPROVING COMPREHENSION:

THAT DEVELOP AN UNDERSTANDING OF STORY STRUCTURE

 How to help all readers to use strategies that good readers use.

1. Story Maps---Naming Things is Powerful

 

 

 2. Character Perspective Charts---Naming Things is Powerful

 

STRATEGIES THAT IMPROVE COMPREHENSION AFTER READING

1. Problem Solution Identification Map

 

2 . Story Pyramids  are eight lines, may only use a certain number of words per line, and each line must describe something different  

 

            One word naming the main character /or idea (Comprehension)

         Two words describing the main character/ or idea  (reading’s purpose)

     Three words describing the setting time and place (in my head)   

Four words describing the problem (not summarizing, questioning,  clarifying, predicting) 

    Five words describing the most important event (introduce, predict, check, revise, reflect )

 Six words describing the nest important event ( DR-TA, Stickynotes, Imaging, Content-  free   Questions)

Seven words describing anther important event (Story Maps, SWBS, Problem/Solution  Identification, Story Pyramids) 

Eight Words describing the ending (Happy Text, Reader,  Context, Purpose, Relationship, Meaning Maker)    

IMPROVING COMPREHENSION OF INFORMATIONAL TEXT

Informal Texts are informational, or expository text, conveys information, explains ideas, or presents a point of view.  One strategy used in predicting and understanding informal text is to recognize what the text structure is  by identifying  key words that are used in specific types of  texts. Texts can be organized by sequence or time order; listing or describing, compare and contrast; cause and effect; and problem solution.

Organized by

Sequence or time order (history, or cell division) Signal words are first, second, third, next, last, before, after, during, while, and finally. 

 

                 

Listing or describing explain the feature of an object or event (features of reptiles giving their body temp, reproduction habits, eating habits. No specific signal words

Compare and Contrast discussing similarities and differences, (compare congressional system with a parliamentary system) signal words are alike, similar to, same as, resembles, is compared to, unlike, different from, both, but, and yet.

 

A cause and effect Pattern outlines reasons for events (author describes an event and explains what caused the event and the effects that followed from it. Signal words are if, so, so that, because, as a result of, in order to, since, therefore, cause, and effect. 

 

Problem and Solution discuss problem and athen suggest possible solutions. Signal words are problem, solution, because, so that, and as a result.

Knowing these words helps facilitate comprehension, but informal texts use more than one strategy  and reader needs to get the main point of reading.

Difficulties  Presented by Informal Text (not just difficult for readers who need help)

                                Organizational Patterns are complex

                                Less personal than narrative  (have student create an encyclopedia of

Themselves )

                                Contains more difficult vocabulary and technical terms

                                Extremely concept dense –remember the European history book

                                Needs extensive background knowledge

                                Longer than narrative text

                                Reading level textbooks is often above the students’ frustrational level

Importance of Informational Text informational world and need skills  of reading

and understanding it

 Assessing Abilities with Informational Text

                Readers need to do three things: use background knowledge, monitor their own

comprehension, and reorganize or transform the text to remember it.

ASSESSING ABILITIES WITH INFORMATIONAL TEXT

          

  Focusing the Informal Reading Inventory of Informational Text

                        Qualitative Reading Inventory-4 (Leslie & Caldwell, 2005)

                                Choose a 200-400 word passage that has a clear Beginning, Middle and an

End; duplicate the passage to write on it and prepare 10 questions to ask  the student that focus on important ideas in the passage; have student read passage; ask questions—if the student's answers the questions below 70% have student look back in the text to find the answers; if this raises their score to an instructional level the first score was probably due to memory not comprehension (monitoring ). If the student still can’t answer the questions have them read it aloud to find if word recognition is interfering with comprehension. If the student is at a frustrational level stop, but if they are at their instructional level for word recognition then probe more.

                Assessing the use of background knowledge

                        Use IRI with a familiar text and an unfamiliar text. Then ask the student what they

know about the topic he/she is reading. Next have the student read silently.  Expect students who use their background knowledge as they read to perform better with familiar text than unfamiliar text. If the student reads both texts the same assume that he/she needs to be taught background information strategies. 

             Assessing Comprehension Monitoring

Skilled  readers are aware of their comprehension and use fix it strategies. Ask students to answer questions that they answered incorrectly and underline the literal questions, but with inferential questions have the student identify anything in the reading that could help answer higher order thinking questions, encourage that the reader combine their background knowledge with the author’s clues , and if student still can’t state an answer give the student the clue to see if the student can now answer the question.

Assessing ability to transform text for studying

            Students need to be able to remember what is important of what they need

this can be done by underlining and taking notes they are transforming the

text.

Strategies for Helping Students Read Informational Text  

                First model, have students verbalize what they are doing, why they are doing

it, and how they are proceeding          , have students make a book mark of

strategies and keep in the text book

ideal if at their level but if not read it to them as they follow along, and repeated reading is good. Expose students to informal texts

Strategies for combining Prior Knowledge with Informational Text

            Reader uses background knowledge as landmark or builds upon it; struggling

readers don’t have as much background and don’t use what they have

Use K-W-L

Expectation Grid

                There are certain expectations that come with certain things: if one reads about a

bill  one will look for the purpose of bill, who is for it who is against it why it is

needed. Those questions are inherit in a bill becoming a law. An expectation grid is an organizational visual representation of their knowledge before they read 

 

STRATEGIES FOR MONITORING THE COMPREHENSION OF INFORMATIONAL TEXT

Metacognition—the awareness of one’s own mental activities and the ability to direct them. Struggling readers need to become aware of how they think and read 

and content free questions can help. 

 

Content Free Questions (what new information is the author sharing with us?) their purpose is to assist students as they deal with text ideas as they construct meaning. They take two forms, initial queries and follow up questions. Initial queries involve the author’s purpose and the follow up questions involve the integration of ideas (Initial example: What does the author mean by this?) (Follow up: Does this content connect with what we have read before? ) If educators can teach students to use these strategies students  can generalize it and use them all the time.

            What is the topic of this section?

            What is the author’s purpose in writing this section?

            What are the most important ideas?

            What did I learn?

            What do I already know about this?

            How is this different from what I already know about this?

            How is this different from what I already know…?

            What surprised me?

            How could I explain this in my own words?

            What are some words that I don’t know the meaning of?

            What don’t I understand? 

Test Coding –helps students to recognize and remember what they already know, new information , and remaining questions. Make up symbols to use while reading such as ?!+

The more we as educators can involve our students in the texts they read--Narrative and Informational the better they will comprehend. We model skills and have our students practice skills while gradually releasing responsibility to the student.