Focus On Comprehension Book 4 Answers Pdf

[Tabita Knezevic]

Comprehensionor extracting meaning from what you read, is the ultimate goal of reading. Experienced readers take this for granted and may not appreciate the reading comprehension skills required. The process of comprehension is both interactive and strategic. Rather than passively reading text, readers must analyze it, internalize it and make it their own.

The process of comprehending text begins before children can read, when someone reads a picture book to them. They listen to the words, see the pictures in the book, and may start to associate the words on the page with the words they are hearing and the ideas they represent.

When students make predictions about the text they are about to read, it sets up expectations based on their prior knowledge about similar topics. As they read, they may mentally revise their prediction as they gain more information.

Asking and answering questions about text is another strategy that helps students focus on the meaning of text. Teachers can help by modeling both the process of asking good questions and strategies for finding the answers in the text.

Studies have shown that students who visualize while reading have better recall than those who do not (Pressley, 1977). Readers can take advantage of illustrations that are embedded in the text or create their own mental images or drawings when reading text without illustrations.

Asking students to retell a story in their own words forces them to analyze the content to determine what is important. Teachers can encourage students to go beyond literally recounting the story to drawing their own conclusions about it.

Teachers can ask readers to make a prediction about a story based on the title and any other clues that are available, such as illustrations. Teachers can later ask students to find text that supports or contradicts their predictions.

Asking students different types of questions requires that they find the answers in different ways, for example, by finding literal answers in the text itself or by drawing on prior knowledge and then inferring answers based on clues in the text.

Expository text is typically structured with visual cues such as headings and subheadings that provide clear cues as to the structure of the information. The first sentence in a paragraph is also typically a topic sentence that clearly states what the paragraph is about.

A summary briefly captures the main idea of the text and the key details that support the main idea. Students must understand the text in order to write a good summary that is more than a repetition of the text itself.

Graphic organizers provide visual representations of the concepts in expository text. Representing ideas and relationships graphically can help students understand and remember them. Examples of graphic organizers are:

Yet, when I struggle with teaching a struggling reader how to comprehend on his own, I have gotten bogged down by the bewildering number of question-types I could ask. After much trial-and-error and considerable reading of the research on comprehension, I distilled the possibilities down to 1 question.

Here at Reading Simplified we strive to cut through the clutter of standards, expected outcomes, objectives, guidelines, chapter goals, suggested activities, Pinterest wonders, etc., etc. We want teachers to see clearly a streamlined path towards cultivating successful readers and learners under their wings.

Indeed, this standard of retell and showing understanding should make up the bulk of the first grade classroom. So, don't let the press of the many (standards) press out our focus on the essential (retelling or summarizing).

Briefly: Others in the research world have similarly highlighted the benefits of summarizing. The National Reading Panel demonstrated that summarization was one of 7 strategies deemed effective. In addition, Robert Marzano's broad brushstroke meta-analysis of instructional strategies reduced the possibilities to just 9 strategies most likely to create positive impacts: Summarizing was one of those 9. Finally, here's what Tim Shanahan, a researcher and past president of the International Literacy Association, says about the relative value of comprehension strategies here:

Images, input, and information bombard young children today. Imagine with me an intrepid young reader learning how to think as she reads. She reads a little, hears a noise, bites a nail, looks at the picture, reads a little more, remembers what happened on The Voice last night, sings a tune from the car ride silently in her head, and then reads a little more.

I have seen this countless times, especially with young readers, those with limited experiences with texts, or those with language processing challenges. Some kids can understand the bits of a text but cannot re-create the whole.

In fact, I would like 100% of my students to know that they will first summarize a new text before they ever move onto another question or activity. Every day. Every text. (Even if the summary is in their heads only.)

During guided reading, a teacher might keep assessment notes on which of her students can summarize well. If Dino and Emily can't, then every day, the teacher coaches them through a summarizing opportunity until they have mastered The Most Important Question. The other students will also have opportunities to summarize and they will also receive more opportunities for more open-ended questions a la Bloom.

Sometimes this is the best response (sans the attitude) given the variables we are juggling in our class. Often, though, it is a short-cut that misses a critical opportunity to teach how to answer the Most Important Question.

(Ideally, for students who can't yet answer The Most Important Question, prepare in advance with a story with a simple plot line, such The Three Little Pigs or a short story from George and Martha.)

All educators need to hold as their top priority the expectation that learners will understand what they are reading. The reading process the child builds should involve comprehension, for if we train the child to read without involving these powerful thinking strategies from the beginning, it will be more difficult for some of them to think about content later.

If a bookmark shorthand of the above steps in coaching a student to summarize could help you, enter your name and email for the free PDF download below. Also, please share with all of us in the comments below that what challenges you have encountered when trying to teach The Most Important Question. Thanks!!

Thank you for this enlightening and sensible breakdown of how we should focus on building comprehension in 3 steps. I am inspired to try this approach with my esl learners. I have experienced the lack of detail when children retell the story after listening to the story. I have asked questions that encourage them to remember the sequential aspects of the story eg. Beginning, middle and end. Whilst our verbal approach reminds them of the detail, their non verbal approach (written retell) lacks the detail. I must obviously rethink my teaching approach.

This would be great for us to use in our fluency progress monitoring. We use Acadience and part of the ORF assessment is a retell. We can use these bookmarks to guide children to build this competency. Looking forward to receiving it ?

Also, I think this explicit teaching of summarizing is best remembered as a summarize as you read approach, similar to blend as you read, with all of its cognitive processing perks. We are so beautifully made for this!

We are facilitating the layering of HOTS over summarizing skills, over blend as you read, over sound-symbol connectivity, in addition to increasing eyes on print time, and conversation turns, whether whole class, small group, or one-on-one; equipping students to respond and contribute to their world!

As children get older, if they are decoding text well we assume they are reading well. Once a person learns to decode, reading comprehension becomes more about language comprehension and focus. At this transition, starting around third grade, teachers may begin to notice some students who decode text fluently but are not understanding.

1. Target overall comprehension of language: Recent research reveals that reading comprehension difficulties may stem from an underlying oral language weakness that exists from early childhood, before reading is even taught. It turns out that students who have poor reading comprehension also often understand fewer spoken words and less of what they hear, and have worse spoken grammar. So, to address reading comprehension deficits effectively, educators may have to use an approach that teaches vocabulary, thinking skills, and comprehension first in spoken language and then in reading and written language.

4. Have students practice reciprocal teaching: Once taught, cognitive strategies can be consistently practiced and implemented through the use of reciprocal teaching, which encourages students to take a leadership role in their learning and begin to think about their thought process while listening or reading. Teachers can use reciprocal teaching during class discussions, with text that is read aloud, and later with text that is read in groups. The students should rotate between the following roles:

5. Directly teach comprehension skills: Students should be directly taught comprehension skills such as sequencing, story structure using the plot mountain, how to make an inference and draw a conclusion, and the different types of figurative language. Students should have the opportunity to first use the skills with text that they hear the teacher read aloud, and then later with text that they read independently at their own level.

The comprehension skills and strategies listed above can be used with the whole class, as they closely align with reading and language arts standards for elementary and middle school students. Teachers can help students select reading material with vocabulary that matches their current ability levels so that within a classroom, students are reading text and working on vocabulary at levels that are accessible for each of them.

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