Session 1: Comprehension Strategies

Improving Adolescent Literacy: Effective Classroom and Intervention Practices:

Recommendation 2: Provide direct and explicit comprehension strategy instruction.

  • Select carefully the text to use when beginning to teach a given strategy.
  • Show students how to apply the strategies they are learning to different texts.
  • Make sure that the text is appropriate for the reading level of students.
  • Use a direct and explicit instruction lesson plan for teaching students how to use comprehension strategies.
  • Provide the appropriate amount of guided practice depending on the difficulty level of the strategies that students are learning.
  • Talk about comprehension strategies while teaching them.

 

Improving Reading Comprehension in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade Practice Guide:

Recommendation 1: Teach students how to use reading comprehension strategies.

  • Teach students how to use several research-based reading comprehension strategies.
  • Teach reading comprehension strategies individually or in combination.
  • Teach reading comprehension strategies by using a gradual release of responsibility.

 

Materials

 

Define Session Goals

  • Understand how to teach students how to apply research-based reading comprehension strategies.
  • Understand how to teach reading comprehension strategies individually or in combination.
  • Use the gradual release of responsibility to teach reading comprehension strategies.

 

Learn About the Recommendation and How-to Steps

Recommendations from the practice guides for grades K-3 and adolescents are similar, and Recommendation 2 from the Improving Adolescent Literacy: Effective Classroom and Intervention practice guide support Recommendation 1 from the Improving Reading Comprehension in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade. This session will address the “how-to” steps from Recommendation 1 of the K-3 practice guide. Activities apply to grades K-12. You may wish to review pages 16-20 of the Improving Adolescent Literacy: Effective Classroom and Intervention Practices with teachers of older students.

1. Teach students how to use several research-based reading comprehension strategies.

Reading comprehension is defined as the “process of simultaneously extracting and constructing meaning through interaction and engagement with written language” (RAND Reading Study Group, 2002, p. 11). To help students “extract and construct” meaning of written language, we provide opportunities for them to interact and engage with text, or read text, and teach them how to apply strategies when comprehension becomes difficult.

A strategy is (p. 11)

  • Intentional mental actions during reading that improve reading comprehension.
  • Deliberate efforts by a reader to better understand or remember what is being read.

Comprehension strategy instruction requires instruction and practice. As students become skilled readers, they are becoming increasingly strategic in their skill application to comprehend text. All readers experience the need to apply strategies to support comprehension, including skilled readers at any age. Skilled readers may not realize when they are applying a strategy because they have become automatic and independent in applying them.

Comprehension strategies may vary by names, but they share common traits. They

  • are research-based.
  • require explicit instruction and practice.
  • are taught using the gradual release of responsibility model.
  • benefit all readers.

Take a few minutes to review the examples of effective reading comprehension strategies in Table 3 on page 12. Use a think-pair-share with a larger group. Use whole group discussion for a smaller group.

  • Share a description of how you currently teach one of the strategies.

2. Teach reading comprehension strategies individually or in combination.

Now, let’s discuss the difference between single-strategy instruction and multiple-strategy instruction found at the bottom of page 13. The strategies we just reviewed in Table 3 are single-strategy because each is taught individually and practiced over a period of time, usually a few weeks, before a new strategy is introduced. Multiple-strategy instruction introduces several strategies at the same time, and they are practiced in combination, so the readers learn to use them together as they read. Take a couple of minutes to review the examples of multiple-strategy formats described in Table 4 on page 14.

Let’s talk about single and multiple-strategy instruction.

  • When using single-strategy instruction, should you encourage students to use all the strategies they have previously learned? (Yes. As additional strategies are introduced, encourage students to use all the strategies they have learned, when appropriate, as they read. Sometimes students may forget previous strategies or stop using them when the next strategy is introduced.)
  • Does the panel for the practice guide recommend single-strategy or multiple-strategy instruction? (Teachers should choose the approach that is best for their classroom environment.)

3. Teach reading comprehension strategies by using a gradual release of responsibility.

Reading comprehension strategies should be taught using the gradual release of responsibility. Look at Figure 1 on page 15. This illustration of the gradual release of responsibility shows the shift of responsibility of using a comprehension strategy from the teacher to the student through five tasks:

  • Explicit description of the strategy
  • Teacher and/or student modeling
  • Collaborative use
  • Guided practice
  • Independent use

 

Collaborate

Let’s review Activity 1.1: Do One, Pick One, and Plan. For this activity, you will select one of the comprehension strategies from Table 3 of the practice guide that is appropriate to teach using a text of your choice. You can use a text you brought today or borrow one from me. Describe how you would teach that strategy using your book and develop a “think aloud” that incorporates how to model using it for your students. Remember that a think aloud allows students to hear and see your thinking as you apply the strategy while modeling for them. So, be sure to include task 1 (explicit description) and task 2 (model) from the gradual release of responsibility. Share your think aloud with a partner as if you are teaching the strategy to students. Respond to the reflection questions. Allow 20 minutes for this activity and then ask for volunteers to share their reflections.

Who would like to share with the whole group?

  • Which comprehension strategy and text did you use?
  • How did your “think aloud” compare to your current practices?
  • What did you learn about teaching comprehension strategies as a result of this activity?
  • Are there any strategies that you may want to focus on more explicitly with your students?

 

Reflect and Next Steps

Take five minutes to answer the reflection questions at the top of Activity 1.2: Reflect and Next Steps for Comprehension Strategies. Ask volunteers to share their responses to the reflection questions.

  1. Is there anything you learned during this session that confirms or contradicts what you already knew about teaching students how to use comprehension strategies?
  2. Which comprehension strategies would you like to add or change to support students’ comprehension?
  3. How will you implement these additional comprehension strategies?
  4. What data will you use to determine whether the additions or changes you made resulted in improved student learning?

Now we will review the next steps at the bottom of Activity 1.2: Reflect and Next Steps for Comprehension Strategies. You’ll implement the “think aloud” developed for Activity 1.1: Do One, Pick One, and Plan with your students. Then, answer the reflections questions. We will share reflections at our next session.

  1. Did you teach the think aloud as planned? If not, describe any adjustments you made and why you made them.
  2. How did your students respond to your instruction?
  3. How did you (or will you) determine if students can independently use the comprehension strategy you introduced through the think aloud?

Keep in mind that you will develop and deliver a series of lessons as a culminating project at the end of this course. Consider including what we have discussed today in your lessons. Your instruction will demonstrate the knowledge and skills gained from our PLC sessions.

Ask participants to bring several texts that they commonly use in their classrooms to the next session. They can be books they use during read aloud as well as any other narrative or informational texts students read.

Thank you for participating in today’s PLC session on comprehension strategies!