Session 4: Selecting Texts to Support Comprehension

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

Recommendation 4: Select texts purposefully to support comprehension development.

  • Teach reading comprehension with multiple genres of text.
  • Choose texts of high quality with richness and depth of ideas and information.
  • Choose texts with word recognition and comprehension difficulty appropriate for the students’ reading ability and the instructional activity.
  • Use texts that support the purpose of instruction.

 

Improving Adolescent Literacy: Effective Classroom and Intervention Practices:

Recommendation 2

  • How-to Step 1: Select carefully the text to use when beginning to teach a given strategy.
  • How-to Step 3: Make sure that the text is appropriate for the reading level of the students.

Recommendation 3

  • How-to Step 1: Carefully prepare for the discussion by selecting engaging materials and developing stimulating questions.

 

Materials

 

Define Session Goals

Before we discuss today’s session goals, let’s discuss the reflection questions from Activity 3.3: Reflect and Next Steps for Text Discussion. Participants implemented a text discussion lesson plan developed in the previous session and answered reflection questions. Ask volunteers to share their reflections.

  1. Did you implement the discussion questions and follow-up questions as planned? If not, describe any adjustments you made and why you made them.
  2. How did your students respond to your text discussion? Which scaffolds were effective?
  3. Were the student-led structured small-group discussions effective? What would you change for next time?

Thank you for sharing your reflections. Now, let’s review today’s session goals.

  • Provide reading comprehension instruction using multiple genres of text.
  • Understand how to choose texts of high quality with richness and depth of ideas and information.
  • Understand how to choose texts with word recognition and comprehension difficulty appropriate for the students’ reading ability and the instructional activity.
  • Understand how to use texts that support the purpose of instruction.

 

Learn About the Recommendation and How-to Steps

Recommendations from the practice guides for grades K-3 and adolescents are similar, and how-to steps from Recommendations 2 and 3 from the Improving Adolescent Literacy: Effective Classroom and Intervention practice guide support Recommendation 4 from the Improving Reading Comprehension in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade. This session will address the how-to steps from Recommendation 4 of the K-3 practice guide. Activities apply to grades K-12. You may wish to review pages 18 and 23 of the Improving Adolescent Literacy: Effective Classroom and Intervention Practices with teachers of older students.

In the previous session, we discussed the importance of selecting text for guiding students through high-quality discussion on the meaning of text. We will continue that discussion today. Text selection is an important part of planning for comprehension instruction. Exposing students to different types of text can build the capacity to understand the variety of reading material they will encounter both in school and in life. While planning for instruction, always keep in mind that the goal is to accelerate every student’s progress to read on or above grade level.

The comprehension practice guide tells us that selecting text to support reading comprehension was given the minimal evidence rating because most of the research didn’t compare similar groups of students who were exposed to different qualities of text or, the research was conducted with students older than third grade. However, there is some evidence regarding selecting texts purposely to support comprehension development. Let’s explore the 4 how-to steps for this recommendation now.

  1. Teach reading comprehension with multiple genres of text.
  2. Choose texts of high quality with richness and depth of ideas and information.
  3. Choose texts with word recognition and comprehension difficulty appropriate for the students’ reading ability and the instructional activity.
  4. Use texts that support the purpose of instruction.

Take 5 minutes to read about the 4 how-to steps on pages 31 and 32. Allow enough time for participants to read pages 31–32.

 

Collaborate

Let’s look at Activity 4.1: How Do I Select Texts to Support Comprehension Instruction? The goal of this activity is for you to reflect on how you select text for comprehension instruction in light of the how-to steps in the practice guide. We will take about 15 minutes for you to complete this activity independently.

First, you will list your favorite texts you use for comprehension instruction. Be sure to include 2–3 titles in each column: literary, informational, and digital. Then record a few notes about the differences in providing instruction for comprehension of a digital text versus a printed text. Finally, select one text you use and describe how you chose that text, the purpose of instruction, and how you teach a lesson using that text.

Allow 10 minutes for participants to complete the activity independently. Remind them that they can use the comprehension practice guide as a resource.

In pairs, review Activity 4.1: How Do I Select Texts to Support Comprehension Instruction? Share your list of favorite texts to use for comprehension instruction, the differences you noted in teaching comprehension using digital versus printed text, and how you use one of your favorite texts for comprehension instruction.

Allow 5-10 minutes for pairs to discuss the activity and then use the following questions to facilitate a discussion with the whole group. Who would like to share something that you discussed with your colleague?

  1. What are some of your favorite literary texts to use for comprehension instruction? Informational? Digital?
  2. What differences in providing instruction for comprehension of a digital text versus a printed text did you discuss?
  3. Who would like to share how they use a text for comprehension instruction? How did you select the text? What is the purpose of instruction (e.g., which comprehension strategy is taught using this text)? How do you teach a lesson using the text?

 

Reflect and Next Steps

Let’s reflect on this recommendation using Activity 4.2: Selecting Text to Support Comprehension Instruction (Teacher Checklist). This checklist was developed using the how-to steps from the comprehension practice guide. Review each question and check the box if you can answer “yes” most of the time. Record what you will you do to address the unchecked boxes.

Allow 5 minutes for participants to complete the activity independently. Then, ask for several volunteers to share their thoughts. If the group is large, participants can pair up to discuss the checklist and then ask a few to share with the whole group.

Now that you have used the checklist to reflect on how you select text for comprehension instruction, who would like to share one unchecked box and how they plan to address it? Thank you for sharing your plans for selecting texts to support comprehension instruction. I encourage you to use this checklist as a resource when you select texts for comprehension instruction.

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.

Thank you for participating in today’s PLC session about selecting texts to support comprehension!