effective comprehension instruction engaging readers through effective inquiry and discussion

Effective Comprehension

InstructionEngaging Readers Through Effective Inquiry and Discussion

Reading is primarily about comprehension and thinking. Oral

reading of the round-robin type interferes with this complex, meaning-oriented process.

The meaning does not reside in the text, waiting to be plucked out. The

text provides information; the reader, interacting with the text,

generates the meaning.

Students must have opportunities to talk things through. Giving brief

answers to teacher questions does not adequately develop leaners’

understanding.

Classrooms interactions, which are part of the culture of the

classroom, have as much impact on student learning as the content

of the curriculum.

Comprehension is complex not only because of the nature of the reader-text interaction but also

because the process is influenced by the context in which the

reading occurs and the actions of whoever guides the reader.

The Characteristics of Skilled Readers:

Skilled readers are constructive Skilled readers are fluent and

efficient Skilled readers are strategic Skilled readers are motivated Reading is a lifelong process

From Theory to Practice: Seven Essential Ideas to Inform Reading Instruction

Comprehension is a process of constructing meaning

The leaner’s prior knowledge is an essential component of comprehension

The learner’s purposes and expectations are critical elements of comprehension

Comprehension is a dynamic processCollaboration enhances comprehension Effective readers are metacognitiveLearners are disposed to make sense of their world

The Power of StorySupporting Students’ Reading of

Narrative Texts

What Do You Think? ___ The anticipation or prediction of upcoming

story events motivates students and enhances their comprehension.

___ It is normal for several students to read the same story and generate different interpretations.

___ Extensive preparation before reading enhances students’ understanding of a narrative text.

___ A strong emphasis on explicit instruction in skills and strategies is a major priority when the goal is developing critical and thoughtful readers.

Demonstration: The Wager

Discussion Questions: The Wager

What was the most interesting or memorable part of this story to you? Why did you find that part especially interesting?

What is this story really all about? What part of the story can you visualize most

clearly? What part is most vivid to you? What did you notice about how the author

told this story? What are the interesting words or phrases

from the story that you want to talk about?

From Theory to Practice: Seven Essential Ideas to Inform Reading Instruction

Comprehension is a process of constructing meaning

The leaner’s prior knowledge is an essential component of comprehension

The learner’s purposes and expectations are critical elements of comprehension

Comprehension is a dynamic processCollaboration enhances comprehension Effective readers are metacognitiveLearners are disposed to make sense of their world

Pauses during reading are like the pauses painters or writers take: Stepping back to reflect

is part of the process of constructing meaning.

Beyond the earliest stages of emergent literacy, silent

reading takes the attention off performance and places it on

comprehension.

After Reading: Reflecting & Responding

Questions invited students to respond on these dimensions: InterpretiveThematicVisual/ImaginativeWriter’s Craft

Other dimensions to invite students to respond to:

AnalogicalMetacognitiveMoral/EthicalIntertextualElaborative

The Power of InquirySupporting Students’ Reading of

Informational Texts

When do readers choose to read informational text

What Do You Know? ___ Prior knowledge is a critical factor in

the successful reading of informational text. ___ A student’s misconceptions about a text

should be minimized or corrected before the student reads an informational text about the topic.

___ Allowing students to share their misconceptions with peers may inhibit the comprehension and learning of the other students.

When do readers choose to read informational text

When they have questions to answer They may be interested in specific facts,

a solution to problem, a new perspective, or an understanding of a complex process.

They have either generated the questions themselves or have become interested in questions raised by others.

Reflecting on the Power of Inquiry

Activate prior knowledgeStimulate critical thinkingInvite hypotheses Encourage discussion and debate

Because students’ prior knowledge is complex and imperfect, just asking them

what they know is not enough. They must also be

encouraged to think critically about their ideas.

Properly nurtured, hypotheses change learners

and learning.

When students are about to learn something new,

allowing them to voice incorrect information with

impunity helps build a healthy psychological climate

for learning.

It’s not remarkable that the sensation of surprise—

strongest when a hypothesis turns out to be wrong—helps to fix information in memory.

Use of Anticipation Guides Teacher: Here are some statements to think about. Discuss each one in your groups and decide if you agree or disagree and why.

___ If you put a potato in the ground, a plant will grow.___ A potato plant has flowers.___ Bees help potatoes grow fruit.___ We eat the part of the potato plant that is called the root.___ To grow a potato, you must plant potato seeds.

Thoughtful discussion is essential if students are to

become primed to learn more.

Hypothesizing with Key Words

Nibs fermentwinnow

roast molds

beans pods rollers blend

Six Postreading Questions: Informational Text

Which of our questions did we answer? What questions have we not answered an what

new questions have we raised?What else did we learn that we didn’t talk about or

didn't have questions about?What was the most surprising or interesting thing

you learned from reading?What was the most important thing we learned

today?What do you know now that you didn’t know

before?

Asking about the most surprising or interesting

details invites an aesthetic response to informational

text.

Supporting the Spirit of Inquiry: The Essential Role of the Teacher

Their highest priority is thinkingThey elicit and pose effective questionsThey guide students to evaluate their own

thinkingThey do not give anything awayThe set a tone of genuine inquiry

Facilitating effective discussions before and after

reading requires considerable skill; it cannot be scripted.

Predicting is appropriate for narrative texts because it

involves forecasting events. Hypothesizing is appropriate for

informational texts because it involves generating tentative

statements that can be confirmed or refuted by reading.

Example of one lesson taught two different ways.

Teacher-Centered Discussion

A Student-Centered Discussion

Purpose: have students state what they read

Purpose: have students state what they considered most interesting and in the process relate what they had read.

The teacher asked for facts directly and expected certain answers.

The teacher invited discussions of information and concepts and did not know what the students might say.

The questions required brief answers.

The questions required extended answers.

The teacher maintained a central verbal and visual position in the interaction.

The teacher stepped aside, literally and figuratively, from the central position.

Teacher-Centered Discussion

A Student-Centered Discussion

The teacher repeated students’ responses.

The teacher did not repeat students’ responses.

The teacher verbalized a judgment about each response.

The teacher did not verbalize judgments about the students responses.

The teacher moved quickly from one question to the next.

The teacher lingered over the main questions, inviting multiple responses.

The teacher’s questions were determined in advance.

The teacher based many of the questions on what students had just said.

Just one student answered each question.

All students answered the main questions in their groups; several responded to the group.

Teacher-Centered Discussion

A Student-Centered Discussion

Students looked at and spoke only to the teacher.

Students spoke to each other in their groups or the whole class, except when one student asked the teacher for information.

The teacher made connections between the text information and current times.

The student made connections between the text information and their own lives.

Total Words Spoken: 361Teacher Words: 261 (72%)Student Words: 102 (28%)

Total Words Spoken: 342Teacher Words: 89 (26%)Student Words: 253 (74%)

When Students Do the TalkingTalking is a primary vehicle for

constructing meaning Productive discussions enhance retention Discussion shapes cognition Collaboration efforts enhance the breadth

and depth of comprehension When students note how others respond

in discussion, their capacities for thinking improve

When Students Do the TalkingWhen students have frequent chances to

share different perspectives, they become psychologically comfortable with complexity

Effective student-to-student interactions shift the focal point away from the teacher

Discussions change the culture of the classroom

Productive discussions give students valuable practice with skillful communication

How to Build Students’ Capacity for Discussion

Pause for talk Use conversational protocols Structure collaborations Encourage differences of opinion Promote question asking Vary group configurations