Wollak,  Char+ng  the  C’s,  2013   1  

There's NOT an App for That: Teaching Good Reading Comprehension

Barbara Wollak, M.S., CCC-SLP

https://sites.google.com/site/bawollak/

Literacy Camp •  Camp Courage - Maple Lake, MN •  20 educators + 40 campers •  June 22, 2013 – June 28, 2013

–  Dates for adults –  Scholarships available from MDE

•  June 23, 2013 – June 28, 2013 –  Dates for campers –  Applications available from Camp Courage –  http://www.couragecamps.org/

Importance of Literacy

•  The ability to read, specifically to read

silently with comprehension, has a positive

impact on school success, employability,

independence, and autonomy, as well as

providing a means for lifetime learning,

entertainment, and introspection. (Karen

Erickson, 2004)

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What’s Needed When Teaching ALL Students to Read

Who Why What Knowledgeable Other A Theory What works: EBP

EBP = Evidence Based Practice

Print Processing Beyond Word Identification

Language Comprehension

Word Identification

Silent Reading Comprehension James Cunningham

Word Identification

Silent Reading Comprehension

Automatic Word Identification

Mediated Word Identification

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Language Comprehension

Silent Reading Comprehension

Knowledge of the

World • Background knowledge • Vocabulary

Knowledge of Text

Structures • What does the author expect you to do? • How do you figure out what is not written? • How do you deal with different types of written language?

Print Processing Beyond Word Identification

Silent Reading Comprehension

Eye Movements

Inner-Speech

Print-to- Meaning

Links

Projecting Prosody fluency

Integration

“Language is the root of all literacy learning”—David

Koppenhaver & Karen Erickson

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Language Comprehension

• Knowledge of the world – Vocabulary – Background knowledge

Vocabulary •  Vocabulary: words we use expressively in

speaking and writing and receptively through listening and reading

•  Students must access their knowledge of individual word meanings so that they can make sense of connected text

•  Wide vocabulary knowledge becomes more important for text with less familiar topics and more difficult text

•  Students learn about 6000 words a year •  Direct teaching accounts for 400 words

Koppenhaver and Erickson

Vocabulary •  Young children whose experience includes

hearing a lot of language and being encouraged to use language tend to achieve early reading success (Dickinson &Tabors, 2001)

•  Vocabulary knowledge relates strongly to

reading comprehension and overall academic success (Baumann et al., 2003, Becker 1977, Davis, 1942, Whipple, 1925)

Fran Lehr & Associates

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Vocabulary

•  Oral conversation is the primary source from which young children learn the words they know. But by the time children enter school, oral contexts are a less effective ground for vocabulary development because everyday conversations rarely contain words beyond the most common ones (Cunningham & Stanovich, 1998; Hayes & Ahrens, 1988). Beck, 2007

Lehr & Associates •  To get meaning from words, students

need – Many words in their vocabulary – Strategies to establish meanings of new

words they encounter •  Because of insufficient word knowledge,

students may avoid reading. •  Because they don’t read much, they don’t

learn many new words

Cunningham & Stanovich, 1998 •  I. Printed texts # of rare words/1000 •  Abstracts of scientific articles 128.0 •  Newspapers 68.3 •  Popular magazines 65.7 •  Adult books 52.7 •  Comic book 53.5 •  Children’s books 30.9 •  Preschool book 16.3 •  II. Television texts •  Popular prime-time adult shows 22.7 •  Popular prime-time children’s shows 20.2 •  Cartoon shows 30.8 •  Mr.Rogers and Sesame Street 2.0 •  III. Adult speech •  Expert witness testimony 28.4 •  College graduates to friends, spouses 17.3

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Need for Direct Instruction: which words to teach?

Isabel Beck-3 tiers of vocabulary

Kind of Word Explanation Examples Tier 1 Basic words, well

known, often used baby, girl, happy

Tier 2 High frequency words used across content areas

equal, cycle

Tier 3 Low-frequency words often limited to specific content areas

osmosis, archaeologist

Self-Monitoring

1.  I never heard of that word. 2.  I heard the word but I don’t know what it

means. 3.  I can use the word in a sentence.

Erickson, 2007

Word Chaining

•  Have student make a connection. •  Ask student how they made the connection.

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List-Group-Sort Have Students Tell Reason for Grouping

May Want a Both Category

Best way to learn words is to learn words in categories. ( Adria Klien, 2006, Koppenhaver and Erickson, 2006) Spiders People Both web class sticky fountain long legs teacher gruesome home

Active Learning

•  Not having students look up words in dictionary and write definitions –  Often cannot understand definition –  May not know how to choose appropriate definition for word with

multiple meanings –  Dictionary can be used to verify our ideas –  May be used as last resort

Definition of Run http://www.merriam-webster.com

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Repetition and Multiple Exposure

•  Use a variety of text structures with same vocabulary –  Narrative (fiction) –  Expository (non-fiction) –  Poetry –  Alphabet books

•  Teach breadth and depth of words

http://graphwords.com/

http://blachan.com/shahi/

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•  Essential Latin and Greek Derivations Worth Teaching (Tim Raskinski, 2006) – ante (before) – anti (against) – auto (self) – bi (two) – centi (hundred) – co (m,n) (with, together) – extra (more, beyond) – mega (large)

Rasinski’s List of Morphemes Worth Teaching

•  micro (small) •  mid (middle) •  mono (one) •  multi (many) •  pre (before) •  re (again) •  semi, hemi (half) •  super (over) •  tele (distant) •  tri (three) •  ultra (beyond) •  un ( not) •  uni (one)

Computer Technology: •  Kidspiration, Inspiration (graphic

organizer)

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Direct Teaching of Figurative Language

idiomconnection.com

Incidental Learning

•  Read alouds •  Rich language models •  Self-selected reading of easy text •  Field trips, before not after

Videos may be next best thing to being there!

• www.teachersdomain.org • http://www.watchknowlearn.org/ • https://www.youtube.com/ • http://www.discoveryeducation.com/

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http://www.teachersdomain.org/

http://www.watchknowlearn.org/

http://www.youtube.com/

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http://www.discoveryeducation.com/

Reading Comprehension Is Not

• Just listening to text. Students need access to text. Silent reading with comprehension is goal.

• Answering “wh” questions after reading text, that’s testing!

Reading Comprehension Is

• Understanding connected text • The interaction between written words

and reader’s background knowledge • Needs to be taught

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Anchor, Read/Listen, Apply • Anchor

– Activation of background knowledge –  Set a purpose for reading

• Read/listen, stopping no more than 1-2 times to remind about purpose

• Apply – Respond to purpose – Give informative feedback

Ways to “Read”

• Listening while student follows along • Choral reading • Echo reading • Partner reading

Activation of Background Knowledge

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When Your Work Is Done

• Focus: making a prediction • Common Core Standard Link: Key

Ideas & Details

When Your Work Is Done

• Focus: making a prediction • Common Core Standard Link: Key

Ideas & Details

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Other purposes for reading

• Read this book so you can describe how the boy and his mother feel.

• Focus: use information • Common Core Standard Link: Craft &

Structure

Smyface.com http://anonymouse.org/cgi-bin/anon-

www_de.cgi/http://smyface.com/

How did the mother feel?

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• Read this book so that you can describe the boy’s work

Focus: describing Common Core Standard Link: Key Ideas & Details

Read this book so you can sequence the events.

• Focus: sequencing • Common Core Standard Link: Key

Ideas & Details

Read this book so you can compare/contrast how this book is like/not like Three Young Pilgrims.

• Focus: compare/contrast • Common Core Standard Link:

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

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•  I want you to read this so that you can summarize the story in 10 words.

Focus: summarizing Complexity Band: Common Core Standard Link: Key Ideas & Details

Using Inspiration Common Core: Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

Matching to Regular Education and Reading a Variety of Different Text

Structures •  Childhood Labor •  American History •  http://kidsclick.org/

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Directed Reading-Thinking Activity (DR-TA) Stauffer

• Students look at title or pictures and PREDICT Story. • Students READ to a predetermined

stopping place. • Students PROVE THE ACCURACY of

their predictions and modify or make new predictions.

A Fairy Tale by Reed A. Booke

Guess Yes No for Nonfiction • Caribou are also called reindeer. • Caribou live in the northern regions of

Asia. • Caribou eat berries from trees. • Caribou use their hooves to swim. •  Female caribou can grow antlers.

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Sources for Easy Text

• http://tarheelreader.org/ • http://www.wegivebooks.org/ • http://www.storylineonline.net/

Tar Heel Reader on iPad, iPod, or iPhone

To get the most out of Tar Heel Reader on your iOS device, • Run it in App mode. • Open the site in Safari and click the

Bookmark button and choose Add to Home Screen.

•  Edit the name if you like.

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Directions continued •  Close Safari and find the button on your

Home Screen. • Click that and the site will open up like

an App and have access to the full screen

• When reading a book you can change pages by touching the Next and Back buttons or by “swiping” left or right.

• Just touch the screen and move your finger left to turn to the next page.

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Annie Lamott

For some of us, books are as important as almost anything on earth. What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world, worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet or excite you. Books help us understand who we are and how we behave. They show us what community and friendship mean; they show us how to live and die.