Primary Literacy Project

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DAY 2 Reading comprehension

Agenda1. Reading for Writing

a. Feedback from Day 1

b. Reading for writing – rationale and teaching sequence

2. Comprehension 1a. Book Talk: ground rules for classroom discussion

b. A range of comprehension skills

3. Comprehension 2a. Literal comprehension

b. Reading for information

c. Back in school: Defining a gap task

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Polar bears need to be really fat to have healthy babies. But, because of global warming, bears aren’t as fat as they used to be and they aren’t having as many babies. Polar bears get fat when they can hunt a lot of seals. They can only hunt seals when there is sea ice for them to hunt from.

Global warming is making the sea ice melt. The bears don’t have as much time to hunt because the ice melts too early. Once the ice is gone for the year, the bears have to go to the shore.

Dwindling Sea Ice Hurting Polar Bear Population

3Handout PLP 2.??

When they go to the shore, if they are very fat, their body can let them get pregnant and have babies. If they are too skinny, they will not be able to have any babies.

In the past, the bears have been able to stay on the ice and hunt until August. Now, the sea ice starts to disappear by about July. That’s not enough time to let them eat enough seals to get fat enough.

There are about 900 polar bears in the Hudson’s Bay area now. If the ice continues to melt too fast, the population of polar Bears will drop.

Scientists are continuing to watch this situation.

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‐ How might you introduce it to a class, drawing on what children already know?

‐ What vocabulary and concepts might you need to teach?

‐ What factual (literal comprehension) questions might you ask?

‐ summarise the argument to your partner in about four succinct sentences

‐ What is the main theme/message in the article?

Reading beyond the lines

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THE SAME PRINCIPLES APPLY:- Active reading with a purpose - Shared reading and reading practice for fluency and meaning- Book Talk to explore texts and link to personal experience- Exploration of new words and phrases especially concepts and technical terms- Inference to judge the author’s intentions – point of view and bias

BUT - Greater attention to literal and accurate reading – what does the text actually say?- More emphasis on analytical and deductive thinking to make connections and draw

conclusions.- Information texts often have to be navigated differently and read selectively.- Important to read and compare information from different sources.

Reading for Information

Literal comprehension – what does the text actually say?

The loading bay at a factory near us, it said 'SKIP HERE’.

So I did!Michael Rosen @MichaelRosenYes

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THERE’S AMBIGUITY EVERYWHERE WE LOOK

Reading for information

What information reading have you done, at a personal level, in the past week and why?

When did you last share an information text with your class? What was the context?

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What’s available? How to choose?

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INFORMATION BOOKS?

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When?

Where?

How?

Frequency?

How is reading for information

organised in your school?

Tom was well into his sixties, a healthy, robust, stockily-built man with a head of thick white hair. Although he was of average height, in Willie’s eyes he was a towering giant with skin like coarse wrinkled brown paper and a voice like thunder.

He glared at Willie. “You’d best come in,” he said abruptly

Climbing up a vertical rock face is a risky sport. A rock climber needs training to master the use of all the different kinds of equipment.

Good, skilful teamwork lowers the risk of serious injury. It also means that injured climbers have people on hand to help, maybe to save their lives. As well as a first-aid kit, climbers also carry a mobile phone or two-way radio.

Reading stories and reading for information.What’s the difference? How do we know?

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- Purpose

- Language

- Vocabulary

- Sources

- Organisation

Stories and information reading:

What’s the difference?

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- Purposes: e.g. to recount, describe, inform, direct, instruct, report, argue, explain, justify, persuade etc. Focus on knowledge: facts, evidence, argument, what works and what is true etc.

- Language: more formal, impersonal, precise, unambiguous – depersonalised for objectivity and authority

- Vocabulary technical words and concepts

- Sources e.g. hard text, digital text, film, animation, film, oral commentary etc.

- Organisation: e.g. layout, sequencing, search and navigation features, contents page etc.

Stories and information

reading:

What’s the difference?

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The plight of the honey bee has not been taken seriously by politicians. Many people believe that this could seriously threaten life.

What comes from you?

What comes from the text ?

Two aspects of comprehension The importance of prior knowledge

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The plight of the honey bee has not been taken seriously by politicians. Many people believe that this could seriously threaten life.

What comes from you? – bees pollinate; to grow plants must pollinate; without fruit/ vegetables food stock is reduced; plants are needed for photosynthesis to maintain oxygen levels – or we die

What comes from the text – bees endangered; politicians not concerned about this; general public worried.

Two aspects of comprehension The importance of prior knowledge

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Activating Prior

Knowledge

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Activating Prior Knowledge

Blue whale calves enter the world already ranking among the planet's largest creatures. After about a year inside its mother, a baby blue whale emerges weighing up to an amazing 3 tons, impressively stretching beyond 25 feet (8 meters). These graceful creatures flourish on nothing but their mother's nourishing milk and gain an extraordinary 200 pounds every day for the first year.

What’s the author’s viewpoint?

Give evidence!

Fact or opinion??

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Text Organisation:

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Basic instructions with a few

simple words

Acknowledgement: ©Harper Collins Publishers

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Labels and captions to identify and explain parts

using technical vocabulary

Acknowledgement: ©Harper Collins Publishers

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Cross sections

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Acknowledgement: 360° The Little Tiger Group; London

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INSETS for related

information

Acknowledgement: 360° The Little Tiger Group; London

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Keys and legends to

identify parts and promote active reading

©Ivy Kids an imprint of The Ivy Press

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Fossils: explaining a process

Acknowledgement: Harper Collins©

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Tables, Labels, Timelines etc.

Acknowledgement: Harper Collins©

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Contents, glossaries, indexes for search and reference

Information texts layout: What common features can you identify?

‐ Title, headline, section headings, sub-headings

‐ Introduction – topic sentence, summary

‐ Pictures/photos/images

‐ Insets, panels, columns, text boxes, colours

‐ Diagrams/animations to compare/explain

‐ Statistics, graphs, tables, flow charts

‐ Fonts, underlining, capitals etc. to emphasise or catch the reader’s attention

‐ Bullet points for lists or key information

‐ Numbered sections, sequenced for reference

‐ Speech bubbles to address the reader

‐ Paragraphs to group and categorise relevant information

‐ Contents, indexes, glossaries.36

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Nursery children

bringing the text to life …

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Year 2

Using information from reading to

design habitats for mini-beasts

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Reading and following Instructions Year 3

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Investigating and explaining the functions of

simple machines Y4/5.

From action to talking

to writing

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Danger points Project

Sub-headings, bullet points, flow diagrams, etc. to group

and connect information

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What skills do we need to

read for information?

- Define what we are looking for

- Know where and how to search

- Know about common text features and how to navigate them

- Skim and scan to find information rapidly

- Connect different parts of the text

- Connect, compare, cross-check and evaluate across more than one source

- Make notes and records for later use

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Text navigation

Skimming and scanning

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SKIMMING

This just came through the post…

In a few seconds try to find two or three events that you might choose

to book.

Handout ???

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You carry around a pair of cameras in your head so incredible they can work in bright sunshine or at night. Only 2.5cm in diameter, they can bring you the image of a tiny ant or a twinkling star trillions of kilometres away. They can change focus almost instantly and stay focused even when you’re shaking your head around. These cameras are your eyes…

Eye-Popping Fact ONE: A crucial part of your eyes is as flimsy as a wet tissue!A fly darts towards your head! Light bounces off the insect and enters your eye’s cornea, a clear covering over your eye. The light passes through your pupil, the black circle in the centre of the iris, to the lens. The lens focuses the light onto your retina – a thin but vital lining on the back of your eye that is as flimsy as a wet tissue. Your retina acts like camera film, capturing the picture of the fly. This image is sent to the brain, which instantly tells you to – duck!

Eye-Popping Fact TWO: You blink more than 10,000 times a day!Your sight is incredibly important , so your body has ways to protect your eyes. Each eye sits on a cushion of fat, surrounded by protective bone. Your eyebrows prevent sweat dripping into your eyes, while eyelashes keep dust and other particles out. The eyelids act as windscreen wipers, spreading tear fluid with every blink to keep your eyes moist and wash away bacteria. You blink more than 10,000 times a day! And if anything gets too close, your eyelids slam shut with amazing speed. How fast does this happen? In the blink of an eye – about 2/5 of a second!

YOUR AMAZING EYES! Learn all about the human eye…

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Scanning

Instructions:From words to actions

The proof of the pudding…

By Abigail Wheatley

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How to get the water to the right temperature?

Hand-hot waterMost bread recipes use warm water. To get the right temperature, half-fill a jug with hot water; then fill up with cold water. Put your hand in. It should feel slightly hotter than your hand. If its too hot, add more cold water. If it’s too cold, add more hot. Put your hand in; it should feel slightly hotter than your hand. When it’s just right, pour away any extra so you have the right amount.

Instructions main text features

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Main Themes of the Day1. From fluency to comprehension, levels of

comprehension – texts to try out.

2. Reading, re-reading and performing to internalise the text.

3. The importance of Book Talk.

4. A range of comprehension skills.

5. Reading for information – a school framework of texts linked to the curriculum.

6. Teaching and using non-fiction text features for thinking and writing.

7. Non-fiction reading skills.

BACK IN SCHOOL: DEFINING THE GAP TASK