Text Comprehension Practices for Students who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing: Part 2

Susan R. EasterbrooksGeorgia State University

Part 2 of 2 presentations on text comprehension for the “Join Together” recommended practices series.

Strategies to Use Prior to Reading

1.1. Preteaching/Prelearning Vocabulary and GrammarPreteaching/Prelearning Vocabulary and Grammar

a. Old standby – requires teacher’s assessment of student’s skills relative to difficulty of the text, specific learning objective, and teacher’s awareness of student’s prior knowledge. Sources today suggest semantic webs and maps instead.

b. Graphic organizers such as story maps and thinking skills maps

c. Semantic webs and maps

d. Semantic feature analysis

e. Students need to learn to skim for unfamiliar words and to search out meanings.

f. Use Bridge, Winograd, and Haley’s (1983) program for teaching basic sight words to beginning readers using predictable books and language experience stories.

g. Also read the following for up-to-date information on how children learn vocabulary.

Hirsh-Pasek, K., & Golinkoff, R. M. (Eds.) (in press). Action meets word: How children learn verbs. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Golinkoff, R. M., Hirsh-Pasek, K., Akhtar, N., Bloom, L., Hollich, G., Smith, L., Tomasello, M., & Woodward, A. (2000). Becoming a word learner: A

debate on lexical acquisition .  New York City, NY:  Oxford University Press.

2.2. Activating Prior Knowledge (or Building Background Activating Prior Knowledge (or Building Background Knowledge in the absence of prior knowledge)Knowledge in the absence of prior knowledge)

a. Build background ideas, concepts, & principles

b. Show, don't tell. Use…

- Demonstrations- Multi-media - Graphics

c. Teach students to ask questions to connect topic to their own experiences K-W-L (What I Know. What I Want to

Know. What I Learned)

d. Use anticipation guides.

e. Teach students to use firsthand and hands-on activities to activate prior knowledge (e.g., what a video, ask an expert)

f. Read related materials (e.g., trade books, reference books, maps, CDs, other library sources, etc.)

g. Use outside resources, trips and speakers

h. Tell about topic from your experience

i. Use any combination of the above!

3. Understanding Your Purpose for Reading3. Understanding Your Purpose for Reading

a. Who asked me to read this?

b. Did this person tell me why?

c. Did I ask why?

d. What kind of material is it? (textbook, narrative story, rules and regulations, instructional manual, etc.)

e. What am I supposed to know about when I have finished reading?

4.4. Asking any Questions Printed at the End of Asking any Questions Printed at the End of the Chapter, if Applicablethe Chapter, if Applicable

a. Are there questions at the end of the chapter?

b. Do I have any written questions from the teacher?

5. Observing, Reviewing, Discussing Pictures, 5. Observing, Reviewing, Discussing Pictures, Titles, Captions, etc. to Aid in ComprehensionTitles, Captions, etc. to Aid in Comprehension

a. What does the title tell me about the book?

b. Do I know anything about the author? What does this tell me?

c. What is the structure of the piece? Chapters? Lots of pictures?

d. What can I figure out from looking at the pictures?

e. Are there any captions, and what are they about?

f. What do my friends know about the pictures, captions, etc?

g. What can I do to find out more about the title, pictures, captions, etc.

6. Using Prediction and Inference Based 6. Using Prediction and Inference Based on Activation of Prior Knowledge.on Activation of Prior Knowledge.

Teach students the difference between predicting and guessing.

PredictionPrediction GuessingGuessing

Based on cues or clues in the story.(Goldilocks is hungry, so she’ll try the porridge.)

Based on a logical order or sequence (what should come next).(Likely that next she will sit in Baby Bear’s chair because she has already tried the other two.)

Guess can be related to cue or clue but not logically.(Goldilocks has been walking and wants to call her mother, so she goes inside to use the phone.)

Misses pattern or logical order.(Goldilocks doesn’t like porridge so she will go to the refrigerator.)

Use the following deafed.net resources to help your students learn prediction skills

http://www.deafed.net/diversity/video_class.htm

http://www.deafed.net/PublishedDocs/Titanic%2012.doc

7. Using Summarization Skills (what do you think 7. Using Summarization Skills (what do you think the story is going to be “about”)the story is going to be “about”)

a. Brainstorm as many things as you can guess about the story. Put these on 3 X 5 cards or on sentence strips.

b. Sort the cards that seem to go together. Re-sort these piles into big ideas and little ideas Look at the cards and decide the main topic of

the big ideas. Decide the sequence of the big ideas. Summarize what might be in the story, telling

the big ideas in order with supporting information from the little ideas.

8. Using Card8. Using Card ArrangementArrangement

This is a teacher-directed activity in which the teacher does #7 and gives the student the summary cards as a tool for guiding the reading.

9. Using Anticipation Guides (usually used with 9. Using Anticipation Guides (usually used with expository text)expository text)

a. Teacher give students short true/false assessment of their knowledge of the topic about which they will read.

b. Students fill out the “quiz”

c. Class discusses answers. Why did one person say true and another say false?

d. Have students re-read the questions that were in dispute and to be ready to discuss whether their opinion changed after reading the material, and why or why not.

10. Storytelling10. Storytelling

a. Make up a story based on what you already know. Make revisions as you go along.

11. Predicting the main idea11. Predicting the main idea

a. Using summarization cards from a known story, compare and contrast information in big ideas pile and little ideas pile.

b. Explain that a main idea is a big idea.

c. Read through the information on each card. Ask if the story would make sense if you did not know the information on the card. Set cards into piles based on students’ yes/no answers.

d. Organize the cards in the “no” pile, showing what a nonsensical story it would make.

e. Organize the cards in the “yes” pile, showing that they form a reasonable story.

f. Have students brainstorm what might be in the story.

g. Sort as in c.

h. Ask them to decide what some of the big ideas (main ideas) in the story might be about.

12. Use self-assessment 12. Use self-assessment inventoriesinventories.

Before reading To discover the needs, interests, and previous

experiences of students To find out what students already know and

can do To determine a particular approach or strategy

13. Remembering your “Do Nots”13. Remembering your “Do Nots”

a. Do not start reading without thinking about the subject

b. Do not start reading without knowing why you are reading

c. Do not ignore pictures, titles, captions, and any other visual indicators on the pages that will help you

Note:

It is important to have an idea of what strategies students are already capable of using. You will begin working on them in the elementary grades and will continue through high school, if necessary, until strategies are mastered.

Strategies to Use During Reading (For Comprehension and Reading “Out Loud”) MAIN PURPOSE: READING MUST MAKE SENSE

1. Revising prediction and inference (DRTA, QAR, ReQuest) as you proceed. What will happen next? Was your prediction right or wrong?

a. Steps for Directed Reading-Thinking Activitya. http://www.career-connection.org/pdf/FCAT-Connection/

ProjDevResources/ReadingActivities/DirectedReading.doc

b. Steps for Question Answer Relationships

a. http://www.pwcs.edu/curriculum/sol/qar.htm

c. Steps for Reciprocal Questioninga. http://www.justreadnow.com/strategies/request.htm

2. Relating what you are reading to what you already know2. Relating what you are reading to what you already know

a. Obtain a copy of the ideas that were generated during your Activation of Prior Knowledge activity. This can be a list, a story map, an outline, a graphic organizer, a semantic web, or any other visual tool the teacher used or had students use to record activated prior knowledge.

b. Read one segment of the text at a time

c. Have students scan their Prior Knowledge source, locating information that relates to the segment.

d. Have student discuss how the information in the text and the information on the Prior Knowledge source relate to one another

e. Have other students explain how that information or connection is important their lives

3. Asking questions that will need to be answered (SQ3R)3. Asking questions that will need to be answered (SQ3R)

This is done initially with the whole class, then collaboratively in reading teams, then individually as the students’ skills progress.

• Survey – Skim the pages noticing the title, pictures, captions, headings, bold-faced or italicized words and any other indicators that give you clues to the text.

• Question – If there are questions in the back, read them. If not, brainstorm questions that you might want to answer based on the information you have.

c. Read – Read one section at a time, reflecting on the questions and relating what you have learned to the information you gathered before reading

d. Recite – Answer the questions that you generated. Get group input if you are unable to answer the questions. If possible, generate some new questions based on the information you have gathered.

(Repeat c and d with each new section.)

e. Review – After completing the text, review questions and answers for the entire text.

4. Searching for information segments that match questions asked.

a. Note connections between words on your brainstorm list and words in the text.

b. Think of synonyms for words on your brainstorm list. Match where possible.

c. If you think you have found a connection but are not sure, read from several sentences before the sentence containing the information to several sentences after.

d. Reread

e. Collaborate with a study buddy.

f. Discuss why you think the information is connected.

g. Ask what additional information you would need to be sure you have an answer. What is still missing? Can you find the information elsewhere in the passage?

5. Using knowledge of story structure and themes5. Using knowledge of story structure and themes

For a dozen different printable story and theme maps, visit http://www.enchantedlearning.com/graphicorganizers/storymap/

Honeycomb Map 5 Division Story Wheel

Story Star

6. Activating mental imagery based on prior knowledge, visual cues, and information accumulated from the text.

a. Learn the techniques in Visualizing and VerbalizingVisualizing and Verbalizing by Nanci Bell.

a. Be sure to encourage student to invoke mental imagerymental imagery routinely throughout reading.

7. Making Inferences7. Making Inferences

a. Choose a passage in a text at or just above the student’s ability to read independently that contains the requirement to draw an inference.

b. Point out the problem to the students and tell them that you are going to show them some steps they can use to “Make an Inference”.

c. Discuss what is meant by an inference. Compare it to the word “literal”.

d. Use examples in the physical world of the students experiences. For example, It is cold is a literal statement. Sam wants to put on a sweater may be an inference he drew because it is cold. Maybe it is true. Maybe it is not.

e. Using selected passages, brainstorm to activate prior knowledge.

e. Use a Think Aloud process to demonstrate how you drew your inference.

e. Discuss the difference between an inference and a guess. Make a T chart with inferences on one side and guesses on the other.

e. Give the student other passages requiring an inference.

f. Brainstorm to activate prior knowledge.

g. Ask each student to draw an inference.

h. Engage class in discussion of whether each student’s response is literal, a good/wild guess, or an inference.

i. Guide students through the process until they are comfortably making inferences.

8. Using Summarization Skills (what the story is “about”)8. Using Summarization Skills (what the story is “about”)

a. Write “Summary” on the board. Discuss what it means. Tell students you are going to teach them how to summarize a story because summarizing skills help in reading comprehension.

b. Brainstorm a well-known, short story. Ask students to tell you everything they remember about the story. Put each statement on a 3 X 5 notecard. Be sure students include information about character, setting, problem, sequence, attempts at resolution, and resolution.

c. Have students sort cards into logical piles.

d. Further sort each pile into main ideas and supporting ideas.

e. Set aside the supporting ideas. Tell students that when you summarize, you must eliminate unimportant information. Yes, it might be interesting, but you can still tell the story without it.

f. Further sort the main idea pile by collapsing several cards into one statement.

g. After you have each of the piles into one statement, be sure they are in correct sequence.

h. Read across the statements to relay the story. Tell them that this is a summary.

i. Give students sets of cards you have prepared so they can try the process themselves.

j. Go through the process again yourself with another simple story with which students are not familiar.

k. Leave out a critical piece of information to demonstrate that it is possible to leave out too much.

l. Give students plenty of practice.

m. Remember, there are levels of difficulty of materials to summarize. Start at the level students can summarize. These levels are:

1. Summarizing explicit information2. Summarizing implicit information

3. Summarizing metaphoric narrative4. Summarizing and drawing conclusions

about main ideas of an outline

9. Using Self-Monitoring of Comprehension (clarifying 9. Using Self-Monitoring of Comprehension (clarifying misunderstandings)misunderstandings)

a. Develop self-monitoring checklists for students to use while they are reading.

Purposes: To assess students' understanding and progress To identify successes or difficulties and confidence

levels To assess students' abilities to verbalize their

understanding and insights To assess students' abilities to work together while

sharing ideas and completing tasks

10. Always stopping to use “fix-up” strategies 10. Always stopping to use “fix-up” strategies when when neededneeded

a. Do I understand the vocabulary? Use decoding strategies.

b. Do I understand the phrase? Consider if phrase might be figurative.

c. Re-read.

d. Deciding whether to “fix-up” now or wait for more information.

e. Read from several sentences before to several sentences after the location in question.

f. Employ visualization strategy.

g. Re-activate prior knowledge.

h. Question your predictions.

i. Use buddy system.

j. Ask your teacher.

11. Using Decoding Skills11. Using Decoding Skills

a. Use phonics strategies. Sound out the word. Think about words it might be. Check to see if these words fit in the context of the sentence.

b. Use syntactic strategies. Skip the word you don’t know. Keep reading, then re-read to see if words make sense. Use the -1/Sentence/+1strategy. Read the sentence before, the sentence containing the word, and the sentence after.

c. Use visual strategies. Look at the pictures, diagrams, advance organizers (maps, outlines, etc.) and all visual information available.

d. Use structural analysis strategies and morphographemic strategies. Break word into parts you know. Look for smaller words within the word. Search for Latin roots, prefixes, and suffixes.

(See presentation under “Recommended Literacy Practices” section of www.deafed.net for discussion of morphographemic instruction.)

d. Use context cues. Combine phonics, syntactic, visual , and morphographemic information. Re-activate prior knowledge. Compare misunderstood word to Prior Knowledge list.

e. Go to the dictionary.

f. Ask a buddy. Ask your teacher.

12. Use prediction logs12. Use prediction logs

See discussion under “Before Reading” strategies.

PredictionReason for Prediction

1stThey ate their picnic lunch in the park.

You usually eat a lunch after you pack it. A park is a nice place to eat a picnic lunch. That is why I think they eat their lunch next.

2nd

I think Tom will win first place in the science fair.

Everyone told Tom he did a good job on his robot. Also if the judges were speechless, I think that means Tom did a good job. That is why I think that tom will win first prize.

3rd

4th

13. Applying Knowledge of Text Organization (narrative and expository text have different organizational patterns)

See discussion of narrative and expository texts in part 1 of this presentation.

Narratives have

a. Beginning – includes the setting and characters

b. Middle – includes the problem, the plan, and the events leading to a resolution

c. End – resolution and reaction

Expository texts have a variety of organizations

Temporal sequence – describes or lists events in their order of occurrence

Explanation – explains such things as causes, effects, and enabling circumstances

Comparison/contrast – compares or contrasts two events or concepts

Problem/solution – explains the development of a problem and suggests a solution

Process description – describes the parts of a process

Classification – explains how concepts are classified

Each narrative theme and expository organization has a corresponding graphic organizer that can visually represent the

theme or organization.

14. Asking for Help14. Asking for Help

Students often take two stances. Either they give up and say they don’t know, asking for help with nothing, or they distrust their skills and ask for help with everything.

a. Draw a line on the board showing a continuum from the word “Never Asks/Gives Up” to “Always Asks First”. Write “Uses Strategies” in the center. Show student where s/he falls on the continuum.

b. Tell student that you are going to teach him a strategy to use before he asks/gives up.

c. Write three steps for student to go through before he can give up/ask. Be sure there are strategies you have actually taught and the student can actually use.

d. Tell student to check off the strategies s/he has tried. Give the answer when student can demonstrate s/he has tried the strategy.

e. Over time, add another and then another step student must try before giving up/asking for help.

f. Do read alouds where you demonstrate your unfolding understanding of the text by talking through your thought processes. This will demonstrate to the student that everyone must work to understand a written passage.

g. Work on figurative language routinely. Choose a word and discuss it in depth (book), showing multiple meanings, compound words (bookcase), noun adjuncts (match book), figurative phrases (make book, book a prisoner, book it), and expressions (throw the book at someone). Students need to see that even simple words can have difficult to understand meanings.

15. Using advance organizers15. Using advance organizers

This is a teacher-initiated strategy. Provide student with advance organizers.

a. Provide student with an outline of content on notecards or paper (sequential)

b. Provide student with graphic organizer (spatial)

c. Relate story theme, message, or other components to a similar story the student has already read (abstract/metaphoric)

16. Seeking Proof of Fact versus Opinion16. Seeking Proof of Fact versus Opinion

Appropriate for students ages 9 and above. Usable with narratives and expository text. (Source: McAnally, Rose, & Quigley)

a. Teacher explains the difference between fact and opinion and gives examples from the physical world of the students.

b. Starting with an example, teacher asks students what clues are in the text that can alert the reader to whether it is a fact or an opinion.

c. After listing the clues from the examples, teacher and students can elaborate on other clues from their own experiences.

d. Teacher and students discuss why it is important to distinguish fact from opinion.

e. On overhead transparency, teacher shows students a list of statements to evaluate as fact or opinion. If the statement is fact, student must indicate the possible source for verification next to that statement (e.g., encyclopedias, dictionaries, textbooks, newspapers). They may also be asked to write their proof by the statement.

f. Students do several examples as a group.

g. Teacher asks students to circle the clues in each statement.

h. Students complete the rest of the statements independently, in small groups, or in pairs.

i. Photocopy sections of students’ textbooks and of age-appropriate narrative texts. Have them highlight facts in one color highlighter and opinions in another.

See Easterbrooks & Huston (2007). Signed reading fluency in children who are deaf or hard of hearing. Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education.

Includes: speed, eye contact, posture, facial expression, body movement, sign space, bouncy/steady, stiff/relaxed, jerky/smooth.

See article for assessment rubric.

17. Monitoring 17. Monitoring Fluency EnvelopeFluency Envelope when Reading “Out Loud” when Reading “Out Loud”

18. Monitoring 18. Monitoring Internal Aspects of FluencyInternal Aspects of Fluency when when

Reading “Out LoudReading “Out Loud”

See Easterbrooks & Huston (2007). Signed reading fluency in children who are deaf or hard of hearing. Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education.

Includes: topic grammar/spoken inflection, absent referent, role shift, eye gaze, other use of space, question grammar/spoken inflection, negation, directionality, classifiers as tags.

See article for assessment rubric.

21. Remembering Your “Do Nots”21. Remembering Your “Do Nots”

a. Do not continue reading if you are unsure about something.

b. Do not forget to use as many strategies as you need.

c. Do not hesitate to ask for help.

Strategies to Use After Reading

a. Obtain list of goals identified prior to reading.

b. Check ones that were achieved.

c. Don’t settle for achieving just some.

d. For goals not achieved, think about what additional information you might need in order to achieve the goal. Re-read, searching for that information.

e. Discuss with study buddy or teacher.

f. Make a plan for acquiring the additional information. Make the plan Simple, something you can do Independently, that employs your Strategies, that makes best use of your Time, and that is most likely to help you Achieve your goal (SISTA).

1. Deciding if You Have Achieved Your Goal for Reading.1. Deciding if You Have Achieved Your Goal for Reading.

2. Retelling2. Retelling

There are many different ways to encourage retelling:

-retell with pictures-retell without pictures-retell in ASL, then translate into English-retell by filling in blank areas on a graphic

organizer that was used to develop the lesson

3. Using Self-Evaluation of Comprehension3. Using Self-Evaluation of Comprehension

After reading

To find out what the students have learned

To determine the quality of students' learning

To gauge the effectiveness of the activities and approach in relation to the objectives and goals

To reflect on teaching practice

4. Summarizing Main Ideas and Important Points4. Summarizing Main Ideas and Important Points

a. Brainstorm as many things as you can remember about the story. Put these on 3 X 5 cards or on sentence strips.

b. Sort the cards that seem to go together.

c. Re-sort these piles into big ideas and little ideas.

d. Look at the cards and decide the main topic of the big ideas.

e. Decide the sequence of the big ideas.

f. Summarize the story by telling the big ideas in order with supporting information from the little ideas.

Use prediction logs that were developed before and during reading. Sort good and bad predictions. Dialogue with the teacher about what made one prediction good and another bad.

5. Thinking About What Made Your Prediction Good or Bad5. Thinking About What Made Your Prediction Good or Bad

6. Extending Your Knowledge with Outside Sources6. Extending Your Knowledge with Outside Sources

a. Read further books on the topic.

b. Watch a video of the narrative or an instructional video on information in an expository text.

a. Talk to an expert who is knowledgeable about some aspect of the text.

b. Discuss what you have learned with peers, family members.

7. Relating What You Read to Your Real Life7. Relating What You Read to Your Real Life

a. Brainstorm ways the information applies to your life.

b. Choose one of the connections.

c. Do a project to demonstrate how the information relates to your life such as:

1. Interview someone in your life and

discuss how you two relate to the topic

2. Make a videotape of how this piece of information plays out in your life

3. Take a series of pictures

4. Make a collage

8. Remembering your “Do Nots”8. Remembering your “Do Nots”

Do not pretend you understood what you read if you don’t.

Sources

McAnally, P., & Rose, S., (1999). Reading Practices with Deaf Children. Austin, TX: PRO-Ed

Rose, S., P. McAnally & Quigley, S. P. (2003). Language Development Practices with Deaf Children 3rd ed. Austin, TX: ProEd