Purpose for Today’s Workshop

To gain a better understanding and knowledge of comprehension instruction

so that you are able to make good teaching decisions in response to what you see students doing in your current

interventions: LLI, Comprehension Toolkit, Making

Connections, etc.

“Comprehension is not just one more thing. In fact,

when it comes to reading, it’s the most important thing. If the purpose for

reading is anything other than understanding, why

read at all?”(Harvey and Goudvis, Strategies that Work, 2007)

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An automatic procedure that readers use unconsciously.

Do not require thought, interpretation or choice. Are observable behaviors, easily tested behaviors or

answers to questions. Instruction focuses on repeated use until it becomes

habitual.

Conscious plan under the control of the reader. Requires thought about which plan to use and when to

use them. Are process-oriented, cognitive procedures the reader

uses, generally unobservable in nature. Instruction focuses on the reasoning process readers

use as they interact with text

Comprehension Strategies

Monitor and Adjust/Clarify Activate and Connect Ask Questions Infer and Visualize Determine Importance Summarize and Synthesize (arrive at

big ideas and create new ideas)

TAKE A BREAK

How does the text work? Good readers understand how stories work.

Knowing how fiction works enables students to make predictions about story characters and events and to determine an author’s purpose.

Awareness of the purposes, types, features and structures of non-fiction texts increases students ability to gain factual information from printed material and enables good readers to set and monitor their purpose for reading.

Knowing how author’s craft their writing helps readers to gain a deeper understanding of what they read.

Looking at Literature and Informational text

INFORMATIONAL Text features Point of

view/Author’s Purpose

Main Idea Key Details Vocabulary

LITERATURE Story ElementsAnalyzing characters, setting and plot

Understanding Literary Devices/Figurative Language and Vocabulary

Theme Point of view/Author’s

Purpose

Text Structures

Description Chronology, temporal/sequential Procedure Cause-effect Compare/contrast Proposition-support Problem-solution Critique

Genre Theme Non-Fiction Fiction Mystery Biography Autobiography Folktale Fantasy Historical Fiction Narrative (fiction/non-fiction) Poetry Horror Science Fiction Graphic novels Adventure

Kindness Friendship Perseverance Cooperation Honesty Acceptance Courage Responsibility Family Survival Respect Discovery Persistence Believe in yourself

Author’s Point of View

First PersonI, me, my, mine, we, our, ours

Second Personyou, yours

Third Person (Objective, Omniscient)he, she, it, they