Reading: Instructional and Comprehension Strategies

1. Defining
Comprehension Strategies
and
Instructional Strategies
Terry Hill
READ-6707G-3 Reading and Literacy Growth
July 19, 2015

2. According to Afflerbach, Cho, Crassas and Doyle (2013),
good readers...
• Plan their reading in relation to specific goals.
• Monitor and evaluate their reading as it progresses.
• Are motivated and engaged.
• Have high self-efficacy—they expect to be challenged by
different texts and tasks, and they expect to meet those
challenges. (p 440)
Successful Readers

3. Cognitive Elements of Reading
decoding and comprehension
(SEDL, 2013)

4. Affective Influences on Reading
Good readers read for pleasure both at school and at
home.
(Hiebert & Pearson, 2013)

5. Role of the Teacher in Supporting
Comprehension
• Create an environment that allows for working together.
• Explicit instruction and modeling strategies.
• Provide opportunities for guided practice.
• Provide opportunities for independent practice.
• Motivate students.
(Hollenbeck & Saternus, 2013)
(Laureate Education Inc., 2014b)

6. Metacognition
• Students are aware of their own abilities and know "how, why and
when" to use strategies. (Hollenbeck & Saternus, 2013, p 559).
• Students realize when they do not understand the text and apply a
strategy that leads to understanding (Laureate Education Inc.,
2014b).

7. Motivation for Comprehension
To motivate students to read for understanding, teachers
should:
• Set a purpose for learning something new.
• Allow students a choice of text.
• Incorporate discussions of text.
(Reutzel & Cooter, 2016)

8. Vocabulary
• Students must learn new vocabulary words to read more complex
texts.
• Teachers should use explicit
instruction for challenging words.
(Reutzel & Cooter, 2016)

9. CCSSI Vocabulary
Vocabulary Acquisition and Use
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.4.4 Determine or clarify the
meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and
phrases based on grade 4 reading and content,
choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.
(Common Core State Standards Initiative, 2012b)

10. Vocabulary-Instructional Strategy
Five Step Method
Students experience new words through multiple modalities:
• Seeing
• Listening
• Discussing
• Defining
• Writing
(Reutzel & Cooter, 2016)

11. Comprehension
• It is essential to explicitly teach students to monitor their own
comprehension levels and implement strategies when
meaning breaks down (Hollenbeck,& Saternus, 2013).
• Students also need to understand the relationship between
using strategies and comprehension (SEDL, 2013).

12. CCSSI Comprehension
Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.10
• By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories,
dramas, and poetry, in the grades 4-5 text complexity band proficiently, with
scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range
(Common Core State Standards Initiative, 2012a)

13. Instructional Strategies
• Question Answer Relationship
• Reciprocal Teaching
• Think Pair Share
(Reutzel & Cooter, 2016)

14. Question-Answer Relationships
Types of Questions
• In the Book: Right There and Think & Search
• In My Head: On My Own and Author and Me
Explicit Instruction
• The teacher should model using this strategy with a
read aloud.
• Students should practice writing their own questions.
(Reutzel & Cooter, 2016)

15. Reciprocal Teaching
Four Steps
• Predication
• Question Generation
• Summarizing
• Clarifying
Explicit Instruction
• The teacher should model using this strategy with parts of text.
• The student takes on the role of teacher.
• Students could use this strategy when working in pairs.
(Reutzel & Cooter, 2016)9

16. • Teacher asks a question.
• Student thinks.
• Pair with a partner.
• Share with the whole group.
Think Pair Share
(Reutzel & Cooter, 2016, p382)

17. Comprehension Strategies Commonly Employed
by Proficient Readers
• Set a Purpose (Cummins, 2013, p 16)
• Visualize
• Ask Questions
• Determine Importance
• Use Schema
• Infer
• Synthesize
• Monitor for Meaning
(Hollenbeck & Saternus, 2013, p 560)

18. Setting a Purpose
• to be informed
• to follow directions
• to be entertained
• to learn how to do something (Cummins, 2013, p 16).
Visualize
• Create images in mind while reading (Hollenbeck & Saternus, 2013, p
560).
• Use these images to support comprehension, aid recall, and
develop interpretations (Hollenbeck & Saternus, 2013, p 560).

19. Ask Questions
• Generate questions before, during, and after reading to
support processing, recall, and interpretations (Hollenbeck
& Saternus, 2013, p 560).
Determine Importance
• Make decisions while reading regarding what is
important at the word, sentence, or text level (Hollenbeck &
Saternus, 2013, p 560).

20. Infer
• Develop new ideas, understandings, or conclusions by combining prior
schema with information from the text (Hollenbeck & Saternus, 2013, p 560).
Use Schema
• Activate relevant background knowledge, or schema, before, during,
and after reading (Hollenbeck & Saternus, 2013, p 560).
• When a student has prior knowledge and knows how to "tap into it,
comprehension is more likely" (Cummins,2013, p 11).

21. Synthesize
• While reading, organize and evaluate understandings, adjusting the
main ideas on an ongoing basis (Hollenbeck & Saternus, 2013, p 560).
• After reading, develop and integrated representation of the text,
including significant ideas and details (Hollenbeck & Saternus, 2013, p 560).
• Synthesizing is more than identifying a central idea, but rather is
achieving "deeper understanding" of the text (Cummins, 2013, p 29).

22. Monitor for Meaning
• Know when, as a reader, you fully understand or don't understand
(Hollenbeck & Saternus, 2013, p 560).
• Understand what is read and know what to do when it breaks down
(Cummins, 2013).

23. Comprehension Strategies
• Graphic Organizers
• Monitoring
(Reutzel & Cooter, 2016)

24. Graphic Organizers
Graphic Organizers are visual representations of concepts in text.
Students can organize their ideas using a graphic organizer (Reutzel & Cooter,
2016)
Some examples are:

25. Monitoring
• Regulating
• Checking
• Repairing
Laureate Education Inc., 2014b

26. Regulating
Students
• Set a purpose for reading.
• Are aware of text structure and the author's purpose for writing.
Checking
To evaluate understanding of the text, students
• Identify challenging words or confusing concepts.
• Apply self questions to monitor
Laureate Education Inc., 2014b

27. Repairing
To correct misunderstanding, students can
• ask for help (Laureate Education Inc., 2014a)
• rereading
• change rate
• look back
• read out loud
(Laureate Education Inc., 2014b)

28. Instructional Strategies
Led by the teacher
Explain why it is important to use
comprehension strategies.
Model how to use the
comprehension strategies.
Guide as students practice how and when to
apply the strategy.
Comprehension Strategies
Applied by the student
Develop a repertoire of comprehension
strategies.
Decide how and when to apply the strategy.
Apply comprehension strategies when reading
independently.
Monitor Understanding
Make Corrections

29. Guided Comprehension: Making Connections
Using a Double-Entry Journal by Sarah Dennis Shaw
This lesson is for students in fourth through sixth grades.
The Double Entry Journal, a graphic organizer, was used in this lesson. The
purpose of the lesson was for students to use the comprehension strategy
double entry journal to make connections.
To support comprehension, the teacher:
-Explained how to make connections.
-Modeled how to use double entry journal.
-Guided students as the practiced using the graphic organizer.
-Provided opportunity for practice in small groups.
International Reading Association (IRA) and National Council of Teachers of English. (2014). ReadWriteThink. Retrieved from
http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/guided-comprehension-making-connections-
228.html?tab=4#tabs

30. References
Afflerbach, P., Cho, B.-Y., Kim, J.-Y., Crassas, M. E., & Doyle, B. (2013). Reading: What
else matters besides strategies and skills? The Reading Teacher, 66(6), 440–448.
Common Core State Standards Initiative. (2012). English language arts standards: Reading:
Informational Text: Fourth Grade. Retrieved from http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-
Literacy/RI/4/
Common Core State Standards Initiative. (2012b). English language arts standards:
Reading: Language: Fourth Grade. Retrieved from http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-
Literacy/L/4/
Cummins, Sunday. (2013). Close Reading of Informational Texts Assessment Driven
Instruction in Grades 3-8
Hiebert, E. H., & Pearson, P. D. (2013). What happens to the basics? Educational
Leadership, 70(4), 48–53.
Hollenbeck, A. F., & Saternus, K. (2013). Mind the comprehension iceberg: Avoiding titanic
mistakes with the CCSS. The Reading Teacher, 66(7), 558–568.

31. References
International Reading Association (IRA) and National Council of Teachers of
English. (2014). ReadWriteThink. Retrieved from
http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/guided-
comprehension-making-connections-228.html?tab=4#tabs
Education (Producer). (2014a). Conversations with Ray Reutzel: Supporting
comprehension[Audio file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.
Education (Producer). (2014b). Metacognition: Thinking about thinking [Multimedia
file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.
D. R., & Cooter, R. B., Jr. (2016). Strategies for reading assessment and instruction
in an era of common core standards: Helping every child succeed (5th ed.). Boston,
MA: Pearson.
SEDL. (2013). Cognitive elements of reading. Retrieved
fromhttp://www.sedl.org/reading/framework/elements.html