The document discusses comprehension and instructional strategies for grades 4-6, emphasizing the importance of fostering comprehension through various methods like making inferences and using schema. It outlines both comprehension strategies used by students and instructional strategies implemented by teachers, highlighting techniques such as think-pair-share and graphic organizers. The text also addresses cognitive and affective factors influencing comprehension, noting the need for explicit modeling and structured thinking activities.

1. Robert T. Kilmer
Walden University
Casey Stoll
Reading and
Literacy Growth,
Grades 4-6 – READ
- 6707
November 16th,
2014
DEFINING
COMPREHENSION
STRATEGIES &
INSTRUCTIONAL
STRATEGIES

2.  Definition: when the reader
creates understandings
through interactions with a
text (Hollenbeck & Saternus,
2013)
 The purpose of reading - to
comprehend ideas
 Should be fostered at all
reading levels – especially for
the developing reader (grades
4-6)
COMPREHENSION

3. Comprehension strategies
 Used by the student during
reading
 Examples:
 Clarifying
 Making inferences
 Using schema
 Goal – used independently
and without thinking to
comprehend texts
(Hollenbeck & Staernus,
2013)
DIFFERENCES IN COMPREHENSION
Instructional strategies
 Used by the teacher during
instruction
 Teacher demonstrates and
models (Hiebert & Pearson,
2013)
 Examples:
 Collaborative learning
 Classroom environment
 A picture walk
 Goal – help grow students’
comprehension strategies
(Hollenbeck & Saternus,
2013)

4.  Using schema
 Activates prior knowledge stored in
the brain
 Making connections
 Good for cross-curricular content
 Requires metacognition
 Needs to be explicitly modeled
(Laureate Education Inc., 2014g)
 Making inferences
 Identifying the purpose of a text
 Higher-order thinking
 Requires metacognition
 Needs to be explicitly modeled
(Laureate Education Inc., 2014i)
COMPREHENSION STRATEGIES

5.  Think-Pair-Share
 Teacher scheduled
 Students are given time to think, talk, and share out ideas
 Think time activates schema
 Pair time incorporates discussion and expands ideas
 Share time adds accountability and group thinking
 Builds comprehension by formally providing time for thinking,
discussing, and sharing
 Graphic Organizers
 Teacher created
 Written way to record information from texts
 Divides information into subgroups
 Provides students with an organized overview of what was read
INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES

6.  Schema… builds on background knowledge
 Making Inferences… helps students understand why the text
was written
 Think Pair Share… structures thinking time about reading
 Graphic Organizers… structures information learned from a
text
IMPORTANCE OF COMPREHENSION &
INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES

7.  Cognitive
 Metacognition – thinking about thinking
 Assists students in comprehending while reading
 Assists students in setting and meeting reading goals
 Should happen naturally
 Affective
 Motivation & engagement
 Students view problems comprehending reading as a challenge that
can be conquered or are unbeatable
 Self-efficacy (Afflerbach, Cho, Kim, Crassas, Doyle, 2013)
FACTORS THAT AFFECT
COMPREHENSION

8.  Teaching students how to make inferences
 Broken into 7 minilessons
 Comprehension strategies
 Making inferences
 Writing about what was read
 Instructional strategies
 Explicit modeling
 Graphic organizers
 Gradual release or responsibility (International Reading Association
(IRA) and National Council of Teachers of English, 2014a)
 Considerations for specific students
 Creating additional graphic organizers – Venn Diagram
 Relating inferences to cause and affect
ANALYSIS OF A COMPREHENSION LESSON

9.  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.
 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.
 International Reading Association (IRA) and National Council of
Teachers of English. (2014a). ReadWriteThink. Retrieved from
http://www.readwritethink.org/search/?grade=13&resource_typ
e=6&learning_objective=8
 Laureate Education (Producer). (2014g). Classroom
demonstration: Strategic processing [Video file]. Baltimore, MD:
author.
 Laureate Education Inc. (Producer). (2014i). Metacognition:
Thinking about thinking [Multimedia file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.
RESOURCES

10.  http://pixabay.com/en/reading-manual-docs-help-book-man-
99244/
 http://pixabay.com/en/file-cabinet-office-equipment-file-
146157/
 http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hersenen.png
PHOTO CREDITS