Overview 

Reading comprehension is the ability to understand what is read. In order to be able to accomplish this, children need to be able to decode what they read, make connections between prior knowledge and what they are reading, and think deeply about what they read. 

Impairment Targeted &/or an Example of a Therapy Goal 

In one year’s time, after reading a 5 sentence story, the student will be able to identify the main idea and 2 supporting details with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 trials measured over 3 observable consecutive sessions 

Hierarchical Cuing Systems 

When determining the starting point for reading skills it is important to start at comprehension and work your way back. Once you have determined where the child falls, you can determine what goals are applicable for the child.

It is important to note that if a child is reading at a low level, than it is likely they are struggling to decode the text. Essentially, the child is spending most of their cognitive energy trying to figure out what word is. Since their brain is focused on figuring out each individual word, they are unable to comprehend the text.

Hierarchy of Reading Skills

Strategies 

1. Create visuals: have the student create a graphic organizer, venn diagram, story map/storyboard, or a visual in their mind while reading in order to improve story recall.

2. Answer questions about the passage: both asking and answering questions pertaining to a text is a great way to help students focus on the meaning of the passage. Questions provide a purpose for reading the passage, help focus the student’s attention, think actively while they are reading, and help encourage students to monitor their comprehension.

3. Predict what will happen next: Ask the student to make a prediction about the story based on the title and other clues that are available.

4. Summarizing/Retell the Story: summarizing requires the student to determine what is important in the story and say it in their own words

5. Make a connection/Past experience: this provides framework for new information and gives the child an opportunity to relate to the material

https://adayinourshoes.com/reading-comprehension-strategies/ 

Data Collection Tool 

Data will be measured through a +/- system. When the child correctly identifies the main idea they will receive a +. The child will also receive a plus for each additional detail they can recall. The SLP will then look to see how many main ideas the child could identify as well as how many additional pieces of information could be gathered. 

Evidence Based Practice

Paul Van den Broek theoried that "reading comprehension incorpeorates a "landscape" of concepts that are activated across a reading cycle" (Paul Van den Broek et al., 1999). This means that readers relate background knowledge to new information in order to form ideas that correlate to the text. When completing a reading comprehension task, it is important to direct the student to think about the main idea and answer wh questions pertaining to the reading in order to generalize the main idea from the passage. (Kendeau et al., 2016)

References 

Courtney. (n.d.). A deep dive into the big five: How to determine reading interventions. Teaching in Paradise. Retrieved December 4, 2022, from https://www.teachinginparadise.com/2020/09/a-deep-dive-into-big-five-how-to.html

Lightner, L. (2022, October 25). 40 IEP goals for reading and reading comprehension. A Day in our Shoes. Retrieved December 4, 2022, from https://adayinourshoes.com/reading-comprehension-strategies/

Kendeou, P., McMaster, K. L., & Christ, T. J. (2016). Reading comprehension: Core components and processes. Reading, Writing, and Language, 3(1), 62–69. 

Van den Broek, P., Young, M., Tzeng, Y., & Linderholm, T. (1999). The landscape model of reading: Inferences and the online construction of a memory representation. In H. van Oostendorp & S. Goldman (Eds.), The construction of mental representations during reading (pp. 71–98). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.