Reading Comprehension
What is Reading Comprehension?
Table 1:
Frayer Model of Reading Comprehension
Selection of Sources
Inquiry is based on the exploration and comprehension of sources. JCPS Social Studies provides historical and contemporary sources for each inquiry. We encourage teachers to choose which sources they feel will deliver content, spark curiosity, empower discussions, and help practice skills. The selection of sources and how sources are sequenced help "build a world" for students to make meaning within the inquiry. The following slides demonstrate the layering and choices teachers can make within the inquiry process:
Slides 1-5 shows how sources drive the inquiry process and help students answer questions and communicate conclusions
Slide 6 shows which sources teachers might use from JCPS Curriculum Framework
Slide 7 shows source selection based upon disciplinary concepts, i.e. civics, economics, geography, history
Slide 8 shows different types of sources for variety, e.g. maps, population data, artifacts, photographs, court documents, etc. provide variety
Why is Reading Comprehension important?
Reading Comprehension helps students make meaning from sources. Reading Comprehension in Social Studies inquiry is essential to making sense of source sets in order to answer compelling and supporting questions. The following tables provide considerations for embedding reading comprehension:
Inquiry Process and Reading Comprehension
Table 2 shows the relationship between the key components of inquiry--questions, sources, and tasks.
Table 3 shows the relationship between language of the standards, questions, and sources.
Reading Comprehension and the Kentucky Academic Standards (KAS) for Social Studies
Table 4 shows the language of the Using Evidence standards in order to demonstrate the ways students will apply reading comprehension within disciplinary literacy.
Thinking Skills to Support Reading Comprehension
Table 5 shows thinking skills that use and support reading comprehension and disciplinary literacy.
Language of Critical Thinking and Transitions
Table 6 shows language that supports critical thinking within reading comprehension and disciplinary literacy.
Table 7 shows language that helps support transitions to help students understand the flow of thinking in reading comprehension and to apply in writing to demonstrate learning.
Inquiry Process and Reading Comprehension
Table 2:
Relationship Triangle of the Supporting Question, Sources, & Task
Table 3:
Relationship Triangle of the Supporting Question, Source, and Standards
Reading Comprehension and the Kentucky Academic Standards (KAS) for Social Studies
Table 4:
KAS for Social Studies: Language Progression of Using Evidence Standards
Thinking Skills to Support Reading Comprehension
Table 5:
Social Studies Critical Thinking
Language of Critical Thinking and Transitions
Table 6:
Social Studies Language of Critical Thinking
Where is Reading Comprehension During Instruction?
Table 8:
JCPS Instructional Framework Crosswalk to ALM: Vocabulary Development
Practicing Reading Comprehension
Considerations for Practicing Reading Comprehension
Students need specific strategies to develop reading comprehension. These strategies can be applied for Pre-Reading, Mid-Reading, and Post-Reading.
Before engaging in strategies the teacher should...
Establish high and clear expectations.
Consider the strategy based on the needs of the student and source set.
Practice Think Aloud strategies for the students.
Consider the best place for the strategy (Pre-Reading, Mid-Reading, Post-Reading).
What Exercises Build Reading Comprehension?
JCPS Created Exercises
Beginning of Lesson: Engaging in the Supporting Question (SQ)
Choose how to Engage the Supporting Question
Engaging the question helps learners center on and settle into the supporting question. The role of the engaging the supporting question is to make key connections to language in the disciplinary standards, previous inquiries, and students lives. Be sure to incorporate language from the KAS for Social Studies. Choose one of the following options to begin the inquiry lesson.
Instructions: Choose one or more of the following:
Focusing on the Question
What does this word mean?
Brainstorm with a Partner
Frayer Model
Sparking Curiosity with a Source
Making Connections
Contextualizing Questions within the CQ
Background Mini-Lecture
Background Essay (DBQ)
Middle of the Lesson: Engaging Sources through discussion
The Literacy Poster Set a set of skills that engage students in content and disciplinary literacy.
Choose an Organizational Task
Organizational Tasks help learners work together to extract evidence from sources to complete Formative Performance Tasks (FPTs). The role of an organizational task in a lesson is to help learners organize and think through evidence, develop knowledge and skills around the standards, practice thinking skills, and collaborate to answer the FPT. Be sure to incorporate language from the KAS for Social Studies.
Instructions:
First, choose an organizational task type that scaffolds learners to the FPT.
Second, choose questions to enrich the organizational task that help learners build knowledge, skills, and make connections to the world while giving them something to talk about.
Students' lived experiences
Organizational Tasks:
Sorting: Listing | Ranking | Annotating | Remove One | Identifying | Categorizing, Sequencing
Comparing: Venn Diagram | T Chart (Slides | Docs) | Chart |Cost/Benefit Analysis | Remove One
Conceptualizing: Webbing | Timeline | Maps | Chart| Diagrams | Boxing
Synthesizing: Main Idea Logs | Support/Refute | Argument Stems (Slides| Docs) | Inductive Reasoning | 4 Square
