Comprehension

Comprehension is the understanding and interpretation of what is read. To be able to accurately understand written material, children need to be able to (1) decode what they read; (2) make connections between what they read and what they already know; and (3) think deeply about what they have read.

The importance of Comprehension:

One important classroom study conducted during the 1970s found that typical comprehension instruction followed what the study called a mentioning, practicing, and assessing procedure. That is, teachers mentioned a specific skill that students were to apply, had students practice the skill by completing workbook pages, then assessed them to find out if they could use the skill correctly.2 Such instruction did little to help students learn how or when to use the skills, nor was it ever established that this particular set of skills enabled comprehension.

At about this time, a group of psychologists, linguists, and computer scientists began to focus research attention on how the mind works — how people think and learn. A goal of this new research movement, called cognitive science, was to produce an applied science of learning.

In the field of reading, a number of cognitive scientists focused their attention on how readers construct meaning as they read. Specifically, they studied the mental activities that good readers engage in to achieve comprehension. From these studies an entirely new concept emerged about what reading is. According to the new concept, reading is a complex, active process of constructing meaning — not skill application.3

The act of constructing meaning is:

• Interactive — it involves not just the reader but also the text and the context in which reading takes place4

• Strategic — readers have purposes for their reading and use a variety of strategies and skills as they construct meaning5

• Adaptable — readers change the strategies they use as they read different kinds of text or as they read for different purposes6

While cognitive science research was producing valuable information about comprehension processes, reading education researchers were reporting important findings about what comprehension instruction looks like in the most effective reading classrooms.

The convergence of these strands of research has provided a wealth of information about what good readers do as they read, about how good and poor readers differ, and about the kind of instruction that is needed to help students to become good readers.

https://www.readingrockets.org/article/what-research-tells-us-about-reading-comprehension-and-comprehension-instruction

Common Core State Standards- Comprehension

Common Core State Standards

Comprehension- Assessment

Reading comprehension assessments are the most common type of published reading test that is available. The most common reading comprehension assessment involves asking a child to read a passage of text that is leveled appropriately for the child, and then asking some explicit, detailed questions about the content of the text (often these are called IRIs). There are some variations on reading comprehension assessments, however. For example, instead of explicit questions about facts directly presented in the text, the child could be asked to answer inferential questions about information which was implied by the text, or the child’s comprehension might be tested by his or her ability to retell the story in the child’s own words or to summarize the main idea or the moral of the story. Another common reading comprehension assessment is called a "cloze" task — words are omitted from the passage, and the child is asked to fill in the blanks with appropriate words. Also, young children’s reading comprehension can be assessed by asking them to read and follow simple instructions, such as, "Stand up" or, "Go look out the window."

Reading comprehension should not be confused with reading accuracy, another very common form of reading assessment. In a reading accuracy assessment, a child is asked to read a passage of text clearly, without making any mistakes. The mistakes that the child does make are analyzed to find clues about the child’s decoding strategies (not comprehension strategies). Very often, an assessment combines these two different assessments into one assessment — the child reads a passage out loud while the teacher makes note of errors the child makes (sometimes called a "running record"), and then the child is asked some comprehension questions about the passage. However, it is worth noting that a beginning reader’s comprehension usually suffers when he or she is asked to read a passage of text out loud. When children read orally, they usually concentrate on reading accurately, and do not pay as much attention to comprehension of the content. Oral reading accuracy does give insights into decoding skills and strategies, but that is a separate test. A reading comprehension test is most accurate if the child is not reading for an audience.

https://www.readingrockets.org/article/types-informal-classroom-based-assessment

Teaching & Learning

Comprehension

Before Reading

Before reading, the teacher may:

• Motivate students through activities that may increase their interest (book talks, dramatic readings, or displays of art related to the text), making the text relevant to students in some way.

• Activate students' background knowledge important to the content of the text by discussing what students will read and what they already know about its topic and about the text organization.

Students, with some help from the teacher, may:

• Establish a purpose for reading.

• Identify and discuss difficult words, phrases, and concepts in the text.

• Preview the text (by surveying the title, illustrations, and unusual text structures) to make predictions about its content.

• Think, talk, and write about the topic of the text.

During Reading

During reading, the teacher may:

• Remind students to use comprehension strategies as they read and to monitor their understanding.

• Ask questions that keep students on track and focus their attention on main ideas and important points in the text.

• Focus attention on parts in a text that require students to make inferences.

• Call on students to summarize key sections or events.

• Encourage students to return to any predictions they have made before reading to see if they are confirmed by the text.

Students, with some help from the teacher, may:

• Determine and summarize important ideas and supportive details.

• Make connections between and among important ideas in the text.

• Integrate new ideas with existing background knowledge.

• Ask themselves questions about the text.

• Sequence events and ideas in the text.

• Offer interpretations of and responses to the text.

• Check understanding by paraphrasing or restating important and/or difficult sentences and paragraphs.

• Visualize characters, settings, or events in a text.

After Reading

After reading, the teacher may:

• Guide discussion of the reading.

• Ask students to recall and tell in their own words important parts of the text.

• Offer students opportunities to respond to the reading in various ways, including through writing, dramatic play, music, readers' theatre, videos, debate, or pantomime.

Students, with some help from the teacher, may:

• Evaluate and discuss the ideas encountered in the text.

• Apply and extend these ideas to other texts and real life situations.

• Summarize what was read by retelling the main ideas.

• Discuss ideas for further reading.

https://www.readingrockets.org/article/strategies-promote-comprehension

What Is differentiated instruction?

Differentiated instruction, also called differentiation, is a process through which teachers enhance learning by matching student characteristics to instruction and assessment. Differentiated instruction allows all students to access the same classroom curriculum by providing entry points, learning tasks, and outcomes that are tailored to students' needs (Hall, Strangman, & Meyer, 2003). Differentiated instruction is not a single strategy, but rather an approach to instruction that incorporates a variety of strategies.

Teachers can differentiate content, process, and/or product for students (Tomlinson, 1999). Differentiation of content refers to a change in the material being learned by a student. For example, if the classroom objective is for all students to subtract using renaming, some of the students may learn to subtract two-digit numbers, while others may learn to subtract larger numbers in the context of word problems. Differentiation of process refers to the way in which a student accesses material. One student may explore a learning center, while another student collects information from the web. Differentiation of product refers to the way in which a student shows what he or she has learned. For example, to demonstrate understanding of a geometric concept, one student may solve a problem set, while another builds a model.

When teachers differentiate, they do so in response to a student's readiness, interest, and/or learning profile. Readiness refers to the skill level and background knowledge of the child. Interest refers to topics that the student may want to explore or that will motivate the student. This can include interests relevant to the content area as well as outside interests of the student. Finally, a student's learning profile includes learning style (i.e., a visual, auditory, tactile, or kinesthetic learner), grouping preferences (i.e., individual, small group, or large group), and environmental preferences (i.e., lots of space or a quiet area to work). A teacher may differentiate based on any one of these factors or any combination of factors (Tomlinson, 1999).

More on Differentiated reading Instruction:

https://www.readingrockets.org/article/differentiated-instruction-reading

Differentiated instruction in comprehension