Reserve several instructional sessions to introduce the steps in this comprehension strategy. (For effective-teaching tips, consult the guidelines presented in Introducing Academic Strategies to Students: A Direct-Instruction Approach).
Overhead transparencies of short (100-200 word) passages from expository text and teacher-prepared text and lookback/think questions, transparency markers
Student copies of expository text passages and text-lookback /think questions
Create at least 3 lookback questions and one think question for each expository text passage selected
Step 1: Introduce the text-lookback strategy by telling students that people cannot always remember everything that they read. If we read an article or book chapter, though, and are asked a 'fact' question about it that we cannot answer, we can always look back in the article to find the information that we need.
Step 2: Describe for the class the difference between lookback and think questions. An example of an explanation that you might use is.
"When we are asked questions about an article, sometimes the answer can be found directly in the article and sometimes it cannot be found directly."
"Lookback questions are those that tell us that the answer can be found right in the article. For example, if a question uses phrases such as in the article or in the author's words, these phrases would be clues that the question is a lookup question and that we can find the answer in the article."
"Think questions are those that ask you to give your own opinion, beliefs, or ideas. Our answers to these questions are based on our own ideas or thoughts about the topic. For example, if a question uses phrases such as in your opinion or what do you think, these phrases would be clues that the question is a think question and that the answer cannot be found in the article."
Step 3: Read aloud through the sample expository passage. Then read the series of 4 text-lookback/think questions to the class. As you read each question, highlight for students the word clues that indicate whether the question is a think or text-lookback question.
Step 4: Tell students that they must reread carefully to find the answer to a text-lookback question. However, they can save time by first skimming the article to get to the general section where the answer to the question is probably located. To skim, the student should.
read the text-lookback question carefully and underline the section that tells the reader what to look for (e.g., "What does the article say are the five most endangered species of whales today?").
look for titles, headings, or illustrations in the article that might tell the reader where the information that he or she is looking for is probably located
look at the beginning and end sentences in individual paragraphs to see if that paragraph might contain the desired information.
Step 5: "Thinking aloud", demonstrate for students how to skim the example article to locate efficiently the answer to each text-lookback question.
Step 6: Present additional example articles with text-lookback questions and monitor student mastery of the technique. Assign students to use the strategy independently when, under your supervision, they can distinguish reliably between think and text-lookback questions and are able to find the answers to text-lookback questions in the text.
Readers can increase their comprehension of informational text by making a conscious effort to recall details. Teachers can combine repeated reading and oral or written retell as a package to boost student retention of text details (Schisler, Joseph, Konrad, & Alber-Morgan, 2010).
Materials. To use repeated reading with oral or written retell, the tutor will need these materials:
Tutor and student copies of an informational passage of at least 200 words.
Stopwatch
Lined paper (for written-retell procedure)
Procedures. Below are guidelines for conducting repeated reading and oral or written retell of a passage.
Student reads the passage twice with error correction. The tutor gives a copy of the passage to the student and says, "Read this passage aloud. Do your best reading. If you come to a word you don't know, try your best to read it. I will help you if needed. Begin reading."
The student reads the passage aloud, while the tutor follows along silently. Whenever the student misreads a word or hesitates for at least 3 seconds, the tutor uses the phrase-drill error correction technique: The tutor points to the error word, reads that word aloud correctly, and reads the entire sentence containing the error word. The tutor then prompts the student to read the full sentence with error word 3 times before continuing on in the passage.
When the student completes the first reading of the passage, the tutor says, "Read this passage aloud again. Like before, do your best reading. If you come to a word you don't know, do your best to read it. I will help you if needed. Begin reading." The tutor again follows along silently and again uses the phrase-drill error correction technique for any misread words or hesitations of 3 seconds or longer.
Student engages in oral or written retell. When the student has read the passage twice, the tutor directs the student to use either the oral or written retell method as described below:
Oral retell. The tutor starts the timer and tells the student, "Tell me about the passage you just read. Tell me everything you remember. You will have 3 minutes--I will tell you when the time is up. Begin." At the end of the 3 minutes, the tutor tells the student to stop. If the student pauses during the 3 minutes, the tutor says, "Tell me more about what you read", and repeats this prompt as needed until either the student has no more details to share or the 3-minute period ends.
Written retell. The tutor gives the student a lined sheet of paper (such as this Informational Passage: Written Retell form) and a pen or pencil. The tutor starts the timer and tells the student, "Write about the passage you just read. Write down everything you remember. You will have 3 minutes--I will tell you when the time is up. Begin." At the end of the 3 minutes, the tutor tells the student to stop. If the student pauses during the 3 minutes, the tutor says, "Write more about what you read", and repeats this prompt as needed until either the student has no more details to share or the 3-minute period ends. The tutor then collects the retell worksheet.
Good readers continuously monitor their understanding of informational text. When necessary, they also take steps to improve their understanding of text through use of reading comprehension ‘fix-up’ skills. Presented here are a series of fix-up skill strategies that can help struggling students to better understand difficult reading assignments.
[Core Instruction] Providing Main Idea Practice through ‘Partner Retell’ (Carnine & Carnine, 2004). Students in a group or class are assigned a text selection to read silently. Students are then paired off, with one student assigned the role of ‘reteller’ and the other appointed as ‘listener’. The reteller recounts the main idea to the listener, who can comment or ask questions. The teacher then states the main idea to the class. Next, the reteller locates two key details from the reading that support the main idea and shares these with the listener. At the end of the activity, the teacher does a spot check by randomly calling on one or more students in the listener role and asking them to recap what information was shared by the reteller.
[Accommodation] Developing a Bank of Multiple Passages to Present Challenging Concepts (Hedin & Conderman, 2010; Kamil et al., 2008; Texas Reading Initiative, 2002). The teacher notes which course concepts, cognitive strategies, or other information will likely present the greatest challenge to students. For these ‘challenge’ topics, the teacher selects alternative readings that present the same general information and review the same key vocabulary as the course text but that are more accessible to struggling readers (e.g., with selections written at an easier reading level or that use graphics to visually illustrate concepts). These alternative selections are organized into a bank. Students are encouraged to engage in wide reading by choosing selections from the bank as a means to better understand difficult material.
[Student Strategy] Promoting Understanding & Building Endurance through Reading-Reflection Pauses (Hedin & Conderman, 2010).The student decides on a reading interval (e.g., every four sentences; every 3 minutes; at the end of each paragraph). At the end of each interval, the student pauses briefly to recall the main points of the reading. If the student has questions or is uncertain about the content, the student rereads part or all of the section just read. This strategy is useful both for students who need to monitor their understanding as well as those who benefit from brief breaks when engaging in intensive reading as a means to build up endurance as attentive readers.
[Student Strategy] Identifying or Constructing Main Idea Sentences (Davey & McBride, 1986; Rosenshine, Meister & Chapman, 1996).For each paragraph in an assigned reading, the student either (a) highlights the main idea sentence or (b) highlights key details and uses them to write a ‘gist’ sentence. The student then writes the main idea of that paragraph on an index card. On the other side of the card, the student writes a question whose answer is that paragraph’s main idea sentence. This stack of ‘main idea’ cards becomes a useful tool to review assigned readings.
[Student Strategy] Restructuring Paragraphs with Main Idea First to Strengthen ‘Rereads’ (Hedin & Conderman, 2010). The student highlights or creates a main idea sentence for each paragraph in the assigned reading. When rereading each paragraph of the selection, the student (1) reads the main idea sentence or student-generated ‘gist’ sentence first (irrespective of where that sentence actually falls in the paragraph); (2) reads the remainder of the paragraph, and (3) reflects on how the main idea relates to the paragraph content.
[Student Strategy] Summarizing Readings (Boardman et al., 2008). The student is taught to summarize readings into main ideas and essential details--stripped of superfluous content. The act of summarizing longer readings can promote understanding and retention of content while the summarized text itself can be a useful study tool.
[Student Strategy] Linking Pronouns to Referents (Hedin & Conderman, 2010). Some readers lose the connection between pronouns and the nouns that they refer to (known as ‘referents’)—especially when reading challenging text. The student is encouraged to circle pronouns in the reading, to explicitly identify each pronoun’s referent, and (optionally) to write next to the pronoun the name of its referent. For example, the student may add the referent to a pronoun in this sentence from a biology text: “The Cambrian Period is the first geological age that has large numbers of multi-celled organisms associated with it Cambrian Period.”
[Student Strategy] Apply Vocabulary ‘Fix-Up’ Skills for Unknown Words (Klingner & Vaughn, 1999). When confronting an unknown word in a reading selection, the student applies the following vocabulary ‘fix-up’ skills:
Read the sentence again.
Read the sentences before and after the problem sentence for clues to the word’s meaning.
See if there are prefixes or suffixes in the word that can give clues to meaning.
Break the word up by syllables and look for ‘smaller words’ within.
[Student Strategy] Compiling a Vocabulary Journal from Course Readings (Hedin & Conderman, 2010). The student highlights new or unfamiliar vocabulary from course readings. The student writes each term into a vocabulary journal, using a standard ‘sentence-stem’ format: e.g., “Mitosis means…” or “A chloroplast is…”. If the student is unable to generate a definition for a vocabulary term based on the course reading, he or she writes the term into the vocabulary journal without definition and then applies other strategies to define the term: e.g., look up the term in a dictionary; use Google to locate two examples of the term being used correctly in context; ask the instructor, etc.).
[Student Strategy] Encouraging Use of Text Enhancements (Hedin & Conderman, 2010). Text enhancements can be used to tag important vocabulary terms, key ideas, or other reading content. If working with photocopied material, the student can use a highlighter--but should limit highlighting to important text elements such as main idea and key vocabulary terms. Another enhancement strategy is the ‘lasso and rope’ technique—using a pen or pencil to circle a vocabulary term and then drawing a line that connects that term to its underlined definition. If working from a textbook, the student can cut sticky notes into strips. These strips can be inserted in the book as pointers to text of interest. They can also be used as temporary labels—e.g., for writing a vocabulary term and its definition.
Student Strategy] Reading Actively Through Text Annotation (Harris, 1990; Sarkisian et al., 2003). Students are likely to increase their retention of information when they interact actively with their reading by jotting comments in the margin of the text. Using photocopies, the student is taught to engage in an ongoing 'conversation' with the writer by recording a running series of brief comments in the margins of the text. The student may write annotations to record opinions about points raised by the writer, questions triggered by the reading, or unknown vocabulary words.
Students are taught to boost their comprehension of expository passages by (1) locating the main idea or key ideas in the passage and (2) generating questions based on that information.
Reserve at least a full instructional session to introduce this comprehension strategy.
Overhead transparencies of practice reading passages, transparency markers
Student copies of practice reading passages (optional) or reading/text books
Prepare overheads of sample passages.
Step 1: Introduce this strategy to the class:
Locating Explicit Main Idea: Tell students that some passages have summary sentences that state the main idea or "gist" of the paragraph or passage. Using examples of passages with explicit main ideas, train students to identify and underline main-idea sentences.
Finding Key Facts. In some passages, the main idea is implied rather than explicitly stated. Readers must first identify the key facts or ideas of the passage before they can summarize the passage's main idea. Using examples of passages with implied main ideas, locate and circle key facts or ideas. Describe to students how you distinguished this central information from less important details. Have students practice this skill on additional practice passages.
Writing a "Gist" Sentence. Show students a passage with an implied main idea. Circle all key ideas or facts. Demonstrate how to write a "gist" sentence (one that is built from the identified key ideas and summarizes the paragraph's main idea). Emphasize that the reader may have link information from different sections of the passage to build a gist sentence. Have students practice this skill on additional practice passages.
Generating Questions. Tell students that careful readers often construct questions about what they are reading to help them learn. Put up a list of 'signal words' that can be used as question-starters: e.g., who, what, where, when, why, how. Using sample passages, show students how to convert explicit main-idea sentences or reader-created "gist" sentences into questions. Point out that these questions can be a good study tool because they are linked to answers that the student has already located in the passage.
Step 2: Give students selected practice passages and instruct them to apply the full question-generation strategy. Provide feedback and encouragement as needed.
Through a series of guided questions, the instructor helps students activate their prior knowledge of a specific topic to help them comprehend the content of a story or article on the same topic. Linking new facts to prior knowledge increases a student's inferential comprehension (ability to place novel information in a meaningful context by comparing it to already-learned information).
Reserve at least a full instructional session to introduce this comprehension strategy. (For effective-teaching tips, consult the guidelines presented in Introducing Academic Strategies to Students: A Direct-Instruction Approach).
Overhead transparencies of practice reading passages and sample Text Prediction questions, transparency markers
Student copies of practice reading passages (e.g., use attachment at bottom of page) or reading/text books
Blank paper and pencil or pen
Prepare overheads of sample passages.
Locate 3 main ideas per passage and-for each idea-develop a prior knowledge question and a prediction question (see below).
Step 1: Introduce this strategy to the class:
Explain the Benefit of Using Prior Knowledge to Understand a Reading Passage: Tell students that recalling their prior experiences ("their own life") can help them to understand the content of their reading. New facts make sense only when we connect them to what we already know.
Demonstrate the Text Prediction Strategy. Select a sample passage and use a "think-aloud" approach to show students how to use the text-prediction strategy. (Note: To illustrate how the strategy is used, this intervention script uses the attached example at the bottom of this page, Attending Public School in Japan.)
Prompt Students to Think About 'What and Why': Describe what strategy you are about to apply and the reason for doing so. You might say, for example, "I am about to read a short article on public schools in Japan. Before I read the article, though, I should think about my life experiences and what they might tell me about the topic that I am about to read about. By thinking about my own life, I will better understand the article."
Preview Main Ideas from the Reading and Pose Prior Knowledge and Prediction Questions. One at a time, pose three main ideas that appear in the article or story. For each key idea, present one question requiring that readers tap their own prior knowledge of the topic and another that prompts them to predict how the article or story might deal with the topic.
Here is a typical question cycle, composed of a main idea statement, prior knowledge question, prediction question, and student opportunity to write a response.
"The article that we are going to read describes how different the writing system used in Japanese schools is from our own writing system" [A main idea from the passage].
"What are your own attitudes and experiences about writing?" [prior knowledge question] Answer this question aloud, and then encourage students to respond.
"What do you think that the article will say about the Japanese writing system?" [prediction question] Answer this question aloud, and then seek student responses.
"Now, write down your own ideas about what you think the article will say about the Japanese writing system." [student written response] As students write their own responses, model for them by writing out your answer to the question on the overhead transparency.
Assign Students to Read the Story or Article Independently. Once you have presented three main ideas and students have responded to all questions, have them read the selection independently.
Step 2: When students have learned the Text Prediction strategy, use it regularly to introduce new reading assignments.
DESCRIPTION: Phrase-cued texts are a means to train students to recognize the natural pauses that occur between phrases in their reading. Because phrases are units that often encapsulate key ideas, the student’s ability to identify them can enhance comprehension of the text (Rasinski, 1990, 1994).
MATERIALS:
Two copies of a student passage: One annotated with phrase-cue marks and the other left without annotation.
PREPARATION: Here are guidelines for preparing phrase-cued passages:
Select a passage. Select a short (100-250 word) passage that is within the student’s instructional or independent reading level.
Mark sentence boundaries. Mark the sentence boundaries of the passage with double slashes (//).
Mark within-sentence phrase-breaks. Read through the passage to locate ‘phrase breaks’ —naturally occurring pause points that are found within sentences. Mark each of these phrase breaks with a single slash mark (/).
NOTE: You can use the free application Phrase-Cued Text Generator to speed the creation of these passages in pdf format.
INTERVENTION STEPS: Phrase-cued text lessons should be carried out in 10 minute sessions 3-4 times per week. Here are steps to carrying out this intervention:
[When first using this strategy] Introduce phrase-cued texts to the student. Say to the student: “Passages are made up of key ideas, and these key ideas are often contained in units of words called ‘phrases’. Several phrases can make up a sentence. When we read, it helps to read phrase by phrase to get the full meaning of the text.”
Show the student a prepared passage with phrase-cue marks inserted. Point out how double-slash marks signal visually to the reader the longer pauses at sentence boundaries and single slash marks signal the shorter phrase pauses within sentences.
Follow the phrase-cued text reading sequence: The tutor prepares a new phrase-cued passage for each session and follows this sequence:
The tutor reads the phrase-cued passage aloud once as a model, while the student follows along silently.
The student reads the phrase-cued passage aloud 2-3 times. The tutor provides ongoing feedback about the student reading, noting the student’s observance of phrase breaks. Tutor and student can also briefly discuss the content of the passage during intervals between re-readings.
The session concludes with the student reading aloud a copy of the passage without phrase-cue marks. The tutor provides feedback about the student’s success in recognizing the natural phrase breaks in the student’s final read-aloud.
Additional Ideas for Using Phrase-Cued Texts. Educators might consider these additional ideas for using this strategy (Rasinski, 1994):
Use phrase-cued texts in a group-lesson format. The teacher can modify the intervention sequence (described above) to accommodate a group or class. The teacher models reading of the phrase-cued passage; the teacher and students next read through the passage chorally; then students (in pairs or individually) practice reading the phrase-cued text aloud while the instructor circulates around the room to observe. Finally, students individually read aloud the original passage without phrase-cue marks.
Encourage parents to use the phrase-cued text strategy. Parents can extend the impact of this strategy by using it at home. The teacher meets with the parent (e.g., at a parent-teacher conference) to demonstrate the phrase-cued text instructional sequence (described above). The teacher then gives the parent a collection of prepared passages (with one copy of each passage marked for phrase cues and the other left unmarked). The parent is instructed to use one passage per session with their child at home.
By constructing "mental pictures" of what they are reading and closely studying text illustrations, students increase their reading comprehension.
Reserve at least a full instructional session to introduce this comprehension strategy. (For effective-teaching tips, consult the guidelines presented in Introducing Academic Strategies to Students: A Direct-Instruction Approach).
Overhead transparencies of sample passages taken from expository or narrative texts, transparency markers
Student copies of practice expository or narrative passages (optional) or reading/text books
Prepare overheads of sample expository or narrative passages.
Step 1: Tell students that they can remember more of what they read by:p>
making pictures in their mind of what they are reading
carefully studying pictures or illustrations that appear in their reading or text books
Step 2: Using a "think-aloud" approach, read through a short sample narrative or expository passage. Pause at several points to tell the class what "mental pictures" come to your mind as you read; ask students to describe their own mental imagery as they react to the same passage. As you come across pictures or illustrations in the passage, study them and reflect aloud on what clues they give you about the passage's meaning.
Step 3: Read aloud from additional passages. Stop at key points in the passage and call on students to relate their mental imagery evoked by the passage or to give their interpretation of the significance of illustrations or pictures.
Step 4: When students are able to use mental imagery independently, use a prompt at the start of reading assignments to cue them to use the strategy. You might say, for example, "Now we are going to read about what life is like in a country village in Zimbabwe. Remember to make pictures in your head about what you are reading and study the pictures carefully."
This intervention builds student motivation and interest by having them participate along with the teacher in repeated public readings of a story across several days. Throughout the process, the entire class discusses the work as literature.
Reserve several instructional sessions to introduce the steps in this comprehension strategy.
Teacher and student copies of reading series or literature books
Select and become familiar with a story to be read by the class across multiple days.
Step 1: On day 1, introduce the story, giving general information about the characters, setting, and plot. Engage students in a discussion about what they predict might happen in the story.
Read the entire story aloud to the class while students follow along in their own books. Read in an expressive manner (e.g., using a dramatic voice to emphasize dire or urgent situations, changing inflection and tone of voice to reflect the dialog of various characters, etc.). Stop periodically in your reading to ask reaction questions ("How do you feel about the predicament that Mr. Blaha finds himself in? Has anything like that ever happened to you?") and prediction questions ("OK, we know that Mr. Blaha is in trouble because he is lost in the cave with no flashlight. What do you think he will do next?"). At the conclusion of the story, discuss its narrative elements with the class. For example, you might ask students to:
describe the personality of the main character
talk about other important characters in the story and their foibles or qualities
give details about the time and setting of the story
pinpoint the central problem(s) or challenge(s) that the main character faces
describe how the main character responded to various plot developments
decide what overarching theme or lesson the story might convey.
Wrap up the lesson by summarizing the story. Be sure to fold into your summary key points that came up in class discussion. Use this opportunity to highlight and define new vocabulary that appeared in the story.
Step 2: On day 2, give a thumbnail review of the story that you read to the class on Day 1.
Inform students that in this session they will have the chance to practice reading the story aloud. Their goal is to read selections from the story with fluency, and feeling.
Read an opening passage from the story. As you read, stop occasionally to point out to students how you use expressive qualities of your voice to make the story "come alive."
Read another short passage. Then direct the entire class to read the same passage aloud. Next, select a single student to read the passage, directing him or her to use an expressive voice. If the student reader has difficulty, model by reading the passage aloud again. At the end of the student's reading, gently correct any reading mistakes that interfere with the story's meaning and praise the student. Ask other students to read additional passages aloud as time allows.
Assign each student in the class a short passage from the story that they will be responsible for reading aloud at the next session. (Day 3). Allow them time to practice their passage (or assign as homework).
Step 3: On day 3, read an introductory passage from the story aloud, again with expression. As you come to a passage assigned to a student, ask that student to read his or her section aloud. Provide supportive feedback to the student about his or her performance and ask other students to comment on the reading as well. Continue through the story until all students have read their assigned selections.
In this mnemonic (memorization) technique, students select the central idea of a passage and summarize it as a 'keyword'. Next, they recode the keyword as a mental picture and use additional mental imagery to relate other important facts to the keyword. They can then recall the keyword when needed, retrieving the related information.
Reserve at least a full instructional session to introduce this comprehension strategy. (For effective-teaching tips, consult the guidelines presented in Introducing Academic Strategies to Students: A Direct-Instruction Approach).
Overhead transparencies of sample passages taken from expository texts, transparency markers
Student copy of Memorinzing Facts: The Keyword Strategy (see attachment at the bottom of this page)
Practice expository passages (optional) or text books
Prepare overheads of sample expository passages.
Review the procedures in the worksheet Memorizing Facts: The Keyword Strategy
Step 1: Tell students that a good way to remember lots of facts is to use keywords. With the keyword approach, students:
Highlight important facts or ideas in a passage
Write a "gist" sentence that summarizes the highlighted ideas or facts
Select a 'keyword' that will help them to recall a central idea about the article or passage.
Create a mental picture to remember the keyword, and then
Add details to the mental picture or create a story around the keyword to memorize additional facts or ideas.
If you have younger students (e.g., 5th grade or below), read through several sample passages with the group. Then display a drawing or collage that represents your own representation of the passage's main ideas as mental imagery. Using a "think-aloud" approach, explain the mental imagery of the picture and show how it encapsulates the main facts of the original passage. Show students how they can more easily recall facts using this approach.
If you have older students (e.g., 6th grade or above), read through several sample passages with the group. Write a description of the mental imagery that you used to memorize the keyword and related facts. Using a "think-aloud" approach, explain the mental imagery of your keyword and related story and show how the imagery encapsulates the main facts of the original passage. Show students how they can more easily recall facts using this approach.
Step 2: Pair students off and give them a sample passage. Assign each pair of students to:
Identify the main idea of the passage
Write a "gist" sentence to summarize the passage's main idea and related important facts
Select a keyword based on the main idea
Write out a description (or draw a picture) of the mental imagery that they will use to recall the main idea and important facts of the passage.
Step 3: When students are able to use the keyword strategy independently, have them use the technique when reading through expository passages. Monitor students' use of the method and their accuracy in recalling key facts. Conference individually with those students needing additional guidance and support.
Students are taught to use a basic 'Story Grammar' to map out, identify and analyze significant components of narrative text (e.g., fiction, biographies, historical accounts). Reserve at least a full instructional session to introduce this comprehension strategy.
Overhead transparencies of short stories or other narrative texts, transparency markers
Student copies of Advanced Story Map Worksheet (see attachment at bottom of page)
Practice narrative passages (optional) or reading/text books
Prepare overheads of sample narrative passages.
In preparation for this intervention:
Step 1: Introduce the concept of a Story Grammar to students and preview main elements. (Refer to the Advanced Story Map Worksheetas a guide.) Tell students that a Story Grammar can help them to better understand a story's characters and events.
Step 2: Set aside at least four successive instructional days to introduce the major components of the Story Grammar: (A) Identifying important characters and their personalities and motivation, (B) Identifying main problem and significant plot developments, (C) Noting characters' attempts to solve problems, and (D) Identifying a narrative's overarchingtheme.
Interactive Instruction: Make the instruction of each story component highly interactive, with clear teacher demonstration and use of examples. 'Think aloud' as you read through a story with the class to illustrate to students how you arrive at your conclusions. Elicit student discussion about the story. As you fill out sections of the Advanced Story Map Worksheet on the overhead, have students write responses on their own copies of the worksheet.
Step 3: Error Correction: When students commit errors, direct them to the appropriate section of the narrative to reread it for the correct answer. Use guiding questions and modeling as necessary to help students to come up with an appropriate response.
Step 4: After students have been introduced to the key Story Grammar elements, the group is now ready to use the Grammar to analyze a sample narrative passage. Have students read independently through a story. Pause at pre-determined points to ask the group key questions (e.g., "Who is the main character? What is she like?"). After discussion, encourage students to write their answers on the Advanced Story Map Worksheet while you fill out the same worksheet as an overhead. Give specific praise to students for appropriately identifying Story Grammar elements.
Step 5: When students are able to use the Story Grammar independently, have them read through selected stories and complete the Advanced Story Map Worksheet on their own. Check students' responses and conference individually with those students requiring additional guidance and support.
Students do not seem motivated to use the Story Grammar framework. To make a Story Grammar analysis more inviting, consider screening a video of a popular movie or television program. At key points, stop the tape, have students complete relevant sections of the Advanced Story Map Worksheet, and discuss the results. This exercise can be highly motivating and also makes clear to students that a Story Grammar is a universal tool that help us understand narratives presented in any medium.
Some students do not appear to be successful in using the Story Grammar independently. Pull aside individuals or small groups of students who might be having similar problems mastering the Story Grammar. As you read together through a story, have students "think aloud" the strategies that they follow to identify Story Grammar elements. If you discover that a student is using a faulty approach (e.g., rotely selecting the first character named in the story as the main character) you can gently correct the student by modeling and demonstrating more appropriate strategies.
Students periodically check their understanding of sentences, paragraphs, and pages of text as they read. When students encounter problems with vocabulary or comprehension, they use a checklist to apply simple strategies to solve those reading difficulties.
Reserve at least a full instructional session to introduce this comprehension strategy.
Overhead transparencies of practice reading passages and My Reading Check Sheet, transparency markers
Student copies of practice reading passages (optional) or reading/text books, My Reading Check Sheet
Prepare overheads of sample passages.
Step 1: Tell students that they will be learning ways to read more carefully. Hand out student copies of My Reading Check Sheet (see attachment at the bottom of this page).
Review all of the reading strategies on the student handout.
Instruct students that, during any reading assignment, when they come to:
The end of each sentence, they should ask the question, "Did I understand this sentence?" If students understand the sentence, they say "Click!" and continue reading. If they do not understand, they say "Clunk!" and refer to the strategy sheet My Reading Check Sheet to correct the problem.
The end of each paragraph, they should ask the question, "What did the paragraph say?" If they do not know the main idea(s) of the paragraph, students refer to the strategy sheet My Reading Check Sheet to correct the problem.
The end of each page, they should ask the question, "What do I remember?" If they do not remember sufficient information, students refer to the strategy sheet My Reading Check Sheet to correct the problem.
Read through a sample passage with the class. At the end of each sentence, paragraph, and page, "think aloud" as you model use of the comprehension checks. (As you read each sentence, be sure to call out "Click!" when you and the class understand a sentence and "Clunk!" when you do not.)
Step 2: When students have learned to use the "Click or Clunk?" strategy, have them use it in independent reading assignments.
Good reading comprehension requires that students monitor their understanding while reading a passage. At the point of performance--when a student picks up a text and prepares to read--there are 3 crucial phases that improve comprehension (Pressley & Wharton-McDonald,1997): pre-reading (the reader creates a reading plan), reading (the reader monitors his or her understanding of the text while reading and applies strategies to clarify understanding of the text), and post-reading (the reader continues to think about the passage after reading and encode key details into long-term memory).
Poor readers often lack the skills to effectively monitor their comprehension of assigned passages and apply fix-up skills when needed. One means to help students to develop these self-monitoring skills is to teach them a cognitive strategy : ART: Ask-Read-Tell (McCallum et al., 2010). Whenever the student is assigned a challenging passage, he or she is trained to apply a 3-step ART sequence, which maps to the pre-reading/reading/post-reading timeline:
ASK: Before reading the text, the student looks over the title of the passage, asks what the topic is likely to be, considers what he or she already knows about that topic, and generates 2 questions that the student hopes to answer through reading.
READ: While reading, the student stops after each paragraph to query whether he or she has adequately understood that section of the passage and, if necessary, applies comprehension fix-up skills.
TELL: After reading, the student attempts to answer the 2 questions posed earlier based on the content just read. Finally, the student meets with a peer partner, and participants tell each other what questions and answers they produced.
Preparation. In preparation for each ART session, the teacher:
selects a challenging reading passage to be the focus of the ART comprehension strategy.
provides each student with a copy of the ASK-READ-TELL (ART): Student Worksheet.
Procedures. This intervention is student-directed. A full explanation of the ART steps can be found in the attached ASK-READ-TELL (ART): Student Worksheet. When using the ASK-READ-TELL strategy, the teacher:
hands out the reading passage.
directs students to read the passage independently (either in-class or as a take-home assignment).
instructs students to complete the pre-reading, reading, and post-reading sections of the ASK-READ-TELL (ART): Student Worksheet as part of the reading assignment.
pairs students off after the assignment to compare the questions and answers that each generated from the assigned passage.
Training. The ASK-READ-TELL strategy is simple to use. However, the teacher should ensure that students are trained in the proper use of this strategy, beginning with teacher demonstration and moving to group practice with instructor feedback before students are directed to use ASK-READ-TELL independently.