4/24/23, 6:16 PM Comprehension - Helping Struggling Readers Succeed

Helping Struggling Readers Succeed

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Factors Affecting Students Comprehension

An interest in the text
Familiarity with ideas in the text
Awareness of genre characteristics
Feelings of competence as a reader
A purpose for reading the text
Ability to choose the text read

Six Signs that Comprehension is Lost

1. The inner voice inside the reader's head stops its conversation with the text, and the reader only hears his voice pronouncing the
words.
2. The camera inside the reader's head shuts off, and the reader can no longer visualize what is happening as they read.
3. The reader's mind begins to wander, and he catches himself thinking about something far removed from the text.
4. The reader cannot remember or retell what they have read.
5. The reader is not getting their clarifying questions answered.
6. Characters are reappearing in the text and the reader doesn't recall who they are.

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Comprehension Strategies

Anticipation Guides
Anticipation guides are used before reading content-area textbooks and informational books to help students activate background
knowledge.  The teacher prepares a list of statements about the topic for students to discuss before reading.  Some of these statements are
true, and others are false or based on common misconceptions.  Students discuss each statement and decide whether they agree with it. 
Then after the reading selection, students again discuss the statements and decide again whether they agree with them.  Usually students
change some of their opinions, and they realize that they've refined their understanding of the subject through the activity.

Directed Reading/Thinking Activity

This engages the student in comprehension monitoring by having them declare the purpose, reason while reading, and evaluate.  It helps
them construct meaning in their own mind and frames their questions in the form of predictions.  First, make predictions from the title only. 
Then develop reasoning as students read segments independently.  Finally, they will have to accept or reject concepts, and make
judgements of the text along with making predictions.

Cloze Procedure
The cloze procedure is an informal diagnostic tool that teachers use to gather information about the readers' abilities to deal with the content
and structure of text they are reading.  Teachers construct a cloze passage by selecting an excerpt from a book--a story, and informational
book, or a content-area textbook--that students have read and deleting every fifth word in the passage; the deleted words are replaced with
blanks.  Then students read the passage and fill in the missing words.  They use their knowledge of syntax (the order of words in English)
and semantics (the meaning of words within sentences) to predict the missing words in the text passage.  Only the exact word is considered
the correct answer.

Student Book Talks

The student gives a brief teaser to introduce peers to a particular book and to interest them in reading the book.  During a book talk, the
student shows the book, summarizes it without giving away the ending, and reads a short excerpt aloud to hook the students' interest.  This is
successful because students are reading books they have chosen, books they really like, and become comfortable in talking in front of their
classmates about books.  After the book talk is over classmates are encouraged to ask questions.

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Cubing
Students explore a topic from six viewpoints when they do a cubing.  First, the students describe the topic, including its color, shape, and
size.  Then they compare the topic to something else.  Consider how it is is similar or different from another thing.  Next, they associate the
topic to something else and explain why the topic makes you think of this other thing.  Afterwards, they analyze the topic and tell how it is
made or what it is composed of.  Then apply the topic and tell how it can be used or what can be done with it.  Finally, they argue for or
against the topic.  Take a stand and list reasons to support it.  This can be implemented by students working in six small groups, where each
group examines the topic from one of the six dimensions. A different approach is to have teachers divide students into six-member groups
and have each member of the group examine the topic from one of the six dimensions, and the group will create a cube.
 

Making Connections
Making connections helps readers:  relate to characters, visualize, avoid boredom, pay attention, listen to others, read actively, remember
what they read, and ask questions.  When students are reading have them use what they know about themselves, other books, and the world
around them to help them better understand what they are reading.  Pose questions such as, does this story remind you of anything, were
there things that you knew about in life that helped you while reading this story, or can you connect to anything in this story.

Double-Entry Journals

A double-entry journal is a special type of reading log in which the pages are divided into two
columns; students write different types of information in each column.  In the left column,
students write quotes from the story, informational book, or content-area textbook they are
reading.  In the right column, they reflect on each quote.  They may relate a quote to their own
background knowledge , react to it, write a question, or make some other connection.

Exclusion Brainstorming
Exclusion brainstorming is used to  activate students' prior knowledge and expand their understanding about a certain topic before reading. 
The teacher presents students with a list of words to read, and students identify the words on the list that relate to the topic as well as those
that don't belong.  Students circle words that don't belong. Then after reading, students review the list of words and decide whether they
chose the words correctly. They put check marks by related words and cross out unrelated words, whether they circled them earlier or not.
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Grand Conversations
A grand conversation is a discussion about a story in which students explore the big ideas and reflect on their feelings.  This is different than
traditional classroom discussions because it is child centered.  Students read a story or part of a story.  They then prepare for the grand
conversation by thinking about the story by drawing pictures or writing in logs.  Afterwards students form small groups to talk about the story
before getting together as a class.  From here the grand conversation begins, students form a circle for the class conversation so that
everyone can see each other.  Teachers begin by asking, "Who would like to begin?" or "What are you thinking about?" One student makes a
comment and classmates take turns talking about the idea the first student introduced.  Continue the conversation by having a student
introduce a new idea, and classmates talk about it, sharing ideas, asking questions, making connections, and reading excerpts from the story
to make a point.  The teacher asks questions to direct students to aspects of the story that have been missed.  After all of the big ideas have
been explored, teachers end the conversation by summarizing and drawing conclusions about the story.  Students write in reading logs to
reflect on the ideas discussed in the grand conversation.

Likert Scales
Likert scales require students to read a statement, decide how much they agree or disagree with it, and then mark or circle the term that
indicates that level of agreement (strongly disagree, disagree, agree, or strongly agree).  Likert scales often focus on generalizations about
characters, themes, conflicts, or symbolism.  The best items don't have clear-cut answers found in a book. 

Semantic Differential Scales

Semantic differential scales place opposite character traits (strong/weak, optimistic/pessimistic) at opposite ends of a scale, then ask
students to decide how much of the trait a character possesses.  These scales focus on character development and can be used to track
character changes through a story.  The issue isn't whether students mark the correct term, but why they make their choices.  Students can
use the scale to track character development by rating a character both at the beginning and at the end of the story.

Five Finger Retelling

The student uses his own hand as a way to remember what happened during the story.  Each finger represents part of the story.  Thumb-
characters, pointer-setting, middle-problem, ring finger-events, pinky-solution, and the palm of the hand-heart of the story.  This method helps
the student focus on parts of the story that will help with comprehension and bringing all of the elements of the story together.

Visualizing
Have students create a picture in their mind when reading.  Tell them to use all of their senses to connect to the characters, events, and ideas
to help them understand what they are reading.  Ask questions such as, can you tell me about an image you created in your head as you
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were reading, what could you draw to illustrate that idea, what could you hear, taste, and smell as you read.

Somebody Wanted But So

Summarizing a short story or a novel appears to be too overwhelming for many students, who either offer nothing or restate everything in the
story.  Somebody Wanted But So offers students a framework as they create their summaries.  Students read a story and then decide who the
somebody is, what that somebody wanted, but what happened to keep  something form happening, and so, finally, how everything works
out.  SWBS also moves students beyond summary writing.  As students choose names for the Somebody column, they are really looking at
characters and trying to decide who are the main characters.  In the Wanted column, they look at events of the plot and immediately talk
about main ideas and details.  With the But column, they are examining conflict.  With the So column, they are looking at resolutions.

Logographic Cues
A logographic is a visual symbol.  These symbols are all around us, on traffic and pedestrian signs, and when we are looking for the golden
arches to find some french fries.  These cues are designed to offer readers a high-utility message in a minimum amount of space.  Readers
can design their own logographs to insert into texts as they read to become "signposts" that show them the direction the text is taking.  They
can draw these logographs on sticky notes and adhere the notes to the text or they can make a double-entry journal and instead of writing in
the response column, they can draw their logographs.  Students should design their own logographs so that the picture has meaning to
them.  You might start by brainstorming some symbols that could be used to show characters, conflict, or setting as well as symbols to show
questions, clarifications, or inferences.  Examples:  chain=connection, light bulb=idea, question mark=confusion, and lightning bolt=conflict.

Hot Seat
Hot seat is a role playing activity that builds students' comprehension.  Students assume the persona of a character from a story, a person
from a biography they are reading, an author whose books they've read, or a well-known real life figure and sit in a chair designated as the
"hot seat" to be interviewed by classmates.  It's called the hot seat because students have to think quickly and respond to their classmates
questions and comments.  Through this activity students get to explore the characters, analyze story events, make inferences, and try out
different interpretations.  Students prepare for the hot seat by reading a story or biography to learn about the character they will impersonate. 
Students then design a costume appropriate for their character.  In addition they often collect objects or create artifacts to use in their
presentation.  Students think about the important things they would like to share about the character and plan what they will say at the
beginning of the activity.  One student sits in front of classmates in a chair designated as the "hot seat", tells a little about the character they
are role playing and shares artifacts.  Classmates ask thoughtful questions to learn more about the character and offer advice.  The student
doing the role playing selects a classmate to summarize the important ideas that were presented about the character.  The student in the hot
seat clarifies any misunderstandings and adds any big ideas that classmates didn't mention.

Think Aloud
The teacher models the thinking that goes on in their head as the student is reading.  This shows the student some of the strategies good
readers use as they are reading.  The teacher can model how to make predictions, connections, conclusions, questioning, and evaluations
while reading.

K-W-L Charts
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Teachers use K-W-L charts to activate students' background knowledge about a topic and to scaffold them as they ask questions and
organize the information they are learning.  Teachers post a large chart on the classroom wall, divide it into three columns, and label them K
(What We Know), W (What We Want to Learn), and L (What we learned). At the beginning of a unit or book, teachers ask students to
brainstorm what they already know about the topic and write this information in the K column.  Teachers write questions that students suggest
in the W column.  They continue to ask questions throughout the unit or book. At the end of the unit or book, students reflect on what they
have learned. and teachers record this information in the L column of the chart.

Open-Mind Portraits
To help students think more deeply about a character and reflect on story events from the character's viewpoint, students draw open-mind
portraits of the character.  These portraits have two parts: the character's face on the top, "portrait" page, and several "thinking" pages
showing the character's mind at pivotal points in the story. As students draw open-mind portraits, they are visually representing characters
and their thoughts.  Students draw and color a large portrait of the head and neck of a character in a story they are reading.  Students cut out
the portrait and attach it with a brad or staple on top of several more sheets of drawing paper.  Students lift the portrait and draw and write
about the character's thoughts on the "thinking" pages. Students share their portraits with classmates and talk about the words and pictures
they chose to include on the "thinking" pages.

Sarah from the book "Sarah, Plain and Tall"

It Says--I Say
Dependent readers often have difficulties making inferences.  This strategy is simply a visual scaffold that helps students organize their
thoughts as they move from considering what's in the text to connecting that to their prior knowledge.

Question                    It Says                            I Say                                  And So____________
1. Read the           2. Find information        3. Think about what        4. Combine what the text
    question.               from the text                     you know about              says with what you
                                    that will help                    that information.             know to come up with
                                    you answer the                                                          the answer.
                                    question.
                                      

Question-Answer-Relationships
With this QAR procedure students are taught to be consciously aware of whether they are likely to find the answer to a comprehension
question "right there" on the page, between the lines, or beyond the information provided in the text.  By being aware of the requirements
posed by a question, students are better able to answer it.  The four types of questions are: right there questions, think and search questions,
author and me questions, and on my own questions.  In right there questions readers find the answer right in the text, usually in the same
sentence asPOWERED BYquestion.  These are literal-level questions. In think and search questions the answer is in the text, but readers
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must search for it in different parts of the text and put ideas together.  These are inferential-level questions. In author and me questions
readers use a combination of the author's ideas and their own ideas to answer the question.  These questions combine inferential and
application levels. In on my own questions readers use their own ideas to answer the questions; sometimes it isn't even necessary to read
the text to answer the question.  These are application and evaluation-level questions.

To begin students read the questions before reading the text to give them an idea of what to think about as they read.  Students consider
which of the four type of questions each question represents  and the level of thinking required to answer each one.  Students read the text
while thinking about the question they will answer afterward. Students reread the questions, determine where to find the answers, locate the
answers, and write them.  Students share their answers and explain how they answered the questions.  They should refer to the type of
question and whether the answer was "in the book" or "in the head".

Shared Reading
The student selects a book that is at his reading level.  The reader flips through the pages looking at the pictures, headings, and highlighted
vocabulary and discussing what they might have to do with the story.  The teacher then reads the book aloud while carrying on a discussion
with the student about what is being read.  The student then has a chance to read to the teacher.  After reading the student retells the story.

SQ3R Study Strategy

In the SQ3R study strategy, students use five steps--survey, question, read, recite, and review--to read and remember information in content-
area reading assignments.  The purpose of the strategy is to create a mental framework so that students get the maximum benefit from
reading.  Students implement this study strategy independently by first surveying or previewing the reading assignment, noting headings and
skimming, or rapidly reading, the introduction and the summary. They note the main ideas that are presented to activate prior knowledge and
to organize what they will read.  Students turn each heading into a question before reading the section. Reading to find the answer to the
question gives students a purpose for reading.  Students read the section to find the answers to the questions they have formulated. 
Immediately after reading each section, students recite from memory the answer to the question they formulated and other important
information they have read.  They can answer the questions orally or in writing.

Venn Diagrams
Students use Venn diagrams to compare and contrast topics.  These diagrams show relationships between and among things.  Students
brainstorm a list of similarities and differences between two or more topics.  Teachers pose questions, when necessary, to help students
analyze topics.  Students draw a Venn diagram on a sheet of paper and label the circles with the names of the topics.  In the outer parts of the
circles, students write words and phrases and draw pictures representing the differences between the topics. Then they write and draw about
the similarities in the intersecting part of the circles.  Students summarize the information presented on the diagram, either orally in
discussion or by writing a paragraph.

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Bookmarks
Everyone know what a bookmark is--even dependent readers.  Playing on the word mark in bookmark, teachers can create different types of
bookmarks for students to use while reading .  Students are able to mark things of interest as they read texts with their bookmarks.
1. Mark My Words:  A bookmark is used for recording interesting or unusual words you encounter while reading.  Every week spend ten
minutes of class time reviewing what words students recorded.
2. Marking Time:  Use these bookmarks to mark how the setting changes as the book progresses.
3. Question Mark:  These bookmarks are for students to record their questions as they read.  Make sure they put the page number by
the question so that they can revisit that part of the text to see what caused the question.
4. Mark Who?:  Students can record information about characters on these bookmarks.
5. Mark the Bold:  These are excellent bookmarks for students to use while they read their content area textbooks--or any book that has
a lot of boldfaced terms.  As students come across a boldfaced word, they record that word on the front of the bookmark.  Then they
turn it over to the back and write what the term means in their own words.  Once a week have students review the terms they have
collected on their bookmarks by reviewing with one another what they said the word means.

Making Comparisons
1. How are ... and ... alike?  How are they different?
2. How does this compare with ... ?
3. In comparison with ..., how is this different?
4. What are the similarities?  What are the differences?
5. Which was the largest (smallest, newest, bravest, etc.)?

Say Something
The teacher and student read an interesting text.  Then the teacher responds to the text and encourages the student to challenge the
teacher's response.  The student is encouraged to elaborate on any of the teacher's ideas.  Then the student responds to the next chunk of
text and the teacher responds to the student's ideas.  The main idea is discussed with the student.  The student is then encouraged to
brainstorm ideas about the main idea and why the author wrote about what he/she did.

GIST
This is a way for students to summarize their reading and help them in understanding the "gist" of a text.  Students read an assigned text with
a partner.  They start out by having one student read the text while the other listens to hear the GIST of the text.  The partner that was listening
for the GIST then writes a 15-20 word summary of that portion of the text and reads it to their partner.  Students continue on reading the text,
trading reading and GIST summarizing until the rest of the text is read.

Character Bulletin Boards

Illustrations, especially character illustrations, are very helpful as reluctant readers try to form a picture in their minds of the people in the
book.  When books don't provide illustrations it is important that you spend some time discussing what these characters might look like, dress
like, walk like, and even talk like.  Making character bulletin boards gives students a quick reference to characters as they read a novel. 
Students can draw pictures of the characters for these bulletin boards.  They can add descriptions by writing comments onto index cards and
adding cards to the bulletin board.  Students' comprehension is improved while they read if they have texts or classroom materials that help
them visualize the plots and characters.

103 Things to Do Before/During/After Reading

This article from the READING rockets website offers a collection of interactive activities that help kids become more involved in the stories
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that they read.  Click on the logo below.

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