Identify the different levels of reading comprehension

Use the different levels of reading comprehension to formulate

comprehension questions for the poem, The Blind Men and the
Elephant.
Demonstrate familiarity with the poem, The Blind Men and the
Elephant

LANGUAGE ARTS OBJECTIVES

The Levels of Reading Comprehension
The lowest level of comprehension. It reflects the ability to understand
the primary, direct, surface-level meaning of a text. Most people read
only at this level.

Answers the questions Who, What, When, and Where with information
found directly in the text.

LITERAL LEVEL
HERE ON THE LINE
 Literal Level Questions

Here - on the line questions are quite literal.

These sorts of questions are great for recounting
facts and are useful in that aspect, but they do NOT
promote higher order thinking. The answer is here
on the line.
 Literal Level Questions

Who was the girl who lost the glass slipper?

What happened when the clock struck twelve?
What colour was Red Riding Hoods cape?
What sort of fish was Nemo?
What was the name of the place the children
discovered through the wardrobe?
The ability to understand the primary, direct, surface-level meaning of a text
as well as some deeper, unstated meanings.

Drawing inferences
Making generalizations
Determining cause and effect
Figuring out what happened between events
Anticipating
Understanding implied ideas

Answers the questions What if, Why, and How by inferring information
from the text.

INTERPRETATIVE LEVEL
HIDDEN BETWEEN THE LINES
 Interpretative Level Questions
These questions force to combine snippets of
information given in the text, to come to a
conclusion. The answer will be in the text, but
not written on the line.

These questions forces to interpret or infer answers, by using

several pieces of evidence to summise something.

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 Interpretative Level Questions

How did the pumpkin turn into a carriage?

What would have happened if Cinderella hadn't
lost her slipper?
How do we know that the Beast was in love with
Beauty?
How do we know that the professor wasnt used
to children in his house in Narnia?

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Critical reading and analysis.
The ability to understand both the literal and interpretive levels before using
analysis, reasoning and judgment to draw conclusions.

Organizing information
Analyzing strengths and weaknesses of arguments
Selecting and rejecting information
Detecting opinions and bias

Answers opinion questions or questions that have the reader relate the
new information to background knowledge.

APPLIED LEVEL
HEAD - BEYOND THE LINE
 Applied Level of Questions

These questions require the of use prior knowledge

which is already in your heads, to make an
informed decision. Given what you know, you are
able to deduce / predict / ascertain an answer.

These questions require to draw on head facts; things already

known, to make an informed answer.
 Applied Level of Questions

Do you think Cinderella was wrong for going to the

ball after her stepmother told her she couldn't?
How did Cinderella feel when she went to live at the
castle?
Do you think the children will ever return to Narnia?
Do you think pandas will ever become extinct?
Do you think world leaders will ever abolish nuclear
weapons?
The topic or subject of the passage (not the authors opinion).
the topic will help you answer questions about the main idea
of the passage.
The setting of the passage.
describes the breadth of the topic, placing the topic in a
precise context.
The main idea of the passage.
the thesis or central point of the passage which usually
includes the topic and the setting.
look for the main idea of each paragraph and tie them all
together to formulate the main idea of the entire passage.

ELEMENTS OF A READING PASSAGE

Anticipating the Material
STRATEGIES
 Think ahead of the text.
understand the direction of the material.
predict what the author might say next.

advantages of anticipation skills:

to make better sense of the information.
to stay focused on the material.
it makes the information more memorable.

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 Allow your mind to ask silent questions about the
material.

Key questions:
What is the author saying here?
Is the author convincing? If not, what is missing?
What can I learn?
Does this example strengthen or weaken the argument?
What do I find interesting?
Why was this article published, or what makes it special?
Who would read this?

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Anticipating the Questions
STRATEGIES
 Honing the ability to predict the most likely questions
to appear on the material in the passage.
Identify and appreciate various passage constructs:
Thesis development.
Main idea, direct comprehension, strengthen and
weaken questions.
Competing theories.
Inference, new information, direct comprehension,
strengthen and weaken, and structure and function
questions.

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 Identify and appreciate various passage constructs:
A process.
Inference, direct comprehension and new
information.
Opinions.
Inference, about the author and strengthen and
weaken questions.

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Facebook has all the information about us because it has found ingenious
ways to collect data as people socialize. Users fill out profiles with their age,
gender, and e-mail address; some people also give additional details, such as
their relationship status and mobile-phone number. A redesign last fall
introduced profile pages in the form of time lines that invite people to add
historical information such as places they have lived and worked. Messages
and photos shared on the site are often tagged with a precise location, and
in the last two years Facebook has begun to track activity elsewhere on the
Internet, using an addictive invention called the "Like button. It appears on
apps and websites outside Facebook and allows people to indicate with a
click that they are interested in a brand, product, or piece of digital content.
Facebook has also been able to collect data on users' online lives beyond its
borders automatically: in certain apps or websites, when users listen to a
song or read a news article, the information is passed along to Facebook,
even if no one clicks "Like." Within the feature's first five months, Facebook
catalogued more than five billion instances of people listening to songs
online. Combine that kind of information with a map of the social
connections Facebook's users make on the site, and you have an incredibly
rich record of their lives and interactions.
 Sample Questions

Literal: 1. What are time lines?

2. How many instances of people listening to songs
were catalogued by Facebook using the Like button?

Interpretive: 3. What can you conclude about Facebooks

capacity to gather information about us?
4. What do you suppose is the ultimate reason
why Facebook gathers all these information about us?

Applied: 5. What do you think is the writers purpose for

writing this article? Is the writer being objective or subjective
about the issue?
 ACTIVITY

Direction: Formulate comprehension questions based

on the different levels of reading
comprehension

1. two (2) Literal Level Questions

2. two (2) Interpretive Level Questions
3. one (1) Applied/Critical Reading Level Question

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