Understanding

Levels of
Comprehension
Questions
GROUP 3
A plethora of research
shows that academic
achievement relies
greatly on the ability of
the students to
comprehend, that is, to
understand the text
whether spoken, written
and/or visual.
Luke, Dooley, and Woods (2011) in their
study claimed that comprehension, as a
predictor of overall academic
achievement, includes the simultaneous
extraction and construction of meaning
from a text.

In literature analysis, the levels of

comprehension become a device to aid in
the acquisition of meaning.
To be successful in reading an article, story, poem, or novel, one
has to draw on reading strategies to develop the skills needed in
comprehension.
These include retrieving information, interpreting
implicit and explicit ideas, integrating and reflecting on
concepts and evaluating the information. Thomson, De
Bortoli, and Buckey (2013) advanced the idea of the
comprehension lens which is closely related to Mt Sac
Levels of Comprehension.
 Levels of
Comprehe
nsion
From the modified Mt Sac Levels of Comprehension
 Levels of
 LITERAL
Comprehension
 EVALUATIVE  ESSENTIAL

 INFERENTIAL  APPRECIATIVE  CRITIQUE


Literal
Comprehens
ion
Literal comprehension
occurs at the surface level
when a reader/viewer
acknowledges what they
can see and hear.
Literal comprehension is
often referred to as 'on the
page' or 'right there'
comprehension. 
Inferent
ial
Comprehens
ion
Inferential comprehension 
requires the reader to draw on
their prior knowledge of a topic
and identify relevant text clues to
make an inference.
Inferential comprehension is often
referred to as 'between the lines' or
'think and search' comprehension.
 Evaluat Appreci
ive
Comprehens ative
ion Comprehension
Evaluative questions ask you   comprehension
Appreciative
to make your position clear. which is the ability to understand
  the main purpose and point of
view of the author of that reading
What is the most important based on clues mentioned in the
fact? What makes this a good text. 
book?
Is this fact or opinion?

 
Essenti Critiqu
al
Comprehens e
ion Comprehension
Write questions and answers Write  questions and answers that
that requires the reader to require the reader to make a
consider an issue that is judgment about the author’s use of
addressed in the “outside” of language, style of writing,
the story. execution of the text, or the
author’s idea in the text.
 5 TYPES OF
READING
COMPREHENSI
ON
Lexical
Comprehensio
nPreview vocabulary before reading

the story or text

 Review new vocabulary

during or after the text.
 Lexical
Comprehensio
n of Lexical Comprehension Questions:
Examples

 What does ‘enchanted’ mean?

 What words are most like ‘enchanted’:

Magical or funny? Scary or special?
Literal
Comprehensio
nLook in the text to find the answers

written in the story.

 Ask questions from the

beginning, middle, and the end
of the story.
 Literal
Comprehensio
n of Literal Comprehension Questions:
Examples

 Who was the girl who lost the glass

slipper?

 Where did Cinderella go to live at the

end of the story?
Interpretive
Comprehension
 Understand ‘facts’ that are not
explicitly stated in the story.

 Illustrations may help to infer

the meaning.
 Interpretive
Comprehension
Examples of Interpretive Comprehension Questions:

 How did the pumpkin turn into a

carriage?

 What would have happened to

Cinderella if she hadn’t lost her slipper?
Applied
Comprehension
 Not a simple question that can be
marked right or wrong.

 Challenge children to support

their answer with logic or
reason.
 Applied
Comprehension
Example of Applied Comprehension Question:

 Do you think Cinderella was wrong for

going to the ball after her stepmother
told her she couldn’t go?
Affective
Comprehension
 Preview social scripts to ensure
understanding of plot development.
 Connect motive to plot and
character development.
 Affective
Comprehension
Example of Affective Comprehension Question:

 What do you do when you’re

disappointed because you cannot do
something fun? Is that how Cinderella
reacted?