Melissa A. Nelson: Reading Comprehension Strategies

Helping New Readers Find Meaning

Assisting new readers with reading comprehension is an important role for parents, caregivers, and other volunteers who work with children at the kindergarten through 2nd grade level. Many children this age are emergent readers who are just beginning to put meaning to text. Much of their comprehension skills will be developed as they listen to stories read to them. Other children this age will be reading independently and forming personal comprehension strategies.

Whether you are reading aloud to a whole class, or working one-on-one with an independent reader, it is important to check for comprehension and promote strategies that will assist the student with finding meaning among the words.

Below you will find four strategies you can use to assist learners with reading comprehension skills. Following a description of each, you'll find a suggested method to introduce the strategy, demonstrate it, provide the student with practice, and assess their learning. These are not the only methods to implement these strategies, and these are not the only strategies, but they are a great beginning to your tool-box. As you refine these tools, remember, every child is different and will have different needs. You may need to use only one of these strategies, or you may need to use them all and others as well. Always put the child before the strategy and have fun as you encourage their joy for reading.

1. Set Expectations

If you are assisting a reader with comprehension, first set up his expectations for what he is about to read. By doing this, the reader is more likely to become engaged in the words and observe details. To do this, simply determine what information you want the reader (or listener) to gain from the reading. Keep in mind that this is a pre-reading step and be cautious to not spoil the plot. Use the following to guide you as you set expectations:

Prior Knowledge - What does the student already know about the subject? Has she read or listened to similar stories? Does she have any first hand experience? For instance, if the student is reading a book about Oregon and has been there on vacation, she can tie prior knowledge to the book's content. Or, if she is listening to a story such as Charlotte's Web by E.B. White, she may already know what kinds of animals live on a farm.

Browse the Content - Whether its a book, a newspaper article, a web page, or another source of text, browsing the content can provide significant comprehension clues. Look for things such as the title, the author, illustrations, charts, etc. With well-known authors you can ask, "Do you think this story be like the other one we read by...?" Dr. Seuss is an excellent example of such, with readers likely to expect rhyme. Though rhyme has little to do with comprehension, it does let the reader know that they will not have standard sentences and paragraphs from which to glean knowledge.

Be careful not to give away the details of a story or text prior to reading it by asking too many questions. Discovering the who, what, when, where, and are why should something we expect with most everything we read. However, these questions should be activated while reading and not prior to.

Setting expectations is a strategy that can also be taught to students as a tool they can use on their own. You can provide them with a graphic organizer to fill in details such as author, title, and key words.
Or teach them to ask themselves questions such as:

Have I read anything else by this author?

Do I already know anything about...?

What do I expect to learn from this story or passage?

Put it to Work

Introduce: With an independent reader, introduce the concept by setting before them a book they are unfamiliar with (ensure it is the appropriate reading level). Tell them that before they begin reading, you would like them to get to know the book. Explain that they will do this by looking for clues as to what they story is about.
Demonstrate/model: Use a My Turn, You Turn activity to set expectations about the books content. place a list of appropriate questions in front of the student. Explain to the student you will say "My turn," followed with a a question about the book, such as "My turn. Have I read anything by this author before?" Then answer your own question. When you are done, say "Your turn."
Practice: During the students turn, have them phrase a question in the same manner, starting with "My turn," asking a question, answering it, then signalling they are done by saying "Your turn." Repeat this activity for 2-3 turns or until you are satisfied with the student's discoveries.
Assessment: You can assess the student informally during the activity as they ask and answer appropriate questions. To further check for understanding, you can present he reader with another book and have them answer the questions on their own, either in writing or verbally.

2. The Five W's and the H

Once we step into the text we need to be considering the a lot of questions in order to find meaning. This is where comprehension often becomes tricky for some readers, and listeners. At a very basic level, we could ask:

Who is this story about?
What is happening?
When did it occur?
Where does it take place?
Why is that important?
How does the story end?

With more advances students, other questions can be asked to invoke higher level thinking, such as:

Who is the author writing to?
What can I do with this knowledge?
Why did the author write this?
How could we change then ending?

If you are reading a story or text aloud, you might check for comprehension by asking:

What do you think we will read on the next page?
Why do you think he felt/acted that way?

Put it to Work

Introduce: With an independent reader, introduce the Five W's and H with a simple activity describing the room or environment you are working in. For instance, you might say, "Today we are going to use the Five W's and H strategy to learn about our book. These are the who, what, when, where, why and how questions we can ask when we are describe something. For example, Who is in this room? We are! What are we doing? Reading a book. When is it? After school. Where are we? The library. Why are we doing this? To become a better reader. How many books will we rad today? One. Does this make sense?"
Demonstrate/model: Explain to the student that the same types of questions can be used while reading. Demonstrate by opening a book and reading a paragraph or two. Then ask the same questions, this time allowing the student to answer.
Practice: Ask the student to read the next paragraph or page and then create, ask, and answer a set of who, what, when, where, why and how questions. Assist as needed.
Assessment: Assess the students informally with open discussion and probing questions such as, "Can you think of another how question we can ask for that page?" or "What did you learn by asking those questions?"

Remember, that when working with children at the kindergarten - second grade level, or any grade level for that matter, their abilities for reading, listening, and communicating will vary greatly. If the planned comprehension activity seems too difficult for a given group, then simplify it. You can instead have the students fill-in a one-word blank in a pre-written sentence.

For higher level students, you can teach readers to ask these questions for themselves by having them write out 5-10 w/h questions and answers as they read. A nice twist to this is to have students 'Write the test.' Simply have them write the questions they think should appear on a test of the text. If working with a group, the readers can ask each other their questions. Or, as appropriate for the level of the students, you can select several of the questions to ask the group as a whole.

3. Get to Know the Characters

Understanding the people we read about is an important part of our comprehension skills. This can be applied to both fiction and non-fiction. Does the reader have anything in common with a character? Or, does the character or subject of a text remind them of someone they do know? For instance, one reader might want to be just like a character from the American Girl series. Another reader may think Jane Goodall looks a lot like his grandmother. What ever the connection is, making such will help the reader recall the characters.

A fun way to get readers thinking in this manner is to have them design a poster or other illustration that shows a relationship between someone they are reading about and someone they know. This can be done free-hand or with the assistance of graphics software, and can be as simple as a pencil drawing or fully elaborated with color, with results such as:

My Knuffle Bunny, a picture of the child's own favorite stuffed animal they just can't be without.

My Dad IS Albert Einstein, a poster with pictures of each and arrows pointing out the same hair and manner of dress

Ramona is my Long Lost Twin! an illustrated list of traits the reader has in common with this well known character created by Beverly Cleary

Put it to Work

Introduce: When working with emergent readers who are listening to a story read aloud, explain that often the characters in books remind us of ourselves or other people we know. Explain that as you read a new book to them, you would like them to think if any of the character have something in common with someone they know. Carefully select a book that includes a variety of characters, or has a character the same age as the student(s). One good choice might be the stories found in Little Bear's Friend by Else Holmelund Minarik.
Demonstrate/model: After reading a story, relate one of the characters to yourself or someone you know. For instance, "Emily reminds me of myself. I really like cookies."
Practice: Ask the student if any of the characters remind them of someone they know or themselves. Have them explain why. Then have them draw a picture of the character and the person. Have the student label the picture, assisting as necessary.
Assessment: To informally assess if this activity has aided the reader in better understanding the characters in the story, you can probe the reader with comprehension questions that include the person they know. For example, if a student were to have given the model example above, you could say "Do you and Emily have anything else in common?" or "Would you have shared your cookies with Little Bear?"

4. Visualize

When the reading is done, the reader (or listener) should be able to visualize the content learned. Can they imagine the scenery in Oklahoma when reading a book such as Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse? Or, on a younger level, can they visualize the dangers that surrounded Robert McCloskey's web footed friends in Make Way for Ducklings? Can the reader of a science text book visualize the process of evaporation?

Visualization not only occurs at the end of reading, but also during, particularly when there are large chucks of important material presented. If several facts or a series of events were presented together, take time to journal a list of these with descriptive details. A reader may also want to make a sketch or diagram of a procedure or a process. If two characters in a novel are quite similar, one may want to visualize just how they are different and perhaps sketch them out in a notebook, summarizing each character traits to lessen confusion between the two.

When comprehension is not observed at this level, a reader can always back-up and look for clues. Finding key adjectives and adverbs will often assist with visualizations. Making a list of such while reading is a good way to begin the habit of zeroing in on these and discovering their power.

For instance, take a look at the bold text adverbs and adjectives in the following passage.

It was a cold, damp morning when Vince hastily headed off to school down the crowded sidewalk. He could smell the crisp bacon, sweet maple syrup and warm pancakes on one passerby. Another smelled of hot coffee and perhaps a fresh egg sandwich. With every step his stomach churned, but his determined stride kept him moving forward. No one in his neighborhood could know.

After reading such a passage, a reader might be left wondering "could know what?" By looking at the adjectives cold, damp, warm and hot one could infer that he had no heat at home. Vince's detailed awareness of what others had for breakfast, combined with his churning stomach, could also mean he had no food at home. We also know he was moving hastily and determined. By making these observations we can begin to visualize where the story takes place and where Vince lives. Granted this is not the whole picture, but it is a start.

For readers who struggle with understanding why adjectives and adverbs are important, replace them in a passage to see what happens. This will often turn into a silly story, but open up a great discussion on the power adjectives and adverbs hold when we are reading for comprehension.

It was a hot, dry morning when Vince lazily headed off to school down the quiet sidewalk. He could smell the burnt bacon, fake maple syrup and day-old pancakes on one passerby. Another smelled of stale coffee and perhaps a cheap egg sandwich. With every step his stomach churned, but his contented stride kept him moving forward. No one in his neighborhood could know.

Is Vince without food in this passage, or are those he is passing causing his stomach to churn? Adjectives and adverbs, though often small, are without doubt keys to successful reading comprehension strategies.

Put it to Work

Introduce: With an independent reader who has already learned what adverbs and adjectives are, review the purpose of such words. Explain to the student that you will be learning how these words impact the way we visualize a story.
Demonstrate/model: Present the reader with a descriptive passage containing highlighted adjectives and adverbs, such as the one above. Read the passage and then discuss the scene you visualize. Then replace the adjectives and adverbs and discuss how the image of the scene has changed.
Practice: Allow the student a turn to again change the adjectives and adverbs of the same passage, or present them with another passage. Have them describe what they now visualize the scene to be.
Assessment: To check for understanding, have the student explain why adjectives and adverbs are important to a story. Then have them read another passage and use the adjectives and adverbs to describe the scene. If appropriate, they can illustrate the passage as well.

Wrapping it Up

There are a lot of methods and strategies to consider when assisting learners with reading comprehension strategies, many more than you'll find listed here. Always remember, the only true way for a reader to display comprehension is with communication. This can be in verbal conversation, journaling, illustrating, etc. A simple, "Yeah, I get it." is not enough. Use the strategies above to help a reader find meaning in the words, and be sure to allow plenty of time for discussion and exploration. When one of your tools does not work, try another. Above all, never forget that every learner is different and above all, strive to develop readers who enjoy the reading.

References:
Berry, J. (1988). A children's book about being greedy. Danbury, CT: Grolier Enterprises Corp.
Cleary, B. (1981). Ramona Quimby, age 8. New York, NY: Harper Collins.
Goodall, J. (1996). My life with chimpanzees. New York, NY: Aladdin / Simon & Schuster.
Hesse, K. (1999). Out of the dust. New York, NY: Scholastic, Inc.
Kurtz, J. (2009). Lanie's real adventures. New York, NY: American Girl Publishing, Inc.
Lowry, L. (2002). Gooney Bird Greene. New York, NY: Random House.

McClosky, R. (1941). Make way for ducklings. New York, NY: Penguin Books.

Minarik, E.H. (1960). Little Bear's friend (1996 ed.). New York, NY. Harper Collins.
Pearson Education. (2006). Scott Foresman science grade 1 (Diamond ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

Seuss, D. (1963). ABC. New York, NY: Random House

Winterfeld, H. (1956). Detectives in togas. Orlando, FL: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing.
Wishinsky, F. (2005). Albert Einstein (DK biography). New York, NY: DK Children / Penguin Group.
White, E. (1973). Charlotte's web. New York, NY: Harper Collins.

Post ID: WGU REAT9

October 25, 2011

Reading Comprehension Strategies