Comprehension Activities |
Comprehension Strategies
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Linda Fielding and P. David Pearson describe how comprehension has changed as In the textbook Strategies that Work by Harvey and Goudvis as, "Once thought of as a natural result of decoding plus oral language, comprehension is now viewed as a much more complex process involving knowledge, experience, thinking, and teaching." Comprehension covers a vast and significant
portion of literacy in the classroom. The whole reason we are teaching a
lot of the concepts and lessons we are is to reinforce comprehension.
Comprehension is the ability to do more than just read words, but have
true and deep understanding of what they mean. It refers to the students' ability to understand information that is presented to them. This is key for students' becoming successful in what they are learning. To read more about comprehension, comprehension strategies, and how to help visit http://www.readingrockets.org/helping/target/comprehension.
Activity One: Noticing and Exploring Thinking
This activity focuses on more than students simply following along with thinking. For students to monitor comprehension they have to pay attention to their own thinking and then be able to explore that thinking. This activity helps students be able to practice exploring their own thinking while listening quietly to a story that is being read out loud to them.
For this activity/mini lesson I chose to focus my lesson on Oklahoma PASS standards for 1st through 3rd grade, because I am wanting to teach in an elementary school. The Oklahoma PASS standards for reading literature 1.1, 2.1, and 3.1 focus on students ability to ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text. This lesson directly meets those standards because while students are being read to they are exploring their thinking and having to be able to answer these questions on sticky notes after the reading is completed.
The original lesson uses the book Little Mama Forgets by Robin Cruise. This book is about Alzheimer's and its effects, but because I didn't have much schema and knew most of my class didn't have much schema about Alzheimer's either, I chose to use the book Penny Lee and Her Tv by Glenn McCoy for my lesson. You begin the lesson by introducing the topic, for this particular book it was obsession with technology, and ask students to think about their personal experiences that connect to the text while I read the book out loud to them. While you read the book start to finish, there will be no discussion about anyones personal thoughts. After you finish reading the book, pass around a sticky note to each student. On this sticky note the students will not summarize the story, but you will ask them to write down what the story make them think about, their thoughts and reactions, and their inner conversation. After each student has has time to write down what they wanted on their sticky more the students will partner up and talk about what they wrote. Following up their partner discussions, you will end the lesson by having a class discussion about everyones thoughts and reactions to the book.
This lesson can be used with a variety of topics and is a good way to get students thinking, talking, noticing, and exploring their thinking. It also allows students to see how their own thinking can be different from another students, and how each person can have a different reaction to a certain topic. I have included a link to my lesson plan below as an example.
For this activity/mini lesson I chose to focus my lesson on Oklahoma PASS standards for 1st through 3rd grade, because I am wanting to teach in an elementary school. The Oklahoma PASS standards for reading literature 1.1, 2.1, and 3.1 focus on students ability to ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text. This lesson directly meets those standards because while students are being read to they are exploring their thinking and having to be able to answer these questions on sticky notes after the reading is completed.
The original lesson uses the book Little Mama Forgets by Robin Cruise. This book is about Alzheimer's and its effects, but because I didn't have much schema and knew most of my class didn't have much schema about Alzheimer's either, I chose to use the book Penny Lee and Her Tv by Glenn McCoy for my lesson. You begin the lesson by introducing the topic, for this particular book it was obsession with technology, and ask students to think about their personal experiences that connect to the text while I read the book out loud to them. While you read the book start to finish, there will be no discussion about anyones personal thoughts. After you finish reading the book, pass around a sticky note to each student. On this sticky note the students will not summarize the story, but you will ask them to write down what the story make them think about, their thoughts and reactions, and their inner conversation. After each student has has time to write down what they wanted on their sticky more the students will partner up and talk about what they wrote. Following up their partner discussions, you will end the lesson by having a class discussion about everyones thoughts and reactions to the book.
This lesson can be used with a variety of topics and is a good way to get students thinking, talking, noticing, and exploring their thinking. It also allows students to see how their own thinking can be different from another students, and how each person can have a different reaction to a certain topic. I have included a link to my lesson plan below as an example.
Activity Retrieved From: Strategies that Work: Teaching Comprehension for Understanding and Engagement, Second Edition by Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goundvis
Picture From: www.google.com
Picture From: www.google.com
Mini Lesson- Noticing and Exploring Thinking | |
File Size: | 41 kb |
File Type: | doc |
Activity Two: Inferring Lesson Plan
Inferring is a skill that is important to help students comprehend subject matter. To make an inference, one has to add their background knowledge and text clues together. A formula for this can be written as BK+TC=I. Before a student can learn how to make an inference they need to be able to ask questions and have the ability to create meaning out of unfamiliar words. To help students learn to infer with text clues it helps to make a visual representation they can follow such as a three column chart. The three columns would be background knowledge, text clues, and inference. This helps students be able to visually see the information that is being added together to help them make an inference. I am wanting to teach elementary, so for this lesson I focused on the Common Core standards for reading literature 3.1, 4.1, and 5.1 because making inferences is a more difficult skill. The Common Core standard for 3.1, 4.1, and 5.1 is for students to be able to refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text. This lesson helps directly meet that standard.
For this lesson the book suggested to use is Tight Times by Barbra Shook Hazen. This book is wonderful for helping teach the different aspects of inferential thinking. To begin this lesson you will have a discussion with the class about the cover of the book. Students will use their background knowledge to be able participate in a discussion of what we suspect this book is about by just looking at the title and the picture on the cover. After the discussion is complected, have the students write down their background knowledge(schema) that was discussed under the column "background knowledge" on their three-column chart. After your students have time to write on under "background knowledge," you will begin reading the book. After reading the first page you will stop and model making inferences by adding my background knowledge to the text clues provided. You will have a three-column chart made so that you can model this for the students visually. During this time you will introduce the formula BK+TC=I, and show them how this is shown on your chart. After you have correctly modeled making an inference, you will continue to read the book while the students use their background knowledge and text clues to make inferences on their chart as you read. After you have finished reading the book, you will have a class discussion about the inferences that the students made and what text clues and background knowledge they used to make those inferences.
This lesson can be used for many books and can help students walk through the process of making inferences. A three-column chart is also something students can look back to for reference in the future. Each student has different background knowledge that they are able to apply to text clues, which helps students note that many inferences can be made from all texts. I've attached this inferring lesson below as an example.
For this lesson the book suggested to use is Tight Times by Barbra Shook Hazen. This book is wonderful for helping teach the different aspects of inferential thinking. To begin this lesson you will have a discussion with the class about the cover of the book. Students will use their background knowledge to be able participate in a discussion of what we suspect this book is about by just looking at the title and the picture on the cover. After the discussion is complected, have the students write down their background knowledge(schema) that was discussed under the column "background knowledge" on their three-column chart. After your students have time to write on under "background knowledge," you will begin reading the book. After reading the first page you will stop and model making inferences by adding my background knowledge to the text clues provided. You will have a three-column chart made so that you can model this for the students visually. During this time you will introduce the formula BK+TC=I, and show them how this is shown on your chart. After you have correctly modeled making an inference, you will continue to read the book while the students use their background knowledge and text clues to make inferences on their chart as you read. After you have finished reading the book, you will have a class discussion about the inferences that the students made and what text clues and background knowledge they used to make those inferences.
This lesson can be used for many books and can help students walk through the process of making inferences. A three-column chart is also something students can look back to for reference in the future. Each student has different background knowledge that they are able to apply to text clues, which helps students note that many inferences can be made from all texts. I've attached this inferring lesson below as an example.
Activity Retrieved From: Strategies that Work: Teaching Comprehension for Understanding and Engagement, Second Edition by Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goundvis
Picture From: www.google.com
Picture From: www.google.com
Inferring Lesson Plan | |
File Size: | 41 kb |
File Type: | doc |