Comprehension

** What it is: **  Comprehension is, “The act of constructing meaning with oral or written text” (Duke & Carlisle, 2011). The ability to comprehend text means that a student is able to understand the message behind the words and sentences, and the text as a whole. Comprehension relies on a number of factors including: the readers incentive and strategies, the authors ideas, words being used, organization, and presentation of ideas, and the idea and task behind the reading (Comprehension PowerPoint, 2011).  ** Why it is important: **  Comprehension, as stated by McKenna and Stahl, “Could be called the ‘bottom line’ of reading.” Comprehension is important because it allows readers to understand the meaning of the text. If a student cannot comprehend text, they cannot become an effective reader. ** How it is expected to develop: **  Comprehension develops over time, but it is individualized so each student’s strengths and weaknesses will vary. There is not a specific way that comprehension develops because there are multiple factors that are implicated in the process (Comprehension PowerPoint, 2011). The factors that influence comprehension are decoding, vocabulary, prior knowledge, and controlled processing. Better decoding skills result in better comprehension, because students do not have to focus on figuring out the word, they can focus on its meaning. If the student is already familiar with the word and knows it’s meaning, they then can focus on comprehending the sentence and text as a whole. A more broad vocabulary encourages comprehension. Prior knowledge of information in the text will increase comprehension because students can relate to the content. Controlled processing includes having awareness of the purpose of reading the text, questioning, and making predictions. Use of these and other processes help students to understanding the meaning of the text (Comprehension PowerPoint, 2011). A few other factors that might affect comprehension are oral language, fluency, short-term or working memory, motivation and the type of text being used (Comprehension PowerPoint, 2011). ** How it can be assessed ** :  When assessing comprehension you should consider the following factors:  · Word decoding or recognition.  · Oral Language.  · Short-term or working memory.  · Students primary language related to the text.  · Unfamiliarity with features or aspects of written language.  · Strategies.  · Motivation. <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> (Duke, Pressley, & Hilden, 2004) <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> Comprehension can be assessed formally or informally. Some examples of Formal assessments are Close assessments and the reading basal assessment. Examples of informal assessments are retelling, summarizing, graphic organizers, and journal entries (Comprehension PowerPoint, 2011). <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">** Instructional Strategy: ** <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: 48.0pt;"> Visualization is an instructional strategy that can be taught to students. Visualization can be taught by having students create mental images of scenes from the book, create portraits of characters, draw images of scenes from the book, or role-play episodes from the book (Tompkins, 2010). When using any instructional strategy you should consider the following: <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;"> · Model effective comprehension strategies <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;"> · Scaffold effective comprehension strategies <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;"> · Give time to practice and to help develop comprehension skills <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;"> · Choose appropriate books for the classroom library and reading groups <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;"> · Encourage the use of authentic text <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;"> · Use a variety of genres <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;"> · Write texts for others <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;"> · Talk about texts and contexts <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;"> · Give students time to read <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> (Duke, N. K., & Pearson, P. D.,2002). <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> (Pressley, M., 2000) <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> (Tompkins, G. E., 2010)