A TEACHERS GUIDE TO COMPREHENSION: INFERENCING
Written by Katie Smith & Michael Walsh
Contents What is Comprehension? ................................................................
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Comprehension Skills vs Comprehension Strategies ......................................................
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What is Inferencing? .........................................................................
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Inferencing The Early Years .............................................................. 9 Why Inferencing Is Important - ...................................................
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Teaching Approach ..........................................................................
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Step by Step Guide Initially Introducing Inferencing to Children in the Early Years .............................................................
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Critiques of GRRM ...............................................................................
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Assessment Approach ........................................................................ 14 Test Your Knowledge .........................................................................
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What is Comprehension? Comprehension is a fundamental goal of reading; however, it is not a straightforward process (Kendeou, 2015). Being able to comprehend a text involves the reader possessing the ability to both understand and interpret what the author has written. In order to fully comprehend what has been written, readers must be able to: •
Read the words in the text (either through word recognition or by figuring out a word),
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Read these words fluently (using speed, accuracy and prosody),
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Understand the meaning of these words in the context in which they have been presented,
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Recognise and understand the structures within a text (a sentence, a paragraph, punctuation, the genre).
Vocabulary and fluency, in particular, are significant components of comprehension. Research has highlighted that children who have been shown a plethora of vocabulary at a young age are much more likely to have good reading comprehension in their later school years (Konza, 2011). When children are reading independently, with the aim to improve their comprehension, they should be able to read 90-95% of the words within a text. Anything less than 90% and children will spend the majority of their time trying to decode the unknown words. On the other hand, anything above 95% and the text is then at risk of not being challenging enough to help improve the child’s comprehension. A text with more than 95% known words is better suited to improving fluency, perhaps, through repeated reading or timed readings (Rasinski, 2006b; Hudson et al, 2005).
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The need for children to be fluent, however, is of great importance when it comes to comprehension. Research has identified that 75-90% of comprehension problems are due to issues in fluency (Rasinski, 2006a). Therefore, it could be suggested that fluency and comprehension are interdependent – improving one’s comprehension ability helps improve one’s fluency ability, and vice versa. Furthermore, Mraz et al (2013) stated that “fluency can be seen as a stepping stone to comprehension.” (p165). As teachers, we can promote the learning of comprehension through the following: Encourage open discussion Use a range of open-ended questions Model your own thinking, for example, identifying evidence in text Encourage children to justify their responses from the text Prompt and Probe to challenge thinking Provide plenty of opportunity for sequencing and predicting Use role play and drama to develop empathy Explore specific themes, for example, getting lost or making friends.
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Comprehension Skills vs Comprehension Strategies There are various factors that influence an individual’s ability to comprehend a text, these factors are divided into two categories: text factors and reader factors (Tompkins, 2014). Text factors are related to the text and include text structure, text type (genre) and text features. Whereas, reader factors are intrinsic to us as individuals and include background knowledge, fluency, vocabulary, motivation, comprehension strategies and comprehension skills. Professionals often use the term skill and strategy interchangeably, however, there are numerous differences between comprehension skills and comprehension strategies (Afflerbach et al, 2008): Comprehension skills: Are less complicated and not as imperative in the acquisition of comprehension - in comparison to comprehension strategies. A skill involves having the ability to answer specific questions relating to the text, for example, “what is the main idea?” or “what is the conclusion?”. Comprehension strategies: Are one of the most important elements of teaching comprehension. They are used to help us link new information that we receive from a text to what we already know, or to previous sections of the text. Comprehension strategies are a tactical way that we interact with the text to help us construct meaning, using these strategies is an active process. Afflerbach (p 365, 2008) defines strategy as “a systematic plan, consciously adapted and monitored, to improve one’s performance in learning.” Comprehension Strategies There are many comprehension strategies that children can use to gain understanding from texts, these should all be taught through explicit instruction (Gregory and Cahill, 2010): Visualising Determining importance Questioning Activating background knowledge Making inferences Monitoring Summarising Predicting Connecting (and disconnecting). This teacher’s guide focuses on inferencing as a comprehension strategy, however, it is important that students are taught how to use each of the strategies and that using multiple strategies when reading a text facilitates better comprehension (Reutzela et al, 2005).
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What is Inferencing? Inferencing is a complex comprehension strategy that involves the use of other comprehension strategies - such as predicting and questioning – and, therefore, requires plenty of practice and experience to develop accurately. It is a strategy that readers use when the author does not provide us with all the information we need about an element of the book, for example, there may be missing information about some of the following: The setting, A character
The topic, An incident.
Author’s often do not supply all the answers to particular questions throughout the book and leave these gaps in order for us to make our own meaning. Consequently, the reader is required to “read between the lines” and use a combination of clues from the text, along with their own background knowledge to establish what the authors intended meaning may be. By using logic, reasoning, facts and observations, children can justify the assumption or conclusion they have come to. To successfully inference, readers adapt and update their original inferences as they acquire additional information from the text (Marzano, 2010). To help children achieve this level of inferencing, teachers can encourage the children’s thinking by asking four simple questions: 1. What is my inference? (The end result) 2. What information did I use to make this inference? (the evidence: from the text and individual background knowledge) 3. How good was my thinking? (are there any other possible inferences I can formulate with better reasoning?) 4. Do I need to change my thinking? (the constant updating of thoughts as new information is gathered)
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Inferencing in the Early Years Although inferencing is a complex strategy for children to come to terms with, this should not prevent you from teaching it to children in the early years. By changing the language used to a simplified and more relatable format, children in the early years are likely to grasp the basics of inferencing. Gregory and Cahill’s (2010) research demonstrates this, Mrs Hope (pseudonym) used this technique of simplifying to teach kindergartners four comprehension strategies: Connections Questioning
Visualising Inferencing
When teaching inferencing, Mrs Hope explained that it involved aspects from all the previous strategies the children had been learning about, combined with considering if the questions the children asked were clearly answered in the text, or if they needed to “use their brains”. If the children were having to use their brains, Mrs Hope defined this as making an inference.
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Why inferencing is important? Based on research, proficient and active readers are meta-cognitive which emphasises that the readers who are skilled are aware of their own thought processes and thinking, whilst they are reading through a book. This means that the pupils will be able to come to a realisation when they can’t quite comprehend something in the text. Additionally, skilled readers have the ability to apply a wide range of strategies to overcome these comprehensive problems and broaden their knowledge of the book they are reading. (Duffy et al. 1987). Skilled readers will be aware that they can draw from previous background knowledge and text from a book to come to a justified conclusion, make critical judgements and develop a personal interpretation from that text. Inferences may occur in the form conclusions, predictions or new ideas. (Anderson and Pearson, 1984).
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Teaching Approach How can you make it happen in the classroom? One way that inferencing can be taught in the classroom is through the gradual release of responsibility model (GRRM), this involves the teacher having all of the responsibility in the beginning, which is then gradually released until the student possesses all the responsibility. Fisher and Frey (2013) define the four stages of GRRM as: Focused instruction (“I do it”), Guided instruction (“we do it”), Collaborative learning (“you do it together”), Independent learning (“you do it alone”). These four stages can also be referred to as: modelled reading, shared reading, guided reading and independent reading (Tompkins, 2014).
Stage 1 The first stage of introducing inferencing in the classroom, is through focused instruction: where the teacher is modelling it for students. This can be done by starting with everyday examples, moving to listening activities and then to text examples. It is important to make children aware at this stage that good readers make inferences to enhance their understanding of a text, furthermore, there should be an emphasis on making children aware that not all inferences will be identical. Children will use their own background knowledge, along with information from the text, to arrive at their inference – meaning each child will attain an inference that is unique to their circumstances. When inferencing is initially being modelled in a text, teachers should ‘think aloud’ and explain what is being done at each stage – what information is being extracted from the text along with the teachers own background knowledge, followed by what their inference is. This is where the teacher demonstrates, usually to the whole class, what is expected of the children and what kind of thinking they themselves should be doing when using inferencing as a comprehension strategy (Witte, 2016). A TEACHERS GUIDE TO COMPREHENSION: INFERENCING
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Stage 2 The second stage, guided instruction, involves the teacher using questions and prompts to engage children in the inferencing process. At this stage, the teacher still has the majority of the responsibility. They still read the text in front of the whole class and demonstrate inferencing themselves, asking the children for their input at particular points within the text where children are able to contribute to a class discussion. The following dialogue demonstrates the style of questions that can be presented to the children in your class during this stage of the teaching approach “I have made some good inferences so far in the book. I would now like you to make inferences with me. Each of us should stop and think about what the author might mean, use your own knowledge and information from the text…. Okay, now let’s hear what you think and why….” (Wiggins, 2015). This reiterates what has been demonstrated in stage one, allowing children the chance to become more familiar with inferencing. Stages one and two of the Gradual Release of Responsibility Model are good teaching instructions to share with children in the early years. “Children are better able to comprehend fictional texts of increasing complexity with this instructional approach” (Witte, 2016). Stage 3 Thirdly, collaborative learning should be introduced in to the classroom. At this stage of the gradual release of responsibility model, children have the majority of the responsibility and are actively engaged in the inferencing process. This stage involves children being in small groups of similar abilities, where they read a set text that is aimed at the group’s ability, and they read this text themselves (using whisper reading). Every few pages, the teacher will get the children to stop reading and make an inference. This allows children to consolidate knowledge that has been learned in the previous stages by collaborating with peers and thinking together. The teacher is still there to give any added guidance that children need to feel confident about inferencing – this is an example of Vygotsky’s theory of scaffolding (Fountas, 2013). Stage 4 Finally, independent learning is the last stage of the GRRM, where children now have full responsibility and are applying all the knowledge they have previously been taught. Children are able to choose their own text to read and read alone at this stage, however, teachers still have an important input as they need to ensure the chosen book is at a suitable level for the individual and is also suitable for inferencing. Before they begin reading, remind children what we have been working on in class—making inferences while we read. Ensure they know to attempt to inference every two or three pages, asking themselves why they made the inference they did. This allows children to practice the inferencing skills they have learned and should be followed up with a group sharing activity where children share their inferences and their evidence. Independent reading plays a vital role in the development of comprehension as well as fluency, vocabulary, background knowledge and spelling (Sanden, 2012).
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Step by Step Guide Initially Introducing Inferencing to Children in the Early Years 1. Introduce the word “inferencing” to the pupils. 2. Explain the definition of inferencing: that you have to use background knowledge and combine that with clues from the text to come to a justified inference or answer. 3. Explain that everyone will share the same knowledge of the text however everyone’s background knowledge and experiences will be different so it’s acceptable to arrive at a different inference from other people in the class. There is no definitive answer, just as long as the inference they arrive at is justified. 4. Provide a real-life example (that is relative to them) to demonstrate to the pupils and break the process down for them to comprehend it in a simpler way, for example: “My teacher asked for the class to take out their homework for today and I couldn’t find my homework in my school bag” 5. Explain to the pupils that the statement above would be the “clue” or factual information to let them know that there is no homework in the school bag. 6. Continue and explain to pupils that they would then have to then “inference” to come to a conclusion or answer as to why the homework is not in the bag, for example: “I was working on my homework in my room last night and I left it on my desk, so that is where it must still be and that’s why it is not in my school bag” 7. Explain again to the children that the statements above are examples of inferencing “what you already know” and using your “background knowledge” to come up with a justified answer and they will use this process when reading to help them comprehend the text and become good readers.
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Critiques of the GRRM The GRRM is a widespread teaching approach of comprehension as it is seen to have many advantages. It is described as “interactive, empowering for kids, easy for most teachers to grasp and implement, and grounded in research.” (Wiggins, 2015). However, this does not mean it is without its flaws. This approach involves teaching comprehension strategies individually and only focussing on a single strategy for weeks at a time while it is being taught before moving on to teaching a different strategy. Research has found that teaching them in this way is not necessarily the optimal teaching instruction, instead comprehension strategies can be taught as a “family” or “set” of comprehension strategies (Reutzela et al, 2005) or through reciprocal teaching (Palincsar and Brown, 1983).
Assessment Approach Comprehension strategies should be used every time children read, it is important that children continue to use them even once teaching instruction has stopped (Palincsar and Brown, 1983). Having “Think and Search” and “Author and Me” QAR (Question-Answer Relationship) question prompts when children are reading is a good way to record whether or not children have grasped the process of inferencing. The responses to these questions can be recorded in graphic organisers to display the children’s line of thought: Question » the text says » I say » my inference, this is an example of formative assessment (Struble, 2007).
Question
It Says…
Step 1… Write the question (created or provided)
Step 2… Find information from the text that will help answer the question.
I Say… Step 3… Think about what you know about that information.
And So… Step 4… Combine what the text says with what you know to come up with your inference.
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Test Your Knowledge 1. What relationship is there between comprehension and uency?
2. What percentage of words should children be able to read within a text to improve their comprehension abilities?
3. What is the difference between a comprehension skill and a comprehension strategy?
4. Name three comprehension strategies that children learn.
5. What is inferencing?
6. How can inferencing be taught in the early years?
7. Why is inferencing important?
8. Name the four stages of the gradual release of responsibility model and give a brief description of each.
9. What advantages and disadvantages are there of using the gradual release of responsibility model as a teaching approach?
10. What can be used to assess if pupils have grasped how to inference?
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A TEACHERS GUIDE TO COMPREHENSION: INFERENCING
Written by Katie Smith & Michael Walsh