Teaching reading comprehension, 2nd edition SAMPLE

Teaching reading comprehension

Second edition

Alison Davis

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Preface to the second edition

When I first began teaching, I specialised in literacy education because I was fascinated with the process of learning to read and write, and of how teachers can work with students most effectively to see improvements in achievement and self confidence. As I taught across a range of year levels, I saw that many teachers were particularly keen to learn more about how they can improve, adapt and expand their literacy teaching approaches.

Working with a range of teachers took me back to university in search of answers, ideas and research that would best suit the changing needs of both students and teachers. As I devoured all the relevant research, I worked closely with teachers to find ways to help them use research insights to strengthen their teaching. It became clear to me that the most effective instruction was happening in the classrooms of teachers who understood how to teach comprehension using a highly metacognitive approach, making learning visible for all students and building on instruction of decoding vocabulary, fluency and understanding.

I incorporated this observation into my doctoral research and the results were startling. This was the beginning of the last 10 years work and research with teachers and students in many different schools and countries (including New Zealand, Australia, Asia, the Middle East and the United States). I’m constantly reminded of the critical role that teachers play in supporting their students to become confident and motivated comprehenders of text.

Over this time I have written nine texts to support evidence-based literacy instruction. I’ve wanted to share the lessons that I’ve learnt so that others can deal with the complexities of teaching and learning to comprehend with ease and confidence. In writing Teaching reading comprehension, I have provided a text to support best practices in reading instruction in all classrooms and for all students.

Best practices ensure that instruction will offer a variety of teaching approaches, a range of text structures, and reading materials that cover a choice and breadth of high-interest content appropriate for the age and reading ability of students.

In addition, best practices are based on the learning needs of students and the skills, strategies and behaviours research informs us ‘great’ readers understand, use, select and combine for a variety of reading purposes.

I hope you find the ideas in this text challenging, thought-provoking and, most of all, helpful in supporting you to raise your students’ reading comprehension achievement.

Alison Davis

A balanced approach to reading comprehension instruction 1

Chapter overview

• Reading research

• The nature of reading comprehension

• Metacognitive comprehension instruction

• Metacognition and the importance of prior knowledge

• Formative assessment

• Explicit teaching of strategies

• The think-aloud approach

• Group teaching approaches

• Motivation and engagement

• Summary

• References and recommended reading

The author’s ongoing research over the last decade has demonstrated that comprehension is a metacognitive behaviour that can be taught in a way that brings together all the components of reading (decoding, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension strategy use), while at the same time providing teachers and students with vital information about their teaching and learning. This chapter describes the instructional model that is elaborated throughout the book and provides the theoretical and research background to a metacognitive approach to teaching reading comprehension.

Reading research

The goal of all teachers of reading is to develop readers who can understand and make use of what they read, and who are motivated to read widely. Research over many years has focused on the various components of reading, and attention has shifted over time from one component to another.

The author (Davis, 2007, 2013a, 2013b, 2015) hypothesised that drawing together the research about two of the most promising components (the importance of metacognition to teaching and learning, and the principles of formative assessment) would enable effective instruction to be carried out in the context of a reading program. Such a program would also need to include regular and needs-based

teaching to promote word-recognition skills, vocabulary knowledge, reading fluency and extensive reading of a range of narrative and informational texts, including digital texts. The exact nature and type of the teaching would depend on the needs of the students, as identified through analysis of assessment data.

Practice and research over the past decade has shown conclusively that when teachers combined a highly metacognitive approach with the principles of formative assessment (in metacognitive comprehension instruction), the results are very significant.1

In recent times, several researchers have shown that good readers display strong metacognitive behaviours. Good readers are aware of what they are doing as they read, and they can select and combine strategies that enable them to control their reading behaviour and to overcome problems encountered as they read. Helping students learn to be confident in using comprehension strategies effectively is necessary during reading instruction and when reading across the curriculum. The implementation of rich metacognitive instruction and practice is paramount to building strong student readers.

Other research has focused on the use of formative assessment principles and practices that deliberately link to student assessment information gained from lessons to shifts in teaching practice. Formative assessment enables teachers to learn how to know what to look for from their students when they deliver comprehension instruction, how to interpret what they see and hear, how to respond to the students, and how to adjust their teaching accordingly. There is much evidence that teaching using formative assessment principles is highly metacognitive and that assessment for formative purposes is central to learning with understanding.

This book brings together important and influential bodies of research to show that what teachers do in the classroom can (and does) have a large impact on student achievement in reading comprehension. It also integrates the research on the components of reading to show how comprehension is dependent on the reader working out words (decoding), developing an ever-increasing vocabulary, reading with fluency and using strategies to comprehend.

The nature of reading comprehension

Reading comprehension is a continuous and recurring process that builds over time, as readers engage with text. The more we read, the more knowledge and experience we have to read the next text. Readers’ knowledge and experience potentially includes everything they have done, felt, heard, seen and read over their lifetime, as well as the knowledge and experience they have gained about how language and text structures work in written forms. Good readers draw on this rich store in several different ways.

1 Using a standardised measure of reading comprehension that provided norm-referenced student achievement data, Davis (2007) showed that significant gains in student achievement levels in reading comprehension were made and sustained over time.

Over the years a great deal of research (for example, Allington, 2012; Braunger & Lewis, 2006; Clay, 1991; Davis, 2007; Duffy, 2003; Hall, Burns, & Edwards, 2011; Klinger, Morrison, & Eppolito, 2010; Pressley, 2001a, 2002a, 2002b, 2006; Samuels & Farstrup, 2011) has been available to help teachers identify what it is that effective comprehenders actually do. Good readers are active as they read. They draw on their knowledge of letter–sound relationships to decode words and develop word-recognition skills. They build vocabulary knowledge and they learn to use a number of comprehension strategies. In doing so, they learn to monitor and adjust their use of reading strategies to assist them to gain meaning from text.

Decoding, the act of sounding out words, is a skill that all students need to acquire in order to be successful readers. Good readers recognise many words on sight but they can also work out how to read words they have never seen before. This is because they are able to associate letters with their sounds and blend the sounds together to pronounce a word. They are also able to make analogies with words or parts of words they already know to work out what a word might be. Comprehension requires more than accurate decoding, it also requires wordrecognition fluency. If readers have to put time and attention into decoding, overall meaning may be lost. For this reason, instruction needs to have an emphasis on the fluency as well as the accuracy of decoding. Explicit instruction that is integrated with context and linked to students’ prior knowledge will help students to decode and recognise unknown words quickly and with ease. (See Chapter 2 for further information about working out words.)

There is wide consensus about the clear association between readers’ core vocabulary knowledge and their comprehension skills. Students develop the ability to understand and use a wide vocabulary through repeated exposure during reading and discussion, and through instruction that develops their knowledge of strategies for working out the meanings of words (for example, by using context; by using the meanings of root words, prefixes, suffixes, synonyms and antonyms). Instruction and repeated exposure also lead to acquiring

knowledge of when and how to use these word-learning strategies. Discussion and feedback as a result of exposure to new words will maximise students’ opportunities to hear and use language and to extend their vocabulary. (See Chapter 3 for further information about vocabulary instruction.)

Good efficient comprehenders learn to read fluently and accurately, during ‘in the head’ silent reading and as they read aloud. Reading fluently means being able to decode a text and to comprehend it, at the same time. Fluent readers are able to control and monitor the pace of their reading, adjusting as they read something they do not fully understand, and being alert to intonation, juncture and phrasing. They also draw on accurate and automatic word-recognition skills. (See Chapter 4 for further information about reading fluency.)

Good reading is more than the sum of these parts though. Research suggests that up to 30 cognitive and metacognitive processes are involved in comprehension (Block & Pressley, 2001). Readers learn to make use of a large number of comprehension strategies to assist their understanding of texts. These strategies can be likened to tools that readers use to access and develop meaning. They include linking to prior knowledge, prediction and re-prediction, visualising, inferring, self-questioning, monitoring and seeking clarification, summarising, finding the main idea, analysing and synthesising, and evaluating. (See Chapter 5 for further information about teaching comprehension strategies.)

Readers draw on these strategies before, during and after reading. Sometimes the strategies are used consciously and intentionally, while at other times they are used without the readers’ conscious attention. Good comprehenders are able to adjust and use strategies as and when they are needed. This means that when readers are having difficulty comprehending a text, they will know to call on and use one or more comprehension strategies in rapid succession. This behaviour is called self-monitoring: readers know whether or not they are comprehending, determine whether understanding was easy or difficult and why, and use comprehension strategies to solve problems. They self-evaluate what they know and have learnt, and take appropriate steps to fix up comprehension difficulties when they occur.

Metacognitive comprehension instruction

Metacognitive comprehension instruction is the term coined by the author to describe the combination of research-based instructional practices and theories that have been proven to develop metacognitive readers in the classroom.

In this book, the term metacognitive comprehension instruction refers to instruction on all aspects of comprehension, including working out words, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension strategies.

The components of metacognitive comprehension instruction operate alongside and in combination with each other. They are each important in their own right and are not necessarily subsumed under one heading or another.

The components of metacognitive comprehension instruction

Metacognition, prior knowledge and schema theory

Formative assessment

Explicit instruction of strategies

Think-aloud approach

Range of teaching approaches

Talking about learning

Motivation and engagement

Each component is outlined in this chapter, and the examples and descriptions provided in further chapters show how teachers can provide powerful, effective comprehension instruction. It is not a quick fix: this kind of instruction requires focus, patience, and a willingness to continue paying attention over a long period of time to what students are actually doing, as they read.

When teachers use what they know about their students together with their knowledge of effective pedagogy (such as the components described below) to make informed instructional decisions, the resulting instruction will be metacognitively rich – it will encourage the development of students who are metacognitively aware. These are the students who are most likely to make significant gains in reading comprehension achievement.

metacognition achievement information teacher pedagogical knowledge instructional choices

Metacognitive comprehension instruction

Metacognition and the importance of prior knowledge

Metacognition is the term used by educators and researchers to describe the knowledge and awareness that a person has of their own cognitive resources. ‘Metacognition is cognition about cognition’ (Flavell, 1977, cited in Pressley, 2006, p. 303). Metacognition is about the reader ‘knowing’ – knowing when they know, knowing when they don’t know, and knowing what they can do about it when they don’t know.

As readers learn to monitor their reading, detect any problems, and determine whether they understand the overall meaning, they also learn what they can do to solve any problems that they encounter. Effective readers use multiple strategies to assist their comprehension. They often do so subconsciously until they encounter something they cannot comprehend. It is at this point that metacognitively active readers deliberately draw on their range of known strategies to support their reading and remove barriers to comprehension.

Metacognition can be developed through instruction. Research by Duffy and Roehler (1989) led to the development of the direct-explanation model and resulted in improved reading achievement. Students learnt to use comprehension strategies in a highly metacognitive manner, and were able to transfer their learning in new situations. Direct explanation is aimed at assisting students to consciously recognise and reach solutions for problems.

Further and more recent research on reading comprehension instruction (for example, Allington, 2012; Fisher & Frey, 2009; Pressley, 2006) has provided powerful evidence that most readers benefit enormously when lessons are constructed in a manner that makes the comprehension processes visible. Instructional approaches that enable students to learn about learning and to think about thinking are metacognitively rich: they deliberately assist students to take control over their own learning. A key factor in this kind of instruction is recognition of the role played by the students’ prior knowledge.

Prior knowledge and schema theory

Over many years, cognitive research (for example, Ausubel, 1963; Forrest-Pressley & Waller, 1984; Garner, 1987) has shown how learning becomes a process of making meaning out of new or unfamiliar events in the light of familiar ideas or experiences. Early work by Ausubel (1963) proposed that old information in memory can provide scaffolding for new information in text. Learners construct knowledge as they build ‘cognitive maps’ for organising and interpreting new information. Anderson and Pearson (1984) developed the theory that described these ‘maps’ or frameworks that are stored in memory as schema, and explained the important role that schema play in the interpretation and understanding of new information.

The background knowledge that forms schema is gained through a lifetime of experiences (first hand and otherwise). In the context of reading comprehension, background (prior) knowledge is built up and changed over time as readers engage with text. Readers will, for example, have schema about a topic, an author, a text type or a context and they draw on this to build comprehension as they read. Their active participation in the process of using and modifying their prior knowledge, as they comprehend the text, means that there is a very strong reciprocal relationship between prior knowledge and comprehension.

Instruction that aims to develop metacognition builds from and extends learners’ schema. The more learners know about a topic, the more they can comprehend in a text about that topic. Similarly, the more the learner comprehends, the more the learner will know. Learning is a process of making meaning out of new or unfamiliar events or ideas in light of familiar ideas or experiences.

Obviously, students’ ability to relate what they are reading to their prior knowledge is important for developing reading comprehension. As researchers argue (for example, Fielding & Pearson, 1994), the relationship between prior knowledge and reading comprehension is essentially a reciprocal one. The relationship has two parts:

• developing students’ knowledge base before reading

• building students’ knowledge from the text during reading.

This relationship is important in assisting teachers to plan their reading comprehension instruction to include deliberate links to the students’ prior knowledge and to support students, as they learn to make links themselves. Teaching that is planned to deliberately build on students’ prior knowledge and experiences as a springboard to enhancing comprehension will include linking to the students’:

• knowledge related to the content of the text

• knowledge about the structure of similar texts

• social and personal knowledge

• cultural knowledge and experiences

• knowledge of the author, for example, the author’s style, position and purpose for writing.

What do I know about this topic?

I remember … My own experiences remind me about …

Using prior knowledge

What do I know about this type of text?

Another text I read suggested … ?

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is not testing. It is an ongoing, recursive procedure through which students become active in their own learning by thinking and talking about what they know and can do as readers and about their own comprehension strengths and learning needs. In this respect, formative assessment supports a metacognitive approach to teaching and learning.

Formative assessment is also a means through which teachers gain explicit information about the learning needs of a student, or group of students, in the course of an ongoing instructional program. In order to do this, formative assessment is integrated with instruction on a regular basis for the express purpose of improving the learning and achievement of students. When used by teachers who have a sound knowledge of the theory and how to put it into practice, formative assessment has been proven to produce significant and often substantial learning gains as evidenced by researchers including Black and Wiliam (1998), Earl (2013) and Wiliam (2011).

Formative assessment involves teachers and students in identifying student’s changing needs and developing goal-focused instruction as outlined in 1 and 2 below. Together, teachers and students may also discuss and set the criteria for success with the lesson’s goal: statements that say what the students will be able to do as a result of achieving the learning goal.

Formative

assessment influences student learning

1 Identifying students’ changing needs

Planned observations

Teachers observe a student, or group of students at work, looking for particular behaviours that indicate comprehension and an understanding of what they are learning, how they are learning and why they are learning this. The behaviours to be observed are usually predetermined and arise from ‘hunches’ teachers have as a result of previous lessons, from marked work and from informal discussions and observations. Planned observations provide a means of monitoring lesson goals, determining whether students learnt what the teacher planned, examining student participation during lessons and identifying the next learning priorities for a student or group of students.

Anecdotal records

Teachers make notes about a student or group of students, usually arising from a planned observation, a discussion with a student, a student goal-setting session or from marking and analysing student work. The notes record what a student is learning, what they find hard, what they have learnt and what the next priorities for instruction will be.

Informal discussions

These are opportunities that arise in the course of a lesson for students to talk to their teacher and to peers about their own learning and developing understanding of text, and of comprehension. Through informal discussions, students are able to focus on what they are understanding and how they are understanding this, and teachers are able to talk with students about the process of learning, gathering information on strengths and needs that will help inform future learning goals and instructional choices.

Interviews with students

These are more formal than discussions. A teacher will meet with a student, or group of students, with a set goal in mind. This goal has come directly from instruction. Together they discuss what a student understands and what additional support they need in relation to this goal. This goal-focused discussion provides a means through which a teacher can learn about students’ reading comprehension – the strategies they use, their attitudes towards reading and how they view themselves as comprehenders.

Student demonstrations

These are opportunities where students are encouraged to demonstrate and explain their understanding, as they read. Demonstration may relate to the content learnt, the strategies applied to work out the meaning of an unknown word, or to revisit a complex piece of text to strengthen comprehension. Students may demonstrate to their teacher and/or to a small group of students. Demonstrations may also be accompanied by a student reflective log (see page 34), sticky notes attached to specific sections of text and student think-alouds (see page 14).

2 Goal-focused instruction

Establishing learning goals and success criteria

Learning goals are the key goals for a lesson or series of lessons. They are established from teacher and student assessment through which priorities for learning have been identified. They are informed by observation, anecdotal notes, informal discussion, interviews with students, student demonstration and explanation, student self-assessment and goal setting and analysis of work samples. Learning goals may be content or strategy related, or a combination of both.

Success criteria are the measures by which the students will know that they have achieved the learning goals. The students write them with the teacher’s support and they answer the question ‘How will we know we’ve learnt this?’ They are simple, specific statements that relate directly to the goal and the text or task. They are not to be confused with task instructions, however – they are about what the students learn.

Self-assessment

This involves students in reflection on whether or not they have achieved the learning goals during the course of a lesson, or a series of lessons. Students will refer to the lesson goal and success criteria to assist and direct their self-assessment.

Peer assessment

This involves students with a peer assessing their learning in relation to shared learning goals, providing each other with feedback on their work and talking about the process of learning. Lesson goals and success criteria are important in guiding peer assessment.

Analysing samples of work

The teacher and/or the students analyse work samples in relationship to shared learning goals and success criteria. This analysis is used to inform future teaching priorities.

When teachers analyse student behaviour as they read, discuss, and respond to texts, teachers gain valuable information to inform their instructional decisions: decisions about specific strategies students need to learn or practice, or are not yet using independently; what teaching approach to use; how much time to spend and how to plan for follow-up and maintenance opportunities. Analysis allows teachers to ask such questions as:

• What does this assessment require the student to do?

• What has the student been able to do in the past?

• What kinds of errors have been made? How often are they made?

• What skills or understandings underlie these errors?

• Does this match with other information I have about the student’s learning needs?

And after considering this …

• What feedback do I give the student?

• How do we set learning goals?

• What is the best way for the student to learn this?

• What does this mean for the instruction I plan and the kinds of instructional activities I offer?

Using formative assessment

The use and analysis of formative assessment allows the teacher to build reading comprehension instruction based on the interests, strengths and needs of their students. Formative assessment has a central role in teacher decision-making about instructional content, the selection of text, the pace of a lesson, and the teaching approach selected for instruction. By applying a combination of the procedures listed above in the course of their daily teaching, teachers come to learn more about the comprehension needs of their students and, consequently, are more able to ensure a deliberate match between student need and instruction.

Involving students in formative assessment is an important way to involve students in their own learning and this has direct links to cognition and metacognition. Learning is enhanced through the sharing of learning goals at the start of each lesson. Together, teachers and students talk about what the intended learning from the lesson is and what the students will be able to do at the end of the lesson, if they have achieved the learning goal (the success criteria). The benefit of this approach is that it makes the goal of the lesson transparent and focuses both the student and the teacher on a specific goal, the purpose for which it was set, and the learning benefits to be gained by achieving the goal.

This procedure is referred to as sharing learning goals (also referred to as learning intentions or lesson objectives). Teachers typically select one main goal for a lesson (although there will often be more than one, the teacher chooses the goal they consider to be most important for students to know about in this lesson). By recording the goal in writing, students and teacher can refer to it as the lesson progresses to see how learning is developing. Teachers may also ask the students to think about what they expect to learn as a result of the lesson and the goal. Together, students and teachers can write one or more criteria to determine whether the goal has been attained by the end of the lesson.

If difficulties are discovered during the lesson, instruction can be adjusted. At the conclusion of the lesson, the students and teacher can refer back to the goal to monitor their progress. If they wrote success criteria, these can be discussed and the success or otherwise of the lesson gauged As a result of these discussions, the teacher and students can set attainable and relevant goals and related success criteria for subsequent lessons.

Sharing of goals and success criteria

Rosanne identified through her data that a group of students needed support with summarising in order to be able to engage in cross-curricula reading and writing tasks. This was evident in reading both hard copy and digital text. She decided to focus group teaching on learning to use the summarising strategy. The overall learning goal for the students was:

We are learning how to summarise. She chose to focus on identifying the main idea inside each paragraph of a recount as one particular aspect of summarising for the group. The first learning goal for this block of work was:

We are learning how to identify the key idea in each paragraph to help us to summarise.

Rosanne shared the goal with the group and they discussed what they would be able to do by achieving the goal. From this discussion, they wrote the success criteria for the lesson:

We will be successful when we have learnt to:

• identify the key ideas in each paragraph or section of text

• justify to each other why we think they are key ideas

• pick out the key sentence/key words

• give a one-sentence summary of the main idea in each paragraph or section of text.

Explicit teaching of strategies

The importance of instruction that develops metacognition has been supported over recent years by a number of researchers who have conducted studies to find out exactly what it is about effective comprehension instruction that develops metacognitive learners. Explicit instruction of strategies understood, selected, used and combined by ‘good’ effective comprehenders has developed to describe a way of teaching comprehension strategies that promotes strong and explicit interactions between teacher, students and texts to develop the students’ ability to actively comprehend, to remember what they have read, and to be able to talk about their interpretations of texts. The role of transactional strategy instruction (Pressley, 2001a, 2001b, 2002a, 2002b, 2006) and direct explanation of strategies (Duffy, 2003) were both implemental in the development of this work. In today’s context, explicit instruction of strategies is any strategy students use to assist reading, such as a decoding strategy, a vocabulary strategy, a mix of the two; a strategy to understand visually presented information or a strategy to support paragraph comprehension. The strategy or mix of strategies taught will be determined from student needs and challenges within the text.

Explicit instruction includes:

• Teachers provide students with a direct explanation of the focus strategy/strategies for comprehension. This explanation includes telling students what the strategy is, how it assists reading comprehension, and what readers do when they use the strategy.

• Explanations are written in ‘student friendly’ language with students as active participants in forming and exemplifying each explanation. These explanations are then added to over time to build up a comprehensive glossary of the strategy under instruction, supported by language and examples that the students clearly understand.

• Teachers regularly model use of the strategy/strategies to a small group of students. In doing so, they provide and reinforce information on the strategy/strategies, how and when to use the strategy, and how use of the strategy helps them as a reader.

• Teachers and students share and discuss information on the learning benefits that can be gained from the use of the strategy/strategies.

• Classroom instruction provides a range of opportunities for collaborative, guided, paired and independent use of each strategy taught across a wide range of text and text forms, drawing on the principles of gradual release of responsibility (Vygotsky, 1962).

• Classroom instruction provides opportunities for students to model and explain the use of the strategy/strategies to each other.

• Classroom instruction provides multiple opportunities for students to use the strategies on their own and for ongoing maintenance of the strategies over time.

• Students are provided with ongoing opportunities to use these strategies when reading to meet the demands of the curriculum.

• Strategy instruction is integral to the learning of content –it is a means to the end – not the end in itself.

The think-aloud approach

The think-aloud approach (see, for example, Brown & Lyttle, 1988) involves the reader thinking out loud (verbalising) the processes, thoughts and ideas that they are engaging in as they try to understand what they are reading. Teachers can think aloud to model a process (for example, the application of a decoding or comprehension strategy) and to show students how to verbalise their own thoughts. Students can then use the think-aloud approach to verbalise not just the information and ideas that they are reading, but also the internal thought processes that they are engaged in as they make meaning. When students verbalise their thoughts in this way, they make their thought processes accessible to others. This, in turn, allows for discussion and feedback between students and between students and their teachers on the process of learning how to make meaning of text.

The think-aloud approach is used to support student reading comprehension in the following ways:

• teachers think aloud to make the strategies they are using explicit, as they read a text to their students

• teachers think aloud to describe how they combine their prior knowledge with the ideas and content in the text to develop meaning

• students think aloud to explain their thought processes to the teacher, as they work their way through a text

• students think aloud to explain their thought processes to their peers, as they work their way through text.

The think-aloud approach is a way of supporting students to learn about their own learning. Explicit teaching involves using a range of statements, questions and prompts designed to promote think-alouds. Teachers and students both regularly use these prompts to scaffold the think-aloud process and to assist students to talk about their use of strategies and the processes they are using when they select and use these strategies. By thinking aloud, students make their learning (the processes they go through and the strategies they use) visible to themselves and to others. It is an effective way for students to understand themselves as learners, to develop metacognitive awareness and to support students to reflect on what they are learning, how they are learning it, and the benefits they are gaining as a result.

Text complexity

Text complexity refers to the level of difficulty within a text in relation to the reader and the purpose for reading. Teachers deliberately match texts to students’ interests, challenge level and learning needs as part of developing a comprehensive instructional reading program. Some students will find some texts more difficult than others. Teachers draw on their knowledge of students’ learning needs, their pedagogical content knowledge and their knowledge of text content and structure to match students with text.

Motivation towards reading, knowledge of text structure and content, and readers’ personal and cultural experiences impact on the level of difficulty a text might provide for readers. Further, the purpose of the reading, the students’ confidence and experience in reading for this purpose, and their understanding and ability to use a range of skills and strategies implicit in this purpose affect text complexity.

Purposes may include reading for entertainment, for recreation, to find main ideas, to think critically about issues, for investigation and problem solving, to retell, to prepare for discussion or debate or oral/visual presentation of ideas, to synthesise across a range of text and to evaluate ideas and new learning gained through reading. To meet these purposes, students may need to confidently and independently draw on skills that include learning how to scan information, get the gist of the text ideas and structure, overview the text content and structure, form a plan for reading, take notes, question, reread, paraphrase and reason.

Group teaching approaches

To be effective, instruction needs to focus on students’ needs. Students’ needs vary widely and change frequently. For these reasons, and because of the central role of discussion and collaboration, small group approaches are most effective for teaching students how to become skilled comprehenders. There are several effective group-based approaches that can be used to teach reading comprehension. These approaches include guided reading, shared reading, reciprocal reading and literature circles, and are often supported by teacher read-alouds, repeated reading, choral reading, silent reading and partner reading. These are all appropriate for metacognitive comprehension instruction for students in the primary years and are able to be utilised across the curriculum and as part of integrated and inquirybased instruction. Each approach provides explicit reading comprehension instruction that includes:

• sharing lesson learning goals and success criteria with students

• providing opportunities for student self-assessment and feedback from peers and teachers during and at the end of each lesson, as appropriate

• teaching and learning specific comprehension strategies in order to access and understand content of reading material

• demonstrating how these strategies can be used in combination, dependent on degree of difficulty, to make and explore meaning from text

• making transparent to students the thinking skills that they are engaged in as they comprehend text through modelling, explaining, telling and deliberately sharing their thinking – the think-aloud strategy

• providing encouragement and support for students to become active in the same ways that skilled readers are active when they process text

• focusing on the long-term goal of developing the coordinated and independent use of a range of comprehension strategies across different text types and mediums.

The teaching approaches used should engage students in talking not just about the text they have read, but also about their own learning and their developing understanding of what it means to be a good comprehender. Students who are able to think and talk about the strategies they use are also better able to draw on their own knowledge and experiences to problem solve as they encounter difficulties.

For many teachers, these approaches will not be new. As teachers modify their teaching to provide metacognitive comprehension instruction however, they will also strengthen their implementation of guided, shared and reciprocal reading literature circles and teacher read-alouds including the use of goal setting at the beginning of each lesson; reflection of the goal both as the lesson progresses and at the conclusion of the lesson; deliberate use of teacher and student demonstration and explanation; and regular use of the think-aloud approach. This stronger focus on providing highly metacognitive comprehension instruction will in turn lead to improved reading comprehension achievement for students. (See chapters 6 and 7 for descriptions and illustrations of these approaches, and for information on how to organise for group instruction.)

Talking about learning

Metacognition is enhanced when students have opportunities to talk about their learning and reflect on what they know and how they know it. Talk can assist students to describe and talk about their comprehension, monitor their comprehension effectively, describe what they are doing when they comprehend, express their ideas and reflect on their own thinking and learning. Furthermore, talk with peers enables students to learn from others’ experiences and knowledge. Opportunities for learning talk include talk between pairs, talk within a peer group, talk in small group discussion and talk between the teacher and student. Talking about learning is woven into every component of metacognitive comprehension instruction, and every part of this book.

Motivation and engagement

Students who believe they are good at reading are generally motivated and have a positive feeling and commitment towards reading. There is considerable value in encouraging students to learn how to become ‘good’ at reading, and to know what it is that ‘good’ readers actually do. Similarly, students who understand the importance of reading, who develop a desire to become good readers and who are prepared to apply effort, are likely to be motivated and engaged as readers. There are a number of ways that classroom instruction can harness and foster student motivation. These include:

• appropriate text selection

• student involvement in selection of topics, authors and themes

• student knowledge and understanding of the lesson purpose

• allowing for students to be actively engaged (through interactions) in the lesson

• alignment of follow-up activities with students’ interests and abilities

• providing a variety of follow-up activities

• encouraging constructive two-way feedback within lessons.

When students have a sense of control over their learning, and know why they are being asked to develop a metacognitive awareness of their own comprehension, they are far more likely to be engaged and motivated in reading. Metacognitive comprehension instruction gives students control over their own learning.

This book supports teachers to develop approaches that encourage and assist students to take control over their learning, and to foster student motivation and engagement with reading, by drawing students’ attention to the cognitive strategies that they can use to help them comprehend the texts they have to read, as well as the ones they choose to read. These strategies can be used consciously and intentionally, or they can be carried out without the reader’s conscious attention. The important thing is, however, that readers learn to know and understand strategies for comprehension, and can control their use when they choose, or need, to do so.

Summary

This chapter has outlined the key components of metacognitive comprehension instruction: a form of instruction that has resulted in significant sustained gains in reading comprehension achievement for students. The approaches that are used enable students to learn about learning and to think about thinking – they are metacognitively rich. By showing students how to think about when, how and why they use comprehension strategies, teachers are able to influence learning outcomes and make learning transparent for their students.

This is achieved by providing deliberate and explicit instruction for students on the strategies employed by effective comprehenders. It means sharing the teaching and the learning with students – letting them in on the ‘secrets’ about learning so that they understand how their learning develops, what helps them to learn better and how they can know whether or not they are being successful. A major benefit of this form of instruction is the development of engaged and motivated students.

References and recommended reading

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Anderson, R.C. & Pearson, P.D. (1984). A schema-theoretic view of basic processes in reading. In P.D. Pearson (Ed.). Handbook of reading research (pp. 255–291). New York, NY: Longman.

Ausubel, D.P. (1963). The psychology of meaningful learning. New York, NY: Grune & Stratton.

Black, P., Harrison, C., Lee, C., Marshall, B., & Wiliam, D. (2014). Working inside the black box (rev. edn.). Melbourne, Vic: Hawker Brownlow Education.

Black, P. & Wiliam, D. (1998). Inside the black box: Raising standards through classroom assessment. London, UK: Kings College School of Education.

Block, C.C. & Pressley, M. (2001). Comprehension instruction: Research-based best practices. New York, NY: The Guilford Press.

Brassell, D. (2013). IRA essentials: Motivating readers, inspiring teachers. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Braunger, J. & Lewis, J. (2006). Building a knowledge base in reading (2nd ed.). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Brown, C.S. & Lyttle, S.L. (1988). Merging assessment and instruction: Protocols in the classroom. In S.M. Glazer, L.W. Searfoss, & L.M. Gentile (Eds). Reexamining reading diagnosis: New trends and procedures (pp. 94–102). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Brown, R., Pressley, M., Van Meter, P., & Schuder, T. (1996). A quasi-experimental validation of transactional strategies instruction with low-achieving second-grade readers. Journal of Educational Psychology, 88(1), 18–37.

Clarke, S. (2001). Closing the gap through formative assessment: Effective distance marking in elementary schools in England. Paper presented at AERA Conference, New Orleans, LA.

Clay, M.M. (1991). Becoming literate: The construction of inner control. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Davis, A.J. (2007). Teaching reading comprehension

Wellington, NZ: Learning Media.

Davis, A.J. (2013a). Effective writing instruction. Melbourne, Vic: Eleanor Curtain Publishing.

Davis, A.J. (2013b). Explorations: Strategies for comprehension for informative texts Modules 1–5. Melbourne, Vic: Eleanor Curtain Publishing

1 • A balanced approach to reading comprehension instruction

Davis, A.J. (2015). Building comprehension strategies: For the primary years. Melbourne, Vic: Eleanor Curtain Publishing.

Dowhower, S. L. (1999). Supporting a strategic stance in the classroom: A comprehension framework for helping teachers help students to be strategic. The Reading Teacher, 52(7), 672–688.

Duffy, G.G. (2003). Explaining reading: A resource for teaching concepts, skills, and strategies. New York, NY: The Guilford Press.

Duffy, G.C. & Roehler, L.R. (1989). Why strategy instruction is so different and what we need to do about it. In C.B. McCormick, G. Miller, & M. Pressley (Eds), Cognitive strategy research: From basic research to educational applications (pp. 133–154). New York, NY: Springer-Verlag.

Earl, L.M. (2013). Assessment as learning: Using classroom assessment to maximise learning (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Ellery, V. (2009). Creating strategic readers (2nd ed.). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Fielding, L.G. & Pearson, P.D. (1994). Reading comprehension: What works? Educational Leadership, 51(5), 2–68.

Fisher, D. & Frey, N. (2009). Background knowledge: The missing piece of the comprehension puzzle. Portsmouth. NH: Heinemann.

Forrest-Pressley, D.L. & Waller, T.G. (1984). Cognition, metacognition and reading New York, NY: Springer-Verlag.

Frankel, K.K. & Pearson, P.D. (2014). IRA essentials: Reading interventions: Yesterday’s theories, today’s pedagogy, tomorrow’s teachers. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Garner, R. (1987). Metacognition and reading comprehension. Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing Corporation.

Glazer, S.M., Searfoss, L.W., & Gentile, L.N. (Eds). (1988). Reexamining reading diagnosis: New trends and procedures (pp. 94–102). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Hall, L.A., Burns. L.D., & Edwards, E.C. (2011). Empowering struggling readers. practices for the middle grades. New York, NY: The Guilford Press.

Keene, E.O. & Zimmerman, S. (1997). Mosaic of thought: Teaching comprehension in a reader’s workshop. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Klinger, J.K., Morrison, A., & Eppolito, A. (2010). Metacognition to improve reading comprehension. In R.E. O’Connor & P.F. Vadasy (Eds) Handbook of reading interventions, pp. 220–253. New York, NY: The Guilford Press.

Ministry of Education. (2003). Effective literacy practice in years 1–4. Wellington, NZ: Learning Media.

Ministry of Education. (2006). Effective literacy practice in years 5–8. Wellington, NZ: Learning Media.

National Early Literacy Panel. (2008). Developing early literacy: Report of the National Early Literacy Panel. Washington, DC: National Institute for Literacy.

National Reading Panel. (2000). Report of the National Reading Panel. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.

National Reading Panel. (2001). Teaching children to read: Report of the comprehension instruction subgroup to the National Institute on Child Health and Development. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

O’Connor, R.E. & Vadasy, P.F. (Eds). (2011). Handbook of reading interventions. New York, NY: The Guilford Press.

Pressley, M. (2001a). Comprehension instruction: What makes sense now, what might make sense soon? Reading Online, 5(2). Retrieved from www.readingonline.org/articles/handbook/pressley

Pressley, M. (2001b). Effective reading instruction: A paper commissioned by the National Reading Conference. Chicago, IL: National Reading Conference. Retrieved from www.nrconline.org/publications/pressleywhite2.pdf

Pressley, M. (2002a). Reading instruction that works: The case for balanced teaching (2nd ed.). New York, NY: The Guilford Press.

Pressley, M. (2002b). Comprehension strategies instruction. In C. Collins Block & M. Pressley (Eds), Comprehension instruction: Research-based best practices, pp. 11–27. New York, NY: The Guilford Press.

Pressley, M. (2006). Reading instruction that works: The case for balanced teaching (3rd ed.). New York, NY: The Guilford Press.

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Pressley, M. & Woloshyn, V. (1995). Cognitive strategy instruction that really improves children’s academic improvement. Cambridge, MA: Brookline Books.

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Wiliam, D. (2011). Embedded formative assessment. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press. 1

To purchase a printed copy of this book, follow the link to the Eleanor Curtain Publishing shop

To purchase a full digital copy, Click here.

Index

able readers, extending comprehension strategies 159–62 reading fluency 98

vocabulary instruction 77–8 word recognition 49–50

academic vocabulary 58–9 affixes 46, 241 see also prefixes; suffixes analogies 241 to link to prior knowledge 156 to work out unknown words 25–6, 47

analysing (comprehension strategy) 146–7

combining with synthesising 148–51

analysing samples of work 10–11

anecdotal records 9, 241

antonyms 75, 241 arguments, preparing to read 214, 218

asking questions for clarification 138 assumptions, identifying 150 automaticity 83, 241

backtrack and jot 138 balanced reading program components 221–9

base words see root/base words

bias in texts 150 blends see consonant blends

book clubs 162

bookmarking 136

brainstorming before reading 124

brainstorming images 131

categorisation newly learnt words 72 tasks 224

cause-and-effect relationships 150 challenge and justify (evaluating texts) 151

challenging words finding 49 listing 74

character web 219

characters, comparing 151

chart development from group instruction 34–5

charting 136

charting images 131

choral reading 94

clarification, seeking 138–9

clarifying 192, 196

classroom talk (words) 72

closed syllables 36

cloze activities 70–2, 219, 223

clusters of letters 46

collaboration 15, 64, 241

common letter combinations 37–8

comparing characters 151

versions 150

complex texts, supporting strategy use with 160

comprehension skills, and core vocabulary knowledge 3–4

comprehension strategies 4, 103–63 analysing combined with synthesising 146–51

comprehending fiction and non-fiction texts 120–2

connecting to prior knowledge 109–10, 123–6, 155–7

developing metacognitive awareness 162

evaluating 151–3

extending able readers 159–62

identifying student needs

105–10

inferring 132–4, 157–8, 174–5, 177–8, 218

key messages for teachers 104

metacognitive comprehension instruction 110–11

monitoring for comprehension 112–15, 156–7

predicting and re-predicting 126–9 recording strategies used by students 114 seeking clarification 137–9 self-questioning 134–7 sharing 113 for struggling students 154–9 summarising 115, 140–2, 157 synthesising 143–6, 147 tasks 228–9 teaching 122–53

visualising 110, 129–32, 185–9

comprehension strategy development, teacher monitoring of 114–15

comprehension strategy knowledge 105

awareness and use of specific comprehension strategies 109–10 awareness and use of specific text structures 108–9

independent assessment tasks 105–8

connecting key ideas 126

considering evidence 145

consonant blends 45, 241 consonant digraphs 46 context clues to infer the meaning of a word 64–5, 75 to predict an unknown word 47

core vocabulary knowledge, and comprehension skills 3–4

critical points 129

critical thinking 122

cross-curricula content 39, 58, 69, 122, 169, 181, 182, 202, 218

decoding 3, 25, 83, 241

derivational suffixes 67

derivations 241

dictation 42, 50

dictionary pronunciation guides 36

digital devices to record your own reading aloud 96

digital texts 2, 98, 116, 168, 182, 202 reading while listening to 92

digraphs 25

consonant 46

direct explanation of strategies 12

direct and regular instruction (vocabulary) 75

displaying new words that have been learnt 66–7

evaluating texts (comprehension strategy) 151–3

evaluative questions 137

evidence, considering 145

explicit instruction of strategies 12–13

extending able readers

comprehension strategies 159–62

reading fluency 98–9

vocabulary instruction 77–8

word recognition 49–50

factual texts 194–7

fiction texts 108, 115–16, 145

comprehending 115–18

literature circles 201

story elements 116–18

fixing up faulty understanding 112 flow charts 131

graphic organiser 228

fluency see reading fluency

formative assessment 1, 2, 8–12

goal-focused instruction 10–11

identifying students’ changing needs 9

to identify students’ wordrecognition abilities 26–30 using 11–12

genres 78, 182, 241

glossary 241–2

goal-focused instruction 10–11

graphemes 25

graphic organisers, studentdeveloped 161

group activities

choral reading 94 clarification strategy 139 developing charts from 34–5 guided reading 223–4

post-reading activities 212, 215–20, 240 pre-reading activities 212, 213–15, 240 readers’ theatre 94–5

reciprocal reading 228

shared reading 97–8, 182–3, 225–6 word recognition 33

group-based instruction 15–16, 205–29

balanced reading program components 221–9

cycle 210

establishing groups 207–8

key messages for teachers 205 managing and organising 210–21 planning for those who are not with a teacher 210–13

reading group boxes or files 220

reading task boards 221 repeated oral reading with feedback and guidance 88–9 systems and routines for reading activities 218

what is it? 206–7

groups establishment 207

adjusting groups as the year progresses 208

class summary sheet 209 grouping at the start of the school year 207–8

guided reading 167–80

group activities 223–4 observation guide 233–4

procedure 173

reading level of texts 170

reflecting on practice 180 sample program 222–4

what is it? 169

guided reading lesson steps planning the lesson 170, 174–6 introducing the text 171, 176–8 reading and discussing the text 171–2, 178–80 lesson conclusion 173–4

high-quality texts, time spent reading 159

highlighting 141

identifying students’ needs comprehension strategy knowledge 105–10

formative assessment 9

reading fluency 84–6

vocabulary instruction 55–7 working out words 26–30

imagery 218

incidental learning 54, 73, 241

increasing the quality and quantity of reading to boost vocabulary 54 to boost word recognition 48–9

independent activities

independent reading 96

sustained silent reading 94

word recognition 33

see also silent reading

independent student reflective record 34

inferential questions 136

inferred meanings 134

inferring 132–4, 157–8, 174–5, 177–8, 218

teaching how to infer 133–4

inflectional suffixes 67

informal discussions 9, 109–10

integrating a range of strategies and reporting back (comprehension strategy) 160–1

interviews with students 9, 86

intonation 84, 100, 241

introducing the text

guided reading 171, 176–8

reciprocal reading 194–5

shared reading 184, 187–8

investigative questions 126

justifying importance 142

key messages, analysing 151

key sentences, finding in a paragraph 141

key words, predicting from 128, 214–15

KWL approach 126, 228

language-rich environment 54, 241

learning goals 10 sharing 11–12

lesson conclusion guided reading 173–4 shared reading 184–5

letter clusters 46

letter combinations, common 37–8

letter–sound relationships 3, 41, 42, 43–4

letter strings 25

literal meanings 134

literal questions 136

literary texts see fiction texts

literature circles 162, 201–2

long vowel sounds 45

main concept, identifying 143–6

meanings of words 3

mental modelling 241

metacognition 1, 6, 241 development through instruction 6

prior knowledge and schema theory 6–7

metacognitive awareness, developing comprehension strategies 162

reading fluency 99

vocabulary instruction 78–9 word recognition 50–1

metacognitive comprehension instruction 2, 4–5

components 5–17 comprehension strategies

110–11

explicit teaching of strategies 12–13

formative assessment 8–12

group teaching approach 15–16

motivation and engagement 16–17

reading fluency 87–96

talking about learning 16

think-aloud approach 14

vocabulary instruction 57–73

working out words 30–41, 42–9

mind maps

132, 241

mini-lessons 35, 36, 60, 174, 186 modelling

and thinking aloud

61, 88 of fluent reading 87–8

monitoring for comprehension

112–15, 156–7

morphemic analysis 75, 242

morphological knowledge 25

motivation and engagement of students 16–17

multi-syllabilic words 35

narrative texts 16, 144–5, 150, 174, 177, 220

newly learnt words categorisation 72 displaying 67–8

non-fiction texts 108, 109, 118–19, 145, 194–7

comprehending 115, 118–22

literature circles 201

reading critically 122

text features 119

text structures 119–22

observations ongoing 55 planned 9

targeted 26–8

ongoing observations 55

onset and rime 25, 38, 42, 242

open syllables 36

orthographic knowledge 25, 242

pace 4, 84, 92, 242 paired activities reading aloud 91, 93 reading for fluency 90–2 and comprehension 92–3 repeated reading 93–4, 198–9 synonyms 216–17 word recognition 33, 217

peer assessment 10, 99 persuasive texts 150, 214, 218 phonemes 25, 242

phonemic awareness 25, 242 phonological awareness 25

planned observations 9 planning the lesson guided reading 170, 174–6

reciprocal reading 194 shared reading 183, 185–7

poems 218 points of view 150

post-reading activities (group-based instruction) 212, 215–20, 240 linking to cross-curricula content 218

selecting 215–20 pre-reading activities (group-based instruction) 212, 213–15

predicting 193, 197 and re-predicting 126–9 from key words 128, 214–15

prediction cards 128

prefixes 25, 38, 39, 42, 65–6, 75, 231, 242

preparation for reading, vocabulary instruction in 60, 62–4

preparing to read an argument 214, 218 a recount 214

previewing texts 62–3, 213 student-generated 161 to link to prior knowledge 156

prior knowledge

activating 223, 226, 229 and schema theory 7, 123 linking to 109–10, 123–6, 156, 214 of vocabulary 62, 63–4 to assist comprehension 109–10, 123–6, 155–7

prompt cards 139

prompt charts 139

prosody 84, 100, 242

pseudo words 37

quality questioning and discussion, focusing on (comprehension) 158

questioning the author 162, 193, 199–200 the text 159, 193, 196 to understand word meanings 68–9 questions

‘rich’ 133, 169 teaching students how to ask questions of the text 158–9 using specific (comprehension strategy) 136–7

read and record (comprehension strategy assessment) 105–6

read, predict, record 128

readers’ theatre 94–5

reading

balanced reading program components 221–9 guided 167–80, 222–4, 233–4

increasing the quality and quantity of 48–9

independent 96

reciprocal 190–7, 227–9, 238–9 shared 97–8, 181–90, 225–6, 235–7

reading activities, systems and routines for 220

reading and discussing the text guided reading 171–2, 178–80 reciprocal reading 195–7 shared reading 184, 188–90

reading aloud

digital devices to record your own 96 with digital/audio texts 96 exploring use of voice 92 with a partner 91, 93 reading comprehension and fluency 92–3 nature of 2–4 and prior knowledge 7 and students’ prior knowledge 7 teaching see teaching reading

comprehension

reading critically, non-fiction texts 122

reading fluency 4, 83–100 components 84 deliberately teaching the behaviours of a fluent reader 88 developing metacognitive awareness

99

extending able readers 98 identifying student needs 84–6 independent, partner and group activities 89–96

key messages for teachers 83–4 metacognitive comprehension instruction 87–96 modelling 87–8

repeated oral reading with feedback and guidance 88–9 when readers struggle 96–8

reading group boxes or files 220

reading levels of texts 170

reading research 1–2

reading task boards 221

reading to students 73, 168–9

reading while listening to digital text 92

reciprocal reading 190–7 group activities 228

observation guide 238–9 procedure 191

reflecting on practice 197 sample program 227–9 strategies 190, 192–3, 196–7 what is it? 190–2

reciprocal reading lesson introducing the text 194–5 planning the lesson 194

reading and discussing the text

195–7

recount, preparing to read 214 reference materials, using 76 reflecting on learning 228

repeated reading 226

sustained opportunities for 97 with feedback and guidance 88–9 with a partner 93–4, 198–9, 217

reporting back 125

reports 216

re-predicting 126–7

rereading 113

rhyming words 25

‘rich’ questions 133, 169

role-play use of vocabulary

68

root/base words 25, 38, 39, 42, 70, 75, 242

scaffold 6, 14, 33, 72, 74, 89, 143, 147, 242

scaffolded practice 32, 157, 242

schema theory 6 and prior knowledge 7, 123

seeking clarification (comprehension strategy) 137–9

possible learning goals 138 supporting activities 138–9

select, pre-teach, teach, follow-up (new vocabulary for struggling students) 74

self-assessment 10

reading fluency 98, 99

self-monitoring 4 and fixing up (comprehension) 112

self-questioning (comprehension strategy) 134–7

possible learning goals 135

supporting activities 136–7

self-reporting, vocabulary 55–6

sequence of main ideas or events

141–2

shared reading 97–8, 181–90 group activities 183, 225–6 with large groups of mixed-ability readers 182

observation guide 235–7 opportunities provided by 181–2 procedure 185 reflecting on practice 190 sample program 225–6 what is it? 181

shared reading lesson steps planning the lesson 183, 185–7 introducing the text 184, 187–8 reading and discussing the text 184, 188–90 lesson conclusion 184–5

sharing comprehension strategies 113

sharing learning goals 11–12

sharing predictions 129

sight memory words 47

silent reading 4, 85, 94, 171, 179

sketching 130

skimming 125

sorting words 69–70

sounding out words 24–5

spelling patterns for vowel sounds 40–1, 49, 230

starting from the unknown (linking to prior knowledge) 126

step by step (to identify main concept) 146

story elements 116–18

story maps 151

struggling students

comprehension of written texts

154–9

reading fluency 96–8

vocabulary 73–6

word recognition 42–9

student demonstrations 9, 27–8

student dictation 50

student-generated previewing of texts 161

student surveys (comprehension strategy use) 106–8

subject-specific vocabulary 195, 218

success criteria 10, 11–12, 242

suffixes 25, 38, 39, 42, 48, 67, 75, 232

summarising 115, 140, 157, 193, 196, 218–19

possible learning goals 140–1

supporting activities 141–2

sustained silent reading 94

syllabification 34–5, 42, 242

syllables 242

breaking words and pronouncing 46–7

exploring 35–6

synonym wheel 224

synonyms 75, 216–17, 242

syntactic knowledge 56, 242

synthesising 143–6, 147 combining with analysing 148–51 identifying the main concept 143–6

table of contents 220

talking about learning 16

target strategies for instruction, selecting 30–1

targeted observations

reading fluency 85–6

understanding vocabulary 56–7

word-recognition skills 26–8

teacher–student interviews 9, 28–9, 86

teaching comprehension strategies 122–53

teaching reading comprehension 167–202

balanced approach 1–17

combining approaches 198

guided reading 167–80

key messages for teachers 167–8

literature circles 201–2 questioning the author 199–200 reading to students 168–9

reciprocal reading 190–7

repeated paired reading 198–9 shared reading 181–90 supporting approaches 198–202

teaching strategies for students struggling with comprehension 154–9 for students struggling with reading fluency 96–9

for students struggling with vocabulary 73–6 for students struggling with word recognition 42–9 for word recognition 24–6, 31–2

teaching vocabulary 3–4, 53–79 text-based tasks 110

text complexity 14–15

text difficulty 49

text features (non-fiction texts) 119, 214

text structures

graphic organiser 226 knowledge, awareness and use of 108–9

narrative texts 220

non-fiction texts 119–22, 220

textual supports, linking to prior knowledge 156

think-aloud approach 14, 27 and modelling 61, 88

tier 1–3 words 57–8 time spent reading high-quality texts 159

transactional strategy instruction 12

two vowels 46

two-way feedback 17, 242

Venn diagrams 220

verb tenses 56, 242

versions of a text, comparing 150

visual supports, linking to prior knowledge 156

visualising/visualisation 110, 129–32, 185–9

possible learning goals 130 supporting activities 130–2

vivid descriptions 130

vocabulary 216–17, 242 activities 224, 226, 228 reasons students struggle to acquire 73

subject-specific 195, 218

vocabulary instruction 3–4, 53–79 choosing the vocabulary focus 74–6

developing metacognitive awareness 78–9

during and after reading 60, 64–73 extending able readers 77–8 how vocabulary is learnt 59

identifying student needs 55–7

instructional strategies and approaches 61–2

key messages for teachers 53–4 making time for 76

metacognitive comprehension instruction 57–73

modelling and thinking allowed 61 opportunities for 60

in preparation for reading 60, 62–4 suggestions for supporting struggling students 74–6 what words should be taught? 58–9 when readers struggle 73–6

vocabulary prediction 63

vocabulary prior knowledge, linking to 62, 63–4

vocabulary sorting task 226

vowel sounds common spelling patterns 40–1, 230 ways they can be recorded 40–1

what do you think? (evaluating texts)

153

why is it ...? (analysis and synthesis)

149

word changing 37

word chunks 38–9

word of the day – guess my word 69

word meanings, questioning to understand 68–9

word recognition 242

assessment tools 42 developing metacognitive awareness

50–1

extending able readers 49–50 formative assessment 26–30 independent, paired and group activities 33–41 and reading fluency 83

reasons students struggle with 41–2 target strategies for instruction 30–1 teaching strategies 24–6, 31–2 for students struggling with 42–9

word-recognition abilities

student demonstration 27–8

targeted observations 26–7

word-recognition fluency 3

word-recognition log 34

word-recognition rules, teaching 48

word-recognition strategies (students use) 31–2

word sorting 69–70

words that need to be taught 57

academic vocabulary 58–9

tier 1 words 57

tier 2 words 58

tier 3 words 58

working with groups see group-based instruction

working out words 3, 23–51, 217 developing metacognitive awareness

50–1

extending able readers 49–50

identifying student needs 26–30

key messages for teachers 23–6

metacognitive comprehension

ninstruction 30–41, 42–9

when readers struggle 41–9

Teaching reading comprehension provides teachers working in years 4 to 8 with practical research-based strategies and ideas that support best practices in reading instruction.

Teaching reading comprehension brings together two influential bodies of research to show how the decisions a teacher makes affect student achievement in reading comprehension. When teachers combine a metacognitive approach with the principles of formative assessment, the result is highly effective instruction.

Teachers will find practical, research-based information on all aspects of teaching reading comprehension, including:

• word strategies (including phonemic awareness, phonics, structural analysis)

• vocabulary strategies

• fluency

• comprehension strategies

• instructional reading approaches

• working with groups.

Highly informative and practical, this second edition of Teaching reading comprehension uses current research to discuss effective instruction, and shows teachers what they need to know about students to make their instruction more effective.

Reproducibles and graphic organisers can be downloaded and used for independent, paired and small-group work during instruction, and as part of planned practice and maintenance of previous learning throughout the year. The reproducibles and graphic organisers also provide explicit models of formative assessment of reading practices and strategies.

Dr Alison Davis is a leading literacy researcher, writer, speaker and professional development provider. Alison is particularly well known for her research on reading comprehension. She is the author of the highly successful Building comprehension strategies, Explorations Strategies for Comprehension for informative texts and Effective writing instruction.

ecpublishing.com.au strategies-for-comprehension.com.au