NSW Curriculum and Learning Innovation Centre

1. NSW Curriculum and Learning Innovation Centre Module 1 Teaching

2. Acknowledgement of Country We acknowledge the traditional Custodians of this Land, where the Aboriginal People have performed age-old ceremonies of storytelling, music, dance and celebration. We acknowledge and pay respect to the Elders past and present, and we acknowledge those of the future, for they will hold the memories, traditions and hopes of Aboriginal Australians. We must always remember that under the concrete and asphalt this Land is, was, and always will be traditional Aboriginal Land.

3. Professional Teaching Standards Standards addressed at Professional Competence in this workshop include: 1.2.1: Apply and use the knowledge of the content/disciplines through effective, content-rich, teaching activities and programs relevant to the stage. 4.2.5: Create, select and use a variety of appropriate teaching strategies and resources, including ICT and other technologies to make content meaningful to students. 6.2.1: Reflect critically on teaching and learning practice to enhance student learning outcomes.

4. Module 1 Teaching During this session, you will: deepen your understanding of comprehension understand the importance of talk to facilitate comprehension differentiate between comprehension strategies, teaching ideas, teaching strategies and teaching routines become familiar with the ‘Super Six’ comprehension strategies be provided with a process to support the explicit teaching of comprehension strategies reflect on the role of precision (assessment for learning) and its implications for students and teachers.

5. Setting the scene: Precision Focus for this session

6. Reflecting on comprehension Task 1. 3. 2. What do you believe comprehension to be? 2. What does it look like? What does it sound like?

7. Task Comprehension involves responding to, interpreting, analysing and evaluating texts (DET, 2009).

8. Task Read the text and answer the questions: Which task was easy? How did you go about completing the task? Did you understand the text? What did you learn? Did the tasks engage you in responding to, interpreting, analysing and evaluating the text?

9. Connecting and predicting Nerve cells in the brain are called neurons. Dendrites are the antennae of neurons that receive inputs. The text presents two theories about the effects of alcohol on the brain.

10. Discussion What did you do to interpret the text? What helped you most?

11. The role of conversation in comprehension ... discussion is defined as a dialogic classroom event in which students and teachers are cognitively, socially and affectively engaged in collaboratively constructing meaning or considering alternate interpretations of texts to arrive at new understandings. Almasi, 2002 (in Israel & Duffy, 2009)

12. What sort of conversation? Comprehension improves when we engage students in rich discussions that allow students to integrate knowledge, experience, strategies and textual insights. (Pearson, 2008)

13. Clarifying comprehension terminology

14. Strategies Avoid the perils of assumicide The death of a book occurs when teachers assume that students possess the prior knowledge, connections and motivation to make higher-level reading possible. (Teaching challenging text, Kelly Gallagher, 2004)

15. The ‘Super Six’ comprehension strategies

16. Making connectionsText to self; Text to text; Text to world What is it? Connectingprior knowledge with new information while reading. As readers engage with texts, they make connections to their personal experiences (Text to self); to other texts they have read, seen or heard (Text to text); and to things occurring in the world (Text to world). Why is it important? When readers link personal background knowledge, understanding or experiences to the text, they are able to construct meaning. How is it used? Readers let themselves ‘be reminded’ of things as the text is being read, viewed or heard. Background knowledge is combined with ideas and actions in the text that readers can relate to.

17. PredictingBeware the wild guess, make educated guesses What is it? Making an educated guess about something that will come later in the text. Reading detectives find evidence to back up predictions. Why is it important? When readers make a prediction, they engage with the author’s clues about what is important in the text. How is it used? Readers stop every once in a while and think about what the author has written and provided (such as a picture or chart).They check for clues about what might be important. Readers try to predict what will happen next or the theme or main idea that the author will emphasise.

18. QuestioningI wonder … What is it? Generating queries to guide thinking while reading, viewing or listening. Reading serves to answer the questions created. Readers generate and respond to why questions as well as how and what questions. Why is it important? The ability to generate questions underpins not only this strategy, but many interactions with texts (e.g. monitoring). Students need to learn how to generate and respond to questions. How is it used? Readers approach a text with questions and develop new questions as they read. Even after they have read a text engaged readers still ask questions.

19. MonitoringThe ‘fix up’ strategy What is it? Constantly checking whether their reading is making sense. They stop and think about their reading and know what to do when they don’t understand. Why is it important? When readers monitor, they are actively engaged in thinking while reading. Students learn to be aware of what they do understand and identify what they don’t understand. How is it used? Readers adjust reading speed to fit text difficulty and ‘fix’ any comprehension problems. Readers could: identify where the difficulty occurs; identify what the difficulty is; restate the difficult sentence or passage in their own words; look back through the text; look forward in the text.

20. VisualisingThe pictures that the author paints using words; the cinema unfolding in the mind What is it? Creating mental pictures based on what is read or heard. Students can imagine they are inside the scene described or take on the perspective of an historical figure, imagine the same scene from more than one perspective, etc. Why is it important? Students gain a more thorough understanding of the text by consciously using the words to create mental images. Students who visualise as they engage with a text not only have a richer experience but can recall what they have read for longer periods of time. How is it used? Readers stop at key points and create a picture, movie or sound clip. These images are used to draw conclusions, create distinct and unique interpretations of the text, to recall significant details.

21. SummarisingExtracting essential information What is it? Compiling a shortened version of written or spoken material, stating the main points and leaving out everything that is not essential. It is more than retelling; it involves analysing information, distinguishing important from unimportant elements and translating large chunks of information into a few short, cohesive sentences. Why is it important? Summarising assists comprehension monitoring, helps students understand the organisational structure of texts and is a skill that most adults must be proficient in to be successful. It integrates and reinforces the learning of major points. How is it used? Readers pause periodically and summarise what has happened so far. Summaries might use words, images or pictures to capture key ideas.

22. Explicit instruction This involves fully teacher supported whole-group instruction. Step 1: Select a text Step 2: Explain the strategy Step 3: Model the strategy Step 4: Guided support Step 5: Independent practice Step 6: Reflect.

23. Between-module task Start incorporating more extended conversations and deeper discussions in your classroom. Plan to explicitly teach your students at least one comprehension strategy systematically.

24. Reflection List key points for Precision • Reflect on this session: • List four ‘take home messages’ that you think are the most important. • Rank these in order of importance from 1-4 (1 being least important) • List words under each message that provide justification for the ranking. • Discuss ranking with a partner What’s important?

25. Bibliography Almasi, J. cited in Almasi, J .& Garas-York, K. (2009)’ Comprehension and discussion of text’, In Israel, S. E. & Duffy, G. G. Handbook of research on reading comprehension, Routledge, New York, NY, pp 323-346. Duke, N. K. & Pearson, P. D. (2002) ‘Effective practices for developing reading comprehension’, in Farstrup, A. E. &. Samuels, S. J. (eds.) What research has to say about reading instruction (3rd edition), pp. 205-242, IRA, Newark, DE. Gallagher, Kelly (2004) Teaching Challenging Text. Harvey, S. & Goudvis, A. (2000) Strategies that work: Teaching comprehension to enhance understanding, Stenhouse, Portland, ME. Hoyt, L (2009) Revisit, Reflect, Retell: Time tested strategies for teaching reading comprehension, Heinemann, Portsmouth, NH. Keene & Zimmerman (1997) NSW Institute Teachers The Digest Talking to learn: Dialogue in the classroom. Professional Teaching Standards located on NSW Institute of Teachers’ website viewed 16 September, 2009. <http://www.nswteachers.nsw.edu.au/IgnitionSuite/uploads/docs/Professional%20Teaching%20Standards.pdf> Paris, S. G. (2005) ‘Reinterpreting the development of reading skills’, Reading Research Quarterly, Vol. 40, No. 2, April/May/June, pp. 184–202. Pearson, P. D. (2008) Teaching reading comprehension: Research, best practice and good teaching viewed 7 October 2009, <http://www.docstoc.com/docs/687692/ Teaching-Reading-Comprehension- Research-Best-Practice> Scott, C. (2009) Talking to learn: Dialogue in the classroom. The Digest, NSWIT, 2009 (2) viewed 7 October 2009, <https://www.nswteachers.nsw.edu.au>