The Nuts and Bolts of Comprehension Instruction:

1. The Nuts and Bolts of Comprehension Instruction: Notes from Harvey and Goudvis Text, and Roberts & Coffey Text Elaine Roberts, Ph.D.

2. Active Literacy • Kids are doing interesting work, thinking about important information, asking questions and researching answers, and doing investigations. • Expanding Language: Conversations and Questioning-Students learn to use thinking questions -What makes you think that? Can you say more about that? • Think alouds-Teachers model how they approach texts and strategies for comprehension and teach students to do the same.

3. Showing Kids How to Think to Increase Comprehension and Life Long Learning Write your definition of the following-Think-Pair-Share: • Think Alouds • Read Alouds • Interactive read-alouds • Lifting text • Guided Discussion • Anchor Lessons and charts • Rereading for deeper meaning • Sharing our own literacy by modeling with adult literature

4. Think Alouds • Inner conversations: Impact of concentration, share thoughts, use sticky notes in margins to guide reader response writing and discussions • Activate and connect background knowledge: Show how thinking changes as we read=change background knowledge • Share our questions: One question leads to another, QAR strategy-The answer is right there, On my own, The author and Me • Share our inferences: Share how we infer unfamiliar words and concepts; share use of text structures, draw conclusions • Verbalize confusing points and share fix up strategies for comprehension: Monitor comprehension and use fix up strategies such as retelling, rereading, and clarifying info • Share how we determine main ideas: Pick out info we want to remember-What is the main idea and what are the important details?

5. Reading Aloud • Sharing favorite excerpts when reading • Interactive reading alouds - • Activate background knowledge • Model thinking and confusions • Guided reading- teacher reads and stops, students discuss reading, thinking, and take notes, stop and share, write responses and talk • Sharing thinking-before, during and after reading focus on the message and strategies. Discuss big ideas (relate to common core standards)

6. Lifting Text • Lift a newspaper article, information from text, quotes, and website information to discuss new vocabulary, share favorite bits of information and discuss text features • Charts and Language Experience stories can be used where students highlight words they know, add inferences, and place sticky notes on text to share questions, make connections or ask for clarification

7. Guided Discussion: Developing a Line of Thinking • Facilitate a conversation on a topic, issue, theme or idea to develop a line of thinking • Listen to students and restate their thinking for emphasis or to clarify • Teach students to listen to others, reflect, and respond • Stay on the topic • Piggyback off one another and ask higher level follow up questions We teach them the art of conversation!

8. Anchor Lessons and Anchor Charts • Mini lessons as anchors • Anchor charts are records of instruction- co-construct charts with students to record thinking about topics and strategies • Connect past teaching to future teaching-add to and elaborate on learning • Strategy charts • Content charts • Genre charts-features of non-fiction and elements of fiction

9. Rereading for Deeper Meaning • The more students hear a story or read about a topic of interest the better they comprehend it • Model reading of magazines, newspapers, web texts, what else? – need to show students how we reread to make sense of what is read. • Teach students to use the 5 W’s-Who, what, when, where and why-they can use 5 W sticky notes or a hand with fingers graphic organizer to record information during content area reading-they reread to find the answers when necessary

10. Talking about Reading • Talk time - discuss what was read to enhance vocabulary and with long term memory • Purposeful talk-conversations about reading that furthers critical thinking and cultural understandings • Active listening is at the heart of thoughtful conversation • Turn and talk –talk with partner to process information, enhance understanding and maximize engagement • Paired reading-common interests, topic of study; listener has most important job-pay attention and respond to their partner • Jigsaw groups – Small groups read and discuss a main topic and break into expert groups where they research one favorite area of the topic, then report back to the small group. Ex. topic-fairy tales, expert groups focus on favorite fairy tale and complete a related project about it to share with the original group. • Book clubs, literature circles and study groups for inquiry learning

11. Writing Ideas and More: Reading to Enhance Comprehension • Text Coding to guide writing: • R-reminds me of • T-T, text to text connection, text to history connection, text to self connection, text to other text connection • L, New learning • ? Question • * Key Idea • Light bulb for new idea • ! Surprising information • I Inference Plus: Margin notes, sticky notes, think sheets, response journals, notebooks, wonder books, drama, art, music, historical, scientific, etc.-go beyond oral and written responses

12. Technology and Reader Responses: Aesthetic and Efferent • Aesthetic-read for enjoyment • Efferent-read for information Combination of both is best! Reader Response Theory by Louise Rosenblatt: Reading is a transaction between the reader and the text. www.gamequarium.org/dir/Readquarium http://www.gamequarium.org/dir/SqoolLibrary/ http://www.learningisland.com/3clown%20fish2.htm

13. Active Literacy in the Content Areas • Content area specialists are all teachers of reading and writing. • Focus on comprehension and meaning rather than memorization. • Connect with real world and life connections. • Center around culture, big ideas, essential questions and key concepts. • Engage students interest, inquiry and enthusiasm. • Encourage student choice and independent thinking. • Provide time for thinking. • Set expectations to push students to higher levels of thinking. • Show how we understand what we read through questioning, drawing inferences, synthesizing information and ideas. • Respect others viewpoints, spark thoughtful debates. • Encourage students to generate questions, solve or discover problems and solve them.

14. Reading to Learn in Social Studies and Science • Work with media specialists for texts and technology to motivate students about topics and concepts. • Investigate authentic questions about people, places and times. • Understand and appreciate multiple perspectives and opinions. • Use reading, writing, conversations, and artistic expression to acquire knowledge. • Merge thinking with information and new ideas. • Interactive read aloudsthrough picture books-include thought provoking questions about the people or ideas of the past, present and future, make characters come alive.

15. Read, write, view and react to: • History-sourcing, contextualizing? • Book Clubs: • Teachers model how to share conversations and respect the comments of others. • Books of interest near the students’ independent level should be used during flexible book club groups. • Students share pre-writing notes and think sheets to enhance discussions and change perspectives as they read. • Students are taught to understand that they need to read parts of the book and come prepared with written notes or think sheets to increase comprehension to participate in conversations. • Teachers model how to analyze and synthesize information, question during reading, visualize and make connections. • Students select books of interest, write about connections, question and wonder using think sheets or notes. This encourages students to use critical thinking strategies and participate in higher level discussions during book clubs.

16. Book Clubs: Engaging Strategies (Excerpts from Roberts and Coffey book, Keys to Literacy Instruction for the Net Generation) • Engaging strategies for higher level conversations include: • Analyzing and synthesizing information when responding to literature (i.e., think sheets - I think…, I noticed…, I wonder…, My favorite character is….because…), • Understanding and visualizing characters and topics based on individual views (i.e., illustrations and drawing about quotes of interest), • Making inferences and monitoring comprehension (i.e., students use fix up strategies for comprehension such as retelling, summarizing, rereading, character maps) • Making connections such as text to text, text to self, text to nature, text to history and more (i.e., personally engage in reading - I feel…, This reminds me…), • Questioning and critiquing at higher levels of thinking (i.e., students refine their questioning to higher levels-questions are shared during book club conversations, they make suggestions for changing the story) • Using historical informational picture books-students discuss the excitement of historical events and times and use Facts/Question/Response Think Sheets. Friere(1987) stated that "Without dialogue, there is no communication, and without communication there can be no true education" (p. 81).

17. Stop, Think and React Strategy • Historical reenactments, cultural videos-Graphic organizers with observations/ Questions/ Comments or Notes/My Thinking. • Merge visual maps of cultures and new thinking-use technology such as Globster, Peartree, etc. What are your favorite Science, Social Studies and Math websites?