Comprehension: Understanding and Responding: Narrative and Informational Chapters 7 & 8 Mod 5

Reading Chapters 7 and 8 was insightful in the breakdown of comprehension.  While the acts of comprehension are all areas that I am familiar with, the ABC model of anticipation, building and consolidation gave a more direct approach to teaching comprehension.  While I have used many of the strategies listed, I feel that I learned a more effective order of introduction those strategies.  I now understand the process of teaching comprehension so I can better plan my lessons to build upon one another.  I read the AdLit.org article, “Using Think Aloud to Improve Reading Comprehension,” and found a much more effective way to read aloud.  I have used modeling exclusively but had not thought of having the students write down the strategies I use to break down the text for understanding.  The article suggested a process of modeling, coached practice, and reflection to teach the students to apply the strategies instead of just modeling the strategies.  For those of you unfamiliar with the article, let me explain.  First I will model the think aloud process and have students write down strategies that they see me using to gain understanding.  Next they will share their observations and make a master list of strategies for the classroom.  The next phase is coached practice.  During this phase I will again read aloud but will randomly ask students what they are thinking during the reading to have them perform the “thinkaloud” part of the activity.  We will go to the list to see which strategy they employed in their answer/explanation.  Once the students have all completed the practiced think aloud, we will review the master list and find 2-3 strategies that no one has used to target practice.  Using a colored object to represent each of those 2-3 methods, students will be given an object and asked to use that particular strategy during the next read aloud.  Finally students will write a letter to a classmate (or me) explaining what they have learned and which practices they will now use that they had not used in the past.  I feel this is an excellent way to monitor comprehension progress while equipping students with actual methods of gaining comprehension that can be used across the content areas.

I also found the breakdown of informational text informative.  I have given students informational texts such as news articles but failed to teach the formatting of informational texts.  As a high school teacher I assume that students are familiar with newspapers, but often times they are not.  I like the idea of using reciprocal teaching for informational text so that the students can practice summarizing, clarifying, and explaining.  This method can also be used to show the different points of view or slants that accompany informational texts.

I would be interested in other adaptations that teachers are using to make basic comprehension strategies more effective. Please share here so that we may all benefit from your ideas and practices.