Comprehension Strategies and Metacognition

Dr. Deeney

EDC423

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Remember readability formulas? Is estimating comprehension that simple?

• Mary heard the ice cream truck coming down the street. She remembered her birthday money and rushed into the house.

• Mary heard the bus coming down the street. She remembered her birthday money and rushed into the house.

• Mary heard the ice cream truck coming down the street. She remembered her gun and rushed into the house.

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• Our perception of a scene can differ dramatically based on changing only one word. So, although vocabulary (how many syllables in a word) is important part of comprehension, it’s not as easy as saying:

Word meaningsentence meaningtext meaning

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Constructing Comprehension

• Transaction between the reader and the text• Reader brings background experiences and

knowledge to the text• Text provides guideposts to prevent meaning

from being random• Constructing comprehension like constructing a

theory—reader moves through hypotheses when reading, using schema

What Causes Misunderstanding?

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• Characteristics of the Reading Context– Purpose– Environment

• Characteristics of the Text– Organization– “Considerate” vs. “inconsiderate”– Readability

• Characteristics of the Reader

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Reader’s Schema

• What is schema?

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Why is Schema Helpful?

• Helps us to– Assimilate additional information– Determine what is important– Infer and elaborate meaning– Summarize by determining relevant from

irrelevant– Remember information

MetacognitionThinking about thinking

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What is Metacognition?• The Literacy Dictionary: “an awareness and knowledge

of one’s mental processes such that one can monitor, regulate, and direct them toward a desired end; self-mediation”

• Considered a combination of knowledge and control– Awareness: Ability to reflect on one’s thinking– Executive functions: Ability to manage one’s learning actions

• Monitor: Keep track of mental processes (know what you’re doing) • Regulate: Control mental processes (make choices; strategize)• Direct: Apply mental processes (use strategies)

• Developmental process

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Metacognitive Knowledge

• About ourselves – “I drift off when I read.”

• About the task – Reading for information is harder than reading for

enjoyment

• About strategies – I know what strategies I can use– I know how to use the strategies– I know when to use the strategies

Metacognition: Developmental Process

• Tacit learners/readers: Lack awareness of their thinking as they read

• Aware learners/readers: Know when meaning breaks down but do not have strategies to repair meaning

• Strategic learners/readers: Know meaning is lost and are able to use a strategy to regain meaning

• Reflective learners/readers: Reflect on their reading and intentionally apply a strategy, not only when meaning is lost, but to deepen understanding

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Metacognitive Strategies

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Skill or Strategy?

• Skills– Automatic– Effortless– Used without

conscious control

• Strategies– Conscious activity

to achieve desired goal

– Not automatic– Can, with practice,

become skills

Strategies Used by the Reader• Making connections• Questioning• Inferring• Predicting• Summarizing• Clarifying• Visualizing• Synthesizing• Determining importance

Can strategies become skills?

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Things to Think About Before Reading:

• What do I already know about this topic?• What are my purposes for reading?• What do I think this passage will be about?• What will I be doing with this information?• What do I think I will learn about the topic?

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What strategies are these?

• What do I already know about this topic?

• What do I think this passage will be about?

• What are my purposes for reading?

• What will I be doing with this information?

• What do I think I will learn about the topic?

• Activating prior knowledge

• Predicting• Setting a purpose for

reading

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Things to Think About During Reading:

• Am I understanding? Does this make sense? Do I have a clear picture of what this is about?

• Is this consistent with my predictions? What parts are the same? What parts are different?

• What can I do to increase my understanding?

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What strategies are these?

• Am I understanding? Does this make sense? Do I have a clear picture of what this is about?

• Is this consistent with my predictions? What parts are the same? What parts are different?

• What can I do to increase my understanding?

• Monitoring understanding

• Evaluating predictions

• Identifying difficulty and selecting a fix-up strategy

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Things to Think About After Reading:

• What were the most important points in the passage? Where is the evidence in the text that supports my thinking?

• Do I agree with this information? Why?

• What new information did I learn? Does it fit with my existing knowledge?

• Should I reread sections of the text for better understanding?

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What strategies are these?• What were the most important

points in the passage? Where is the evidence in the text that supports my thinking?

• Do I agree with this information? Why?

• What new information did I learn? Does it fit with my existing knowledge?

• Should I reread sections of the text for better understanding?

• Summarizing

• Evaluating

• Monitoring

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A Good Reader:• Knows many strategies

– Activating prior knowledge– Setting purpose– Questioning– Predicting– Summarizing– Visualizing– clarifying– Inferring– Making connections– Integrating information– Using graphics – Using context– Adjusting rate

• Knows how and when to use strategies– Internalizes these

cognitive processes:• Activating

• Focusing

• Selecting

• Organizing

• Integrating

• applying

– Becomes independent

Metacognitive Strategy Instruction

Explicit versus Implicit Teaching

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Teaching Metacognitive Strategies

Independent PracticeProvide ways for students to demonstrate using the strategy independently

ExplainThe strategy and its

components

Guided Practice

Work with students to help them use the

strategy

Cycle of Explicit

Instruction

Model/Think-Aloud

Use the strategy as you read a text and “think out loud” to help students “see how you use it

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Explicit vs. Implicit Instruction

• Explicit instruction– Explaining – Modeling– Practicing

• Implicit instruction– “Telling” students they

should be using the strategy without telling them what/how/why/when

– “Does that make sense?” How does a student

• Know what “makes sense” means

• Know whether the text makes sense

• Know what to do if it doesn’t make sense

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Strategy Knowledge

• Declarative knowledge– Knowing “that” there are strategies– Knowing “what” strategies are available

• Procedural knowledge– Knowing “how” to use strategies

• Conditional knowledge– Knowing “when” to use strategies

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Teaching “What”

• Explain– Tell students what the strategy is– Tell students why/how it is helpful

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Teaching “How”• Model

– Use the strategy yourself, making your thinking apparent (“think out loud”)

• Provide guided practice– Give students a chance to use the strategy

with your help– Provide gradual release of responsibility

• Provide independent practice– Give students a chance to use the strategy on

their own

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Teaching “When”

• Explain when the strategy is helpful

• Provide opportunities to think about when during guided practice

• Scaffold students’ identification of strategy need as they read

Inferring and Predicting

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Are Inferring and Predicting the Same Thing?

• Inferring: Drawing conclusions, generating information not specified, based on observations/evidence or content from reading or from prior knowledge.

• Predicting: Suggesting what may happen based on available information

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