Tools for Improving Reading Comprehension

P. David PearsonUC Berkeley

www.scienceandliteracy.org

Goals for the day Part I Introduce you to 10 research-based principles for

teaching and fostering reading comprehension (based on Duke, Pearson, Strachan, & Billman,

2011) Discuss fewer (4 or 5) in greater depth Break Part II

QnA about Part I Some other issues…

Close Reading Text Complexity

For more information about my views of comprehension…

Duke, N., & Pearson, P.D. (2002) Effective Practices for Developing Reading Comprehension. In S. J. Samuels and A. E. Farstrup (Eds.) What research says about reading instruction (3rd edition). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Duke, N., Pearson, P.D., Strachan, S. & Billman, A. (2011) Essential elements of fostering and teachng reading comprehension.. In S. J. Samuels and A. E. Farstrup (Eds.) What research says to about reading instruction (4th edition). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Underwood, T., Yoo, M., & Pearson, P. D. (2007). Understanding reading comprehension in secondary schools through the lens of the four resources model, in Rush, L.S., Eakle, A.J., Berger, A. (Eds.) Secondary school literacy: What research reveals for classroom practice (pp 90-116). Urbana IL: National Council of Teachers of English.

Shanahan, T., Callison, K., Carriere, C., Duke, N. K., Pearson, P. D., Schatschneider, C., et al. (2010). Improving reading comprehension in kindergarten through 3rd grade: A practice guide (NCEE 2010-4038). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance.

For presentations and papers, go to www.scienceandliteracy.org

Survey Elementary? Secondary? College? What’s the difference

Elementary Teachers Love Their kids

Secondary Teachers Love Their subjects

College Teachers Love Themselves

Why Comprehension? Keep our curricular wits about us? Keep the enablers separate from the goals

Phonemic awareness may be important But it is on the pathway to

Phonics, which may be important But it is on the pathway to…

Word reading, which may be important But it is on the pathway to…

Word meaning, which may be important But it is on the pathway to…

Comprehension, which may be important But it is on the pathway to…

Critical reasoning, which may be important But it is on the pathway to…

Action to make our lives and democracy better

The Role of Enabling Skills

Enablers OutcomesParis’ terms Constrained Unconstraine

dPearson’s terms

Mastery Growth

Functions Means EndsReading Code and

text level tasks

Comprehension& Critique

Writing Conventions and Craft

Composition and Analysis

Why now? There is a new game in town (in the US)…

Common core standards OR New or refined state standards

Teaching for understanding… But with high levels of accountability

More challenging curriculum for all kids In terms of both task and text

We’ll be overturning the Basic Skills Conspiracy: First ya’ gotta’ get the words right and the facts

straight before you can do the what ifs and I wonder whats of the curriculum.

Replacing it with a Keep Your Eye on the Prize approach Skills are enablers to keep you on the road to

meaning and critique

So how do you design a comprehension curriculum for teachers to enact in their classrooms?

Goal Set of Principles Set of Practices to enact the principles

For presentations and papers, go to www.scienceandliteracy.org

The Goal: The Active, Critical Meaning Maker

Confession: My Grandson Tobias

From Stephen King On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, by

Stephen King He got it right about building what it takes

to build a model of reading Listen as I read his words…

What can we learn from Stephen King about building mental models? That writers leave us a lot on the printed page to

work with, but… writers expect us to fill in some of the details in

building a model of meaning. That no two readers will ever build exactly the

same mental model That our models will often be similar enough to

allow us to “talk about a text.” (we need to agree on the general frame not the details)*

That some text details are more important than others

Question: Whose minds meet in reading? Reading is an inherently social activity

*levels of accountability in making meaning

My favorite: A debunking of the idea that the meaning is solely in the text: From one of the close reading heroes of the past: Mortimer Adler—How to read a book And that is exactly what reading a book should be: a

conversation between you and the author. Presumably he knows more about the subject than you do; naturally, you'll have the proper humility as you approach him. But don't let anybody tell you that a reader is supposed to be solely on the receiving end. Understanding is a two-way operation; learning doesn't consist in being an empty receptacle. The learner has to question himself and question the teacher. He even has to argue with the teacher, once he understands what the teacher is saying. And marking a book is literally an expression of differences, or agreements of opinion, with the author.

Rand (2002) Definition of Reading Comprehension: The process of simultaneously extracting and constructing meaning through interaction and involvement with written language.

We use the words extracting and constructing to emphasize both the importance and insufficiency of the text as a determinant of reading comprehension (Rand Reading Study Group, 2002) .

Kintchian-derived model…

3Knowledge Base Text

1Text Base

Says2

Mental ModelMeans

Inside the head Out in the world

ExperienceMacrostructure

Microstructure

Propositions

Inference

Inference

• Since the meaning is in this reader text interface, we need to go dig it out…

• Query the accuracy of the text base to build up the microsructure and the macrostructure.– What is going on in this part here where it says…– What does it mean when it says…– I was confused by this part…

• Ascertain the situation model.– So what is going on here? – What do you know that we didn’t know before?– What can we expect to happen next or What can we expect the author to

talk about next?

Pedagogical implications for CI

New and different

Most important: A new model of the comprehension process Text (what the author left on the page) Text base (the version a reader creates

on a veridical reading) Knowledge (what the reader brings

from prior experience) Model of meaning for a text

Dubbed the Situation Model (mental model) A model that accounts for all the facts and resources

available in the current situation

What’s inside the Knowledge box?

World knowledge (everyday stuff, including social and cultural norms)

Topical knowledge (dogs and canines) Disciplinary knowledge (how history or

astronomy works) Linguistic knowledge

Phonology Lexical and morphological Syntax Genre Pragmatics (how language works in the world):

Discourse, register, academic language, intention Orthography (how print relates to speech)

How does a reader build a text base?

Excerpt from Chapter 8 of Hatchet

“Some of the quills were driven in deeper than others and they tore when they came out. He breathed deeply twice, let half of the breath out, and went back to work. Jerk, pause, jerk — and three more times before he lay back in the darkness, done. The pain filled his leg now, and with it came new waves of self-pity. Sitting alone in the dark, his leg aching, some mosquitoes finding him again, he started crying. It was all too much, just too much, and he couldn’t take it. Not the way it was.

The pain filled his leg now, and with it came new waves of self-pity. Sitting alone in the dark, his leg aching, some mosquitoes finding him again, he started crying. It was all too much, just too much, and he couldn’t take it. Not the way it was.

“I can’t take it this way, alone with no fire and in the dark, and next time it might be something worse, maybe a bear, and it wouldn’t be just quills in the leg, it would be worse. I can’t do this, he thought, again and again. I can’t. Brian pulled himself up until he was sitting upright back in the corner of the cave. He put his head down on his arms across his knees, with stiffness taking his left leg, and cried until he was cried out.”

Building a Text Base “Some of the quills were driven in (into what? His

leg) deeper than others (other what? Quills) and they (the quills that were driven in deeper) tore when they (the deeper-in quills) came out (of his leg). He (Brian) breathed deeply twice, let half the breath out, and went back to work (work on what? Don’t know yet. Suspense. Expect to find out in next sentence). Jerk, pause, jerk (the work is jerking quills out) — and three more times (jerking quills out) he (Brian) lay back in the darkness, done (all the quills jerked out).

The pain filled his (Brian’s) leg now, and with it (the pain) came new waves (what were the old waves?) of self-pity. (Brian) Sitting alone in the dark, his (Brian’s) leg aching, some mosquitoes finding him (Brian) again, he (Brian) started crying. It (the whole situation Brian was in) was all too much, just too much, and he (Brian) couldn’t take it (the situation). Not the way it (the situation) was. (What way was the situation? Don’t know yet. Suspense. Expect to find out in the next paragraph.)

“I (Brian) can’t take it (the situation) this way (what way? Still don’t know. Suspense), alone with no fire and in the dark (now we know “this way” means “alone with no fire and in the dark”), and next time it (the next situation) might be something worse (than this situation), maybe a bear, and it (the problem that will define the situation) wouldn’t be just quills in the leg, it (the problem) would be worse (than quills in the leg). I (Brian) can’t do this (deal with the problem situation), he (Brian) thought, again and again. I (Brian) can’t “do this (deal with the problem situation).” Brian pulled himself (Brian) up until he (Brian) was sitting upright back in the corner of the cave. He (Brian) put his (Brian’s) head down on his (Brian’s) arms across his (Brian’s) knees, with stiffness taking his (Brian’s) left leg, and cried until he (Brian) was cried out.”

Some key moves in building a text base… Processing words and attaching meaning to them Using syntax to solidify key relations among ideas

Microstructure Macrostructure

Resolving reference--things that stand for other things (mainly pronouns and nouns)

Using logical connectives (before, after, because, so, then, when, while, but) to figure out the relations among ideas

Inferring omitted connectives (e.g., figuring out that A is the cause of B) based on PK about the world

Posing questions for short term resolution Identifying ambiguities for later resolution (wait and

see)

So how about building a situation model? The knowledge-comprehension

relationship We use our knowledge to build a situation

model for a text The information in the situation model is

now available to become part of our long term memory and store of knowledge

To assist in processing the next bit.

Situation Model for Hatchet Passage

The blurb from the jacket of Hatchet gives a preview of the book:

Thirteen-year old Brian Robeson is on his way to visit his father when the single engine plane in which he is flying crashes. Suddenly, Brian finds himself alone in the Canadian wilderness with nothing but his clothing, a tattered windbreaker and the hatchet his mother has given him as a present — and the dreadful secret that has been tearing him apart since his parents’ divorce. But now Brian has no time for anger, self-pity or despair — it will take all his know-how and determination, and more courage than he knew he possessed, to survive.

What a reader knows by Chapter 8

Brian is stranded in the Canadian wilderness with a hatchet and his wits as his only tools for survival. He already has overcome several obstacles, including surviving the plane crash, building a small shelter and finding food.

In chapter eight, Brian awakens in the night to realize that there is an animal in his shelter. He throws his hatchet at the animal but misses. The hatchet makes sparks when it hits the wall of the cave. Brian then feels a pain in his leg. He sees the creature scuttle out of his shelter. Brian figures out that the animal was a porcupine because there are quills in his leg.

Some prior knowledge that a 5th grader might bring What sparks look like How it feels to be scared by an animal How big porcupines are To survive you have to have food, water

and shelter To survive you have to be strong

An actual retelling of key parts of chapter 8 from Sam, a 5th grade reader

The same text for which we just examined the text base…

Why is this model of iteratively constructing and integrating so important?

The mental (situation) model is central to knowledge construction

Building a mental model transforms new ideas and information into a form that can be added to memory, where they endure as knowledge that can be retrieved in the future. Unless readers build a mental model, the information they derive from the text is not likely to connect to their stored knowledge. The new information will be forgotten or lost.

Key role of knowledge: Knowledge involved in even the most literal of

processing Knowledge begets comprehension begets knowledge… Knowledge is available immediately: dynamic store…

How can we help students build solid text bases and rich and accurate situation models?

Do a good job of teaching subject matter in social studies, science, mathematics, and literature

Don’t let reading remain our curricular bully!

Duke, Pearson, Strachan, & Billman, 2011 Ten key practices Can’t possibly touch on all of them today Pre-publication copy available at

www.scienceandliteracy.org and on the website for this organization.

Book available at reading.org S. J. Samuels and A. E. Farstrup (Eds.)

(2011). What research says to say about reading instruction (4th edition). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Also on your website, available for download

Duke et al, 2011 1. Build disciplinary and world knowledge. 2. Provide exposure to a volume and range of

texts. 3. Provide motivating texts and contexts for

reading. 4. Teach strategies for comprehending. 5. Teach text structures. 6. Engage students in discussion. 7. Build vocabulary and language knowledge. 8. Integrate reading and writing. 9. Observe and assess. 10. Differentiate instruction.

NUMBER 1: Build disciplinary and world knowledge Embedding

Principle # 8—emphasize reading-writing relationships

Principle #7—teach vocabulary and language

NUMBER 1: Build disciplinary and world knowledge The dilemma we face in teaching reading

The more kids know, the better they understand.

The more time we devote to reading, the less time there is for social studies and science

The less time there is for science and social studies, the less kids learn and the less they know

The less they know, the harder it is for them to comprehend

The cost of teaching reading better cannot be teaching the disciplines worse

My solution: replace the vicious with the virtuous cycle The more you know, the better you

understand. The better you understand, the more you

learn. The more you learn, the more you know. The more you know, the better you

understand. Anon, anon, anon…

How to implement my solution MORE use of expository text in CORE

programs MORE reading, writing, and language

instruction in science and social studies Starting in grade K Reading, writing, and language as tools

for acquiring more disciplinary knowledge See www.scienceandliteracy.org for

Seeds of Science/Roots of Reading NSF Project.

Our current view of curriculum

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A model we like: Tools by Disciplines

Science Social Studies

Mathe-matics

Literature

Reading

Writing

Language

Academic Disciplines………..

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Weaving is even a better metaphor than a matrix

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Integration is tough…What happens when you try to integrate reading and math?

The evolution of mathematics story problems during the last 40 years.

1960'sA peasant sells a bag of potatoes for $10. His costs amount to 4/5 of his selling price. What is his profit?

1970's (New Math)

A farmer exchanges a set P of potatoes with a set M of money.

The cardinality of the set M is equal to $10 and each element of M is worth $1. Draw 10 big dots representing the elements of M.

The set C of production costs is comprised of 2 big dots less than the set M.

Represent C as a subset of M and give the answer to the question: What is the cardinality of the set of profits? (Draw everything in red).

1980's

A farmer sells a bag of potatoes for $10. His production costs are $8 and his profit is $2. Underline the word "potatoes" and discuss with your classmates.

1990's

A kapitalist pigg undjustlee akires $2 on a sak of patatos. Analiz this tekst and sertch for erors in speling, contens, grandmar and ponctuassion, and than ekspress your vioos regardeng this metid of geting ritch.

Author unknown

2000's Dan was a man. Dan had a sack. The sack was tan. The sack had spuds The spuds cost 8. Dan got 10 for the tan sack of spuds. How much can Dan the man have?

NUMBER 8: Integrate Reading and Writing (and Talk) How Reading Helps Writing

Lots of models for different Text structures Conventions of writing Good word choice

How Writing Helps Reading Allows us to assess our understanding via

notes and summaries Serves as a mnemonic for remembering Engage in the same cognitive moves

Coherence in writing => main ideas/details in reading Questioning the author => critical reading Invented spelling => phonemic awareness

Why Writing Helps Reading You can’t write without reading: the writer’s first

reader. When you write, you often seek information

through reading Writing makes the metaphor “constructing a

model of meaning” completely explicit. Writing helps us decide what we really “think”

about a topic (stares back at you). Writing makes metacognition transparent (makes

monitoring visible)

Teach important ideas and processes in a multimodal environment Encounter a word

Read Write Talk Do

Encounter a grammatical structure Read Write Talk Do

Great piece on Reading-Writing Integration Collins, J.L., & Madigan, T.P. (2010). Using

writing to develop struggling learners’ higher level reading comprehension. In J.L. Collins & T.G. Gunning (Eds.), Building struggling students’ higher level literacy: Practical ideas, powerful solutions (pp. 103–124). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

7. Build vocabulary and language knowledge.

Words are ConceptsHabitat

Habitat: the place where an organism gets the food, water, light, and shelter that it needs to survive

A habitat has everything an animal needs to survive. The grassland habitat is windy with few trees.

Shelter Water

Food Light

Desert Forest

Shoreline

Habitat

All living things exist within habitats and have adaptations that allow them to survive in those habitats. No one habitat can support all living organisms..

If we wish to maintain a terrarium in our classrooms, we should establish conditions that are consistent with the organisms’ natural habitats.

Vocabulary as conceptual networksVocabulary as labels for our knowledge

organisms are living things, such as plants and animals

a habitat is where an organism lives and gets what it needs to survive

adaptations are structures and behaviors that help an animal survive

roots are an example of a structure which is an adaptation

most roots grow in the soil where they absorb nutrients and water

decomposers release nutrients into the soil

plants are organisms that live in the soil

decomposers are organisms that live in the soil and breakdown dead organisms

65

Observe

Evidence

Model

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Observe

Evidence

Model

ExplainInvestigate

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Observe

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Model

ExplainInvestigate

Tools Record

Principle #5: Engagement Kids read better, write better, and learn

more when they are engaged. They are more engaged when teachers

apply these principles of engaged learning Choice/Autonomy Self-efficacy (attributions of effort) Interest (knowledge) Collaboration Curricular coherence

Engagement: Choice What they read What they write How they represent themselves as learners

Portfolios Choice among comprehension activities

Setting goals for learning

Engagement: Self Efficacy Monitoring and calibration Attribution to effort not ability or fate Entails

Conscientiousness Stamina and persistence

Can do attitude

Engagement: Interest Other things being equal, kids can read a

couple of grade levels higher on topics of personal interest

Distinctions Personal interests Situational interests

Situational leading to personal interests

Engagement: Collaboration Other things being equal, students are

more engaged in partner or small group work than working on their own.

Part of the portfolio of 21st Century Skills

Engagement: Curricular Coherence Relevance: Making connections to

students’ lives Cohesiveness: Connecting the parts within

a unit Transparency

Making goals and assignments clear Ensuring necessary skills and strategies

to complete tasks

Principle #4: Teach strategies for comprehending What strategies do we pick? How do we teach them?

Picking strategies NRP Duke & Pearson Routines such as Reciprocal Teaching

or Transactional Strategies Instruction

Common Core Standards Good news

Lots of overlap No definitive set

Pearson & Duke, 2002

Making predictions Think-alouds Using text structure Summarizing Question-generation Drawing inferences

10 recurring standards for College and Career Readiness

Show up grade after grade

In more complex applications to more sophisticated texts

Across the disciplines of literature, science, and social studies

Oklahoma State Standards… Standard 5: Comprehension/Critical

Literacy – The student will interact with the words and concepts in a text to construct an appropriate meaning.

From Oklahoma Standards…Grade 2 1. Literal Understanding

a. Read and comprehend both fiction and nonfiction that is appropriately designed for second grade.

b. Use prereading strategies to preview, activate prior knowledge, make predictions, use picture clues, and establish the purpose for reading (i.e., graphic organizers).

c. Ask and respond to questions to aid comprehension about important elements of fiction and nonfiction.

From Oklahoma Standards… 2. Inferences and Interpretation

a. Make inferences about events, characters, and ideas in fictional texts by connecting knowledge and experience to the story.

b. Support interpretations or conclusions with examples taken from the text.

From Oklahoma Standards… 3. Summary and Generalization

a. Retell or act out narrative text by identifying story elements and sequencing the events.

b. Produce oral or written summaries of text selections by discussing who, what, when, where, why, and how to identify the main idea and significant supporting details of a text.

From Oklahoma Standards… 4. Analysis and Evaluation

a. Identify cause and effect relationships in a text.

b. Make comparisons and draw conclusions based on what is read.

c. Describe character traits, changes, and relationships

From Oklahoma Standards… 5. Monitoring and Correction Strategies -

Integrate the use of semantics, syntax, and graphophonic cues to gain meaning from the text. Example: semantic – Does it make sense? Example: syntax – Does it sound right? Example: graphophonic – Does it look

right?

My assertion: Every one of these clusters or individual

practices can be enated in a classroom under conditions of… Automatic Enactment: Nike model: Just

do it! Strategic Enactment: Sherlock Holmes

model: Examine the strategy deliberately…

The evidence for Strategies Solid evidence of improvement on

specific strategies content of the lessons more general comprehension

Suites of strategies appear to be more effective than a string of individual strategies

It would be irresponsible not to teach them…

But…

A few cautions with strategies Like phonics rules, they can become

an end unto themselves rather than a means to an end

Strategies are to be used strategically When comprehension breaks down Otherwise just do it: SKILLED reading

A strategy is just a skill under deliberate rather than automatic control Nike reading Sherlock Holmes reading

Fresh Insights about Strategies Pressley’s work in early 2000s New papers from the Handbook of Reading

Research Most notably Wilkinson and Son

Metaphor from Pressley and Wilkinson & Son Set of waves

Wave Zero Pre 1978: What Dolores Durkin found in

her classic study of comprehension instruction: NO instruction Assignment Assessment Rapid fire interrogation

Minnesota Course on Reading Pedagogy: Comprehension is caught, not taught

Wave One: Single Strategy Instruction 1978-now Identify the strategies and teach them one

by one Pearson and colleagues at CSR Paris, Lipson, and Wixson at the U of

Michigan Mosaic of Thought (still aligned with this

approach)

Wave Two: Multiple Strategies at Once 1984 till now Reciprocal Teaching is the classic example

Small suite of strategies Regular recurring until they can be

applied flexibly

Wave Three 1990-now Transactional Strategies Multiple strategies organized as a flexible

tool kit haul out just the right strategy when the

going gets tough

Wave Four: Dialogic Teaching in the context of rich discussions Not sure when it starts…-now Post explicit strategies approach

Questioning the author Rich talk about text

Encounter opportunities to apply strategies on the fly

Make understanding the text at hand the real goal

Avoid decontextualized enactment of strategies

Invoke them to solve particular problems with text.

Wave Five: My hope for the future Something in between explicit lessons,

opportunistic teaching, and mini-lessons (ala Whole Language)

Examples should ALWAYS be authentic Lots of group problem solving with

genuinely puzzling examples

Wave Five: My hope for the future

Ultimate goal: Help students distinguish betweenNike reading

Just do itSherlock Holmes reading

Deliberate, intentional, methodicalSolving a puzzle

Each of these can be taught and practiced in its automatic mode: SKILLED APPLICATION

Each of these can be taught and practiced in its deliberate mode: STRATEGIC ENACTMENT

Oklahoma State Standards for Reading Standard 1: Phonological/Phonemic Awareness – The student

will demonstrate the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate words, syllables, onsets, rimes, and individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words.

Standard 2: Phonics/Decoding – The student will apply sound-symbol relationships to decode unknown words.

Standard 3: Vocabulary – The student will develop and expand knowledge of words and word meanings to increase vocabulary.

Standard 3: Vocabulary – The student will develop and expand knowledge of words and word meanings to increase vocabulary.

Standard 5: Comprehension/Critical Literacy – The student will interact with the words and concepts in a text to construct an appropriate meaning.

Standard 6: Literature: The student will read to construct meaning and respond to a wide variety of literary forms.

Standard 7: Research and Information - The student will conduct research and organize information.

Each of these can be taught and practiced in its automatic mode: SKILLED APPLICATION

Each of these can be taught and practiced in its deliberate mode: STRATEGIC ENACTMENT

How we know when strategies are working…

A reminder: The ones I did not talk about are also important…

1. Build disciplinary and world knowledge. 2. Provide exposure to a volume and

range of texts. 3. Provide motivating texts and contexts for

reading. 4. Teach strategies for comprehending. 5. Teach text structures. 6. Engage students in discussion. 7. Build vocabulary and language knowledge. 8. Integrate reading and writing. 9. Observe and assess. 10. Differentiate instruction.

The reasons I care about the quality of public education and reading instruction that leads to creative and critical thinking

PDP and Zizi

PDP and Jane

Toby and Jane and the Sunday paper

Toby and Jane and Zizi