DEFINING COMPREHENSION STRATEGIES

AND INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES

EILENE SEPULVEDA

WALDEN UNIVERSITY

DR. MARTHA MOORE

READING AND LITERACY GROWTH, READ 6707G-1

MAY 22, 2016

Educational educators and experts emphasize the importance of exposing students to an environment that addresses their diverse literacy needs in particular the literacy area of comprehension. Because of its importance, comprehension strategies have become a common element of discourse within many classrooms (Hollenbeck & Saternus, 2013).

When addressing and supporting the diverse literacy needs of learners, instructional strategies are implemented by teachers. When reading, interacting, and understanding the text, learners use comprehension strategies they have been equipped with throughout their school years.

Two research-based comprehension strategies used by learners when interacting with texts are monitoring and clarifying and regulating.

Two instructional strategies used by teachers to aid in the development of comprehension abilities in learners are the use of collaborative and cooperative groups and conferencing.

Reading is a meaning-making process that involves the reader and the text. When the learner uses the comprehension tool of regulating they;

have a set purpose for reading the text.have an awareness of the text structure.have an awareness of the author’s purpose for writing.

(Hollenbeck & Saternus, 2013)

When the learner uses the tool of monitoring and clarifying they;

apply necessary strategies to make sense of texts.ask and answer questions about the text.re-read for understanding of unclear or a confusing part of the text.

As teachers we need to understand that in supporting comprehension, we need to create the conditions, the procedures, and the routines necessary to support comprehension (Reutzel, 2014). To support comprehension, teachers can implement the following instructional strategies; collaborative and cooperative groups and conferencing. Conferencing allows the teacher to talk with the students about what they do as readers. Also, during conferencing the teacher talks with the students about what the students can do to become better readers.

Engaging in collaborative and cooperative groups;

the students are able to share out their ideas and personal experiences from texts.

social interactions allow readers the opportunities to extend their thinking by learning from each other.

the students participate in text-focused discussions.

the students become members of literacy communities that support their literacy development.

During conferencing, the teachers;

ask open-ended questions.

ask assessment questions.

listen to the students read for fluency and accuracy.

gives the students constructive feedback.

show the student they care about them as a reader and as a person.

Informing comprehension does not solely rely on comprehension strategies or instructional strategies. There are cognitive and affective aspects that inform comprehension. Metacognition, motivation and engagement, epistemic beliefs, and self-efficacy have considerable influence on how students grow towards reading (Afflerbach, 2013).

Metacognition helps students gain control of their reading. Also, strategies include self-regulation and comprehension monitoring.

When students are motivated and engaged, they are strategic that enhances their reading development.

Epistemic beliefs influence students’ critical reading, as they make judgments about the accuracy and quality of text.

Self-efficacy also influences reading success. Students with high self-efficacy, view problems as challenges and put forth effort when challenged.

(Afflerbach, 2013)

The lesson plan I chose to analyze was, A Bad Case of Bullying: Using Literature Response Groups. This lesson is designed for grades 3-5. The lesson is broken up into 3; 40 minute sessions. During the lessons, the students applied a wide range of strategies to comprehend and interpret the text, worked in literature response groups to share their ideas and views and to make meaning of text, made

personal connections with the text through writing, and worked on online interactive computer games that dealt with bullying scenarios.

The purpose of the literature response groups was for the students to share their ideas and personal experiences and feelings related to the topic of the text. The literature response groups also helped extend their thinking by interacting with others as well as offering opportunities to engage with the text. The teacher in this lesson created collaborative, supportive, and cooperative conditions that allowed the children to have dialogues about the text, ask each other questions, and help each other learn from the text (Laureate Education, 2014G). A group discussion checklist was a great tool used so that the students can monitor their understanding and participation in the lesson. In the lesson, the students also completed a “Character Emotions” activity in which they listed the story’s characters’ feelings and supported the responses with textual evidence. Through this activity, the students were able to re-read or skim and scan the text in order to answer the questions asked.

I would definitely use this lesson in my classroom. Bullying is a serious global issue affecting students at every grade level on a daily basis. One activity I would have my students complete is to write their own bullying scenario plays and give them opportunities to act them out. After the presentations of the plays the students would be asked to write a narrative piece about a time they were bullied and how they dealt with the situation. For those that say that they have never been bullied, I would ask them to change the ending of the story read aloud in the lesson. The writing assignments will serve as an assessment tool. Incorporating the writing assignments will inform me of the students’ comprehension of the text and how well they responses to the writing prompt. Finally, through the writing assignment, I will know the areas of strengths and of improvement of the writers. This lesson plan was well developed and incorporated cognitive and metacognitive activities to engage students. This lesson plan provided students opportunities to engage in meaningful activities that were related to real-world situations.

In supporting comprehension, it is important to note that there is a difference between comprehension strategies and instructional practices. Comprehension strategies are the mental acts purposefully engaged to facilitate meaning construction while reading. Instructional activities in comprehension are the means by which teachers support students’ awareness and learning in the area of reading comprehension.

Comprehension strategies used by students;

making connections

monitoring and clarifying

summarizing

ask questions

make inferences

and others……

Instructional practices used by teachers;

conferencing

collaborative and cooperative groups

think- aloud models

use of graphic organizers and story maps

questioning

and others…..

References

Afflerbach, P., Cho, B.-Y., Kim, J.-Y., Crassas, M. E., & Doyle, B. (2013).

Reading: What else matters besides strategies and skills? The Reading Teacher,

66(6), 440-448.

 

Hollenbeck, A. F., & Saternus, K. (2013). Mind the comprehension iceberg: Avoiding titanic

Mistakes with the CCSS. The Reading Teacher, 66(7), 558-568.

Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

 

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2014). Conversations with Ray Reutzel: Supporting

comprehension [Audio file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.