Techniques used for increasing students’ reading comprehension
must be appropriate for reading development level. We have learned that there are limitations on
JK/SK students’ reading comprehension because, at that developmental stage, so
much of their cognitive resources are focused on word reading. As Perfetti, Landl and Oakhill stated, “…at the beginning children are learning to
decode and identify words, so it is these word reading process that limit
comprehension (The acquisition of reading comprehension skill, 227). So, do reading comprehension techniques have
to wait for students to be full readers?
No! There are many helpful
techniques that can support reading comprehension, even in JK/SK, well before
most students achieve fluency in reading.
MAKING PREDICTIONS
ABOUT TEXT:
Making predictions about text helps students to engage in
the story before reading it, which can build reading motivation and curiosity. Because
JK’s cannot cognitively manage the task of reading yet, instead of student reading
text the teacher reads the story and the children listen. Before, and sometimes after reading the
story, the teacher probes for student thoughts and predictions. However, when students progress to primary
grades, presumably with phonological and decoding skills reasonably in place,
students can read for themselves and the responsibility shifts. At this developmental stage, predictions can
be managed through the well-researched method of Reciprocal Teaching. In Reciprocal Teaching, students work in
small groups and begin by making predictions.
These student-led groups then progress to questioning, clarifying and
summarizing the text. As seen in the
videos, students can then decide to accept or reject their own predictions,
which seems to give the students a sense of ownership, and an experimental
attitude over reading.
TEACHING TEXT
STRUCTURE:
Another technique for reading comprehension is teaching Text
Structure to students. Text structure
can be taught when students are reading or listening or even a combination of
both. Again, for JK/SK students who
cannot yet read full sentences, the teacher would read or perhaps use a video
story. The children would then be
prompted by questions about the story with special emphasis on the parts of the
story (beginning, middle, end and main characters. In contrast, primary students who can already
read independently can use a more sophisticated system of a story map, as a
visual graphic representation featuring beginning, middle, end and characters
of the story. The technique of focusing
on text structure creates an awareness sequence and how stories are “built”.
TEACHING QUESTIONING:
Quoting Pressley & Forrest-Pressley; Taylor et al.,
Stahl states “Asking a variety of questions, lower and higher level, is
important in prompting thinking at all levels of reading development” (Proof,
practice and promise: Comprehension
strategy instruction in the primary grades, 600). According to Stahl, 2004, the teacher
questioning strategy could involve questions with single right answer,
searching for answers in text or questions about self and the author and
student experience (Proof, practice and promise: Comprehension strategy instruction in the
primary grades, 600). The type and the
complexity of questions would be adapted to make them appropriate for the age
and reading level of the child, be it in JK/SK or in the upper primary grade
level. Simple questions grow to more
high order questions to result in deeper understanding, explaining phenomenon
or to solving novel problems, according to AnneMarie Plainscar from the first
video in this unit (High order questions, [video]).
Resources:
Perfetti,
C. A., Landi, N. & Oakhill, J. (2005). The acquisition of reading
comprehension skill. In M. J. Snowling & C. Hulme (2005). The
science of reading: A handbook (pp. 227 - 247). Malden, MA: Blackwell
Publishing.
Palinscar, A. (15 Mar, 2011). Using Higher-Order Questions: An Interview
with AnneMarie Palincsar. [video]. Youtube.
Retrieved from:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=5&v=XZ4LFxGi0mI
Stahl,
K. A. D. (2004). Proof, practice, and promise: Comprehension strategy
instruction in the primary grades. The Reading Teacher, 57,
598-609.
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