MODULE 3 LESSON 3

Comprehension: the ultimate goal of reading

What is reading comprehension?

Reading comprehension is the ability to comprehend or understand, what you are

reading. This is an intentional and active part of reading and takes place before,
during and after you read something. By being able to comprehend what you are
reading, you can extract meaning from the text and better realize what the author
is trying to convey.

There are two components of reading comprehension: text comprehension and

vocabulary knowledge. Vocabulary knowledge is the ability to understand the
language being used, while text comprehension is using this language to develop
an awareness of what the meaning is behind the text.

Why are reading comprehension skills important?

Reading comprehension is important for several reasons and can provide many
benefits. Being able to effectively read can improve both your personal and
professional life and can increase your overall enjoyment of reading. Knowing
how to understand a text can help boost your knowledge in certain areas and
help you learn new skills and information faster.

Additional benefits of good reading comprehension skills include:

 Being able to understand, analyze and respond to documents and written

communication in the workplace

 Improved your ability to write clearly and effectively

 The ability to comprehend and engage in current events that are in written
form such as newspapers

 Increased ability to focus on reading for an extended period

 Better enjoyment of and motivation to read

7 Reading Strategies You can Use to Improve Your Comprehension Skills

There are several reading strategies that you can begin implementing today to
improve your reading comprehension skills. The more you practice, the better
you will become at understanding what you are reading. The following are seven
simple strategies you can use to work on your comprehension skills:
 1. Improve your vocabulary.
2. Come up with questions about the text you are reading.
3. Use context clues.
4. Look for the main idea.
5. Write a summary of what you read.
6. Break up the reading into smaller sections.
7. Pace yourself.

1. Improve vocabulary

Knowing what the words you are reading mean can improve your ability to
comprehend the meaning of the text. To improve your vocabulary, you can:

 Take an online vocabulary quiz to assess your current level of vocabulary

understanding
 Use flashcards to quiz yourself on words you don’t know once or twice a
week
 Make a point to use newly learned words in verbal and written
communication
 Read as much as possible to improve your ability to guess what a word
means in a certain context
 Make a list of unfamiliar words as you read and look them up in the
dictionary

2. Come up with questions about the text

Asking questions about what you are reading can help improve your reading
comprehension by allowing you to become invested in the text. It can also
broaden your overall understanding of what you are reading by enabling you to
explore themes, motifs and other components of text that you otherwise wouldn’t
inquire about. The following are examples of questions you could pose as you
read:

 Why did the author begin the book at that location?

 What kind of relationship do these two characters share?
 What do we know about the main character up to this point in the book?
 Are there any themes that have consistently come up throughout the book?
If so, what do they mean?

The more specific your questions, the more likely you will gain further insight into
the text and its meaning.

3. Use context clues

Using context clues is a great way to understand what you are reading even if
you don’t know all the vocabulary being used. Context clues can be found in the
words and sentences surrounding the word that you aren’t familiar with. To use
context clues, you can focus on the key phrases or ideas in a sentence and
deduce the main idea of a sentence or paragraph based on this information. You
can also look for nearby words that are synonyms or antonyms of the word you
don’t know.

4. Look for the main idea

Identifying the main idea of a paragraph or article can help you determine the
importance of the article. Understanding why what you’re reading is important
can give you a better comprehension of what the author is trying to convey.
When reading, pause every few paragraphs and see if you can decipher what the
main idea is. Then, try to put the main idea in your own words for even further
understanding.

5. Write a summary

A great way to increase your knowledge of what you have read is to write a
summary. Summarizing requires you to decide what is important in the text and
then put it in your own words. Summarizing allows you to determine if you truly
understand what you have read and better remember what you have read in the
long term.

6. Break up the reading into smaller sections

If you are reading longer or more challenging text, consider breaking it up into
smaller sections. For example, you could read two paragraphs at a time and then
pause to quickly summarize what you just read in your mind. Breaking up what
you are reading can help you feel less overwhelmed and give you a better chance
of truly comprehending the information in the text.

7. Pace yourself

Pacing yourself is also an effective way to work on your reading comprehension

skills by allowing you to set realistic goals for your reading practice and habits.
This is especially true for books or other literature that you find challenging. Set a
goal for yourself that you know you can meet each day. For example, rather than
saying that you want to read an entire book in two days, say that you will read
three chapters a night. This allows you to reach your goals and also provides
adequate time for you to process what you are reading between each session.

https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/reading-
comprehension-improvement-strategies
Building Reading Comprehension (Tips for Teachers)

Overwhelmed by the far-reaching implications of Reading Comprehension? Don't

be! Comprehension is actually quite simple to build. However, it will require daily,
active involvement from a parent or guardian, where you guide your child through
the thought processes that underly understanding any text.

1. Daily Reading Practice: All children should spend at least half-hour daily,

reading with a loved one. Not only does this foster a positive relationship
with reading, but it also allows you to model the cognitive steps required to
comprehend what is read.
(Seriously, we can't emphasize this enough. The research out there is
endless -- every child requires daily reading at home to succeed).

2. Check for Understanding: Whether you are reading, or your child is

reading, ask key comprehension questions, periodically, while reading.
Doing this not only helps you see if they are understanding what is being
read, but it also teaches them what questions they should be asking
themselves as they read.

Before Starting
-Look at the Cover & Title! What do you think this book will be about?
-Do you know anything about this topic?
-What types of characters do you think will be in the story?

During
Stop periodically (every paragraph or page) and ask:
-"Who?"
-"What just happened?"
-"Where?"
At key points, you can also ask "How did it happen?" and "Why did it
happen?"

As you progress through the story, make sure that your child is holding on
to the story by asking "What has happened so far?"

Teach them to predict / imagine / hypothesize by asking "How do you think

the character will handle the situation?"

Also, clear their doubts and give them a voice in your daily reading practice
by asking “Is there anything you are wondering right now?”

After:
Check to see if your child understood the text by asking
 -“What was the main message in the story/text?”
-“Tell me the story in your own words”
“What were the most important events in the story?”

3. Make connections. As you and your children read aloud, share experiences 
you have had that relate to the story and have them share theirs. Not only
does this build an interest in reading, but it grounds them in the idea that
there is something common and shared in the act of reading, and it invests
them in the story.

4. Create
a visual. Sometimes children have a hard time visualizing what they just re
ad. Help your
children visualize by describing the scene, characters, and plot. You can ev
en ask them what they
are visualizing and have them draw in pencil, pen, markers, or colored penc
ils. They will be
involved and creating their own story, which will help them get a clearer un
derstanding of what is happening.

5. Make inferences and

predictions. Making inferences and predictions goes hand-and-hand with
asking questions. Inferring is the ability to take clues and given
knowledge from a text and
conclude what will happen next. To help them infer, ask them to predict wh
at might happen next in the story
     “What does the author want you to think about?”
      “Why do you think the character did ______?”
      “What do you think will happen next?”
       “If the story had a sequel, what do you think it would be about?”

6. Fix any type of confusion. It is important to go back and re-read as soon as

your child seems confused! Make sure you are tracking your child's
comprehension progress. The moment they can't answer one of your
questions, whether it's at the first sentence or in the middle, or maybe even
at the end, back up and re-read!

Remember, building Reading Comprehension will take time. Comprehension is

built on phonetic awareness, reading fluency, vocabulary, and / or language arts.
Stick to your daily reading practice (especially when you want to give up) and
remind your child that it is important to understand every single word / sentence /
paragraph / story they read.
 
Over time, as you lovingly help them to see the importance of comrehension., and
pour through endless stories together, you'll see your child learn the steps it
takes to understand what they read -- slowly, and then all at once :)
https://www.mathgenie.com /importance-of-reading-comprehension

What Is Listening Comprehension?

Listening comprehension is the precursor to reading comprehension, so it’s an

important skill to develop. Listening comprehension isn’t just hearing what is
said—it is the ability to understand the words and relate to them in some way.

For example, when you hear a story read aloud, good listening comprehension
skills enable you to understand the story, remember it, discuss it, and
even retell it in your own words. You use these same comprehension skills when
you read.

Listening Comprehension Is One of the Big Five Skills

Listening comprehension is one of the five critical skills for reading readiness
that we call the Big Five Skills. The other four skills are:

 Print awareness
 Letter knowledge
 Phonological awareness
 Motivation to read

How Listening Comprehension Develops

Listening comprehension begins at a young age as babies interact with people

around them. It develops as they are read to and as they engage in conversation
with their parents. Tone of voice, pauses between words, where the emphasis is
placed in a sentence, and the rhythm and pattern of speech all have an impact on
the meaning of the words being spoken and the message they are meant to
convey.

In grade school, reading comprehension generally lags behind listening

comprehension, so the best way for a child to develop higher levels of
comprehension is through non-print sources (read-alouds, discussions, movies,
and so on). Even after a child learns to read, listening comprehension continues
to be important.

4 Fantastic Ways to Develop Listening Comprehension

In addition to the activities built into All About Reading, you can help your child
develop listening comprehension skills by engaging in the activities below on a
regular basis.

Play Fun Games

Play listening skills games such as Mashed Potatoes. This silly game will provide
your child with important listening practice and plenty of giggles, too! Hebanz is
another great game that will help build listening skills in a way the whole family
can enjoy.
Talk to Your Child

If your child doesn’t understand what words mean, comprehension isn’t possible.
The Conversational Method for Teaching Vocabulary is simply talking with your
child and expanding upon vocabulary words that he has not yet learned.

Make Reading Aloud Interactive

Read lots of picture books aloud to your child. But don’t just read! You can help
your child’s listening skills by turning reading into an interactive activity.

Here are a few ideas:

 Briefly explain unfamiliar words and situations to help your child build
comprehension.
 Invite your child to make predictions. “What do you think will happen
next?”
 Encourage your child to retell the story (or an exciting part of the story) to
family members. Meal times are often a good time for retelling stories.
 Need book suggestions? Download our extensive list.
Listen to Audio Books Together

Listening to audio books is another great “read-aloud” activity that provides

ample opportunities for building listening skills. As you listen to a story together,
react to the story, laugh at the funny parts, and express surprise or fear at the
appropriate moments.

https://blog.allaboutlearningpress.com/listening-comprehension/#:~:text=In
%20grade%20school%2C%20reading%20comprehension,comprehension
%20continues%20to%20be%20important.

ACTIVITY:
1. Differentiate reading comprehension and listening comprehension.
2. Give the significance of developing these two skills.
LESSON 4

Different Types of Questions

Do you know what kind of questions you ask most frequently? Research on the
questions teachers ask shows that about 60 percent require only recall of facts, 20
percent require students to think, and 20 percent are procedural in nature.

The major types of questions fall into four categories:

 Managerial: questions which keep the classroom operations moving;

 Rhetorical: questions used to emphasize a point or to reinforce an idea or
statement;
 Closed: questions used to check retention or to focus thinking on a particular
point; and
 Open: questions used to promote discussion or student interaction.

(Source: P. E. Blosser. (1975). How to Ask the Right Questions. National Science

Teachers Association)

Following is a list of question types you can use to analyze your questioning strategies
and develop a variety of questions to help students think.

I. Probing Questions

Series of questions which require students to go beyond the first response. Subsequent
teacher questions are formed on the basis of the student's response.

Types:
1. Clarifying
Ex: "What, exactly do you mean?"
"Will you please rephrase your statement?"
"Could you elaborate on that point?"
"What did you mean by the term. . .?"
 
2. Increasing Critical Awareness
Ex: "What are you assuming?"
 "What are your reasons for thinking that is so?"
"Is that all there is to it?"
"How many questions are we trying to answer here?"
"How would an opponent of this point of view respond?"
3. Refocusing
Ex: "If this is true, what are the implications for . . . ?"
"How does John's answer relate to . . . ?"
"Can you relate this to . . . ?"
"Lets analyze that answer."
 
4. Prompting
Ex: Teacher: "John, what's the square root of 94?"
John: "I don't know." Teacher: "Well, what's the square root of
100?"
John: "Ten." Teacher: "And the square root of 81?" John: "Nine."
Teacher: "Then what do we know about the square root of 94?"
John: "It's between nine and ten."
 
5. Redirecting to Another Student
Ex: Teacher: "What is the theme of Hemmingway's 'Old Man and
the Sea'?"
Sam: "It's about an old man's courage in catching a fish."
Teacher: "Mary, do you agree?"
or: "Mary, do you think it's that simple?"
or: "Mary, can you elaborate on Sam's answer?"

II. Factual Questions

Questions which require the student to recall specific information s(he) has previously
learned. Often these use who, what, when, where, etc.
Types:
1. Simple Bits of Information
Ex. "Who was the leader of the Free French forces during W.W.II?"
"Who is the main character in Margaret Mitchell's novel, Gone With
The Wind?"
"During which century did Shakespeare live?"
"What is the Spanish verb meaning to run?"
 
2. Facts Organized into a Logical Order (Sequence of Events)
Ex. "What are the steps a bill goes through before it becomes a
law?"
"How were the American and French forces able to bottle up
Cornwall and the British at Yorktown?"
"How did Robinson Crusoe react when he discovered footprints in
the sand?"
"What is the commercial method for producing hydrochloric acid?"

III. Divergent Questions

Questions with no right or wrong answers, but which encourage exploration of

possibilities. Requires both concrete and abstract thinking to arrive at an appropriate
response

Ex. "What might happen if Congress passes a law preventing the

manufacture and sale of cigarettes in the United States?"
"How would the story have been different if John had been a tall, strong
boy instead of disabled?"
"If you were stuck on a desert island and the only tool you had was a
screwdriver, what use might you make of it?"
"In what ways would history have been changed had the Spanish Armada
defeated the English in 1588?"

IV. Higher Order Questions

Questions which require students to figure out answers rather than remember them.
Requires generalizations related to facts in meaningful patterns.

Types:
1. Evaluation: Requires judgment, value or choice based upon comparing of ideas
or objects to established standards.
Ex: "Which of the two books do you believe contributed most to an
understanding of the Victorian era? Why?"
"Assuming equal resources, who would you rate as the most skillful
general, Robert E. Lee or Ulysses S. Grant? Why?
 
2. Inference: Requires inductive or deductive reasoning
Inductive: Discovery of a general principle from a collection of
specific facts.
Deductive: Logical operation in which the worth of a generalization
is tested with specific issues.
Ex: "We have examined the qualities these world leaders have in
common. What might we conclude, in general, about qualities
necessary for leadership? Why?" (Inductive)
"If the temperature of the gas remains the same, but gas is taken to
an altitude of 4000 feet higher, what happens to the pressure of the
gas? Why?" (Deductive)
 
3. Comparison: Requires student to determine if ideas/objects are similar,
dissimilar, unrelated, or contradictory.
Ex: "Is a mussel the same thing as a clam?"
"What similarities and differences exist between Lincoln's
Gettysburg Address and Pericles' Funeral Oration?"
"What is the connection between Social Darwinism and the
Supreme Court actions of the late nineteenth century?"
4. Application: Requires student to use a concept or principle in a context different
from that in which she/he learned it.
Concept = Classification of events/objects that have common
characteristics.
Principle = A relationship between two or more concepts.
Ex: "How was Gresham's Law demonstrated in the Weimer
Republic of Germany?"
 "Can you think of an example to fit this definition?"
 
5. Problem-solving: Requires a student to use previously learned knowledge to
solve a problem. Students must see relationships between knowledge and the
problem, diagnose materials, situations, and environments, separate problems
into components parts, and relate parts to one another and the whole. This
question may generate answers the teacher hasn't anticipated.

Ex: "Suppose you grow up with the idea that dogs were bad. Out of
the many dogs you came into contact with, none bit you when you
were quite young. How would you react towards dogs now? Would
the type, size, etc., of the dog make any difference as to how you
react? Explain the notion of prejudices using this example."

V. Affective Questions

Questions which elicit expressions of attitude, values, or feelings of the student.

Ex: "How do you feel about that?"

"Is that important to you?"
"Would you like to . . . ?"

VI. Structuring Questions

Questions related to the setting in which learning is occurring.

Ex: "Are there any questions?

"Any further comments?"
"Is the assignment clear?"
"Would you repeat that?"
"Are we ready to continue?"

 http://www.lamission.edu/devcom/ProbingQuestions.htm#:~:text=The%20major
%20types%20of%20questions,on%20a%20particular%20point%3B%20and
ACTIVITY:

1. Look for a short story.

2. Develop possible questions (at least 10).

3. Identify the type/level of each question.

LESSON 5

Explicit instruction
Kim Greene, MA
Explicit instruction is a way to teach skills or concepts to students using direct,
structured instruction. It helps make lessons clear by modeling for students how to start
and succeed on a task and giving them ample time to practice.
Explicit instruction is a way to deliver direct, structured instruction to students — from
kindergartners to high-schoolers. It helps make lessons crystal clear and shows
students how to start and succeed on a task. You can use explicit instruction with your
whole class. Or you can use it to pre-teach or re-teach a skill to one student or a group
of students. 

Why use explicit instruction?

Explicit instruction is a well-researched, highly effective instructional strategy. It can be

beneficial to both students and educators.

It makes higher-order thinking and inquiry-based learning easier. Explicit

instruction gives students who are typically left out of inquiry-based learning the
information and skills they need to engage. Explicit instruction can also teach students
the processes needed for inquiry-based learning. Think about it: The inquiry process
lends itself to modeling, practice, and feedback. Plus, explicit instruction isn’t just for
basic academic skills. Students often need explicit modeling and feedback on higher-
order skills like decision making and social skills.

There’s less load on working memory. Students who learn and think differently often
have trouble with working memory. For example, they may struggle to make sense of
a long series of directions. Explicit instruction breaks learning up into smaller parts,
lightening the “cognitive load” (how much brain resources students need to process
information). That frees up students’ working memory, which is important because
learning new skills requires a lot of working memory.

Difficulty with attention is less of a barrier. Without explicit instruction, students

who struggle with attention may not be able to attend to the most crucial ideas in a
lesson. With explicit instruction, you cue students in to the most essential information.

It helps overcome language barriers. When you use consistent and clear language in
each step of instruction, English language learners (ELLs) aren’t overwhelmed with
managing new language demands. Research has shown that explicit instruction is
correlated with increased achievement gains among ELLs. 

It allows for various degrees of practice. Explicit instruction is also effective for

students who need intensive intervention, including those with learning disabilities. In
your school, you may call this support “Tier 3 intervention.” Typically, these students
need to practice a skill 10 to 30 more times than their peers. Explicit instruction can give
them those opportunities. It also gives you a structure to make sure those learners are
capable and successful as they practice.

It allows data collection and analysis. Each time students practice a skill, you have a
chance to collect data. After the explicit instruction cycle, you can use that data to plan
your next lesson, whether it’s re-teaching or moving on to the next progression of the
skill. This data helps you meet the needs of each student and be nimble in your lesson
planning.

The four parts of explicit instruction and how to use them

Before you start planning the lesson, you need to identify a clear, specific objective.

In other words, what do you expect students to do by the end of the lesson? You’ll
deliver your explicit instruction to meet that objective. (An unclear objective can make it
hard for you to model the skill and for your students to know what to do.)

1. Model with clear explanations.

How: Explain or demonstrate the skill in the same way students will practice it. Use
language that is clear, concise, and consistent. Focus on the most critical parts of the
content you are teaching. 

Why: Clear explanations take out the guesswork from learning. Plus, some students
may need to see a model (or different models) several times. To decide if that’s
necessary, check for understanding by asking students to help you do an example.

Planning Tips
  Make sure the skill you choose to teach matches the learning outcome for the
lesson.
 Write a clear, concise, and correct explanation of the skill in your lesson plan.
 Double-check that your explanation includes all the steps.
 Plan for multiple examples (some that may be different from each other).
 Plan to model the examples in the same way students will practice it.
 Include a note in your plan to check for students’ understanding after each
example.
2. Verbalize the thinking process.

How: As you are modeling, do a think-aloud of what’s going on in your mind. For
instance, if you’re comparing fractions, you might talk through how you realized that the
denominators aren’t common. For instance, you might say, “I notice these two
denominators aren’t the same. In this fraction, the denominator is a 5. But
in this fraction, the denominator is a 6.”

Why: Students who learn and think differently often don’t know how to begin a task or
what to do when they’re stuck. Modeling self-talk can be particularly helpful for these
students.

Planning Tips

 Script how you will verbalize your thinking. You don’t need to write out
everything, but it’s important to have your most important points planned out. 
 Think of places where students might get stuck. Plan how you’ll verbalize
working through those tricky spots. 
3. Provide opportunities to practice.

How: During guided practice, you might work through several problems as a class and
either pre-correct or correct errors as they occur. Guided practice is your chance to
make sure every step is clear to students so that they are ready to work independently.
If students haven’t grasped the skill, you can model or verbalize it again. 

Once students are successful with guided practice, move on to independent practice.
This is when the skill or strategy becomes fluent. Resist the urge to introduce more
difficult material. Instead, focus on independent practice tasks that align with the skill
you modeled. Students should master the tasks during independent practice about 90
percent of the time.

After independent practice, do a cumulative review of both old and newly learned skills.
The review will help students gain and retain automaticity with the skills.

Why: Students need to practice a skill for it to “stick” in their long-term memory. Guided
and independent practice, as well as cumulative review, can help that process. 

Planning Tips
  Give yourself enough time for multiple opportunities to practice.
 For guided practice:
o Plan for practice that students are likely to succeed with.
o Script your prompts, but remember that you may need to adjust your script
in the moment to meet students’ needs. 
 For independent practice:
o Review expectations and the resources students will use before
beginning. 
o Design opportunities that you feel students will be able to work on without
support.
 Use multiple ways of getting student responses during practice to check for
understanding. For instance:
o Plan for verbal responses, like choral responses.
o Plan for written responses, like “stop and jot” or writing a response on dry-
erase boards.
o Plan for physical responses, like nonverbal signals (fist-to-five or thumbs
up/thumbs down).
 Cumulative review:
o Identify the set of skills needed to meet the learning objective.
o Plan ways to review previously taught skills that ladder up to the new skills
you’re teaching.
o Plan ways to review the newly acquired skills or information.
o Keep the cumulative review brief and focused. 
4. Give feedback.

How: As your students engage in guided and independent practice, give them
immediate and actionable feedback. 

Why: A quick response will guide students to success and will reduce the chance that
they’ll practice a skill or strategy with errors.

Planning Tips

 Make note of times in the lesson when you’ll be able to move about the room to
make informal observations of students. 
 Attach a sheet of paper with your students’ names to a clipboard. That way, you’ll
be ready to record your observations of their work.
 Leave time to deliver timely, specific feedback to each student.
 Make a note in your plan to analyze student data after the lesson. You’ll want to
use the data to make decisions about what instruction a student needs next.
https://www.understood.org/en/school-learning/for-educators/universal-design-
for-learning/what-is-explicit-instruction

ACTIVITY:
How will you develop/implement explicit instruction in your classroom?