Module 6 Facilitator Guide: Increasing Reading Comprehension

Objectives

Review

Teachers Do

Reflect/Analyze

Facilitator(s) Do

Implement

In this module, participants will: 

• Understand the factors that contribute to deep comprehension, including background knowledge, vocabulary, verbal reasoning ability, knowledge of literary structures and conventions, and use of skills and strategies for close reading of text. 
• Become familiar with teaching strategies that are appropriate before, during, and after reading and promote reflective reading. 
• Understand the levels of comprehension, including the surface code, text base, and conceptual model. 
• Contrast the characteristics of major text genres, including narration, exposition, and argumentation. 
• Define and distinguish among phrases, dependent clauses, and independent clauses in sentence structure. 
• Identify the parts of speech and the grammatical role of a word in a sentence. 
• Identify in any text the phrases, clauses, sentences, paragraphs, and “academic language” that could be a source of miscomprehension. 
• Identify cohesive devices in text and inferential gaps in the surface language of text. 
• Explain the major differences between narrative and expository discourse. 
• Understand the similarities and differences between written composition and text comprehension and the usefulness of writing in building comprehension. 
• Identify and construct expository paragraphs of varying logical structures (e.g., classification, reason, sequence). 
• Interpret measures of reading comprehension and written expression to make appropriate instructional recommendations.

• Article: PCG’s ELL Instructional Framework: Ensuring Academic Success for English Language Learners
• Handout 3.1 Text Structure: Cause and Effect
• Article: Guiding Students Through Expository Text with Text Feature Walks
• Handout 3.2: Selecting Text to Support Comprehension Instruction
• Video: Classroom Example of Complex Text: Butterfly Teaching
• Handout 5.2: Comprehension Strategy Instruction
• Video: Grade 1 Comprehension Read-Aloud for Visualizing
• Handout 6.1 Graphic Organizers
• Handout 6.2 Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy Action Verbs
• Handout 6.3 Depth of Knowledge Table

• Handout 6.4 Asking Your Questions
• Article: Using Partner Talk to Strengthen Student Collaboration and Understanding
• Article: Berkley Center for Teaching & Learning: Active Learning Strategies
• Video: Using Sentence Frames with ELLs
• Handout 7.1 Assessing Reading Comprehension
• Handout 7.2 Informal Comprehension Inventory
• Handout 7.3 Informal Comprehension Inventory Class Summary Sheet and Instructional Planning Example
• Handout 7.4 Informal Comprehension Inventory Class Summary Sheet and Instructional Planning Template
• Handout 8.1 Example K-3 Daily Literacy Schedule

Essential Questions:

• How does background knowledge, vocabulary, verbal reasoning ability, knowledge of literary structures and conventions, and use of skills and strategies for close reading of text contribute to deep comprehension? 
• How do the similarities and differences between written composition, text comprehension, and the usefulness of writing intersect to build comprehension? 
• How does understanding the levels of comprehension, including the surface code, text base, and conceptual model, impact your instructional practice of reading comprehension?

Reflection Questions:

• Are there any methods/practices that you currently implement but can enhance? If so, how? 
• Are there any methods/strategies that you plan to embed in your instruction? If so, which ones? How will you do so?

Activities:

• Option 1: Selecting Text to Support Comprehension Instruction- Teacher Checklist
• Option 2: Plan for Comprehension

Curriculum Dive:

Use the Curriculum Evaluation Tool or the Curriculum Dive - Notetaking Template (DOCX) to review your primary literacy instructional resources. For this module, use the section with the heading “Comprehension Strategies.”

Student Profile:

In the previous session, teachers used the Student Profile Template (DOCX) to analyze the student’s data and observations of the student’s abilities related to vocabulary. In this session, teachers should continue using student assessment and observation data to analyze the student’s strengths and weaknesses in comprehension skills and strategies.

The Implementation phase of the Facilitator guide is to target important instructional practices and ensure that these practices are in place or progress throughout K-3 classrooms.

Features of Effective Instruction: self-assessment:

Using the Features of Effective Instruction Checklist (DOCX) and the Vocabulary section of the Leader Look For Document (DOCX), have teachers reflect on their instructional practices. What do they do regularly and well? What features may they be overlooking or need development? Have each teacher mark the areas in which they consider themselves effective in regards to comprehension instruction and features they wish to improve upon. Ask teachers to highlight the area they want or need to improve on the most. This category can be focal points for coach or administrator observations.

Features of Effective Instruction: plan for observations (For coaches/administrators)

Between now and the next session, focus coaching or observation cycles on effective instructional practices in comprehension. Observe each K-3 teacher using the Features of Effective Instruction Checklist (DOCX)” and the Vocabulary section in the Leader Look For Document (DOCX).