Transcript Improving Reading Comprehension

Presentation by Sarah Gaines, Psy.S., NCSP
Understand expository text and why
students struggle to comprehend it.
 Learn how to begin the expository text
discussion with your students.
 Learn strategies to aid student
comprehension of expository text.

Nonfiction
Problem and
Solution
Informational
Overwhelmed yet?
Listing
Expository
Text
Description
Comparison
and Contrast
Sequence
Cause and
Effect
Guess what, so are
many of our students.
New and challenging vocabulary
 Words are often outside the realm of a
student’s everyday knowledge
 Many students do not have personal
experience with the topics
 Text structures are numerous

“…before I could teach children how to
use the features of nonfiction in
purposeful ways, I had to teach them
what nonfiction was.” (p. 142)
~Debbie Miller
Providing many examples with diverse topics will help
students understand the variety inherent in nonfiction.
Use a Venn diagram or other graphic
organizer to discuss the features of fiction
versus nonfiction.
 Talk about what things fiction and
nonfiction text have in common.
 Knowing what distinguishes nonfiction from
fiction helps readers know what to expect.
 Start the conversation with fiction. It is the
type of text which students are most
familiar.


Fiction



Main Ideas
 Specific Topics
 Facts
 Teach Something
 Information
 Photographs

Nonfiction
Setting

Characters

Problem

Beginning, middle, 
and an end

Events
Resolution
Pictures
Story
Theme
Captions,
Headings
 Diagrams
 Index
 Table of Contents

Nonfiction
Fiction




The reader makes predictions
about the kinds of things he or she
expects will happen.
The reader must read from the
front to the back.
The reader makes predictions
about the kinds of things he or she
expects to learn.
The reader may read in any order.
Component
Definition
Relevance
Vocabulary
Concepts and labels for
concepts
Students need help with
difficult language in
content text.
Fluency
Reading accurately, with
expression, at an
appropriate pace
If students can read
fluently, they will be more
able to focus on content.
Comprehension Using prior knowledge
and the writer’s clues to
construct meaning
Students need to be able
to use reading strategies
and adapt them to
different subject areas.
Motivation
Students need to see
themselves as good
readers who value
reading.
Process by which a goaldirected activity is
initiated and sustained
(Miller & Veatch, 2010)
Strategies must be explicitly taught over
a long period of time.
 Students should receive many examples
and demonstration of each strategy.
 Students need opportunities to practice
the strategies using many texts.
 Strategies should be presented one at a
time.

Activating Background Knowledge
 Questioning
 Analyzing Text Structure
 Creating Mental Images
 Summarizing

(Dymock & Nicholson, 2010)
Readers comprehend better when they are
able to activate prior knowledge and make
connections to background knowledge.
 Teachers can improve student
comprehension through starting point
activities.

› Ex: The class is learning about Paris, France.
 Pull out a map
 Talk about the language spoken in the country
 Discover facts about the population
“Meaning arrives because we are
purposefully engaged in thinking while
we read.” ~ Cris Tovani (2004)
 One way to improve comprehension of
expository text, and purposefully engage
in thinking while reading, is to teach
students to generate and answer
questions before and during reading.


As a start, here are 3 types of questions
you can teach your students to ask:
› Right There: something factual
 “What are the facts?”
› Think and Search: something to figure out
 “What does the writer want me to figure out?”
› Beyond the Text: something unsaid
 “What else should I know? Should I check with
background research?”
Unlike narrative text, expository text has
several structures.
 Knowledge of one expository text
structure does not transfer to another
structure.
 Students, especially those at the
elementary school level most often
encounter descriptive and sequential
structures.


List
› The simplest descriptive pattern.
› Order is not important.

Web
› Attributes of an object are discussed.
› There is a common link among the attributes.

Matrix
› Describes more than one thing.
› Compares and contrasts two or more topics.

String
› Step by step description of events
› Ex: a sequence for baking cookies

Cause-Effect
› Two (or more) ideas/events interact
› One is the cause, the other is an effect

Problem-Solution
› The writer states a problem or poses a question
› A solution or answer is in the text
› Sequence is important: first a problem, then the
solutions
Although it is not foolproof, knowing some key words and phrases can
aid a student’s thinking as he or she considers the type of expository text.
Sequence
• First
• Then
• Next
• After
• Later
• Finally
Problem and
Solution
• Because
• In order to
• So that
• Trouble
• If
• Problem
Cause and
Effect
• Because
• Therefore
• Cause
• Effect
• So
Compare
and Contrast
• Both
• Alike
• Unalike
• But
• However
• Than
Convention
Purpose
Labels
To identify a picture or photograph and/or its parts
Photographs
To understand exactly what something looks like
Captions
To understand a picture or photograph
Comparisons
To understand the size of one thing by comparing it to the size of
something familiar
Cutaways
To understand something by looking at it from the inside
Maps
To understand where things are in the world
Types of print
By signaling, “Look at me! I’m important!”
Close-ups
To see details in something small
Tables of contents
To identify key topics in the book in the order they are presented
Index
To list almost everything covered in the text, with page numbers
Glossary
To define words contained in the text
(Miller, 2002, p. 149)
Heading
Special,
separated
text
Numbered
items
Bold text
Caption
Figure,
Picture
Readers comprehend better if they can
create and use a mental structure while
they process the text.
 This strategy goes hand in hand with the
previous strategy, analyzing text structure.
 Knowing the text structure can help
students visualize a diagram specific to that
text structure to organize their thinking.
 A creative analogy to use with students:
think of yourself as an architect, you need
to see all the little ribs and bones!

Example for a descriptive, compare and
contrast text:
 Topic: Sharks

Type
Length
Diet
Teeth
Great White
12-16 feet
Sea lions, seals, small
toothed whales,
otters, sea turtles
3,000 at any one
time
Great
Hammerhead
Up to 11.5 feet Fish, squid, small
sharks, octopuses,
crustaceans
About 200
The ability to summarize a text enhances
comprehension.
 Summarizing means the ability to sift
through irrelevant details, combine
similar ideas, condense main ideas, and
connect major themes in a concise
manner.
 Again, knowing the text structure
strategy helps students here as well.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Read the text.
Identify the text structure the writer has
used.
Make a diagram of the structure.
Discard redundant information. Leave
only the key ideas.
Circle only the critical ideas that you
need for the summary.
(Dymock & Nicholson, 2010)
Challenge
What it means
Technicality
Terminology is specific to the field (e.g., genes,
genome, DNA).
Abstraction
Nominalization: the vocabulary includes verbs and
adjectives turned into nouns (e.g., The adjective
significant tuned into the noun significance).
Density
The average number of content words (e.g.,
nouns, verbs, adjectives) per sentence is much
higher.
Authoritativeness
Vocabulary and syntax is distanced, impersonal,
and unlike everyday dialogue. This includes the
use of declarative sentences and a passive voice.
(Fang, 2008)

Exposure: Allow for authentic experiences with
expository language by having a variety of
texts in the classroom including trade books,
magazines, newspapers, journals, textbooks.
(Fang, 2008)

Noun Deconstruction: Teach students how to
analyze lengthy phrases into functional pieces.
How long?
› Ex: “A seven-week murder trial that focused new
attention on the suspect’s dealings…”
How many?

Which one?
Noun Expansion: Teach students how to
expand simple nouns into lengthy noun
phrases.
› Ex: This student likes reading.  This bright student likes
reading.  This remarkably bright student likes reading.
(Fang, 2008)

Sentence Transformation: Teach students how
to transform their own sentences into
expository structures in their own writing or
speaking.
› Ex: “When the rainforest are destroyed…” becomes “The
destruction of the rain forests…”

Paraphrase: Teach students how to translate
the text into everyday language.
› Ex: “A time span of 50 years is insignificant compared to
the billions of years that life has existed on earth.”
becomes “Fifty years is a small amount of time when you
think about how long life has been on earth.”
(Fang, 2008)

Syntactic Autonomy: Teach students how to
recognize the multiple layers of semantic links and
dependency relationships. You can delve into
complex linguistic features or address it more
simply depending on the students’ level.
› Ex: “It had already been known that DNA was the
molecule of which genes are made when two young
scientists, James Watson and Francis Crick, took on the
challenge of figuring out its structure.”
EX: The words that and
when indicate the start of
two subordinate clauses.
In other words, this clause
means they knew genes
were made of DNA.
(Fang, 2008)
Expository text can be difficult for
students.
 Knowing the text structure can aid in the
reader’s understanding of the material.
 While there are many strategies to
choose from, keep in mind that strategy
instruction is best when explained,
modeled, practiced, and introduced
one at a time.

Dymock, S. (2005). Teaching expository text structure awareness. The
Reading Teacher, 59(2), 177-181. doi:10.1598/RT.59.2.7
Dymock, S., & Nicholson, T. (2010). “High 5!” strategies to enhance
comprehension of expository text. The Reading Teacher, 64(3), 166178. doi:10.1598/RT.64.3.2
Fang, Z. (2008). Going beyond the fab five: Helping students cope with
the unique linguistic challenges of expository reading in
intermediate grades. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 51(6),
476-487. doi:10.1598/JAAL.51.6.4
Jitendra, A. K., Burgess, C., & Gajria, M. (2011). Cognitive strategy
instruction for improving expository text comprehension of students
with learning disabilities: The quality of the evidence. Council for
Exceptional Children, 77(2), 135-159.
McLaughlin, M. (2012). Reading comprehension: What every teacher
needs to know. The Reading Teacher, 66(7), 432-440.
doi:10.1002/TRTR.01064
Miller, M., & Veatch, N. (2010). Teaching literacy in context: Choosing
and using instructional strategies. The Reading Teacher, 64(3), 154165. doi:10.1598/RT.64.3.1
Shanahan, T., Callison, K., Carriere, C., Duke, N. K., Pearson, P. D.,
Schatschneider, C., & Torgesen, J. (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, Institute of Education Sciences,
U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved from
whatworks.ed.gov/publications/practiceguides.
Tovani, C. (2004). Do I really have to teach reading? Content
comprehension, grades 6-12. Portland, Maine: Stenhouse Publishers.