1. Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts
Grades K-3
Module #6
p. 152
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2. Goals for Module 6 Teachers will:
Deepen their understanding of the Language Comprehension domain of the Simple View of Reading.
Deepen their appreciation for how to teach close reading of informational text.
1 min
Key Idea: Teachers learn the intended outcomes for this module.
Talking Points:
We will look at the Simple View of Reading in a more explicit way: through a rope model. We will also look more closely at the Language Comprehension domain.
If we know which skills our students need, we will be more apt to teach them. What are they? We’ll go over this.
Some may think that Kindergarten and first grade are too early to begin close reading instruction. It is an early age for the deep-level thinking that we expect older students to be able to do, but it is not too early to start laying the groundwork for close reading.
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3. The Simple View of Reading Phonological & Phonemic Awareness
2 domains
Decoding
(Word recognition)
Language
Comprehension
Reading
Comp x =
Phonics
Print concepts / letter name knowledge
Vocabulary
Text Comprehension
2 min
Key Ideas: Review the Simple View of Reading equation. Reading comprehension is the product of decoding and language comprehension.
Talking Points:
Each of the domains on the Simple View is a broad category representing many skills that lie under the surface.
Fluency
Phonological & Phonemic Awareness
5 components
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4. The Simple View of Reading on Its Side
What will go in this space when we turn the Simple View of Reading onto its side?
When we dig deeper, what will we find to help us understand language comprehension?
What have you learned about decoding? What are you going to teach to strengthen this skill?
2 min
Key Idea: We are setting the stage for a different view of the Simple View of Reading. We are going deeper into language.
Talking Points:
Let’s turn the Simple View of Reading on its side, place it into the strands of a rope, and look at it horizontally.
There are elements of language comprehension that we have not explicitly talked about yet.
The previous modules have covered decoding, phonemic awareness and phonics. These are critical to developing automatic word recognition. But what contributes to and builds language, especially for comprehension?
What are the components of language comprehension? We will find out in this module.
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5. Many Strands Are Woven Into Skilled Reading
3 min
Key Idea: The Simple View of Reading can be expanded to illustrate the separate, yet eventually combined and reciprocal, skills that make up language comprehension and decoding. Teachers will identify how this informs their understanding of reading comprehension.
Directions: This is meant to be an overview slide. The next several slides will take the teachers into each component on the Language Comprehension part of the Reading Rope model.
Talking Points:
Language comprehension is the underpinning for reading comprehension.
Here’s the Simple View of Reading on its side and placed onto the strands of a rope.
We are still looking at the Simple View, but now we get a sense of how reading develops over time to become increasingly strategic and automatic.
The upper strands of the rope are always developing, even into adulthood. The bottom strands of the rope are skills students learn and then are done.
References
Scarborough, H. S. (2002). Connecting early language and literacy to later reading (dis)abilities: Evidence, theory, and practice. In S. B. Neuman & D. K. Dickinson (Eds.), Handbook of early literacy research, Volume 1 (pp. 97–110). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
(Used with permission of Hollis Scarborough, 2002)
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6. Language Comprehension
Language comprehension is the underpinning for reading comprehension.
What do we need to know about language comprehension in order to understand the Reading Standards for Informational Text?
What do we need to know in order to build language comprehension?
What aspects of language help us to comprehend?
2 min
Key Ideas: The first domain, Language Comprehension, is the underpinning for reading comprehension.
Directions: Review the questions on this slide, and ask participants to keep them in mind as they learn more about language in this module.
Talking Points:
Everyone agrees that language shares a strong relationship with reading.
In Bridge to Practice #2, we considered language development by learning oral language activities. However, there is still more to learn about the intricacies of language and its contribution to reading comprehension.
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7. First Strand: Background Knowledge
Think of this strand as the repository of learned concepts, facts, and experiences a person brings to reading.
What is the student’s level of knowledge about a topic?
What is his or her experience level with the topic?
2 min
Key Ideas: Teachers will experiment with knowledge and experience what it is like to have knowledge and not to have knowledge.
Talking Points:
We are familiar with the term background knowledge. It is knowledge we gain from our experiences in the world. Our knowledge strengthens our comprehension, and our lack of knowledge impacts our ability to comprehend.
We need knowledge to gain knowledge.
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8. Experiment with Knowledge
Why did we have the revolution?
What happened during the revolution?
Were there any outstanding individuals who contributed to the revolution?
American Revolution
Velvet Revolution
5 min
Key Idea: Teachers experiment with knowledge and experience what it is like to have—and not have—knowledge.
**This slide is animated
Directions: Have participants look at the T-chart on the slide. Give them two minutes to brainstorm with their groups what they know about the American Revolution, using the questions on the slide for guidance. Then, give the heading for the right column: Velvet Revolution. This slide is animated to show Velvet Revolution as the column header for the second column. Ask participants, “Why do people have a revolution?” Move to the next slide to learn more about the Velvet Revolution.
Talking Points:
Comparing your responses in the two columns, what can you say about your knowledge of these revolutions? What did your “comprehension” sound like?
Without knowledge, we are silent. We try to connect to meaning through what we know about the words (in this case, velvet and revolution) but that does not take us to understanding what Velvet Revolution truly means. When we lack knowledge, reading is one way we can gain knowledge.
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9. Experiment with Knowledge (cont)
Velvet Revolution Notes
The Velvet Revolution (or Gentle Revolution) was a non- violent revolution in Czechoslovakia that took place from November 17 to December 29, On November 17, riot police suppressed a peaceful student demonstration in Prague. That event sparked a series of popular demonstrations that lasted a month. A two-hour general strike involving all citizens of Czechoslovakia was held on November 27. The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia announced on November 28 that it would relinquish power and dismantle the single-party state. The country subsequently converted to a parliamentary republic.
2 min
Key Idea: Provide information to help participants build on existing knowledge to gain new knowledge.
Directions: Have participants read the information on the slide about the Velvet Revolution.
Talking Points:
How did your background knowledge about the American Revolution help you connect with this new information about the Velvet Revolution? Did it help that you were just thinking about the American Revolution?
Did you access any of your own personal background knowledge?
References
Retrieved April 15, 2013 from
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10. Knowledge (Vocabulary) + Verbal Reasoning = Ability to Infer
First, Second, Third Strands: Background Knowledge, Vocabulary, Verbal Reasoning
Knowledge is acquired both verbally and nonverbally.
Words (vocabulary) enable thought and communication.
Verbal reasoning includes logic, insight, abstraction, classification, and association.
Knowledge (Vocabulary) + Verbal Reasoning = Ability to Infer
3 min
Key Ideas: Background knowledge, vocabulary, and verbal reasoning all work together when comprehending.
Talking Points:
We learn words through our experiences. Our experiences generate word knowledge. We acquire knowledge through verbal means, such as conversation and reading, and nonverbal means, like our experiences.
Sometimes knowledge is gained through reading and being read to.
Combine knowledge and the words we use to express that knowledge with verbal reasoning, and we can infer.
We must have knowledge to make connections and create inferences.
Verbal reasoning includes many means by which we problem-solve and deepen our knowledge.
In order to make the CCSS shift in the areas of complexity, evidence, and knowledge, these strands of the language comprehension rope must be understood and applied in our teaching.
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11. Fourth Strand: Language Structures
When we understand how words go together to convey meaning—syntax—we are better equipped to comprehend.
3 min
Key Ideas: Syntax assists with reading comprehension.
Directions: Give participants a chance to look at these cards and re-order them to make a sentence. Talking Points:
The term language structures refers to many aspects of how language works. For our purposes here, we will think of this strand as syntax and grammar.
The words on the cards shown on this slide are all separate words known to students. What are these words telling you? When they are presented in this order, do they convey meaning? (No.)
What needs to happen to these words to make meaning? (They need to be re-ordered.) Use your knowledge of syntax to re-order them and make a meaningful sentence!
“That is what I will tell you.” or “I will tell you what that is.” Syntax is important! These two sentences have different meanings.
The internal understanding of syntax helps us focus on meaning.
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12. Fifth Strand: Knowledge of Text Structure and Genre (Literacy Knowledge)
Informational and narrative texts are two examples of genre, each employing a different text structure.
Directions: Turn and Talk to a partner as you answer the following points and questions.
Compare the major features of narrative and informational text.
Consider how the structures of narratives and informational text are the same and different. How can knowledge of these two different text structures assist with reading comprehension?
5 min
Key Ideas: Literacy knowledge sets us up for comprehension.
Directions: Follow the directions on the slide, giving participants two minutes to discuss and compare informational and narrative text structures. As time allows, discuss the questions as a group.
Talking Points:
Literacy knowledge of this sort helps us understand how information is organized. It helps us set a purpose for reading so we will be primed for comprehension.
Narrative text follows a dependable structure each time: beginning, middle, and end. There is a problem, a crisis, and a solution.
Informational texts do not always employ the same text structure. The text might use compare and contrast, time order, class-example or enumeration, explanations, or cause and effect. Informational text may use bold headings and have a table of contents, index, or glossary.
Knowing text structure assists us with creating a mental model while we read and helps us develop our purpose for reading and set our expectations for learning.
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13. Word recognition develops along a continuum.
Phonological awareness
Decoding and spelling
Sight recognition
Word recognition develops along a continuum.
We should teach with explicit and systematic tenacity to take our students to consolidated levels of word recognition. With lots of practice, our students will become increasingly automatic.
3 min
Key Ideas: Our goal is to teach phonemic awareness and phonics explicitly and with lots of practice, so that our students become automatic with word recognition.
Talking Points:
These skills are the bottom strands of the Reading Rope.
We learned about Ehri's phases of word recognition in the first unit. We are revisiting it now as we consider word recognition on the Reading Rope.
Recall that students pass through phases of development along a predictable continuum toward the Consolidated Alphabetic phase, represented by the blue box.
When we are consolidated in our word recognition, we learn new words by syllable and morpheme and use our knowledge of word patterns to read new words.
Decoding and language comprehension support reading comprehension.
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14. The Reading Rope Summary
The strands of Language Comprehension complement and influence one another as fluent reading is acquired. They complement each other along the developmental road to becoming a strategic reader.
The strands of Word Recognition develop separately and, with practice, become increasingly automatic so that attention can be directed to meaning.
2 min
Key Ideas: Summary of the Reading Rope. Discuss the developing nature of strategic reading and the development of automatic decoding skills.
Talking Points:
We can study the process of reading by considering the separate strands—in other words, the skills that have been proven to contribute to the development of proficient processes for reading.
It takes many years of explicit instruction and many hours of practice with the skills.
The early grades lay the groundwork. Time, practice, and experience take our students to levels of expertise with reading.
Students need a teacher who understands what they need and how to teach so that they will learn.
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15. What Is Close Reading?
Close reading means methodical reading to reveal layers of meaning that lead to deeper comprehension. Close reading requires us to go below the surface. The Standards will guide us.
2 min
Key Ideas: Teachers learn that close reading is the keystone of the CCSS.
Talking Points:
Many years of declining SAT and ACT scores have caused us to take a closer look at the kinds of materials our students are reading.
The text they are reading is less and less complex, and they are being asked less and less to consider text in deep ways.
The reading Standards are designed to engage teachers in deeper levels of comprehension instruction with students, which in turn will take students into deeper levels of inquiry and meaning.
Close reading essentially means “methodical reading to reveal layers of meaning that lead to deeper comprehension.”
Just like opening a folded blanket, there are layers to unfold and reveal as we involve students in close reading.
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16. Let’s Read Closely
“Close, analytic reading stresses engaging with a text of sufficient complexity directly and examining its meaning thoroughly and methodically, encouraging students to read and reread deliberately…. It also enables students to reflect on the meanings of individual words and sentences; the order in which sentences unfold; and the development of ideas over the course of the text, which ultimately leads students to arrive at an understanding of the text as a whole.”
—Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers
7 min
Key Ideas: Participants experience and discuss close reading.
Directions: Give participants a blank piece of paper. Ask them to read the quote on the slide, and create their own graphic organizer (bubble map, flow chart, etc) to help them understand the key points about close reading. Give them about five minutes to develop their graphic organizers, then have a few participants share.
Talking Points:
With close reading, we:
Examine meaning thoroughly and analytically. Through questioning and discussion, we examine and analyze.
Direct our attention to the text; the answers and information we need are in the text. The words the author uses hold the information we will learn and the information we can use to connect to what we know.
Summarize the main topics and key details.
Reflect on the meaning of words and sentences. We notice when we do not know word meanings and seek the meanings. We notice connections between sentences.
Develop ideas over the course of reading the text. We compare what we knew at the beginning of reading a text to what we know now.
Even in Kindergarten and First Grade we can model, prompt, and support our students in the basic skills of close reading with text that we read to our students.
References
Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers. (2012). PARCC model content frameworks: English language arts/literacy, grades 3–11. Retrieved May 7, from AL.pdf
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17. Close Reading in K and 1?
Close reading needs to find a home during the early years.
Don’t wait to begin engaging students in close reading and analysis of text.
Plant the seeds and they will grow.
1 min
Key Ideas: We can begin close reading in the early years by planting the seeds for future deep comprehension.
Directions: Read through the bullets on the slide.
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18. Comprehension in K-3 How do we teach reading comprehension?
Explicit instruction of skills and strategies.
Use of worthwhile, appropriately challenging texts.
Guided oral reading practice with skillful questioning.
Incentives for independent reading.
Through lots of purposeful, directed dialogue while reading to students.
Lots of prompting and support when our students read!
2 min
Key Ideas: Listening comprehension sets the upper limit for where reading comprehension can someday be.
Talking Points:
First-grade students cannot yet read complex text, so comprehension instruction takes place through:
Our conversations with students.
Leading students through texts—guiding them and modeling our thinking.
Explicit instruction of reading skills, decoding, and comprehension.
Texts that are appropriate yet challenging.
Monitored reading guided by skillful prompting and questioning.
The Standards for Kindergartners include lots of prompting and support. By the time students get to first grade, prompting and supporting is absent from the Standards, yet many of our students still need the guidance that teachers provide.
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19. Summary
Scarborough’s Reading Rope: Both decoding ability and language comprehension are necessary for reading comprehension. Many strands are woven into skilled reading.
Close reading has a place in the early grades that plants the seeds for future reading comprehension.
2 min
Directions: Review the points on the slide.
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