Listening Comprehension Instruction North Dakota Kindergarten Teacher Reading Academy

What is Listening Comprehension? An understanding of stories and other texts that are read aloud to them It lays the foundation for children to later be able to “understand what they read, remember what they read, and communicate with others what they read.” National Institute for Literacy, 2001, p. 48

Listening Comprehension… …is enhanced as kindergarten children listen to stories that are read aloud, participate in discussions of stories, and engage in other literacy –related activities.

When we read aloud, encourage children to….. Make predictions Answer questions about the book’s content Read and talk along Share their own interests related to the book’s content Ask questions of you and their peers Reenact or retell the story

How We Learn… 10% of what we READ 20% of what we HEAR 30% of what we SEE 50% of what we SEE and HEAR 70% of what is DISCUSSED with OTHERS 80% of what is EXPERIENCED PERSONALLY 95% of what we TEACH TO SOMEONE ELSE William Glasser

Comprehension instruction can include showing children how to… Monitor their comprehension Summarize Recognize story structure Use graphic organizers Answer and generate questions

We model what good readers do by thinking aloud Demonstrate: How you picture in your mind what is happening in a story or book How you reread certain parts How you stop and summarize what has happened How you regularly make predictions

Reading Aloud Different Types of Texts Narratives Tell a story using a familiar story structure that includes a beginning, middle, and end Expository (or informational) text Tells about one or more topics in different and varied ways

Reading narrative and expository texts aloud to children helps them: Make connections to real life experiences and build background knowledge Increase their vocabulary and understand different types of books

Graphic Organizers Can guide children’s thinking and help them remember important elements and information in both narrative and expository texts Can be used before, during and after reading

Effective Questioning Gives children a purpose for listening and reading Focuses children’s attention on a topic and what is to be learned about the topic Helps children think about what they hear read aloud Encourages children to be aware of what they do and do not understand Helps children to relate the content of what they are learning to what they already know.

Scaffolding: Using Different Types of Questions Literal Questions Encourage children to become aware of the information in the text Open-ended Questions Encourage children to extend their thinking about the text and to use more elaborated language as they discuss the text

Kindergarten Strategies Preview and Predict Use illustrations (picture walk) My Lucky Day Use text features to predict If You Could Go To Antarctica Visualize and predict Old MacDonald Had a Woodshop Recognize text structure Building Beavers

Ten Core Comprehension Skills at Each Grade Character Setting Sequence Classify and Categorize Compare and Contrast Main Idea Realism and Fantasy Plot Cause and Effect Draw Conclusions

Asking Questions Along the Continuum Write several questions to ask before reading and several questions to ask after reading Use handout “Developing Questions to Enhance Listening Comprehension” At your table, role-play a read aloud session Use the handout “Asking Effective Questions”