Accessing Literary and Informational Text Melinda R. Pierson, Ph.D.

Scaffolded Comprehension for Delayed Readers  Analyze instruction for struggling readers – How do you scaffold instruction?  Before reading  During reading  After reading

Research on Reading Scores  Children in kindergarten and 1 st grade prefer to read nonfiction (Mohr, 2006; Pappas, 2010)  By 4 th grade when students are expected to read and learn from informational text and content area textbooks, there is an overall decline in reading scores (Chall, Jacobs, & Baldwin, 2011)  Greater exposure to informational texts in the early years may help minimize the effects of the “fourth grade slump” in reading achievement

Preview – Before Reading Strategies  Teach the pronunciation and meaning of critical, unknown vocabulary words  Review, teach, or activate any necessary background knowledge  Preview the text

Text Impression  Hold predictive discussions before reading  This strategy invites students to share what they know and motivates them to begin reading  The teacher shares key words from the passage prior to reading  Children are invited to hone their predictions based on the important vocabulary shared

Before Reading – Vocabulary  Limit the number of words that are given in depth instruction to 4-5 words  Unknown words  Words that are critical to text comprehension  Words that are useful and meaningful  Words that are more difficult and necessary

Before Reading - Vocabulary  Introduce the word  Write the word for students to see  Read the word and have the students repeat the word  Have students tap out the syllables in the word  Have students read the word by parts as you loop under the word  Have students repeat the pronunciation of the word (as many times as is necessary)  *Practice this. Think of a word you will have to teach this year and practice this strategy with a partner.

Before Reading - Vocabulary  Next...Introduce the meaning of the word  Present a student-friendly explanation  Tell the students the explanation OR  Have them read the explanation with you OR  Have the students locate the definition of the word and break the definition into critical attributes OR  Introduce the word using the meaningful parts in the word (auto – self, bio – life, graph – letters, words or pictures = autobiography) – SEE HANDOUT  *Use the example of the word you will teach and think of a student-friendly meaning.

Before Reading - Vocabulary  Next...after the introduction of pronunciation and meaning of the word, illustrate the word with examples  Concrete examples  Objects  Acting out  Visual examples  Verbal examples  *Share examples with your partner.

Before Reading - Vocabulary  Finally...check students’ understanding  Ask deep processing questions  Questioning and Cloze sentences  Have students discern between examples and non-examples  Have students generate their own examples  *Share some questions and examples with your partner.

Sample Questions – Checking for Understanding  How would you describe...?  What is meant by...?  How would you use...?  What ideas justify...?  What is an original way to show...?  Why is it better that...?  What is an alternative to...?  What is the relationship between...?

Background Knowledge: What and Why  What – all of the knowledge learners have when entering a learning environment that is potentially relevant for acquiring new knowledge  Why – background knowledge of a text has a major impact on whether or not a reader can comprehend text; higher scores on reading comprehension measures across grades and reading ability with prior knowledge of subject area and key vocabulary

Teach Background Knowledge  BIG IDEA – even a thin slice of background knowledge is useful  Preparation  What is critical?  What information would ease acquisition of new knowledge?  What information would reduce cognitive overload?  What information will increase interest & motivation?  Anchor instruction in supplementary instructional texts and technology  *Share with your partner...how will you help students gain background knowledge?

Preview – Informational Passage  As the student previews, he/she discovers:  The topics to be covered  The information that will be emphasized  How the materials is organized  Thus, background knowledge will be activated

Preview – Informational Passage  Guide students in previewing the chapter and formulating a topical outline using the text structure  Title, introduction, headings, subheadings, questions  Have students preview the selection independently or with a partner

Preview – Informational Passage  Before students read a chapter in a text, teach them to preview the following:  Beginning  Title  Introduction  Middle  Headings and subheadings  End  Summary  Questions

Preview – During Reading Strategies  Utilize passage reading procedures that provide adequate reading practice  *Share with your partner how you provide your students with adequate reading practice.  Ask appropriate questions during passage reading  Have students generate questions  Teach text structure strategies that can be applied to passage reading

Comprehension: Informational Text Reading  Read  Stop  Respond  Answer teacher questions  Generate questions/answer questions  Verbally retell content  Paragraph shrinking  Mark text  Take notes  Map/web content

During Reading – Ask Questions  Ask text-dependent questions  Ask higher order questions  Scaffold higher order questions with foundation questions on key details  Scaffold answers with sentence starters  Use appropriate active participation procedures for asking questions

During Reading – Scaffold Higher Order Questions  Provide a verbal or written sentence starter  Ask lower order (literal) questions first to establish a foundation on which higher order responses can be based  In what ways are emperor penguins different from other birds you know about?  Emperor penguins are different from other birds in a number of ways. First,.....  Scaffolding questions...can penguins fly? Does the mother or father penguin sit on the egg to keep it warm? Does the father penguin stay alone or with a group?

During Reading – Students Generate and Answer Questions  Student-generated questions based on headings and subheadings  Read the heading or subheading  Generate one or two questions  Read the section  Answer the question

During Passage Reading  Read  Stop  Respond  Students create main idea statements  Paragraph shrinking  Name the who or what  Tell most important thing about the who or what  Say the main idea in 10 words or less  Students respond to teacher or partner questions

During Passage Reading  Read  Stop  Respond  Students “mark” the text and write notes in the margins  Number the paragraphs  Circle the topic and/or key terms  Underline the author’s claims or other critical information  Notes in the margin might include: a drawing to illustrate a point, a summary of the content, key vocabulary terms and definitions, responses to interesting information, ideas, or claims

During Passage Reading  Read  Stop  Respond  Students take notes  Students map/web the content (two column notes with subject on left and details on right, graphic organizers)

Preview – After Reading Strategies  Have students complete or generate graphic organizers that summarize critical information (SEE HANDOUTS)  Have students write in response to a passage:  Summary  Compare and contrast  Opinion

After Reading – Graphic Organizers  Provide the students with a graphic organizer that reflects the structure of the text material  Central idea  Hierarchy  Compare/contrast  Sequence of events  Cause/effect  Problem/solution

After Reading – Graphic Organizers  After completing the graphic organizer, students:  Teach the content on the graphic organizer to their partner  Use the graphic organizer as a support during class discussions  Write a summary of the content based on the graphic organizer

Write a Summary – Writing Frames Summary of Informational Text  In this section of the chapter, a number of critical points were made about...  First, the authors pointed out that...  This was important because...  Next, the authors mentioned that...  Furthermore, they indicated...  This was critical because...  Finally, the authors suggested that...

Writing a Summary – Writing Frames Summary of an Opinion Article  Name of Article...  Author...  Topic...  In this article, ________ discusses...  The author’s primary claim is that...  First, she/he states...  She/he then points out that...  In addition, ______ indicates that...  Finally, she/he concludes...

Write a Summary  Write down the topic of the summary  List  Make a list of important ideas  Cross-out  Cross out any unnecessary or weak ideas  Connect  Connect ideas that could go in one sentence  Number  Number the ideas in the order that they will appear in the paragraph

Captioning to Support Literacy  Provides struggling readers (ELLs, students with learning disabilities, or new and/or struggling readers with additional print exposure which will improve foundational reading skills  Vocabulary acquisition  Listening comprehension  Word recognition and decoding skills  Reading speed and fluency

Summary  Share two ideas that you will implement during your first week back in the classroom!  Thank you for your participation. Wishing you a wonderful year of supporting your struggling readers!