Comprehension- a parent guide

What is Comprehension? “The capacity of the mind to perceive and understand; the power, act, or process of grasping with the intellect; perception; understanding" (Webster’s Online Dictionary)

What Comprehension Isn’t “Comprehension is not about answering those literal questions at the end of a story, chapter, or textbook section. Comprehension is not about spitting out facts and filling in blanks. Comprehension is about understanding. And reading is not merely about word calling. Reading is about thinking.” (Collaboration and Comprehension: Inquiry Circles in Action. Harvey & Daniels p. 27).

Comprehension Strategies There are 8 strategies used in our first grade classroom that we learn about and practice using to help us understand as we read. These include: –Make Connections –Ask Questions –Create Mental Images (Visualizing) –Determine Importance –Synthesize and Summarize (Retell) –Infer –Monitor Understanding –Fix-Up Strategies

Why use beanie babies? Beanie babies are an authentic approach to teaching the decoding skills necessary for learning to read. We will use 7 beanie babies for our 8 comprehension strategies in our first grade classrooms. We will use the same beanie baby for “Monitor Comprehension” and “Fix-Up Strategies”.

In the classroom Your child will learn all 8 comprehension strategies in the first 16 weeks of the school year. –Each strategy will be taught over a two-week period. We will introduce one comprehension strategy per week and practice using the strategy in authentic ways during the second week. –While we will introduce the strategies one at a time, students will learn how to use multiple strategies simultaneously and to determine which strategy will be most helpful to use when reading. During our small, differentiated reading groups, we will be practicing our comprehension strategies to become more thoughtful, intentional readers and learners. The students will be using comprehension bookmarks plus a display of our strategies will be displayed in the classroom for student reference.

At home Your child will eventually know these strategies well enough to use them with their books at home Use your handout as a reference while you are reading with your child If they come to a part in the book they don’t understand: –See if they know a strategy they can use –Tell them a strategy to use

Spinner the Spider Make Connections Help students activate their prior knowledge and connect to what they already know Brainstorm how the story is similar to something the child already knows about Brainstorm how the story is different to something the child already knows about

Questioning Owl Ask Questions Model asking questions at a part in the book you naturally have a question about Ask questions about the story before, during, and after reading Encourage students to ask questions that begin with the following words: who, what, when, where, why, how, is, will, if, does, and others, but don’t just stop there! Look for the answers in the text or make reasonable conclusions about possible explanations/answers to the questions.

Rocky Raccoon Create Mental Images- Visualize Use your 5 senses Think about what the author is describing in the text. Relate it to your own experiences at this kind of place or with this kind of activity. Put these pictures in your head! See and think about the story like a movie going on in your head. Ask what the characters look like and what their actions are like? How does this make you feel?

Digger the Dog Determine Importance Dig for important details Dig for important information that tells you about the author’s message Dig and determine the facts

Jabber the Reteller Retell and Synthesize Retell the characters and setting from the book Identify the problem and solution in the story book Retell important events and ideas at the beginning, middle, and end of the story, but don’t just stop there! Describe what you have learned and how your thinking has grown and changed.

Iggy the Inferring Iguana Infer Make predictions while you read and explain your thinking Draw conclusions as you put information together and relate the conclusions to your schema (background knowledge/what you already know) Reflect on your reading using clues from the pictures and what has been mentioned in the story

Fix-Up/Repair Bear Monitor Understanding and Fix-Up Strategies “Think” while you read to figure out what you don’t understand Don’t just keep reading when something is confusing! STOP when something doesn’t make sense. Use a fix-up strategy to try to understand something that doesn’t make sense. Strategies include: use the meaning clues, word clues, and picture clues.

A final note These 8 strategies will help your child improve his or her comprehension, but put the thinking back on your child’s shoulders. Don’t do the thinking for him or her! Encourage your student to decide which beanie baby might help him or her think about and understand the story. Using the same ideas for decoding and comprehension at home and at school provide a strong collaboration between the two and an easier way of thinking about reading for your child.