reading comprehension skills

READING COMPREHENSION

SKILLSReading for main ideas and

supporting detailsInferencing, predicting and drawing

conclusionSequencing

Cause and effectSynthesizingEvaluating

What is comprehension? Comprehension is the act of constructing

meaning with text The reader plays an active role – filtering,

organising, interpreting and generating relationships with incoming information

Comprehension is an interaction between word identification, knowledge and comprehension skills

(Johnson, A.P., 1998)

Reading for main ideas and supporting details

The main idea the big point (big picture) that the writer is

communicating to the reader. Often the reader can approach the main idea just

by looking at the title. like the heart of the text or a paragraph. It is the controlling idea.

Supporting details: Additional information that helps you understand

the main idea completely. Supporting details provide specific information,

such as examples, descriptions, and explanations.

Inferencing, predicting and drawing conclusion

Inferencing/drawing conclusion guessing the hidden information guessing meaning using clues

Questioning Background knowledge Imagination Making connection

Predicting an outcome, event, or action is confirmed or

contradicted by the end of the story

Sequencing A variety of reading comprehension

objectives requires learners to gather, analyze and organize information about a sequence of events.

Sequencing refers to putting events or actions in order.

As learners gather notes, they develop skills that help them create a meaningful sequence.

Cause and effect What does Cause and Effect mean?

Many times when one event happens it causes something else to happen.The cause is the first event that makes another event happen.   The effect is the event or events following the first event that happened.    

How do we use cause and effect to help us understand what we are reading?As you read, ask yourself, "What Happened?" and "Why?"The answer to "What happened?" tells you the effect.The answer to "Why?" tells you the cause.

Look for signal words such as: because, so, as a result, since, and therefore

Synthesizing to process and interact with information rather than

simply copying and pasting information. Students are actively engaged with information when

they categorize, analyze, combine, extract details, re-assess the value of the collected information, look for bias, omissions, etc.

Finally, they related this new understanding to their own knowledge and experiences and develop new meaning or solution. 

synthesis is like throwing a rock into a pond: first there's the splash, and then the water ripples out, making little waves that get bigger and bigger

as you read, your thinking evolves as you encounter new information, and the meaning gets bigger and bigger, just like the ripples in the pond.

Evaluating The cognitive skill of evaluation is most

often used when analyzing and interpreting data. 

Evaluation is a highly metacognitive strategy – it requires thinking about one’s own thinking and learning!

Students are not automatically metacognitive, nor do they automatically apply comprehension strategies while reading.

References http://www.bcps.org/offices/lis/models/ti

ps/synthesizing.htm http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/dl/

premium/0073407178/instructor/848627/Chapter_6_Summary.ppt

http://www.madison.k12.al.us/meridianville/english/weeks/ppt/Adv%20Read%20Main%20Idea.ppt

http://www.gpwu.ac.jp/~biddle/READING%20STRATEGIES/Inference%20-%20Conclusion%20-%20STRATEGY%207show.ppsx

http://www.readinglady.com/mosaic/tools/PowerPoints/Inference%20-%20Conclusion%20-%207.ppt

http://www.wccsonline.com/technology/knowledgebase/Software%20Hardware%20Manuals/ReadOutLoud%20SOLO/Sequencing%20Lesson%20Instructions.pdf

http://www.readinginnovations.com/Comprehension/CauseandEffect.html

http://beyondweather.ehe.osu.edu/issue/we-study-earths-climate/evaluating-in-reading-and-science