WELCOME!!Please come in and tear a piece of paper into small pieces. Write down qualities that are unique to you. Examples: Places you’ve been, important people, things that you like…

Building Comprehension

Through Concrete Examples

Erin Case & Sarah Novacek

“Where do I start when teaching comprehension strategies? It is all so abstract to the kids. I always thought

that kids learned best when it is concrete for them… At least at first. It is

true in Math and Science, anyway.”-Donna King 5th Grade Teacher

Learning Target

• Teachers should use concrete examples of reading strategies to anchor their thinking.

Essential Questions:

• How can I help my students remember the different comprehension strategies? • How can I show the students

what the mind of a reader looks like?

Turn and Talk

• What does schema mean?

• How do readers use schema?

Comprehension Connections: Bridges to Strategic Reading By Tanny McGregor.

Schema Determiner

• Schema makes all the difference.• It’s your feelings, experiences,

thoughts, and opinions.• Every schema is unique• Increases a reader’s feeling of self-

confidence and willingness to take risks

Why Concrete Examples?

• Helps students understand their thinking and teaches them to think to understand

• We think when we listen, we think when we view, and we think when we read.

• Teaching thinking strategies outside of text before teaching them within may help students have more seamless transition as they apply strategies in their reading

• Not only creative; but FUN for kids

Reading Strategies:

• Making Connections• Inferring• Asking Questions• Determining Importance• Visualizing• Fix-Up Strategies• Monitoring Understanding• Synthesizing

Inferring Lesson

• Thinking Stems:– My guess is…– Maybe…– Perhaps…– It could be that…– This could mean…– I predict…– I infer…

Inferring

• Helps us make solid deductions in a short amount of time

• The process of merging your schema with an evidence-based guess

• Good inferences use both evidence and schema.

• Students must explain the WHY!

Concrete Example

Modeled Reading

Determining Importance Lesson

• What is important in Erin’s purse?

• Thinking Stems:– What’s important here…– What matters to me…– One thing that we should

notice…– I want to remember…– It’s interesting that…

Determining Importance

• Children need to –know how to single out and process what is meaningful–Recognize and set aside distractors

• Children should know that all words, sentences, or paragraphs are not created equal. Some carry more weight than others. We need to separate the fact from the fluff.

Which Comprehension Strategies Are Your Kids Struggling With?

• Making Connections• Inferring• Asking Questions• Determining Importance• Visualizing• Fix-Up Strategies• Monitoring Understanding• Synthesizing

Explore Comprehension Lessons!

Synthesizing

Inferring

Questioning

Determining Importance

Fix-Up Strategies

Visualizing

Reader’s Notebooks

•Anchor Charts•Genre Blurbs•Small Group Discussion•Independent Reading– Graphic Organizers– Reading Response

Reading Response Examples

Reading Response Examples

How Do I Fit This In?

• “Children are safe within the confines of something concrete.” –Georgia Heard, Poet & Author

• Set time to cycle through each strategy• Objective based curriculum• Program with little focus on strategies• Other

How Do I Fit This In?

• Day 1: Concrete Example• Day 2: Model with book• Day 3: Shared Reading• Day 4: Interactive Reading• Day 5 and beyond: Independent

and Guided Reading practice

Turn and Talk

• How can readers use these examples while reading?

• How will you provide concrete examples for your students?

“But this bridge will only take you halfway there--The last few steps, you’ll have to take

alone.”-Shel Silverstein from “This

Bridge”

Questions?