Comprehension Chapter 7

Reader and the written text interact in reading comprehension. The reader

alone or the text alone does not produce meaning.

Readers use all these forms of background knowledge

• 1. Print features (letters, word parts and words)

• 2. Facts

• 3. Strategies (Rupley & Wilson)

• 4. Purpose for reading

• These factors decide the attention (focus & maintaining focus) and refining of ideas to get meaning from print. (Tierney and Pearson)

Background knowledge includes:

• 1. Word recognition, concept of print, understanding of word order and understanding of word meanings.

• 2. Content of what is being read

• 3. How the text is organized.

• (Alexander and Murphy)

Schema Theory

• How knowledge is presented and how new knowledge is integrated with a network of prior knowledge. (Everyone’s is different)

• Reading process doesn’t go from print to overall interpretation of a text in a strict order.

• Explains how we learn, modify, and use information we have gathered from experiences.

Schema Theory

• Knowledge is organized according to meaning (thesaurus) rather than according to words (dictionary).

• Many categories of schemata: places, events, jobs, ideas.

• Slots-Attributes of a schema. Details about the chair-legs, back, seat.

Schemata are considered abstract

• 1. Concepts- ideas

• 2. Actions and events-have episodes or sequential order.

• Slots are filled differently (Anderson)

Much cross referencing happens with schema

• These theories are used for artificial intelligence.

• Empty slots are always waiting to be filled.

• New learning comes when schema is modified or created.

• Inference fills many slots.

How Schemata influence comprehension

• Explains how readers use background knowledge.

• Students may not have background for world politics or economics or England in 1200.

• Student may have the experience but not the language: The magistrate chastised them for the brouhaha.

Schemata Influence on Comprehension

• Students may have used schemata but come up with a different idea than the one intended by the author.

• Social and cultural factors affect schemata-• Readers from different cultures give different meaning to

the same text.• Students had difficulty answering questions about text

from a different culture than their own.• When the reader’s culture is mismatched with the culture

of the text, meaning is lost.

Implications of Schema Theory

• Using this knowledge to teach:– Make sure the reading is within the background

experience of the child.– Activate the background knowledge before

reading. Discuss, map words, give a purpose for reading, give study questions, pre-read questions.

Using schema theory to teach

• Develop background knowledge for new information: field trips, filmstrips, videos, pictures, guest speakers. Discuss new words, connect known concepts with new ones. Especially important in the content areas of science and social studies.

• Think aloud for students to relate new text to familiar ideas.

• Monitor student’s progress to see that they are matching new meaning to old ideas.

Bridges between new ideas and familiar ideas.

• Repeated interactions with content build these bridges.

• Hypothesis are used to confirm or reject ideas from the new text.

• Comprehension is the synthesis of these hypothesis that builds the meaning.

Metacognition

• Knowing if you know.

• Readers monitor their comprehension and know when it breaks down.

• Good readers know how to repair meaning.

Teachers should:

• Model how to check, monitor, and test hypotheses.

• Decoding and comprehension are both important parts of a literacy program.

• Teaching strategies, monitoring comprehension and providing opportunities to apply these strategies are major features of teaching literacy.

What to teach:

• Old research provided a set of skills to teach

• This list of skills is not enough.

• Dole says these are points should be taught as part of the curriculum of comprehension:– Decide what it important and what isn’t

(FILTER) Text structure and organization helps with this skill. (Fine print)

Dole (cont.)

• Summarizing Information-allows reader to sort through large pieces of text.

• This is developmental. Young children can summarize a simple plot, but can’t do sections of a longer story.

Dole(cont.)

• Drawing Inferences: Learn to fill in the gaps.

• Ask questions of the text: Children K-5 are able to ask predictive questions about a story to gain the author’s purpose for the piece.

Monitoring Comprehension

• Good readers do this unconsciously in order to repair lost meaning.

• Metacognition is paying attention to your own understanding and applying fix it strategies when necessary.

Questioning Strategies

• Teachers must choose the right questions to help students with comprehension. This makes the students pay attention to the important aspects of the text.

• Questions help to tie background knowledge to new text.

• Pre-reading questions help students to focus their attention on literal meaning of the text.

Inferential Questions

• Students must fill in their background knowledge to deduce meaning. What do you think will happen next?

• Teacher questions usually focus on the knowledge or facts from the text.

• Find a turning point in the story and ask, What will happen next? Why do you think so? Check this prediction. Follow up activities help with reflection on the story