COMPREHENSION

WHAT IS COMPREHENSION?

• The “capacity of the mind to perceive and understand.”

• The “capacity for understanding fully.”

• The “ability to understand or get meaning from text or any type of written material.”

WHAT IS COMPREHENSION?

• It is the thinking done before, during, and after reading.

• Comprehension is not something that happens after reading.

• It is not called reading if the readers can read the words but do not understand what they’re reading.

INDICATORS OF LEARNER’S READING

COMPREHENSION

CONSTRUCTION OF MEANING OF TEXT

• Activation of background knowledge before, during and after reading text

• Monitoring of learner’s own understanding of text

• Identification of what they do not understand

ABILITY TO USE APPROPRIATE STRATEGIES

TO SYNTHESIZE WHAT THEY READ

• Creation of visual and other sensory imagery from text during and after reading

• Identification and interpretation of vocabulary critical to the meaning of the text

ABILITY TO USE APPROPRIATE STRATEGIES

TO SYNTHESIZE WHAT THEY READ

• Generating questions to integrate information from text

RETELLING TEXT ORALLY AND/OR IN WRITTEN FORM

• Summarizing text orally and/or in written form

• Using graphics aids and illustrations

• Examining and extending the meaning of the text

RESPONDING TO TEXT IN ORAL DISCUSSION AND

WRITTEN FORM

• Making inferences from text

• Ability to compare complex concepts of text

• Analysis of the text structure and story elements

LEVELS OF READING

LEVEL ONE - LITERAL

DESCRIPTION:

• This level is knowing what is actually stated which includes facts and details, role learning and memorization

• This level involves surface understanding only

LEVEL ONE - LITERALDESCRIPTION:• At the literal level of comprehension,

readers are at the most basic if levels. Readers are building their knowledge but they do not necessary have command of it.

• When they first approach brand new information, readers are at the literal level of comprehension.

LEVEL ONE - LITERAL

QUESTIONS ASKED:

• Common questions used to this type of thinking are who, what, when, and where questions. These are the easiest to answer because the answer is expressed directly.

LEVEL TWO - INTERPRETIVEDESCRIPTION:• The reader gleans what is implied or

meant, rather than what is actually stated

• This level involves drawing inferences or reading between the lines

• Readers tap into prior knowledge/experience and attach new learning to old information

LEVEL TWO - INTERPRETIVE

DESCRIPTION:

• Readers make logical leaps and educated guesses

• Readers read between the lines to determine what is meant by what is stated

LEVEL TWO - INTERPRETIVE

DESCRIPTION:• Readers are attempting to understand

what the author meant by what s/he said in the book. It is assumed that they have already memorized certain facts at the literal level and now they are attempting to see the implications of the author’s words.

LEVEL TWO - INTERPRETIVE

DESCRIPTION:

• Readers are attempting to understand that which they memorized at the literal level of comprehension.

LEVEL TWO - INTERPRETIVE

QUESTIONS ASKED:• The types of questions asked are open-

ended, thought-provoking questions like why, what if, and how. The answers to these questions are not directly stated. One is asked to analyzed and think about what he has read and to use his background knowledge about the subject to answer the question.

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