I Read It, But I Don’t Get ItComprehension Strategies for Adolescent Readers

By Cris Tovani

How do we read?

• We decode.• We become fluent.

(maybe)• That’s all there is!

Right?

What about comprehension?

• “Every student [in your remedial reading class] knows what it feels like to be a reading failure. They know what it’s like to read a book and not ‘get it.’ They know how to fake-read and avoid real reading at all costs.”

What about comprehension?

• Middle schoolers are being asked to read increasingly difficult texts with little or no instruction on how to do so with understanding and comprehension.

• Word callers - can decode but don’t understand or remember what they read

• Resistive readers - can read but choose not to.

How can we help?

• By middle and high school, many students no longer see the value of worth or reading - using the “important book and literary histories” form, students talk about a book that once impacted their lives in a positive or negative way.

How can we help?

• As a teacher (always modeling,) bring in a few books with both kinds of impacts from your personal experience, and talk about them. Usually it’s the memories associated with the book rather than the book itself and the story it contains.

• Students will bring in one book to talk about in front of the class.

How can we help?

• Even good readers use helpful techniques.

• Many adults join book clubs to help them make sense of what they read, even for pleasure.

• We would want a great guitar or piano player teaching us, so why not a great reader?

• MODEL MODEL MODEL

Building Community• Share with students your own personal reading

struggles and how you work(ed) through them.• “As a class we will read powerful text. It will

change our thinking forever. Our reading will compel us to share our pasts, passions, and concerns. Creating meaning together will force total strangers to connect. We will reveal strengths, expose our weaknesses, and grow stronger as we build a community of readers.” (p. 12)

What do you/can you do?

• Ask students: What DO you do when you get stuck reading?

• Try again: What CAN you do when you get stuck?

• Put answers up to discuss

Strategy - an intentional plan that readers use to help themselves make sense of their reading, used by successful readers of all ages:

• They use existing knowledge to make sense of new information

• They ask questions about the text before, during, and after reading

• They draw inferences from the text• They monitor their comprehension

Strategy - an intentional plan that readers use to help themselves make sense of their reading, used by successful readers of all ages:

• They use “fix-up” strategies when meaning breaks down

• They determine what is important

• They synthesize information to create new thinking

Purposes for Reading - Access Tools

• Purpose is everything - if we don’t have a reason for reading, why are we there?

• Thinking aloud - teachers model this to show how we put meaning into what we read.

• Marking Text - using codes, teach students to mark text using pencils, sticky notes, and highlighters.

Purposes for Reading - Access Tools

• Double-Entry Diaries - two large columns on a page, with excerpted text on the left, and students’ thinking on the right

• Comprehension Constructor - a kind of “road map” to comprehension created by the teacher

Fix-up Strategies• Making Connections: use memories, personal

experiences, information about the subject, the author’s style, and textual organization.

• Make a Prediction: good readers anticipate what’s coming next.

• Stop and Think: good readers ponder what they have read.

• Ask a Question: struggling readers sometimes expect to find all the answers to their questions in the text, but sometimes answers can be found by using clues from the text and background knowledge to draw inferences.

Fix-up Strategies

• Write About What You’ve Read: jotting down a few notes may clarify meaning.

• Visualize: use the images in your head to help you visualize the words in the text.

• Use Print Conventions: key words, bold print, italicized words, capital letters, and punctuation. Poor readers often ignore conventions.

• Retell What You’ve Read: readers who don’t recall what they have read before beginning new text end up doing it while they are reading the new material and therefore don’t pay attention to it.

Fix-up Strategies• Reread: reread portions of the text. Struggling

readers tend to think rereading means they have to reread everything.

• Notice Patterns in Text Structure: recognizing how a piece is organized helps readers locate information more quickly.

• Adjust Reading Rate: good readers slow down when something is difficult or unfamiliar. It’s okay to read faster, too, when something is familiar or boring.

Making Connections to Text:

• (p. 73) “Initially, students’ connections will be superficial, but with teacher modeling and practice they will become more sophisticated and will be able to go beyond the literal meaning on the page.

Making Connections Helps Readers:• Relate to characters• Visualize• Avoid boredom• Pay attention• Listen to others’ opinions and connections• Read actively• Remember what they read• Ask questions and draw inferences

A Few Last Thoughts

• Teach students to be aware of their purposes for reading, their comprehension, and the strategies they can use to help themselves when they get stuck.

• MODEL, MODEL, MODEL!