Direct Instruction of Comprehension:
Instructional Examples From Intervention Research on
Listening and Reading Comprehension
MICHAEL D. COYNE
University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, USA
RICHARD P. ZIPOLI, JR.
West Hartford Public Schools, West Hartford, Connecticut, USA
DAVID J. CHARD
Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas, USA
MICHAEL FAGGELLA-LUBY
University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, USA
MAUREEN RUBY
Eastern Connecticut State University, Willimantic, Connecticut, USA
LANA E. SANTORO
SCOTT BAKER
Pacific Institutes for Research, Eugene, Oregon, USA
Coyne et al. 2009. Direction instruction of comprehension.
Reading & Writing Quarterly, 25, 221-245.
The Story Read Aloud Program
 The development of the Story Read Aloud
Program was supported by a federally funded
research project to design and evaluate a
framework for directly teaching comprehension
of complex narrative and information texts to
first-grade students in general education
classrooms during read aloud time (Baker,
Chard, & Edwards-Santoro, 2004).
 The program has undergone 5 years of
development and extensive testing to
determine its feasibility of use and to begin
examination of its efficacy.
Coyne et al. 2009. Direction instruction of comprehension.
Reading & Writing Quarterly, 25, 221-245.
Story Read Aloud Program: Principles
 Students were challenged to develop more complex listening
comprehension strategies than they would need to read and
understand typical first-grade text, including listening for specific
text elements in different types of books.
 Explicit intertextual connections between the narrative and
information texts selected for the read-alouds were identified by the
research team and highlighted in the instructional materials.
 A primary focus of the program was to facilitate dialogic interactions
between teachers and students designed to deepen student
comprehension.
 Activities were structured to enhance students’ retells and
summaries of texts.
Coyne et al. 2009. Direction instruction of comprehension.
Reading & Writing Quarterly, 25, 221-245.
ESS Strategies
ESS Routine instruction focuses on direct
instruction of three reading strategies:
 Student self-questioning of story grammar elements;
 Story-structure analysis, in which students label plot
diagrams;
 Summarizing.
ESS instruction is accompanied by a graphic
organizer that reinforces each of the three
strategies before, during, and after reading as
well as provides a place to take notes on critical
story elements.
Coyne et al. 2009. Direction instruction of comprehension.
Reading & Writing Quarterly, 25, 221-245.
Principles of Effective Direct Instruction
 The five principles of effective direct
instruction that informed the design of
both the Story Read Aloud Program and
the ESS Routine include:
conspicuous strategies,
mediated scaffolding,
strategic integration,
primed background knowledge,
 judicious review.
Coyne et al. 2009. Direction instruction of comprehension.
Reading & Writing Quarterly, 25, 221-245.
Examples of Strategy Use in SRAP and ESS
Story Read-Aloud
Program
Embedded Story
Structure Routine
Conspicuous
strategies
Ex. 1
Ex. 2
Mediated scaffolding
Ex. 3
Ex. 4
Strategic integration
Ex. 5
Ex. 6
Primed background
knowledge
Ex. 7
Ex. 8
Judicious review
Ex. 9
Ex. 10
Coyne et al. 2009. Direction instruction of comprehension.
Reading & Writing Quarterly, 25, 221-245.
Conspicuous Strategy: Definition
Conspicuous strategies refers to the
explicit teaching of important reading
strategies in ways that make them
unambiguous and available to all students.
Skilled readers approach text purposefully,
apply strategies flexibly, monitor for
understanding, and repair breakdowns in
comprehension (Carnine, Silbert, &
Kame’enui, 1997).
Coyne et al. 2009. Direction instruction of comprehension.
Reading & Writing Quarterly, 25, 221-245.
Ex. 1: Conspicuous Strategy in Read Aloud
 Context: Conspicuous strategy used by proficient readers:
establishing a purpose for reading.
 Instruction: Students are reminded that determining whether one is
reading an information book or a narrative book helps to understand
what one is going to learn. Identify the book’s title and author.
 Teacher: ‘‘The title of today’s book is Bats. The author, or person
who wrote it, is Gail Gibbons.’’
 Remind students about the importance of knowing the type of text
found in a book before listening=reading. Then think aloud about
the fact that this is an ‘‘information’’ book, and discuss how one can
tell that this is an informational text even though it has drawings
instead of photographs.
Coyne et al. 2009. Direction instruction of comprehension.
Reading & Writing Quarterly, 25, 221-245.
Ex. 2: Conspicuous Strategy in ESS
The teacher reads the first page of the short story and stops at a
predetermined point to pause and reflect.
Teacher: ‘‘Okay, I’ve finished reading the first page of the story and
now I am going to pause and reflect to see if I can pull out any important
details of the story. We have learned to ask ourselves several questions
when we pause and reflect that help us to find these important details.
The first question is a ‘who’ question: Who is the main character in the
story? As I look back over the first page of the story, I realize that Anna
is really the only character that has been introduced. She is a varsity
athlete, and it says that she is on the honor roll at her high school. I
think that she is going to be the main character in the story. Oh, Anna is
also in the title of the story. That is another clue that she is going to be
the main character. Because I have an answer to my ‘who’ question, I
am going to record it on my worksheet.’’
Coyne et al. 2009. Direction instruction of comprehension.
Reading & Writing Quarterly, 25, 221-245.
Ex. 3: Mediated Scaffolding in
Read Aloud
Coyne et al. 2009. Direction instruction of comprehension.
Reading & Writing Quarterly, 25, 221-245.
Ex. 4: Mediated Scaffolding in ESS
Coyne et al. 2009. Direction instruction of comprehension.
Reading & Writing Quarterly, 25, 221-245.
Ex. 4: Mediated Scaffolding in ESS
Coyne et al. 2009. Direction instruction of comprehension.
Reading & Writing Quarterly, 25, 221-245.
Ex. 5: Strategic Integration
Effective instruction explicitly and systematically
teaches students to integrate and relate new
information, concepts, and strategies. The strategic
integration of new information and strategies with
previous knowledge and skills facilitates the
development of increasingly complex conceptual
structures and problem-solving skills. This
integration process also allows students to become
more adaptable in applying rules and strategies
across a variety of text structures and academic
domains.
Coyne et al. 2009. Direction instruction of comprehension.
Reading & Writing Quarterly, 25, 221-245.
Ex. 5: Strategic Integration in Read Aloud
Before Reading: Preparing to read=making connections
(text to text). Think aloud about some facts about bats
that were presented in the ‘‘information’’ book lessons.
‘‘Because I know that this story is about a bat, another
way to get ready is to try to remember some of the
information we learned about bats from our other book.
Some of the things that I remember are (a) bats are
nocturnal—they sleep during the day and fly at night; (b)
fruit bats eat fruit and nectar, not insects; and (c) bats
hang upside down by their feet. What else do you
remember about bats?’’
Coyne et al. 2009. Direction instruction of comprehension.
Reading & Writing Quarterly, 25, 221-245.
Ex. 5: Strategic Integration in Read Aloud
During Reading: Have students talk about what they think
will happen when Stellaluna tries to land gracefully on a
tree branch—based on what has happened so far in the
story and on what they know about bats. Remind them of
the expectations for Book Club activities, and monitor
student interactions.
‘‘In your Book Clubs, take two minutes and talk about
what you think is going to happen when Stellaluna tries to
land gracefully on the branch. Think about what you know
about bats from our other book. Each person gets a
chance to say what they think will happen and why. Be
prepared to share what your group thinks with the whole
class.’’
Coyne et al. 2009. Direction instruction of comprehension.
Reading & Writing Quarterly, 25, 221-245.
Ex. 5: Strategic Integration in Read Aloud
Confirming Predictions: Remind students about
identifying whether a prediction was correct. Specifically
identify whether the predictions elicited previously were
correct.
‘‘Once you’ve made a prediction, you want to see if it
happens or not. You all made some predictions about
what would happen when Stellaluna tried to land
gracefully on the branch. The words say, ‘How
embarrassing’ and in the drawings it looks like Stellaluna
is falling off the branch, then barely hanging on, then lying
on top of it. I don’t think she landed gracefully at all. Were
your predictions right?’’
Coyne et al. 2009. Direction instruction of comprehension.
Reading & Writing Quarterly, 25, 221-245.
Ex. 5: Strategic Integration in Read Aloud
Monitoring/Clarifying: Think aloud about how
Stellaluna learned that hanging by her feet was
the right thing for her to do because she is a bat.
‘‘This is very interesting. The bat says that
Stellaluna is upside down because she is
hanging by her thumbs. When Stellaluna
explains that Mother Bird told her it was wrong to
hang by her feet, the bat says that hanging
upside down by one’s feet might be wrong for a
bird but it is not wrong for a bat. That makes
sense doesn’t it? We learned that bats do hang
upside down by their feet.’’
Coyne et al. 2009. Direction instruction of comprehension.
Reading & Writing Quarterly, 25, 221-245.
Ex. 6: Strategic Integration in ESS
On the second page of the ESS Organizer is a
space for students to conduct a story-structure
analysis, which is the second key strategy in the
ESS Routine.
In this example, a teacher guides students in
filling in a skeleton story-structure diagram.
Specific events from the short story that were
recorded as answers to the self-questions
during the first phase of instruction are labeled
on the ESS Organizer during this second phase
of instruction.
Coyne et al. 2009. Direction instruction of comprehension.
Reading & Writing Quarterly, 25, 221-245.
Ex. 6: Strategic Integration in ESS
‘‘So we have all agreed that the climax in this story
occurs when Anna realizes that she has made a
real friend in Martha. Another way to describe the
climax in a story is as ‘the point of highest tension.’
Can someone tell me how the story-structure
diagram might reflect this definition and help us to
remember how to use it in the future?’’ ‘‘Well the
climax is right at the top of the pointed part of the
diagram, and the line kind of turns at that point and
heads down. It heads down to the resolution. That
means that the climax is at the highest point of the
diagram like it is at the highest point of tension in
the story.’’
Coyne et al. 2009. Direction instruction of comprehension.
Reading & Writing Quarterly, 25, 221-245.
Ex. 6: Strategic Integration in ESS
The ESS instructional example
demonstrates a twofold process of
strategic integration by guiding secondary
students to use the answers to selfquestions in a new way, and then aiding
the students in visually constructing the
structure of the story. In this case, the
teacher is helping the students to make the
explicit connection between the climax of
the story and how it is a turning point in the
structure of the narrative.
Coyne et al. 2009. Direction instruction of comprehension.
Reading & Writing Quarterly, 25, 221-245.
Ex. 7: Primed Background Knowledge
 Primed Background Knowledge
Background knowledge is what the
students ‘‘bring to the table’’ before
engaging in instruction and what they use
to make meaningful connections to new
concepts, information, or strategies.
 Priming, or activating, background
knowledge helps students to relate new
information and strategies to their prior
knowledge and experiences.
Coyne et al. 2009. Direction instruction of comprehension.
Reading & Writing Quarterly, 25, 221-245.
Ex. 7: Primed Background Knowledge in Read Aloud
 In this example, students’ exploration of background knowledge is
scaffolded through the use of the KWL chart (What we Know, What
we Want to know, What we Learned; Ogle, 1986).
 Remind students that book type affects the purpose for reading,
and think aloud about preparing to read an ‘‘information’’ book by
identifying what you think you know about the topic and what you
want to know about it.
 Teacher: ‘‘Knowing the type of book helps you know what to think
about before listening or reading and while you’re listening or
reading. Because ‘information’ books have real facts or information
about a topic, a good way to get ready to listen or read is by
thinking about what you already know about the topic and what you
might want to know about it. We can use our KWL chart to help us
get ready for this book about bats.’’
Coyne et al. 2009. Direction instruction of comprehension.
Reading & Writing Quarterly, 25, 221-245.
Ex. 7: Primed Background Knowledge in Read Aloud
 KWL Chart: Preparing to Read Take a few minutes to
complete the ‘‘What We Think We Know’’ section of the
KWL chart. Model one thing yourself, and then elicit
responses from students.
T: ‘‘The first thing you can do to get ready for an
information book is think of things you think you already
know about the topic. I think that bats are mammals, so
I’m going to write that on the part of the KWL chart
called ‘What We Think We Know.’ Does anybody else
think they know something about bats?’’
Coyne et al. 2009. Direction instruction of comprehension.
Reading & Writing Quarterly, 25, 221-245.
Ex. 8: Primed Background Knowledge in ESS
 In the example below, a teacher has completed this type
of brainstorming activity with her students and is now
transitioning the students into the ESS Routine as a way
to enhance student recall and understanding.
Teacher: ‘‘We have brainstormed on the chalkboard a
very impressive list of details that you remember from
the story. However it seems like this is a lot of
information to remember, so we need to organize it in
some way. One way that we might organize this list is by
first focusing just on the important information in the
story. This is what really good readers do: They identify
the important information to remember and don’t fill up
their minds with all the little details. . . .”
Coyne et al. 2009. Direction instruction of comprehension.
Reading & Writing Quarterly, 25, 221-245.
Ex. 8: Primed Background Knowledge in
ESS (continued)
Teacher: “ . . . .Today we will be learning a
routine that will help you to remember the
important parts of narrative stories. The routine is
called the Embedded Story Structure Routine.
During the first phase of the routine, you will
learn how to ask yourselves seven questions
while you are reading a story. You will find that
the answers to the seven questions will help you
to remember the important parts of almost any
short story that we are reading. The good news is
that you might already know some of the
questions! For example, can someone tell me
what a ‘main character’ is?’’
Coyne et al. 2009. Direction instruction of comprehension.
Reading & Writing Quarterly, 25, 221-245.
Judicious Review
 Judicious review refers to repeatedly
presenting opportunities for learners to apply
and develop new knowledge and skills
(Kame’enui, Carnine, & Dixon, 2007). Carefully
sequenced review supports learning by
reinforcing knowledge and skills and allowing
students to become more fluent with concepts
and strategies. Review activities should
address all of the components that support
reading comprehension, including reading
fluency, vocabulary knowledge, strategic
processing, and familiarity with text features.
Coyne et al. 2009. Direction instruction of comprehension.
Reading & Writing Quarterly, 25, 221-245.
Ex. 9: Judicious Review in Read Aloud
Book Introduction: Preparing to Read (Purpose; Preview; Predict)
Review the book’s title and author. Explain the purpose of rereading.
‘‘I’m going to read Stellaluna to you again today. Janell Cannon is the
author. Reading something more than once can be useful. Lots of
times you learn new things when you read something again. It also
can help you remember the book better.’’
Guide students in identifying this as a ‘‘story’’ book and how they
can tell.
‘‘Who can tell me whether this is a ‘story’ book or an ‘information’
book? What are some of the ways you can tell?’’
Coyne et al. 2009. Direction instruction of comprehension.
Reading & Writing Quarterly, 25, 221-245.
Ex. 9: Judicious Review in Read Aloud
(continued)
Remind students why they want to know the
type of book, and that because it is a ‘‘story’’
book, they will be thinking about who the story is
about and what happens.
‘‘Remember, the reason you want to know what
type of book you are listening to or reading is so
that you can understand the book better. With a
‘story’ book, you want to listen for who the story
is about and the important things that happen in
the story.’’
Coyne et al. 2009. Direction instruction of comprehension.
Reading & Writing Quarterly, 25, 221-245.
Ex. 10: Judicious Review in ESS
(continued)
Students use the third ESS strategy, a summary
writing strategy, to generate a written summary
of the short story on the back of the ESS
Organizer based on their answers to the selfquestions using a four-sentence formula that
includes each of the eight critical elements of
story structure.
In this example, the teacher is guiding the
students through the first sentence of the
formula, focusing on the main character and the
central conflict of the story.
Coyne et al. 2009. Direction instruction of comprehension.
Reading & Writing Quarterly, 25, 221-245.
Ex. 10: Judicious Review in ESS
(continued)
 Teacher: ‘‘Now that we have finished our story-structure analysis
diagram, we want to record the important parts of the story in our
own words. We have learned a simple formula to help guide our
review of the story and to make sure we don’t leave anything out.
Can anyone remember the first sentence in our formula?’’
 Student 1: ‘‘Isn’t it something like: ‘This is a story about how,’ and
then we put in the name of the main character, ‘struggles with,’ and
then we add the central conflict?’’
 Teacher: ‘‘Yes, that is the correct structure for our first sentence. We
can also add in a few character details to help describe the main
character. Can someone help me to remember where I can find out
who the main character of the story was and what was the central
conflict?’’
Coyne et al. 2009. Direction instruction of comprehension.
Reading & Writing Quarterly, 25, 221-245.
Conclusions and Implications
Emerging research findings indicate that the
Story Read Aloud Program and the ESS
Routine can be used to provide effective
instruction for students with varied achievement
levels.
Direct instruction approaches can be used to
support comprehension at different points of
reading development.
Direct instruction principles can be used to
assist students in applying and developing
higher order cognitive strategies that support
comprehension.
Coyne et al. 2009. Direction instruction of comprehension.
Reading & Writing Quarterly, 25, 221-245.
Conclusions and Implications
 Future research should address how principles of direct
instruction might be optimally integrated into the design
of comprehension instruction. For example, the outsidein skills associated with comprehension allow children to
diverge in their thinking, in contrast to the inside-out
skills, where students are coached to converge in their
responses (e.g., identifying the sound associated with
the letter d).
 However, research and educational practice suggest
that it is difficult to teach students with learning
difficulties to orchestrate their strategies in a way that
allows them to flexibly connect text to their background
knowledge and extend their thinking.
Coyne et al. 2009. Direction instruction of comprehension.
Reading & Writing Quarterly, 25, 221-245.
Conclusions and Implications
 There is also a need for research on
instructional methods that promote
maintenance and generalization of reading
comprehension strategies, particularly for
students experiencing learning difficulties
(Gersten et al., 2001). Thus, emphasis should
be given to designing instructional approaches
that improve students’ ability to link new
information to prior knowledge, flexibly apply
new information, and transfer comprehension
strategies across varied text structures and
content domains (RAND Reading Study Group,
2002).
Coyne et al. 2009. Direction instruction of comprehension.
Reading & Writing Quarterly, 25, 221-245.