The BIG FIVE
Components of Reading
Comprehension
The Big 5 Components of
Reading
Comprehension
Phonological Awareness
Phonics
Vocabulary
Fluency
Objectives
 You
will learn:
– the strategies and skills good readers
use to comprehend
– the importance of teaching
comprehension strategies and skills in
every subject area
– how to support students in reading
informational texts through THIEVES
and knowledge of text structure
Vocabulary
Comprehension strategies
Comprehension skills
THIEVES
Gradual release of responsibility
Text type
Schema
Common Core Anchor
Standards for Reading
 Read
to gain literary and cultural
knowledge and familiarity with text
structures (literary texts)
 Read to build knowledge and
background to be better readers
(informational texts)
 Structure curriculum to develop rich
content knowledge within and across
grades
Reading
A skilled reader rapidly and accurately
decodes the words, attaches the
meaning to words and sentences,
connects text information to relevant
background knowledge, maintains a
mental representation of what he or she
has already read, forms hypotheses
about upcoming information and makes
decisions based on his or her purpose for
reading – all at the same time.
Carlisle and Rice 2002
Comprehension
Old Way
Students read.
Teacher asks questions about what they
read.
New Way
After preparation for a story, students read
with decreasing support from the teacher.
As students read, the teacher models reading
strategies (thinks aloud as a reader) with
gradual release of responsibility.
Big Changes K-5
K
1
2
3-5
Phonemic
Awareness
Phonics
Letter and sound combinations
Multisyllables
Fluency
Vocabulary
Comprehension
Listening
Listening
Reading
Reading
Before Reading
Build Background Knowledge
 Background
knowledge (schema)
– Experiences (real or vicariously)
– Vocabulary
 Informational
 Literary
Texts: KWL
Texts:
– Browsing (Clues, Wonderings,
Problems)
– Predict O Gram
Before Reading
Predictions
 Students
need a purpose to read
– Literary texts: What might happen?
– Informational texts: What might I
learn?
Before Reading: Building
Schema for Informational
Texts: THIEVES
– Title
 H – Headings
 I – Introductory Material
 E – Every 1st sentence in each paragraph
 V – Visuals and Vocabulary
 E – End Questions
 S – Summary
T
Before Reading:
Building Schema: Use of Text
Types
Identifying Text Type
The Importance of Knowledge of
Text Types to Building Background
(Schema)
What is the Text Type?


What is the text type? How do you know?
What is the vocabulary you expect to see?
Frozen Peach Shortcake Squares
Ingredients
1 (8 ounce) tub COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed
1 pint vanilla ice cream, softened
1 pkg. (4 serving size) JELL-O Brand Peach Flavor Gelatin (unprepared)
4 cups pound cake cubes
1/4 cup raspberry preserves
12 small peach slices
12 raspberries
Directions
Stir whipped topping, ice cream and dry gelatin in large bowl until well
blended. Stir in cake cubes. Spoon into 8-inch square pan.
Freeze 3 hours or until firm.
Drizzle with raspberry preserves. Cut into squares. Top each square
with 1 peach slice and 1 raspberry. Store leftover dessert in freezer.
What is the Text Type?


What is the text type? How do you know?
What is the vocabulary you expect to see?
Characters:
Boy
Blind man 1
Blind man 2
Blind man 3
The Blind Men and the Elephant
Blind man 4
Blind man 5
Blind man 6
Guide
Setting: Somewhere in Asia where an elephant is passing by.
Boy: (enters stage running and yelling). An elephant! Everybody, come
see it, it's coming, it's coming. Everybody come out, come and see the
elephant… An elephant!
(the blind men enter stage walking slowly with their cranes).
Blind man 1: I don't know how an elephant looks like.
Blind man 2: Me neither.
Blind man 3: Me neither.
What is the Text Type?


What is the text type? How do you know?
What is the vocabulary you expect to see?
Dinosaurs Survived Mass Extinction by 700,000
Years, Fossil Find Suggests
University of Alberta researchers determined that a fossilized dinosaur
bone found in New Mexico confounds the long established paradigm
that the age of dinosaurs ended between 65.5 and 66 million years ago.
The U of A team, led by Larry Heaman from the Department of Earth
and Atmospheric Sciences, determined the femur bone of a hadrosaur
as being only 64.8 million years old. That means this particular plant
eater was alive about 700,000 years after the mass extinction event
many paleontologists believe wiped all non-avian dinosaurs off the face
of earth, forever.
What is the Text Type?


What is the text type? How do you know?
What is the vocabulary you expect to see?
The Ant and the Grasshopper
In a field one summer's day a Grasshopper was hopping
about, chirping and singing to its heart's content. An Ant
passed by, bearing along with great toil an ear of corn he
was taking to the nest. "Why not come and chat with me,"
said the Grasshopper, "instead of toiling and moiling in that
way?" "I am helping to lay up food for the winter," said the
Ant, "and recommend you to do the same." "Why bother
about winter?" said the Grasshopper; we have got plenty of
food at present." But the Ant went on its way and continued
its toil. When the winter came the Grasshopper had no food
and found itself dying of hunger, while it saw the ants
distributing every day corn and grain from the stores they
had collected in the summer. Then the Grasshopper knew:
It is best to prepare for the days of necessity.
What is the Text Type?


What is the text type? How do you know?
What is the vocabulary you expect to see?
McCain, Franklin (Franklin Eugene), 1941-
Franklin Eugene McCain is one of the original four who took
part in the Woolworth sit-in on February 1, 1960 in
Greensboro, North Carolina. "Franklin Eugene McCain was
born in Union County, North Carolina, in 1942, and raised in
Washington, D.C. He graduated from Eastern High School in
1959 and attended North Carolina A&T State University.
McCain and three other A&T freshmen, now known as the
'Greensboro Four,' are credited with initiating the sit-in
movement when they sat down at the F. W. Woolworth lunch
counter in Greensboro on February 1, 1960 and requested
service.”
Text Types
Fiction
Mystery
Realistic fiction
Science fiction
Fantasy
Folk Tales
Historical fiction
Poetry
Informational text
Biography, Autobiography
Recipe
How-to
Chart, Graph, Map, Table,
Diagram
Directions, Procedures
Article, Pamphlet, Brochure
Journal
Letter
Drama
Details in Different Text Types

Format level (macro level)
– How it looks – poem, recipe, for
instance

Vocabulary level (micro level)
– Hoop skirts = historical fiction
– Interplanetary protection gear =
science fiction
– Clue = mystery
– Riding a bus to school = realistic
fiction
Visualizing to Determine Text Type

Give students words from a text type and
have them visualize the scene:
– Ogre, unicorn, book, potion
– Summer, camping, missing tent, flashlight

Begin making lists of vocabulary specific
to a text type on your Text Type posters.

What’s the Genre?
What Causes Students to Dislike
Certain Text Types?
 Their
schema
 What
Kind of a Reader Are You?
Steps for Introduction of Text Type
Studies in Classrooms
Give the survey, “What kind of reader are
you?”
 Put up text type posters in classrooms
 Discuss the text type of any selection in
reading, content areas, read alouds
 Add the title to the appropriate poster
 Add vocabulary of the text type to the poster
 After a while, ask children if they can identify
the text type
 Give children books or selections and see if
they can identify the text type
 Urge them to read a different text type than
they usually do

During Reading: What Do Good
Comprehenders Do?
Comprehension Strategies
What good readers do to understand the text

Make connections

Summarize

Make predictions

Visualize

Ask questions

Clarify

Adjust reading speed
During Reading: Make
Connections

Three levels of making connections:
– Text to self
– Text to world
– Text to text



Making connections deepens our understanding
of the text
Making connections expands our understanding
of the text and our own knowledge
Readers ask themselves
– What does this remind me of



In my life
In something I’ve seen or heard
In another selection that I’ve read
During Reading: Visualize


Visualizing is creating a mental picture
about the text
Visualizing involves
– Picturing what the author wrote
– Going beyond the text and incorporating prior
knowledge and experience that deepen
understanding

Readers visualize
– The setting
– The characters
– The action
During Reading: Visualizing
(continued)

Visualizing is used in fiction and nonfiction
texts

Visualizing helps us understand complex
processes in nonfiction

Authors help us visualize by using
– Illustrations
– Diagrams
– Maps

Good readers ask themselves
– What picture is in my mind?
– Does the picture extend beyond the text?
– Would making a drawing help me understand?
During Reading: Summarize

Summarizing involves putting the
information into our own words.

It involves determining importance

If a reader cannot summarize, they reread
to find the gaps

The difficulty of the text determines how
often a reader summarizes
– In nonfiction: after each section
– In fiction: after an episode has been read
– Whenever we have put down a book and are
about to begin reading again
During Reading: Summarize
 Good
readers ask:
– Does this make sense?
– What is this about?
– How can I put this in my own words?
GIST
Who?
What?
How?
When?
Where?
Why?
13 word summary
GIST
Who? The three little pigs
What? Built houses
How? Of straw, sticks, brick
When? ??
Where? ??
Why? To live on their own
GIST
Who? The big bad wolf
What? Blew down the little pigs’ houses, but could
not blow down the house of bricks
Why? To eat them
When? ??
How? By huffing and puffing and blowing their
house down
Where? ??
The Big Bad Wolf tried to blow down the Three
Little Pigs’ houses and eat them by huffing and
puffing, but he could not blow down the brick
house.
The Wolf could not blow down the brick house to
eat the Pigs.
During Reading: Make
Predictions

Predicting involves
– Summarizing what has been read so far
– Identifying clues and events in the text
– Making connections to prior knowledge and
personal events to make inferences about
what will happen next
Predictions are never wrong, just
confirmed or disconfirmed
 Readers ask:

– What are the clues in the text?
– What do I already know that will help me know
what will happen next?
During Reading: Ask questions

Asking questions allow the reader to check the
understanding and follow the writer’s train of
thought

We ask questions about what we might learn

Asking questions clears up confusion or makes us
wonder why something is in the text the way it is

Asking questions is like having a teacher inside
you to ask comprehension questions

Good readers ask
–
–
–
–
Why is this the way it is?
What new information am I learning?
What questions will be answered as I read?
What does not make sense?
During Reading: Clarify
We clarify when we do not understand a
word or concept
 Good readers ask

– What does not make sense? (WAC a word)
 If
it is a word, how can I figure it out?
– Word Structure The father said he would
disinherit his son unless he did as he asked.
– Apposition He suffered from somnambulism,
walking in his sleep.
– Context The man reached up to get the camera.
He stretched his body.
– What is the main idea of what I just read?
– Can I put what I just read into my own words?
During Reading:
Adjust Reading Speed
 We
adjust our reading speed by
– Speeding up when the text is easy
– Slowing down when the text is hard
 Good
readers ask themselves
– Am I understanding what I am reading?
– Can I remember what I read?
– Do I need to re-read more slowly?
During Reading: Procedures for
Teaching Comprehension
 Modeling
and thinking aloud
– Especially effective on a first read or
read aloud
During Reading: Procedures for
Teaching Comprehension
 During
– Model
– Model
– Model
– Model
– Model
– Model
– Model
reading:
summarizing
clarifying
asking questions
predicting
making connections
visualizing
adjusting reading speed
During Reading: Procedures for
Teaching Comprehension
 Use
gradual release of responsibility
– I do it
– We do it together
– You do it alone
Procedure for Gradual
Release of Responsibility

I do it:
– This is a good time to stop because ____. I am going to
____(comprehension strategy).
Apply the strategy.

We do it together:
– Teacher: This is a good time to stop because ____. We are
going to ____(comprehension strategy).
– Students: Apply the strategy.

We do it together:
– Teacher: This is a good time to stop because ____.
– Students: I am going to ____(comprehension strategy).
Apply the strategy.

You do it:
– This is a good time to stop because ____. I am going to
____(comprehension strategy). Apply the strategy.
Comprehension Skills
 What
the author does to help us
understand what was written.
 Used
read.
the second time a selection is
Comprehension Skills
Author’s purpose
 Text Structures

– (Description)
– Sequence
– Compare and contrast
-Cause and effect
-(Problem and solution)
Author’s point of view
 Main idea and details
 Classify and categorize
 Fact and opinion
 Drawing conclusions/making inferences

Author’s purpose


Every author writes for a reason
Most common reasons:
– Entertain
– Persuade
– Inform




Knowing this gives the reader an idea of what to
expect and maybe an idea of what the author is
going to say
Entertain: reader relaxes and lets story carry him
or her
Persuade: Be aware the author wants you to
think in a certain way
Inform: Pay attention because you are going to
learn something
Text Structures
Description
 The
author explains a topic, idea,
person, place, or thing by listing
characteristics, features, and
examples.
 Focus
is on one thing and its
components
Text Structure
Sequence
 The
author lists items or events in
numerical or chronological order
 Describes
the order of events or how
to do or make something (procedure
or process)
Text Structure
Compare and Contrast
 Compare
= similarities
 Contrast
= differences
 The
author explains how two or more
ideas, objects, or processses are
alike and/or how they are different
Text Structures
Cause and Effect
 The
author lists one or more causes
or events and the resulting
consequences or effects
 Effect
= what happened?
 Cause
= what made it happen?
 Purpose
is to explain why or how
something happened, exists, or
words
– If/then pattern
Text Structure
Problem and Solution
 The
author states a problem and lists
one or more possible solutions to the
problem
 May
also include the pros and cons
for the solutions
Author’s point of view


Who is telling the story?
First person: one of the characters in the
story describes the action and tells what
the other characters are like
– I, me, my

Third person: someone outside the story
who is aware of the characters’ thoughts,
feelings, and actions tells the story
– He/she, him/her, it

Being aware of this helps to know whether
the reader is given the full picture or not
Main idea and details



The reader should know what the author
is writing about
The main idea is strengthened by details
that help the reader understand the main
idea
Examples of details:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Compare and contrast
Provide examples
Provide facts
Give opinions
Give descriptions
Cause and effect
Give definitions
Classify and categorize
 The
relationships of actions, events,
characters, and outcomes in a
selection
The BFG
Characters
Settings
Problem
Events
Solution
Fact and opinion
 Essential
to critical thinking
 What
needs to be in place for it to be
provable?
 An
opinion is not provable, but
should be based on fact.
 This
helps determine the validity of
ideas
Drawing conclusions/making
inferences

Writers do not directly state everything

Reader must “read between the lines”
Information from the text
+Connection to what I know
Inference or draw a conclusion

The boy punched him
+I know boys who punch others (bullies)
He is a bully

After Reading: Checking
Comprehension
 Be
sure your comprehension
questions are challenging the
students to think
Your Turn
Look at your next science or social studies
lesson.
 Plan to use at least one comprehension
strategy and one skill in your lesson.

– Plan which skill fits best with your lesson
– Find at least 2 places to model it
– Plan a way for children to apply the skill
themselves
– Plan an assessment to determine if they
understand what the author did to help them
comprehend
Vocabulary
Comprehension strategies
Comprehension skills
THIEVES
Gradual release of responsibility
Genre
Schema
Teaching the Big 5
 To
be most effective, the five critical
components need to be taught
explicitly within classrooms that are
strongly positive and engaging, use
writing activities to support literacy,
and provide students with many
opportunities to read interesting text
and complete authentic reading and
writing assignments.
Florida Center for Reading Research