The Six Minute Solution PLUS :
Reading Comprehension and
Vocabulary Development
• A research based supplemental
program designed to help
students strengthen and improve
reading skills
– Gail N. Adams and Susan Van
Zant
• Intermediate Level available July
2011
• Primary and Secondary in
development
Six Minute Solution PLUS for
Reading Comprehension
• Direct instruction and practical
application of research proven
comprehension strategies
• Test taking strategies for
multiple choice, cloze and
short answer formats
• Strategies for answering
questions typically found on
standardized tests
Six Minute Solution PLUS for
Vocabulary Development
• Research based
instructional routine for
teaching vocabulary
• Strategies for developing
word consciousness and
vocabulary expansion
Six Minute Solution PLUS for Test
Practice
• Practice
opportunities to
respond to the types
of questions
typically found on
standardized
assessments
Testing Genre
• Cognitive understanding of
the different questioning
formats
• Knowledge of the testing
vocabulary
• Ability to determine the
information needed to
correctly respond to
different questions
Teach Testing Genre
• Common question stems
and difficult questions
• Test specific and
academic vocabulary
• Provide distributive
practice
Characteristics of the Testing Genre :
Questions
• Common Question Stems
– Which of these facts is not correct?
• Questions that ask students to identify the main
idea, determine fact from opinion, match
antonyms, or interpret the author’s view point of
view are often the questions that students miss on
state assessments.
– Which of these is a theme in this passage?
– Which words are antonyms?
– Check the statement with which the author probably disagrees
Author’s Purpose
One question that students often miss is author’s
purpose.
The author probably wrote this passage
a._____ to entertain the reader
b._____ to provide information about kites
c._____ to persuade the reader to buy kites
d._____ to convince the reader to fly a kite.
For Example :
• After the potatoes are peeled you must…
• How does Jose feel when the kites dive…?
• Check the meaning of the underlined word in
this sentence. (pitch)
• The third paragraph is mostly about…
• The author would probably agree with…
Additional Examples
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What is the best title for this selection?
What is the theme of this passage?
What event happened before?
This selection is an example of …(genre)
Unhappily can be best described as….
Characteristics of the Testing Genre :
Academic Vocabulary
• Words used in the classroom, in textbooks and on
tests.
• Words likely to be encountered frequently across
content areas.
• Words that are different from those commonly
used outside the classroom in terms of
vocabulary, syntax, and grammar.
Characteristics of the Testing Genre :
Academic Vocabulary
• Test vocabulary includes words such as: best answer,
what, which, why
• It also include academic words such as: contrast,
define, describe, antonyms, theme, passage,
paragraph
• Understanding test vocabulary and academic
language is difficult for many students, especially
struggling readers and second language learners.
Twelve Words That Trip Up At Risk
Students on Standardized Tests
Larry Bell, 2003
Strategies that Close the Gap
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Trace
Analyze
Infer
Evaluate
Formulate
Describe
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Support
Explain
Summarize
Compare
Contrast
Predict
Testing Genre : Distributive Practice
There is a mountain of evidence suggesting
that spacing study time leads to better
memory of the material…
—Daniel T. Willingham, American Educator, Summer 2002
Practical Application of Reading
Comprehension Strategies
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Cooperative Learning
Question Answering
Summarization
Graphic and Semantic
Organizers
• Comprehension Monitoring
• Question Generating
• Multiple Teaching Strategies
Cooperative Learning
• The Six Minute Solution partner format lends
itself well to cooperative learning.
• Studies show that when students are placed
with a partner or within a small group and
provided clearly defined tasks that require
active engagement………
• They help each other increase their
understanding of what has been read by
explaining the material in their own words.
(Klingner, Vaughn, & Schumm, 1998).
Question Answering
Use of questions to guide
and monitor student
comprehension.
QAR Strategy
• Shows the relationship between
questions and answers
• Categorizes different types of
questions
• Assists students in analyzing,
comprehending and responding to
text
• Helps refute the common
misunderstanding held by students
that the text has all the answers.
Types of QAR :
In the Text or In My Head
• Right There (literal)
The answer to the question is “right there” in one sentence; the
question and answer have the same wording
• Think and Search (literal)
The answer to the question requires searching across the text; the
question and answer have different wording
• On My Own (inferential and evaluative)
The answer to the questions comes entirely from students’ prior
knowledge without even reading the text
• Author and Me (inferential)
The answer to the question comes from the students’ prior
knowledge and text clues provided by the author.
Summarization
• Instruction in
summarization
improves memory for
what is read, both in
terms of recalling
information and
answering questions
about the selection.
Summary Writing Frame 1
This passage was about __________
___________________. First, I learned
___________________. Next, I learned
___________________. Finally, I learned
______________________.
Summary Writing Frame 2
Write your topic sentence first ( name the who or the
what and tell the most important thing about the who or
the what). One important fact about _____________ is
________________
_______________________________.
Another important fact is ___________
_______________________________.
A final important fact is
_______________________________.
Graphic & Semantic Organizers
• Teaching students to organize the ideas
they are learning from their reading into
a visual display helps them to remember
what they learned and leads to better
comprehension of content area subjects
such as social studies and science.
Comprehension Monitoring
• Students are taught to monitor their
own comprehension by paying attention
to what they are reading and noticing
when they begin to lose the meaning.
Multiple Teaching Strategies
• The use of two or more combinations
of four strategies : question
generation, summarization,
clarification and prediction of what
might occur.
Reciprocal Teaching
Brown and Palincsar 1984
– Predicting- prior knowledge,
anticipation, think about
– Clarifying- key vocabulary
that is unknown, big ideas
– Questioning- formulate
questions, discuss, read
– Summarizing- section by
section of key ideas,
paraphrase
Question Generating
• Teaching students to ask themselves
who, what, when, where, why and how
questions as they read can lead to
improvement in comprehension and the
ability to recall what has been read.
Strategies for Answering :
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Main idea questions
Literal detail questions
Inferential information questions
Compare/contrast questions
Cause/effect questions
Title selection questions
Determination of author’s purpose questions
Determination of author’s viewpoint questions
Fact/opinion questions
True/false questions
Time/order sequential questions
Making generalizations questions
Strategies for Testing Formats
• Multiple choice questions
• Cloze questions
• Short answer questions
Vocabulary Strategies for
Determining :
• The meaning of a word from context
questions
• Correct synonyms, antonyms and
homophones
• Contextually appropriate multiple
meaning words
• The meaning of unknown words
using morphemic analysis
Instructional Routine
• Introduce the word.
• Present a student
friendly explanation.
• Illustrate the word
with examples.
• Check the students’
understanding.
Martin Luther King : A Man of Peace
passage 516
1. Introduction- “The key word is segregation.”
2. Explanation- “Segregation means to set apart, to
separate one group from another.”
3. Examples of segregation : Dr. King was opposed to the
segregation of African Americans in the south.
Segregation of certain animal species in a zoo is
necessary for their safety.
4. Check for understanding : “If the example is one of
segregation, say segregation. If not, say no”
“Separating hospital patients with the flu from other
patients” “
“Combining ingredients in a recipe”
“Assigning male and female students to separate
classes”
How Should Strategy Instruction Be
Provided?
• Explicit
• Intensive
• Extensive
Implementation and
Instructional Options for the
The Six-Minute Solution PLUS
program materials.
Six Minute Solution Plus : Partner Model Sample Weekly Schedule
Mon.
All partnerships have new Practice Passages. Partners read the title of the passage,
the key word for understanding, key word definition and examples. Partners
preview the entire passage for accuracy by whisper-reading or silently reading while
underlining any unknown words. Teacher monitors and identifies any words
unknown to either partner. The accuracy check is untimed. Option 1- No timings on
Mondays. Have partners use the allotted six minutes for previewing Practice
Passages and studying the key word for understanding.
-Option 2- Allow extra time (10-15 minutes) on Mondays. Have partners first
preview their Practice Passages for accuracy and study the key word for
understanding. Then, conduct partner fluency practice during the allotted six
minutes.
TuesThurs
Six Minute Solution procedure: Fluency practice
Fri
After conducting the final fluency timing of the week, students complete the
comprehension and vocabulary exercises for their respective passages.
-Option 1- Partners work collaboratively for a period of time designated by the
classroom teacher (10-15 minutes).
-Option 2- Student partners return to their desks following the fluency timing and
complete the comprehension/vocabulary exercises as an independent assignment.
Progress Monitoring
• Essential for
monitoring
improvements and
making instructional
decisions
40
Six Minute Solution Plus : Whole Class
Model
• Preparation :
• Select one passage for whole class
instruction.
• Identify the specific comprehension
strategies and type of questions
addressed in the passage.
• Ensure that each student has a copy of
the passage , a copy of the corresponding
comprehension questions and vocabulary
exercises as well as a graphic organizer if
one is needed for a specific question type.
Six Minute Solution Plus : Whole Class
Model
• Instructional Routine :
1 Read the title of the passage and identify the
key word for understanding.
2 Demonstrate, by thinking aloud, how to
determine a prediction about the passage
content
3 Direct students to read the passage using one
or more of the following passage reading
procedures* : Choral, Cloze, Partner, Silent
Six Minute Solution Plus : Whole Class
Model
5. Read each comprehension question with
the students and discuss the strategy for
answering that type of question.
6. Read each vocabulary question with the
students and discuss the strategy for
answering that type of question.
7. Optional: Summary Writing
8. Check for understanding
Six Minute Solution Plus : Small Group
Model
• Students who are reading at grade level but
need more individualized instruction in
comprehension and vocabulary. In this case,
grade level passages would be used for
instruction.
• Students who are reading below grade level.
In this instance, instructional level passages
would be used for instruction (i. e. 4th grade
students reading from 2nd grade passages).
• Students who are reading above grade level.
level. In this case, students would read
passages above their chronological grade
level.
Six Minute Solution Plus : Individual
Model
• Classroom
• Tutoring
• Home School
In Summary :
Six Minute Solution PLUS :Reading
Comprehension and Vocabulary Development is
:
•An extension of the Six Minute Solution fluency
program at the end of the week for partners to
practice strategic reading and semantic exercises.
•A means for directly teaching reading
comprehension strategies and vocabulary
expansion using grade level expository passages.
•An opportunity to provide distributive practice
for test preparation.
Contact Information
Gail Adams
gail@gailadamsreading.com
www.gailadamsreading.com