Reading on screen meeting 1
Keys to learning in literacy and mathematics
Reading on screen
Professional development meeting 1
Outline of the staff meeting
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Introduction
What is reading comprehension and why is it important?
Where are we now in the teaching of comprehension?
What more could we do?
Comprehension resources and strategies
Next steps
Objectives
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to consider what is meant by reading comprehension
to examine why developing reading comprehension is important
to consider when and how reading comprehension is currently taught
to identify how to enhance the teaching and learning of reading
comprehension
to briefly introduce a range comprehension resources and strategies
to prepare to examine the use of ICT in building reading
comprehension in further sessions
Key messages
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Understanding a text is crucial to becoming engaged and purposeful
readers.
Developing comprehension is one of the keys to raising achievement
in reading.
Good literacy teaching supports the development of comprehension.
ICT texts can support literacy teaching and learning in relation to
building comprehension.
Resources
Ideally, the staff should be able to work in pairs and small groups using a
computer. They will also need to be able to undertake whole-group viewing
using an interactive whiteboard or other large data projection facility.
Multimodal ICT texts to support reading development:
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I’ve Lost My Teddy (Foundation Stage)
The Dragon’s Egg (Years 1–2)
Anu’s Nose (Years 2–3)
Backwards and Forwards in the Kitchen (Years 3–4)
Search and Rescue (Years 5–6)
Other materials needed:
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‘Understanding reading comprehension’ flyers (DfES 1310/2005,
DfES 1310/2005, DfES 1312/2005)
video clips: ‘Reading on screen: Shared reading’ and ‘Reading on
screen: Year 6 Main group reading’
paper copies of ‘Quantum theory’ and ‘What more could we do?’
Suggested timings
Professional development meeting 1
55–70 mins
Introduction
5 mins
What is reading comprehension and why is it
important?
15–20 mins
Where are we now in the teaching of
comprehension?
10–15 mins
What more could we do?
15–20 mins
Comprehension resources and strategies
5 mins
Next steps
5 mins
Introduction
Share the objectives of the session and explain that this introductory session,
considering the nature of reading comprehension and the school’s current
approaches, will be followed by two further sessions. In these further practical
sessions the group will use multimodal ICT texts to explore how such texts can
support the development of comprehension. They will try out some of the ICT
materials in their classrooms, share their experiences and consider the
implications.
What is reading comprehension and why is it important?
Ask the group to read the following passage individually. (See the Word file
‘Quantum theory’.)
Quantum theory
Einstein’s theory of general relativity is a classical theory that accurately
describes the evolution of the universe from the first fraction of a
second of its existence to now. However it is known that general
relativity is inconsistent with the principles of quantum theory and is
therefore not an appropriate description of physical processes that
occur at very small length scales or over very short times. To describe
such processes one requires a theory of quantum gravity.
In non-gravitational physics the approach to quantum theory that has
proved most successful involves mathematical objects known as path
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integrals. Path integrals were introduced by the Nobel prizewinner
Richard Feynman, of CalTech. In the path integral approach, the
probability that a system in an initial state A will evolve to a final state B
is given by adding up a contribution from every possible history of the
system that starts in A and ends in B. For this reason a path integral is
often referred to as a ‘sum over histories’. For large systems,
contributions from similar histories cancel each other in the sum and
only one history is important. This history is the history that classical
physics would predict.
From the Cambridge Relativity website
(www.damtp.cam.ac.uk/user/gr/public/qg_qc.html).
Ask what the passage is about and whether they understood it. Unless they had
a background in physics most people would have found the passage puzzling,
although they might have a very general grasp of what is being described.
However, although they did not fully understand the passage they were
probably able to read every single word in it. This implies that understanding is
about more than just word recognition.
Ask the practitioners what made the passage difficult to fully understand. They
will probably suggest:
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lack of background knowledge of physics;
problems with specific terms such as path integral;
lack of interest in the topic or engagement with the text;
lack of time to re-read.
Point out that the website from which this text is taken helps build interest in
physics by the use of photographs, graphs, videos, simulations and hyperlinks
within the text to further information. This exercise just uses the written text, but
one of the advantages of ICT texts is the possibility of this range of multimodal
resources that can help deepen understanding and engagement.
Ask the group to answer the following ‘comprehension’ questions about the
passage:
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‘What does Einstein’s theory of relativity describe?’
‘What kind of theory is needed to describe physical processes over a
short time?’
‘Why is a path integral referred to as “sum over histories”?’
Take answers such as:
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‘Einstein's theory of general relativity describes the evolution of the
universe from the first fraction of a second of its existence to now.’
‘A theory of quantum gravity is needed to describe physical processes
over a short time.’
‘A path integral is referred to as a “sum over histories” because it adds
up a contribution from every possible history of the system that starts
in A and ends in B.’
Make the point that they can find the answers to the questions without
necessarily understanding the passage. This kind of ‘comprehension’ exercise
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is not likely to have engaged their interest or deepened their understanding of
quantum physics, and they probably won’t remember much about it in a day or
so. True understanding involves more than being able to manipulate the words
on the page to answer questions.
By ‘comprehension’ we are considering how we can help children fully
understand texts. Comprehension involves a combination of some of the
following processes:
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selecting, retrieving, synthesising and summarising;
deducing, inferring and interpreting;
building on previous knowledge and experience of texts;
commenting on a writer’s point of view;
relating ideas to other texts or to life experiences.
Extend the discussion by explaining that comprehension is important for:
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enjoyment and engagement;
raising reading achievement;
developing fluency;
supporting critical literacy.
We know from research conducted by the National Reading Panel that certain
activities are important to developing reading:
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Learning about words: vocabulary development and vocabulary
instruction play a fundamental role in understanding what has been
read.
Interacting with the text: comprehension is an active process, which
requires ‘an intentional and thoughtful interaction between the reader
and the text’ (National Reading Panel (2000) ‘Report of the National
Reading Panel’, Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, p.9 –
available at the National Reading Panel website
(www.nationalreadingpanel.org)).
Explicitly teaching strategies for reading comprehension: children
make better progress in their reading when teachers provide direct
instruction and design and implement activities that support
understanding.
Another important aspect of building comprehension is:
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Developing children’s metacognitive awareness: helping them to be
more explicitly aware of monitoring their understanding (or lack of
understanding) and having a range of strategies to help clarify
meaning.
However, in spite of knowing that teaching comprehension strategies is
important for reading development, we also know from QCA’s analysis of the
national reading tests that reading comprehension is still an area for
development for many children. (Schools may wish to refer to specific questions
from their own national test data or from QCA's annual analysis of the national
reading test.)
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Where are we now in the teaching of comprehension?
Ask teachers, in pairs, to share what they are currently doing to explicitly teach
reading comprehension within their latest literacy unit of work, the context in
which they are doing this (e.g. guided reading), and the type of text used.
Take brief feedback, drawing out the potential to teach reading comprehension
through a range of strategically applied activities:
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teacher modelling;
teacher-led examination of the text;
planned sequences of questions which lead children to use (for
example) inference and deduction;
using a range of scaffolded strategies (e.g., grids, text marking, visual
strategies);
using interactive responses (e.g., response partners, hot seating,
group discussion, role play).
These activities should involve a range of texts, in a range of reading contexts:
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shared reading;
guided reading;
group reading;
independent reading.
If not included in the feedback, remind the group of the use of reading on
screen.
Ask the group to reflect on whether they are making use of the full range of
opportunities to teach reading comprehension, and whether there is a
systematic, shared approach throughout each year group and throughout the
school.
What more could we do?
Ask the group to consider which elements of comprehension they have
supported in the unit of work they have just shared with each other.
You could give out the ‘What more could we do?’ handout for teachers to jot
down their responses next to each element:
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selecting, retrieving, synthesising and summarising;
deducing, inferring and interpreting;
building on previous knowledge and experience of texts;
commenting on a writer’s point of view;
relating ideas to other text or of life experiences.
In feedback, draw out which elements are often supported, and which are less
so. Raise the question of which strategies will help with the development of
these elements, and the potential of ICT texts to support more systematic
development.
Show the video clips ‘Reading on screen: Shared reading’ and ‘Reading on
screen: Year 6: Main group reading’, which show a class using the multimodal
ICT text Search and Rescue to synthesise information.
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Ask teachers to look out for:
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how the text, context, activities and strategies contribute to building
understanding through synthesising information;
what other elements of comprehension are being developed;
what using the screen-based text adds beyond the reading
experiences given by a book.
After watching the clip, take feedback, discussing:
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the importance of talk;
different routes to understanding because of the multimodal and
interactive nature of the text;
the use of a range of strategies.
Explain that in the next session they will be:
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exploring some multimodal ICT texts with a view to developing
comprehension;
explicitly planning to teach comprehension during guided and shared
reading, using a multimodal ICT text.
Comprehension resources and strategies
Explain that there are specific on-screen resources to support developing
comprehension. A major resource is the set of multimodal ICT texts and
teachers’ notes, which will be fully explored in the next session.
Table 1
Year group
Text
Foundation Stage
I’ve Lost My Teddy
Years 1–2
The Dragon’s Egg
Years 2–3
Anu’s Nose
Years 3–4
Backwards and Forwards in
the Kitchen
Years 5–6
Sir Henry Unton
Cosmic Quest
Search and Rescue
If there is time you may wish to show a little of one of the texts at this point.
The ‘Learning and Teaching using ICT’ DVD has sections on reading
comprehension – ‘What’s in the news’ (Year 3), ‘Writing about characters’ (Year
4), ‘Reading and talking’ (Year 5), and ‘Journalistic writing’ (Year 6) – which will
support the development of comprehension.
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Next steps
Before the next session the group should:
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Read the comprehension flyers, and identify strategies they already
use and strategies that are new to them;
identify a small group of ‘average’ readers within their class, and
during the next shared or guided reading session ask questions to
probe the group’s ability to infer, deduce and synthesise information –
they should make a brief note of any issues they have identified about
building comprehension and bring this with them to the next session.
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