Module 1
Teaching
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Module 1
Acknowledgement of Country
We acknowledge the traditional Custodians of this
Land, where the Aboriginal People have performed
age-old ceremonies of storytelling, music, dance and
celebration.
We acknowledge and pay respect to the Elders past
and present, and we acknowledge those of the
future, for they will hold the memories, traditions and
hopes of Aboriginal Australians.
We must always remember that under the concrete
and asphalt this Land is, was, and always will be
traditional Aboriginal Land.
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Professional Teaching Standards
Standards addressed at Professional
Competence in this workshop include:
1.2.1: Apply and use the knowledge of the content/disciplines
through effective, content-rich, teaching activities and
programs relevant to the stage.
4.2.5: Create, select and use a variety of appropriate teaching
strategies and resources, including ICT and other technologies
to make content meaningful to students.
6.2.1: Reflect critically on teaching and learning practice to
enhance student learning outcomes.
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Session 3
During this session you will:
• deepen your understanding of comprehension
• understand the importance of talk in comprehension
• differentiate between comprehension strategies, teaching
ideas, teaching strategies and teaching routines
• become familiar with the ‘Super Six’ comprehension
strategies
• be provided with a process to support the explicit teaching
of comprehension strategies.
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Exploring comprehension
Task
1.
1. What do you believe
comprehension to be?
2. What does it look like?
3. What does it sound like?
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3.
2.
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What is comprehension?
Task
Comprehension involves responding to,
interpreting, analysing and evaluating texts
(DET, 2009).
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How do you comprehend texts?
Read the text and answer the questions.
Which was easy – Q&A; MC; WS?
Task
Did you understand the text?
Did the tasks engage you in responding to,
interpreting, analysing and evaluating the
text?
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Connections and predicting:
The text presents two theories about the effects
of alcohol on the brain.
Nerve cells in the brain are called neurons.
Dendrites are the antennae of neurons that
receive inputs.
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What helped you?
What did you do to interpret the text?
Discussion
What helped you most?
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The role of conversations in comprehension
... discussion is defined as a dialogic classroom
event in which students and teachers are
cognitively, socially, and affectively engaged in
collaboratively constructing meaning or
considering alternate interpretations of texts to
arrive at new understandings.
Almasi, 2002 (in Israel & Duffy, 2009)
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What sort of conversations?
Comprehension improves when we engage
students in rich discussions that allow
students to integrate knowledge, experience,
strategies and textual insights.
(Pearson, 2008)
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Clarifying comprehension terminology
Comprehension strategies
(e.g. Visualising)
Teaching ideas
(e.g. Picture this, Storyboard)
Teaching strategies
(that is, modelled, guided and
independent teaching)
Teaching routines/practices
(e.g. Reciprocal teaching)
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The ‘Super Six’ comprehension strategies
Making connections
Summarising
Questioning
Visualising
Monitoring
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Predicting
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Making connections
Text to self; Text to text; Text to world
What is it?
Connecting prior knowledge with new information while reading.
As readers engage with texts, they make connections to their
personal experiences (Text to self); to other texts they have read,
seen or heard (Text to text); and to things occurring in the world
(Text to world).
Why is it important?
When readers link personal background knowledge, understanding
or experiences to the text, they are able to construct meaning.
How is it used?
Readers let themselves ‘be reminded’ of things as the text is being
read, viewed or heard. Background
knowledge is combined with ideas and actions
in the text that readers can relate to.
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Predicting
Beware the wild guess, make educated guesses
What is it?
Making an educated guess about something that will come
later in the text. Reading detectives find evidence to back up
predictions.
Why is it important?
When readers make a prediction, they engage with the
author’s clues about what is important in the text.
How is it used?
Readers stop every once in a while and think about what the
author has written and provided (such as a picture or
chart).They check for clues about what might be important.
Readers try to predict what will happen next or
the theme or main idea that the author
will emphasise.
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Questioning
I wonder …
What is it?
Generating queries to guide thinking while reading, viewing or
listening. Reading serves to answer the questions created.
Readers generate and respond to why questions as well as how
and what questions.
Why is it important?
The ability to generate questions underpins not only this
strategy, but many interactions with texts (e.g. monitoring)
Students need to learn how to generate and respond to
questions.
How is it used?
Readers approach a text with questions and develop new
questions as they read. Even after they have
read a text engaged readers still ask questions.
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Monitoring
The ‘fix up’ strategy
What is it?
Constantly checking whether their reading is making sense.
They stop and think about their reading and know what to do
when they don’t understand.
Why is it important?
When readers monitor, they are actively engaged in thinking
while reading. Students learn to be aware of what they do
understand and identify what they don’t understand.
How is it used?
Readers adjust reading speed to fit text difficulty and ‘fix’ any
comprehension problems. Readers could: identify where the
difficulty occurs; identify what the difficulty is; restate the difficult
sentence or passage in their own words; look back
through the text; look forward in the text.
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Visualising
The pictures that the author paints using words; the cinema unfolding in the mind
What is it?
Creating mental pictures based on what is read or heard.
Students can imagine they are inside the scene described or
take on the perspective of an historical figure, imagine the same
scene from more than one perspective, etc.
Why is it important?
Students gain a more thorough understanding of the text by
consciously using the words to create mental images. Students
who visualise as they engage with a text not only have a richer
experience but can recall what they have read for longer periods
of time.
How is it used?
Readers stop at key points and create a picture, movie or sound
clip. These images are used to draw conclusions,
create distinct and unique interpretations of the text,
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Summarising
Extracting essential information
What is it?
Compiling a shortened version of written or spoken material,
stating the main points and leaving out everything that is not
essential. It is more than retelling; it involves analysing
information, distinguishing important from unimportant
elements and translating large chunks of information into a
few short, cohesive sentences.
Why is it important?
Summarising assists comprehension monitoring, helps
students understand the organisational structure of texts and
is a skill that most adults must be proficient in to be
successful. It integrates and reinforces the learning of major
points.
How is it used?
Readers pause periodically and summarise
what has happened so far. Summaries might use
19 words, images or pictures to capture key ideas.
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The strategies in action
Task
Refer to the HSIE text from Session 2 and
think about the comprehension strategies
that:
a) a reader might use to engage with the text
b) you might be able to explicitly teach using
this text.
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Explicit instruction
This involves fully teacher supported wholegroup instruction.
Step 1: Select a text
Step 2: Explain the strategy
Step 3: Model the strategy
Step 4: Guided support
Step 5: Independent practice
Step 6: Reflect
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Between session mini task
Start incorporating more extended
conversations and deeper discussions in your
classroom.
Video your students as they engage in these
conversations and discussions.
For each group (of no more than four),
nominate a team member who will a bring a
recording to be viewed and discussed.
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Have a go at explicitly teaching your students
at least one of the comprehension
strategies. Complete the SWOT
analysis in your workbook.
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Reflection
Reflect on this session:
• List four ‘take home messages’ that you
think are the most important.
• Rank these in order of importance from
1–4 (1 being least important).
• List words under each message that
provide justification for the ranking.
• Discuss ranking with a partner.
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Bibliography
Almasi, J. cited in Almasi, J .& Garas-York, K. (2009)’ Comprehension and discussion of text’, In Israel, S. E.
& Duffy, G. G. Handbook of research on reading comprehension, Routledge, New York, NY, pp 323-346.
Duke, N. K. & Pearson, P. D. (2002) ‘Effective practices for developing reading comprehension’, in Farstrup,
A. E. &. Samuels, S. J. (eds.) What research has to say about reading instruction (3rd edition), pp. 205-242,
IRA, Newark, DE.
Harvey, S. & Goudvis, A. (2000) Strategies that work: Teaching comprehension to enhance understanding,
Stenhouse, Portland, ME.
Hoyt, L (2009) Revisit, Reflect, Retell: Time tested strategies for teaching reading comprehension,
Heinemann, Portsmouth, NH.
NSW Institute Teachers The Digest Talking to learn: Dialogue in the classroom.
Professional Teaching Standards located on NSW Institute of Teachers’ website viewed 16 September, 2009.
http://www.nswteachers.nsw.edu.au/IgnitionSuite/uploads/docs/Professional%20Teaching%20Standards.pdf
Paris, S. G. (2005) ‘Reinterpreting the development of reading skills’, Reading Research Quarterly, Vol. 40,
No. 2, April/May/June, pp. 184–202.
Pearson, P. D. (2008) Teaching reading comprehension: Research, best practice and good teaching
<http://www.docstoc.com/docs/687692/ Teaching-Reading-Comprehension- Research-Best-Practice>
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