Reading Comprehension and
Vocabulary Development
November 3, 2005
Comprehension is “The Point”
“. . . reader’s process of using prior experiences and
the author’s text to construct meaning that is useful to
that reader for a specific purpose.” (p. 252)
Theories of Comprehension
• Schema Theory
• Mental/Situation Models
Factors Affecting Comprehension
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Decoding and fluency skills
Vocabulary
Background knowledge
Academic vs. conversational vocabulary
Understanding structure of written
language
• Processing abilities
• Understanding the purpose for a reading
• Cognitive abilities/skills
Comprehension is “The Point”
“. . . reader’s process of using prior experiences and
the author’s text to construct meaning that is useful to
that reader for a specific purpose.” (p. 252)
Assessing Reading
Comprehension
• Graded passage with comprehension
questions
• Story re-telling
• Think-alouds (to see how student is
attempting comprehension
• Assessing background knowledge
Assessing Reading Comprehension
• Maze:
Jose went to the fair. He had to go through a
big (hole/gate/tunnel) to get into the fair.
Jose ate lots of good (food/mud/it). He
had fun at the (dance/zoo/fair).
• Picture Cards: story re-tellings; answering
comprehension questions
Teachers who were excellent at
facilitating comprehension:
• Built language at every opportunity
(Vocabulary)
• Activated/built students’ background
knowledge (schema)
• Provided a purpose for reading
• Followed up on that purpose after reading
• Taught prediction
• Continuously motivated students to read
for meaning
• Taught strategies to identify the main idea
Example Strategy:
Read -- Ask -- Paraphrase (RAP)
• Read paragraph to yourself.
• Ask yourself what is the main idea.
• Put the paragraph into your own words
and tell it to your partner.
• Switch roles.
Story Grammar Questioning
1. Read the story and construct a story
grammar using the elements you
identified
2. Write one question for each of the
major story elements.
3. Ask student to answer story grammar
questions (using blank story map OR
orally OR in pairs OR in small groups)
Vocabulary Development
• Children typically learn approximately
3,000 words per year!
• Gain new vocabulary through school
(instruction) and through family activities,
trips, hobbies, reading independently, etc.
Stages of Word Learning
(adapted from Dade & O’Rourke, 1971)
• I never saw it before!
• I’ve heard of it or I can pronounce it, but I
don’t know what it means.
• I recognize it in context - It has something
to do with. . .; I know one of its meanings
• I know it. I know what it means and can
use it in several ways or contexts.
What the Student Knows
Instruction Needed
Knows word when hears it but doesn’t
recognize printed form.
Teach printed form.
Knows word’s oral and written form but Promote generative knowledge. Give
doesn’t use it in speech or writing.
examples of its use; clarify word;
encourage its use in a safe
environment.
Knows the concept but not the label.
Teach the label and relate it to the
concept.
Has partial knowledge of the word.
Knows definition but doesn’t have
contextual knowledge.
Develop a deeper meaning of the
word; examine the word in multiple
contexts.
Recognizes the label but has no real
conceptual knowledge of the concept.
Or knows the word’s “everyday”
meaning but not how it might be used
in a technical sense.
Develop the concept.
Does not know either concept or the
label.
Develop the concept and the label.
What it is and What is Isn’t:
It is:
hard
It isn’t:
soft
Comprehension Repair
Strategies
• Click – Clunk
– Read on.
– Reread sentence.
– Reread paragraph or section.
– Look for information from a resource such as
a dictionary or glossary.
– Ask someone else for help.
Content through reading guides
• Teacher can develop guide questions or
student or small group can develop
questions.
• Students can work with guides
independently or in small groups.
Content through strategy use
RAP
Graphic Organizers
Admit-Exit Strategy
K-W-L
Question-Answer-Relationship Guide
Directed Reading-Thinking Activity (DR-TA)
Say-Something Paired Reading
Content through modifications to
text
Braille
Highlighted texts
Increased font size
Content through varying mediums
Tape-recorded books
www.academicmaterials.com/ entrance.htm
E-books
Books on CD
Buddy-reading
Content through Read-Alouds
• Teacher reads a selection aloud to entire
class
– Good as ‘grabbers’/hooks
– Allow students to focus on content vs.
decoding
– May aid in memory b/c of multiple avenues of
input
– Model fluent oral reading (support language
acquisition for ELL students)
Content through Shared Reading
• Teacher reads aloud while students are
looking at text
– Be explicit about the purpose of the reading
– Model and teach a specific strategy (e.g.,
inference, text features, map reading)
• Provide a follow-up activity that allows students to
practice the modeled strategy