Teaching Comprehension
Duke and Pearson (2002, pp. 207-208) recommend
teachers to ensure the following before teaching comprehension :
•
ensure your
students read the text
• select texts for students which support authentic
learning (i.e. topic-based texts)
• provide a range of texts (multimodal,
print-based, images, animations, graphic representations, video, audio,
diagrams/charts, newspapers/magazines, fiction, non-fiction) for students to
read in various genres (i.e. texts on different topics or different text types
about the same topic)
• identify and discuss vocabulary from rich texts
with their students
• provide time for students to talk to each other
about the texts they read and have listened to
• provide time for students to write and reflect
on their reading
Multiple copies of literary texts promote
opportunities for students to talk about texts with each other.
The main strategies that are generally viewed
as supporting comprehension are:
• Activating and using prior knowledge to make connections
• Predicting
• Visualising
• Asking and answering questions
• Summarising Synthesising
• Critical thinking
Activating and using prior knowledge to make connections
Prior knowledge is unique to each reader. It is
the sum of all experiences and knowledge they bring to the reading or viewing
of a text. These experiences and knowledge may include:
the personal. For example they may be well
travelled, well read, have hobbies or interests, belong to clubs, social or
religious groups, share friendships, be part of an extended family, or have
specific duties or responsibilities. the cultural. For example these can be
religious, can draw on specific traditions and rituals including music, dance,
food, rites of passage and can be language-based. the knowledge of concepts. For example if a
reader has a wide general knowledge or knows a lot about specific topics, they
are more likely to understand the technical vocabulary and related concepts
associated with what they read/view on that topic.
A reader/viewer has opportunities to activate
their prior knowledge and make connections before reading:
What ideas do I already know about this topic? What known vocabulary will help me with this
text? What do I already know about this text type?
During the reading:
This part of the text is just like another one
I read/viewed. This part is just like when I…
After the reading:
I know more about this topic now. I can add
this new information to what I already knew. I have changed my mind about what I think on
this topic because of the new information I read/viewed. This text reminds me
of…
Predicting
Prediction is about anticipation. “Skilled
readers learn to expect the actions, events and ideas that are coming up in the
text”
A reader/viewer has opportunities to predict
before reading:I know this is a fairy tale so I predict it will start with ‘Once
upon a time’. I can see a picture of a dog and a sad little
girl on the front cover. I predict this will be a story about a little girl who
loses her dog. This text is about bugs. I predict it will have
a section on their life cycle.
During the reading:
I can use prediction to help me monitor my
reading. I can anticipate what words might be coming up and use the syntactic
and semantic relationships of the words and sentences to make meaning. I can make new predictions based on what has
already happened.
After the reading:
I can reflect on the predictions I made and
confirm or reject them. (For example, this book is about bugs but it only had
information about endangered species, not life cycles). I am surprised by the story resolution. I did
not predict that would happen. I thought….
Visualising
Visualising is drawing on prior knowledge and
the five senses to create a mental image of what is being read. Research indicates
that comprehension is enhanced if readers can create mental images because “a
visual display helps readers understand, organize, and remember some of those
thousand words”.
Readers draw on their senses to imagine:what
pictures they see in their mind as they read what sounds they can hear in their mind as they
read what smells are associated with what they read what tastes might be associated with what they
read what might the mind be able to touch as it
reads.
By putting together all of these sensory
details along with any prior knowledge, a reader can create a vivid mental
picture. Successful readers describe the strategy of visualisation as “having a
movie going on in your mind while you read”
Asking and answering questions
Skilled readers constantly ask and answer
questions of themselves as they read. They ask questions to wonder, justify,
clarify, inquire and understand. They answer their questions by drawing on
their metacognition; that is searching for and selecting thinking strategies to
help them answer the questions they have posed.
A reader/viewer has opportunities to ask and
answer questions before reading:
I wonder what this text might be about. I need
to look at the front cover, title, blurb and illustrations to help me answer my
wonderings.
This book is about the water cycle. What makes
rain? I need to look up the glossary or contents page to check whether my
question can be answered.During the reading:What does this word mean? I need to
clarify the meaning of the word to understand it
Who or what was this paragraph about? I need to
go back and reread to answer this. How does this idea relate to what has gone
before? I need to connect my new understanding with my previous understandings
to answer this. What has happened so far? I need to summarise
the content to answer this. Is there something missing that is causing me
to misunderstand? I need to think critically to answer this.
After the reading:
What was the main idea in this text? I need to
synthesise all the information to determine what was most important to answer
this. What do I think about the characters in the
text? I need to draw on my visualisations and critical thinking strategies to
help me answer this. What do I think of the way the text concluded?
Was there another way it could have concluded? I need to infer, evaluate and
predict to help me answer this. What am I still confused about? I need to
reread, find another text on the same topic or discuss my confusion with others
to answer this.
For more information, see:
Summarising
Summarising means recalling the main points or
ideas. A reader must first learn to sequence a text, retell a text using the
language of the text, then put it into their own words (paraphrase) and finally
select the most important ideas to sum up what the author has told them.
In order to summarise successfully a reader
must be able to:
select the key words of a paragraph locate the topic sentence (for example a sentence
that contains the main message often found at the start or conclusion of a
paragraph) articulate that idea in one sentence repeat the above sequence until they have
worked their way through a text.
Synthesising
Synthesising is a higher order skill than
summarising. A reader who successfully synthesises content is able to “summarize
the information, listen to their inner voice, and merge their thinking so that
the information is meaningful to them. They connect the new to the known, they
ask questions, they pick out the most important information”. It occurs during
and after reading. Sometimes new knowledge can affirm what a reader already
knows about a topic and the information is integrated into their existing knowledge.
Conversely, new knowledge can also challenge what readers already think and
provide alternate options. “We synthesize when we think about what we have
finished reading, bringing in additional concepts, beliefs, emotions, and texts
that affect our understanding” (Keene and Zimmermann, 2007, p. 229).
Critical thinking
Critical thinking requires the reader/viewer to
recognize that all texts are ‘crafted objects’ and are positioned by the author.
“Text critics do more than read for truth and accuracy; they explore the
intention of a text and how the text works on them or makes them feel
When a reader is reading/viewing a text
critically they ask:
What is the viewpoint supported in this text? Why did the author compose this text? What is the author’s purpose? What information is missing from this text
which would help me develop an informed view? What do I think or feel about the content in
this text?MR. MRISHO S. MBWEMBWE
TEACHING LETTER WRITING BY
USING WH QUESTIONS
SENDER’S ADRESS
Who are you,
What is your postal address,
Where are you from,
When are are you writing.
ADRESSEE ADRESS
Who are you/ what is your job
position,
What is your postal address,
Where the company located.
Salutation
RE: Why are you writing
1 line: who are you professionally
2 line: where did you get
information of this vacancy
3 line: why do you think you are qualified in this job
4.what is your desire concerning this job
5. What evidence do you have to prove everything you said
6. closure
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