Comprehension is the Key to Understanding
Rationale: One of
the most important things about teaching children to read is to make
sure
that they comprehend. Comprehension is not automatic to all
children;
many need to be guided into learning how to comprehend. It is
important
when children read that they are able to understand what exactly they
are
reading. They may be able to read every word in a particular
text,
but it they are unable to understand its meaning, it is almost
useless.
The purpose of this activity is to help children understand how to
completely
understand what they have read and be able to answer questions using
story
grammar. With this strategy students make a map or outline of the
main elements of the story which will help them with free recall and
cued
recall.
Materials: A poster
board with the questions (these are listed in #2 of the procedure),
enough
copies of Trouble River by Betsy Byars for the entire class to have
their
own, worksheets for each student with questions to answer, paper and
pencil
for them to create their own questions.
Questions:
1. Who is/are the main character(s) in the story?
2. Where and when did the story take place?
3. What did the main characters do?
4. How did the story end?
5. How did the main character feel?
Procedures:
1. Introduce the lesson
by praising the class for the work theyâve done learning how to
read.
Youâve learned so much about reading! Think about when you
started learning to read. You learned your alphabet letters and
the
sounds they represent. You learned how to blend the sounds
together
to read words. Then you learned to read fast and smoothly by
practicing
reading the same thing over and over until it sounded like the way we
speak.
Today weâre going to begin learning strategies that will help you
understand and remember what you read. Weâll begin with a
strategy
called story grammar or making a kind of map of the story. That
means,
to answer the questions who, what, when, where, and how about the
story.
Making a map or an outline of the main parts of a story makes it a lot
easier to remember the story.
2. First, weâll
practice with a story that everybody knows. Do you remember the
story
of The Three Little Pigs? Good! I'll show you how to map
out
the story by answering these questions. (Teacher writes the answers to
the first 2 questions as related to the story of the three pigs,
reasoning out loud for the students to follow.) Letâs work
together
to answer the rest of the questions about that story. (Ask the
remaining
questions listed and write the studentâs answers on the
board.
Discuss the reasoning behind their answers. Leave the questions
and
answers on the board as an example for the following exercise.)
3. (Teacher hands
out copies of Trouble River.) On a clean sheet of paper,
copy
the 5 questions I have written on the board. Leave 3 or 4 blank
lines
between the questions. Then, read the story Iâve given you.
I want you to read the story silently. Remember the benefits of
silent
reading. When you read silently, you can stop and look up
unfamiliar
words in the dictionary and you can take time to reread sections of the
story that may not make sense the first time you read them. After
you read the story, write the answers to the questions about what you
read.
When you finish, lay your paper and the story sheets on my desk quietly
so you won't disturb the rest of the class. Then you may read
your
library books silently.
4. When all students
have completed the assignment, allow them to read their library books
silently
for a few more minutes. Then have them get out another sheet of
paper
and ask them to write everything they can remember, in story form, of
Trouble
River. Tell them to include the information they had used to
answer
the questions but they must also include at least 2 other events from
the
story and at least one detail about each main character. (Assess
studentsâ work by comparing this assignment to the previous
assignment.
Check to see if they included the additional information you requested.)
*Note: Thoroughly
teaching this strategy will require approximately 10 hours of
instruction
time in order for it to become an effective reading tool for students
to
remember and use on their own.
References:
Pressley,
Michael, et al. "Strategies That Improve Childrenâs Memory
and Comprehension of Text." The Elementary School Journal 90 (1989): 13.