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Reading Comprehension
Contents
Page
1 Introduction
2 Prior knowledge activation
3 Prediction
4 Constructing Images
5-9 Summarising
10-12 Questioning
13-19 Analysis of structure
20-28 Character development
29 Analysis of themes/issues & Reading for Multiple Meanings
30-31 Comparing and contrasting texts
32 Activities to develop children’s vocabulary
Reading Comprehension
Introduction
Contained within this booklet, which is an attachment to the Summer 2003 newsletter, you will find materials to help teach comprehension and support readers in understanding, responding to and reflecting on texts. They contain reading frames and other text based activities to make reading purposeful and focused. When teaching comprehension our aim is to provide children with strategies that they can use when they are struggling to understand. The materials will help teachers to make the strategies explicit to children. Our ultimate goal is that children internalise these strategies and use them independently.
Much of this material is suitable for children across the primary age-range. It is best introduced to the children through modelling in your Shared Reading sessions. It should then be taken into the Guided Reading session where the reading strategy can be consolidated during the ‘strategy check’ or the ‘response to text’ discussion. The use of these materials during independent activities or personal reading will move children towards the internalisation of these comprehension strategies.
As children read independently they should be encouraged to use reading/writing journals which are essentially vehicles for personal responses to texts. (This personal reading may be happening alongside Guided Reading). There may also be a place within the journals for any recording the children do in the course of working with these comprehension materials.
These reading frames and activities:
Need to be differentiated to meet the needs of your lower and higher attaining pupils, some of whom may not require the support.
Can be used by individuals or pairs or can provide the basis for a group discussion. Can be adapted by teachers to suit their context. Should be used to develop a bank of comprehension strategies that your children
find effective and can call on spontaneously. Should not detract from enjoyment of the text Are not designed as writing frames; however when they have been used to explore
the structure or style of a text, they may form the basis for planning for writing in that particular genre.
Could be employed not just in the literacy hour but also in other curriculum areas.
Activities such as summarising, retrieving and transferring information lend themselves
to an ICT approach as this focuses children’s attention on the reading rather than
the transcriptional skills.
N.B. you will not need to use all the strategies, but should select according to your teaching focus.
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Prior Knowledge Activation
a) Thought sharing around the title, chapter heading, pictures, author, theme, etc.
b) Word association chain around the key word in the title or around the picture.
c) Memories around the key word in the title or related artefact. (This reminds me of ….).
d) Filling in a mind-map or grid (e.g. the first column of a KWL grid) (see Fig. 1).
e) Use drama as way to introduce a context before reading a text, e.g. get children to imagine they are large mechanical beings, prior to reading ‘The Iron Man’.
Fig. 1 THE KWL GRID
What we think we know What we would like to know
What we have learned
- Lots of people died in World War 2 when bombs were dropped
- Hitler was the leader of Germany
- What kinds of aeroplane were used?
- Was the whole world involved?
2
Prediction
a) Stimulate predictions by flicking through the pictures in advance of reading the text.
b) Ask children to think about what they have already read and what is likely to happen. They should offer evidence for their prediction. Predictions could be oral or written.
c) Ask children to revise predictions in the light of new evidence found in the text.
d) At a crucial point in the text provide children with possible future scenes and ask them to criteria rate them – most likely to happen/least likely to happen, most/least likely to be true.
e) In KS1, toys or puppets can be used as props for predicting what happens to a particular character in the story, e.g. using a toy dog to represent Spot.
3
Constructing Images (Visualising, Drawing, Drama)
a) Model the process by reading aloud, explaining to the children what pictures come into your mind. Ask the children to picture it in their own minds. Then encourage the children to do the same for other passages and describe to a partner the images they see. This can be used with both fiction and non-fiction texts.
b) During and after reading, ask children to sketch what they can see.
c) Ask children to create a tableau of key moments in the story.
d) Make models based on the text, e.g. creating the Borrowers’ living room in a design and technology session.
e) In KS1 children could represent scenes through small world props.
4
Summarising
a) Model skim reading a text. Then encourage skim reading or rereading and ask for oral summaries.
b) Go through a text paragraph by paragraph highlighting the key sentence(s) in each (text marking).
c) When children have read the passage, offer a selection of statements about the text. Ask children to identify the statement that best summarises or makes a generalisation about the text. Discuss which statements they agree/disagree with and why particular statements are more suitable than others. (see Fig.2) (Statements may be contradictory and/or controversial).
Fig 2.
Summarising
Which of these statements best summarise the text?
Many plants and animals will disappear if rainforests are destroyed.A rainforest plant might save leukaemia sufferers.Trees in the rainforest give us oxygen.Trees clean up the air.Poor countries make money from rainforests.Poor countries are in debt to rich ones.Trees are sold or burnt.It’s all our fault.
d) Read the text paragraph by paragraph. As each paragraph is read, summarise it as a group by producing a single phrase or sentence and record this. When all paragraphs have been treated in this way, examine the phrases/sentences and decide whether the final results have captured the meaning of the passage.
e) Summarise by restructuring key information contained in a text into a non-prose form. It may involve children drawing a matrix or ‘skeleton’, (see Fig.3), summarising grid (see Fig.4), a tree diagram (see Figs.5 & 6), a concept map/word web, a labelled picture, or a retrieval chart (see Fig.7).
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Fig.3 Key Points skeleton
for drugs
Plants and animals
in rainforest are for oxygen important
for removal of CO2
to pay debt
Poor countries to sell woodare destroyingrainforest
to clear farms
we buy timber Rich countries
are responsiblefor rainforestdestruction
we buy beef in beefburgers
Fig.4 Summarising Grid
Fasting Special Prayers
Meal Cards and Presents.
Ramadan
Id Ul Fitr
Yom Kippur
Pesach
Christmas
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Fig.5 Tree Diagram
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Egyptian Homes
Meals Clothes
Rooms
Food DrinkWomen
Fig.6 Blank Tree Diagram
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Fig.7 Retrieval Chart
Made of weather size satellites
Venus
Mercury
Mars
Pluto
Earth
Jupiter
Neptune
Uranus
Saturn
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Questioning
a) Pairs of children can be asked, after reading a text, to compile a set of questions. (It must be possible to answer these questions by reading the text or by reading between the lines). A selection can be used as an agenda for class or group discussion, or one pair’s questions can be swapped with another pair’s and answers shared).
b) Talk to the author/illustrator (see Figs.8 & 9)A text is provided (with wide margins). Questions or comments to the author are written in the margin, for example, ‘Who was this?’/ ‘Why did this happen?’ The teacher models the process initially and then the children try. Questions/comments to the illustrator could be, for example, “Why did you put faces in the trees?” in Anthony Browne’s “The Tunnel”.
c) In KS1 you may use visual props such as an author’s chair or an author’s hat – the teacher or a child takes on the role of the author, answering questions about the book and justifying what he/she has written
d) Use a ‘question hand’ to help children formulate questions (see Fig.10).
Fig.8 Talk To The Author
From ‘The Paperbag Prince’ by Colin Thompson
Every morning before the first lorry arrived at the dump, the Paperbag Prince cycled slowly up the lane, unlocked the gate and went into the shed. He was an old man in old clothes and he moved slowly and quietly. No one knew what his real name was. A lorry driver had called him the Paperbag Prince one day and now everyone did.
A few minutes after the old man went into his shed, smoke began to trickle from the tin chimney. Out of the rubbish, animals began to appear. There were blackbirds and a crowd of chattery sparrows, and some mornings a shy fox. Now and then a small dog, and even a brown rat, emerged from the ugly jungle.
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DO YOU KNOW HIS REAL
NAME?
WHY WAS THE FOX
SHY?
Fig.9 Talk to the author
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Why didn’t the pigs all build a house together? Was the pig
who built the straw house the eldest?
Fig.10 The Question Hand
WHEN?
WHERE? WHAT?
WHY?
WHO?
e) Set the children a question based on their ongoing guided reading text for them to consider prior to the session and it will form the basis for discussion. Their thoughts may be recorded in their Reading Journals.
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Analysis of Structure
a) Story maps– children draw a map of the events in a story (see Figs.11 & 12). This helps them recall the sequence of events. The particular structure of a story, such as a circular story, a problem-resolution-problem-resolution story or an ‘A to B’ journey can also be made explicit via story mapping.
Fig.11 Story Map
Fig.12 Blank Story Map
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Fig.12 Blank Story Map
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b) Draw a strip cartoon/story board identifying 4/5 main points from the story or information.
c) The main events of the story can be listed and perhaps represented visually in a way that the map depicts the shape of the story (e.g. a hill).
d) Plot profile (see Fig.13). Events in a story can be rated according to their level of excitement. Plot the main events onto a graph to show how the excitement rises and falls.
Fig.13 Plot Profile Exciting
6
5
4
3
2
1
Dull 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Main Events in Order:
1. Little Red Riding Hood goes to see Granny.2. Mother warns Red Riding Hood to be careful.3. Red Riding Hood meets the wolf in the woods.4. The wolf finds out where Red Riding Hood is going.5. The wolf eats granny and dresses in her clothes.6. Red Riding Hood arrives at Granny’s house.7. The wolf eats Red Riding Hood.8. The woodcutter rescues Red Riding Hood.9. The wolf is cut open and Granny pops out!!
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e) Problem and resolution grid (see Figs.14 & 15).
Fig.14 The Iron Man – Chapter 1
Episode 1 Episode 2 Episode 3Who had a problem?
Iron Man
Where did it take place?
At top of the cliff
When did it happen?
What was happening?
Swaying
What was the problem?
Wind too strong
What was the response?
Stepped off the cliff
What was the resolution?
Smashed into pieces on the beach
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Fig.15 Blank Problem and Resolution Grid for Narrative
Episode 1 Episode 2 Episode 3Who had a problem?
Where did it take place?
When did it happen?
What was happening?
What was the problem?
What was the response?
What was the resolution?(Or if not resolved, the outcome.)
f) Structural organisersRecognising the structure of non-fiction texts and then mapping the content onto various structure organiser grids (see Figs.16 & 17) , e.g. point/evidence grid (see ‘key points skeleton’ in Summarizing section), cause and effect grid, argument/counter-argument list.
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Fig.16 Structural Organiser
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Fig.17 Flow Chart
g) Finding boundaries.
Children are asked to divide a text into what makes one section different from another. In KS1 this may involve actually cutting up photocopied stories to identify the beginning, middle and end. In KS2, this may be text marking or annotating shifts in place or time.
With non-fiction this may involve identifying the function of each paragraph.
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Character Development
There are many activities that require children to make explicit their response to, and knowledge of, a character. These include:
a) Feelings graph (see Fig.18) or map showing emotions develop through the story.
Fig. 18 Feelings graph
H a p p i n e s s
Invitations Fairy midnight slipper arrive Godmother strikes fits
How does Cinderella feel?
b) A character’s diary entry/character self-portraits/school reports (see Figs 19 & 20) on story characters.
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Fig 19. Character report card
REPORT CARDSCHOOL:STUDENT’S NAME:YEAR: TEACHER’S NAME:
GRADES:A – very goodB – goodC – needs to improve
Subjects Grade Comments
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Fig.20 Self – Portrait/Character Investigation
Character InvestigationMy name:
My habitat:
My personality:
My worst habits:
My best features:
My friends:
My enemies:
My favourite foods:
My fears:
My dreams:
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c) Hot seating: for example, in KS1, you may have the teacher or a child in the ‘hot seat’ as Bernard from the story ‘Not Now Bernard’. Sample questions could include: ‘How did you feel when you first saw the monster?’ or ‘Where did you disappear to when the monster ate you?’
d) Freeze framing: for example in KS2, asking children to freeze at the moment that Oliver Twist asks for more, showing the expressions on their faces. This can be developed using thought tracking whereby the children express their thoughts at the moment of ‘freezing’.
e) TV interviews: compile a list of questions to ask if you were to interview a character. This can be combined with hot seating and the interview conducted with the character.
f) Highlighting words or phrases which link together to build together to build a picture of a character, their mood or situation.
g) Role on the wall (see Fig.21): i.e. drawing characters and surrounding the drawing with words/phrases based on their experience of the text.
Fig.21 Role on the wall
h) Writing thought bubbles for characters at key moments in the text when they don’t actually speak (see Figs.22 & 23).
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I’ll huff and I’ll puff!!
The wolf was a clever beast.
The wolf was sly and cunning
Fig.22 Character thought bubble
Fig.23 Character Development: Character Thought Bubbles
THE MALFEASANCE
It was a dark, dark, dreadful night And while millions were abed The Malfeasance bestirred itselfAnd raised its ugly head.
The leaves dropped quietly in the night In the sky Orion shone; The Malfeasance bestirred itselfThen crawled around till dawn.
Taller than a chimney stack,More massive than a church,It slithered to the cityWith a purpose and a lurch.
i) Relationship maps between different characters with evidence from the text. (see Fig.23)
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I hope the wolf doesn’t come for me next! I’m not sure my house is strong enough!
I’m not scared of you Mister Wolf!!!
I love the night!
What will I find?
Fig.24 Relationship map
j) Relationship grids with each character listed along the top and down the side. Each cell represents a relationship to be explored (See Fig.25).
Fig.25 Relationship Grid
CinderellaFairy
Godmother Prince Ugly Sisters
Cinderella grateful admiring jealous
Fairy Godmother
motherly
Prince loving irritation
Ugly sisters hateful fawning
k) Develop children’s inferential skills. Speculate on actions and motives, e.g. asking ‘why did’ or ‘what if’. Take this further by asking the children to create their own questions which begin in this way.
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FairyGodmothe
r
Cinderella Prince
Uglysisters
l) Character ranking (see Figs.26, 27, 28 & 29.)
Fig. 26 Character Ranking Chart 1
(How do the characters compare in relation to one particular characteristic?)
Quality: intelligence
Character Comment and EvidencePig 1 Least intelligent – built house of straw
Pig 2 Also lacking in intelligence – built house of sticks
Pig 3 Most intelligent – built house of bricks
Fig.27 Character Ranking Chart 2
(How does a single character rate according to different characteristics?)
Character’s Name:(Maximum 10 stars)Quality
Bravery
Goodness
Happiness
Cleverness
Comments:
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Fig.28 Character ranking chart 3
THE TROLL
EXTREMELY RATHER NEITHER/BOTH RATHER EXTREMELY
JOLLY
MISERABLE
EVIDENCE: he must be lonely
ROUGH
GENTLE
EVIDENCE: he fights the goats
QUIET
LOUD
EVIDENCE: he shouts
RUDE
POLITE
EVIDENCE: he says it’s his bridge
Fig.29 Character ranking blank exemplar
EXTREMELY RATHER NEITHER/BOTH RATHER EXTREMELY
JOLLY MISERABLE
EVIDENCE:
ROUGH GENTLE
EVIDENCE:
QUIET LOUD
EVIDENCE:
RUDE POLITE
EVIDENCE:
m) Character emotions register (See Fig.29). This involves creating a 5-point emotions scale with the pupils for the possible range of reactions at certain points in the story.
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Fig.30 Character emotions register
Analysis of Themes/Issues
mmmm
Slightly miffed
Completely calm
Father
Ugly sisters
Cinderella
Prince Charming
Cinderella turns up at the ball
Cinderella and Prince Charming marry
Characters
Quite mad
n) Use a timeline of the story to plot how aspects of a character’s personality change in response to different events
o) Children discuss, act out in role or record in their journals what they would have done at certain points in the story.
EVENTS
The prince comes to the house with the shoe
Emotions
Incandescent with rage
Angry
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Quite mad
a) Track a theme or issue through a text by highlighting relevant words or phrases. Coding (e.g. using colours or symbols) would be useful to distinguish several themes from each other or different viewpoints of the same issue.
b) Show understanding of a book by writing a blurb which focuses on the main themes or issues
Reading for multiple meanings
a) Identify facts and opinions and transfer to a fact/opinion grid
b) Categorize opinions into those that the author expresses explicitly and those that are implicit in the text.
c) ‘The roles we play’. In an outlined character shape, pupils record all the different roles the character plays in a story.
d) Give the text or pictures only from a multi-layered picture book and ask children to discuss the pictures/read the prose before reading the complete book (words and pictures). Discuss any changes in their perceptions and responses. This could be followed by asking the children to draw pictures that reflect the text more closely or write new text that matches the pictures.
e) Retell a scene from the point of view of a minor character within it.
f) Justify and debate the actions of a ‘villain’.
g) Problem solving. Stop reading a text at the point where a character faces a problem or dilemma. In groups discuss alternative responses the character could make. Consider the consequences of each suggestion. Arrive at a group decision.
h) Pairs of children choose the funniest/scariest/most interesting moment from a story or information book and justify their choice to another pair.
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Comparing and Contrasting Texts
a) Genre exchanges – ask children to transpose something from one written genre they have just read into another genre (e.g. turn a recount into instructions, a poem into an advert)
b) Poetry comparison charts (see Figs.31 & 32)
c) Story comparison charts (see Fig.33). Several versions of a story are read, (e.g. Cinderella tales) and a comparative chart is completed focusing on a specific element (e.g. archaic language, portrayal of character, etc.)
Fig.31 Poetry comparison chart
Repetition Rhyme pattern Similes/ metaphors
Alliteration
Poem 1
Poem 2
Fig.32 Poetry comparison chart
Theme
Atmosphere
Vocabulary
Similarities
Differences
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Fig.33 Story/poetry comparison charts
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Activities to Develop Children’s Vocabulary
Much of our comprehension is dependent upon our understanding of vocabulary.
Story/poetry comparison charts.
a) Previewing vocabulary:The teacher provides a list of words relating to the book/topic. The meanings of the words are then discussed before reading.
b) Building banks of new words:As children read they mark or note on post-its or in writing journals any new words/words they are unsure of. After reading, the group discusses ways of working out the meaning. (e.g. root, morphology, etc.). Once a word is understood, children note its meaning. They may add a visual clue to remind them of the meaning or contextualise the word in a phrase or sentence to illustrate how it can be used.
c) New vocabulary could form the basis of an interactive display which would encourage children to explore alternative ways of using the words.
d) Word tracker. Children track particular groups of words/phrases (e.g. highlighting words that describe a character’s appearance). They list these and suggest alternatives. These may then be displayed in the learning environment for future use.
e) Making dictionaries and glossaries:Children can identify words whose meanings are unclear (e.g. technical words, dialect words, slang, etc.). They then investigate the meanings and create text specific dictionaries or glossaries. Children should be encouraged to make use of new vocabulary in their own writing.
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Compiled by the Nottinghamshire Literacy Team
Advisory & Inspection ServicesLiteracy & Numeracy Centre
36 Debdale LaneMansfield
Notts. NG19 7HBJune 2003
Learning together Achieving success