Building Comprehension

through Explicit Teaching of

Comprehension Strategies
Presentation to the Second Annual MRA/CIERA Conference
September 22, 2001

Nell K. Duke
Michigan State University

Plan for this Presentation

Our goal: What good readers do when
they read
l How we get there:
l

Explicit Teaching of Comprehension

Strategies (the focus of this talk)
Environments that Support
Understanding of Text (a focus of P.
David Pearsons talk)

Our Goal: What good readers do

when they read

nGood readers are active readers.

nFrom the outset they have clear goals in mind for their
reading. They constantly evaluate whether the text, and
their reading of it, is meeting their goals.
nGood readers typically look over the text before they
read, noting such things as the structure of the text and
text sections that might be most relevant to their reading
goals.
nAs they read, good readers frequently make predictions
about what is to come.
nThey read selectively, continually making decisions
about their reading--what to read carefully, what to read
quickly, what not to read, what to re-read, and so on.

nGood readers construct, revise, and question the

meanings they make as they read.
nThey draw upon, compare, and integrate their prior
knowledge with material in the text.
nThey think about the authors of the text, their style,
beliefs, intentions, historical milieu, and so on.
nThey monitor their understanding of the text, making
adjustments in their reading as necessary.
nGood readers try to determine the meaning of
unfamiliar words and concepts in the text, and they
deal with inconsistencies or gaps as needed.
nThey evaluate the texts quality and value, and react t
the text in a range of ways, both intellectually and
emotionally.

nGood readers read different kinds of text differently.

nWhen reading narrative, good readers attend
closely to the setting and characters;
nwhen reading expository text these readers
frequently construct and revise summaries of what
they have read.
nFor good readers, text processing occurs not only
during reading as we have traditionally defined it,
but also during short breaks taken during reading,
even after the reading itself has commenced, even
after the reading has ceased.
nComprehension is a consuming, continuous, and
complex activity, but one that, for good readers, is
both satisfying and productive.

Can we teach our students to do

what good readers do?
Research provides. . .

Research indicates that we build

comprehension through:
Explicit teaching of comprehension
strategies
l Environments that support
understanding of text
l

Where did this research come from?

Research on explicit teaching of comprehension
strategies: The comprehension revolution 1970 1990
l New intellectual tools (psycholinguistics, cognitive
science, etc.)

l
l

An increasing recognition that there was something

more to reading than decoding
A growing body of research demonstrating
what good readers do when they read,
comprehension strategies worth teaching,
effective approaches to comprehension strategy
instruction

Research on environments that support understanding

of text: 1990 -->
l Popular intellectual tools (discourse analysis, descriptive
research, etc.)

An increasing recognition that there was something

more to reading than either decoding or
comprehending
A growing body of research demonstrating the
importance of

Motivation to read
Talk about text
Writing in support of reading
Exposure and Access
A strong base in decoding, monitoring, and fluency

Why hasnt much of this research

made its way into practice?

No, it really hasnt. . .

Durkins embarrassing little study (1978)
- Some 4,000 minutes of classroom observation
- 11 minutes devoted to comprehension instruction
- Lots of testing and lots of questioning during discussion
Pressley et al. work of today

l
l

The usual suspects. . .

The overall climate. . .

Whole language found the tradition of explicit

instruction in comprehension strategies a little too
skillsy in feel.
New phonics was focused on word recognition and
held a simple view of reading { RC = [LC * Dec] }.

Explicit teaching of comprehension

strategies
Individual Strategies

Making predictions
Think-alouds
Uncovering text structure
Summarizing
Question-generation
Drawing inferences
Visual representations

Routines or Packages
Reciprocal Teaching
SAIL/Transactional
Strategies Instruction
Questioning the Author

uke, N. K., & Pearson, P. D. (in press). Effective practices for developing rea
omprehension. To appear in A. E. Farstrup & S. J. Samuels (Eds.), What Rese
as to Say about Reading Instruction. Newark, DE: IRA.

Five components of explicit teaching

of comprehension strategies
(1) An explicit description of the
strategy and when and how it should
be used.
E.g., Predicting is making guesses about what will
come next in the text you are reading. You
should make predictions a lot when you read.
For now, you should stop every two pages that
you read and make some predictions.

(2) Teacher and/or student modeling of

the strategy in action.
E.g., I am going to make predictions while I read
this book. Ill start with just the cover here.
Hmm . . I see a picture of an owl. It looks like
he--I think its a he--is wearing pajamas, and
hes carrying a candle. I predict that this is
going to be a make believe story because owls
dont really wear pajamas and carry candles. I
predict it is going to be about this owl, and it is
going to take place at nighttime. . .

(3) Collaborative use of the strategy in

action.
E.g., Ive made some good predictions so far in the
book. From this part on I want you to make
predictions with me. Each of us should stop and
think about what might happen next. . . Okay,
now lets hear what you think and why. . .

(4) Guided practice using the strategy

with gradual release of responsibility.

E.g., Early on . . .
Ive called the three of you together to work on
making predictions while you read this and
other books. After every few pages I will ask
each of you to stop and make a prediction. We
will talk about your predictions and then read on
to see if they come true.

Later on . . .
Each of you has a chart that lists different
pages in your book. When you finish reading a
page on the list, stop and make a prediction.
Write the prediction in the column that says
Prediction. When you get to the next page on
the list, check off whether your prediction
Happened, Will not happen, or Still might
happen. Then make another prediction and
write it down.
(Based on the Reading Forecaster Technique from Mason and
Au (1986) described and cited in Lipson & Wixson (1991)).

(5) Independent use of the strategy.

E.g., Its time for silent reading. As you read today,
remember what weve been working on-making predictions while we read. Be sure to
make predictions every two or three pages. Ask
yourself why you made the prediction you did-what made you think that. Check as you read to
see whether or not your prediction came true.
Jamal is passing out Predictions! bookmarks
to remind you.

Gradual Release of Responsibility

100

Teacher Responsibility

With any luck, we move this way (----->) over time.

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Gradual Release of Responsibility

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Student Responsibility

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100

SAIL & Transactional Strategies

Instruction
Table 2: Basic Components of TSI
Cognitive Strategies
Thinking aloud

Constructing images
Summarizing*
Predicting (prior knowledge activation)*
Questioning*
Clarifying*
Story grammar analysis
Text structure analysis

Interpretive Strategies
Character development
Imagining how a character might fee
Identifying with a character
Creating themes
Reading for multiple meanings
Creating literal/figurative distinction
Looking for a consistent point of view
Relating text to personal experience
Relating one text to another
Responding to certain text features, s
tone, or mood

*Note: strategies in italics are also a part of reciprocal teaching

See, for example, Pressley, M., El-Dinary, P.B., Gaskins, I., Schuder, T., Bergman, R.
Almasi, J., & Brown, R. (1992). Beyond direct explanation: Transactional instruction
reading comprehension strategies. Elementary School Journal, 92, 513-555.

Questioning the Author

Table 3: Questions to guide the discussion in Questioning the Author

Goal
Candidate Questions
Initiate the discussion
What is the author trying to say?
What is the authors message?
What is the author talking about?
Help students focus on the authors message
That is what the author says, but
Help students link information
How does that connect with wha
us?
What information has the author ad
to or fits in with .?
Identify difficulties with the way the author has presented
Does that make sense?
information or ideas.
Is that said in a clear way?
Did the author explian that clearl
Whats missing? What do we nee
out?
Encourage students to refer to the text either because theyve
Did the author tell us that?
misinterpreted a text statement or to help them recognize
Did the author give us the answer t
that theyve made an inference

Beck, I. L., McKeown, M. G., Hamilton, R. L., & Kucan, L. (1997). Questioning the
author: An approach to enhancing student engagement with text. Newark, DE:
International Reading Association.

Some questions that might arise abou

comprehension instruction grades K Does this research really apply to
grades K - 3?
l Shouldnt children get a firm
grounding in decoding first?
l Shouldnt we focus on comprehension
of stories?
l

Q: Does this research really apply to

grades K - 3?
A: Yes! Although there is considerably less research
available at these grade levels, the research we do
have supports the same conclusions:
- Comprehension improves when teachers provide
explicit instruction in the use of comprehension
strategies
- Comprehension improves when teachers design and
implement activities that support the understanding of
the texts students read in their classes

Pearson, P. D., & Duke, N. K. (in press). Comprehension in the primary grades. To ap
in C. C. Block & M. Pressley (Eds.), Comprehension Instruction: Research-Based Bes
Practices. New York: Guilford Press.

Q: Shouldnt children get a firm

grounding in decoding first?

A: Yes and no: Yes, they should get a firm

grounding in decoding. No, it neednt be first
(and certainly shouldnt be second) -- these things
can happen simultaneously.

- Recent national syntheses of research on early literacy:

- Preventing Reading Difficulties (1998)
- National Reading Panel Report (2000)
- Morrow, Tracey, Woo, & Pressley (1999) study:
exemplary first-grade teachers
- Taylor, Pearson, Clark, & Walpole (2000) study:
Schools that Beat the Odds

Q: Shouldnt we focus on comprehensio

of stories?
A: No! Research does not support the learn-to-read
then read-to-learn sequence
-

Young children can learn from informational text (e.g., Duke &
Kays, 1998; Moss, 1993)
Young children can respond to informational text in sophisticated
ways (e.g., Donovan, 1996; Oyler & Barry, 1996)
Young children can conduct research using informational text (e.g
Korkeamaki, Tianen, & Dreher, 1998)
At least some young children prefer informational text (Kletzien &
Szabo, 1998)

Duke, N. K., Bennett-Armistead, S., & Roberts, E. (in press). Incorporating informatio
text in the primary grades. To appear in C. Roller (Ed.), Comprehensive Reading
Instruction Across the Grade Levels. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Minutes

That having been said . . .

There is very little research on how to teach
comprehension of informational text in grades K - 3.
There is very little informational text in grades K - 3!
In School

16000

In Class
With Written Language

14000

As a Whole Class

12000

With Informational Text

10000
8000
6000
4000
2000
0
Low-SES Districts

High-SES Districts

We Build Comprehension By:

l

Engaging in Explicit Teaching of Comprehension

Strategies
An explicit description of the strategy and when and
how it should be used.
Teacher and/or student modeling of the strategy in
action.
Collaborative use of the strategy in action.
Guided practice using the strategy with gradual release
of responsibility.
Independent use of the strategy.

Providing Environments that Support

Understanding of Text

Some other resources on comprehension instruction:

Blachowicz, C., & Ogle, D. (2001). Reading

comprehension: Strategies for independent learners.
New York: Guilford Press.
Keene, E. O., & Zimmerman, S. (1997). Mosaic of
thought: Teaching comprehension in a readers
workshop. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Coming soon. . . Pressley, M. & Block, C. C.
Comprehension instruction: Research-based best
practices. New York: Guilford Press.
CIERA 10 Principles for Effective Comprehension
Instruction (draft available now)
Coming in 2002. . . Support materials for CIERA 10
Principles for Effective Comprehension Instruction