Comprehension and Nonfiction Texts.

1. Comprehension and
Nonfiction Texts

2. Shannon McGaha, 2014
This was a post
assessment from a
recent TC’s PA.
How does this
support
comprehension with
2nd
graders?

3. “I used to believe that I was teaching comprehension when I
carefully asked readers questions. Sometimes these questions
came from a teacher resource guide, sometimes I generated the
questions myself, but rarely were these the questions of the
learners.
When learners ask questions before, during and after reading
they learn more. Student generated questions build intrinsic
motivation for reading, have an established purpose for
reading, increase personal connections and simulate higher
order thinking.”
(Hoyt, pg 118)
Think about the last lesson you did with students…who was
doing the questioning? The teacher (you), the students or both?
Why might we want students to question along with the
teacher?

4. One way to know how to teach children to gain meaning from nonfiction is to look at what
good readers do as they read. The chart below lists characteristics of a proficient reader.
Try It! Use this list and Rainfores, create a
Before/During/After list of questions that you can use
while reading aloud.
Pike and Mumper, pg 83

5. Before the Reading of Nonfiction
Last semester you learned about the importance of a book introduction. This
is a strategic tool teachers give readers to activate schema, build schema
and encourage predictions. Whether teaching a read aloud (the teacher
reads to the children), shared reading lesson (the teacher and children
read together) or a guided reading lesson (the children read), book
introductions need to be utilized. Prompts or questions that might be
used are,
*This book is about ________ what do you know
about ________?
*Look at the picture, why do you think _______?
*What might we learn as we read this page?
*The table of contents includes a section on ________
why would the author include this section?
*What questions do you have about _____ before we read?
*Let’s read to find out why _______________

6. Before the Reading of Nonfiction
Because activating schema and building predictions is essential before reading a text, a graphic
organizer called a KWL chart might be used. This chart begins before reading a text with the
K and the W columns completed. The L section is completed after the reading. KWL stands
for…
K=what we know
W=what we want to know
L=what we learned
An example of this chart might look like
this:
With the teacher, the children came up with comments and questions to place under the K
and W BEFORE the reading. As they read and discover, the L column will be completed.

7. Before the Reading of Nonfiction
Your chapter gave an example of an
anticipation guide (pg 92). This is a great
way to encourage your students to think
before reading. It promotes students to
think about what they know and make
predictions in a risk free manner. This
guide could be completed in a whole
group format with the teacher making the
marks, in small groups or independently.
An example of an anticipation guide from Rain
Forest might look like what is seen here.
Students are asked to complete the
Before Reading column to show their prior
knowledge, marking T (true) or F (false).
Before
Reading
After
Reading
Tropical rain forests cover
2/3 of the world.
There are four layers in the
rainforest.
The biggest rainforest is in
Australia.
Rain forests are found on
either side of the equator.
A carnivore is a meat eater.

8. During the Reading of Nonfiction
Whether the teacher is reading or the children are reading, it is necessary to
stop and discuss during the reading of the text. Teachers can use this time
to guide and model the type of thinking that proficient readers utilize.
When reading aloud a teacher might stop and say:
* I don’t understand what I am reading here, let me go back
and read that again.
* I wonder why…
*I am going to look at the picture on this page to see what the
author is trying to describe here.
*This is so interesting, I can’t wait to hear what else the
author teaches me.
*Why do you think …?
*This reminds me of when I…

9. During the Reading of Nonfiction
Another tool to use with children to
encourage thought during the reading
is to utilize a note taking technique
such as comment cards. These cards
teach children to take notes and make
a reaction or comment to what they
have read. These cards have to be
modeled several times to children
before you can expect appropriate comments.
An example of a first grade comment card is
shown.
(gorilla)
(cheeta)

10. During the Reading of Nonfiction
Sketching is another tool that can be utilized as children read. Again, this should be
modeled to children before asking them to try this technique on their own.
Sketching can help a reader retain the information learned and solidify their
learning (Hoyt, pg 140) An example of sketching might look like:
We have seen ways to scaffold before and during the reading. Let’s look at what
teachers can do after the reading.

11. After the Reading of Nonfiction
As you have seen from reading aloud to children, we begin a read aloud
talking and predicting about the reading and conclude the reading in the
same way, by talking. After the reading, it is a good idea to sum up what
has been read by giving time for your students to reflect and summarize
what has been taught. Prompts that you might utilize:
*We were reading to find out ______. What did you
discover?
*Tell me about what we read today.
*Which part surprised you? Why?
*What else are you wondering about _____?
*My favorite part was ____. What did you like best?
*What ideas were the most important?

12. After the Reading of Nonfiction
At the beginning of this presentation, we discussed readers use their background
knowledge to comprehend a text. Because of this, it is imperative that we model
and teach children to make connections with what has been read. Alvermann,
Swafford and Montero (pg 23) explain this as encouraging:
Text to Self connections (connections between personal experiences
and a book).
Text to Text connections (connections between one text to another).
Text to World connections (connections between a text and
someone else’s experiences)
These connections can be modeled and discussed after the reading of a book. A
teacher might say, “This page of Rain Forest reminded me of when I went to Hawaii
and drove to a rain forest. The weather was muggy and everything was green. I
saw some plants that looked similar to what I see on this page. Right now I am
making a Text to Self connection because what I saw on my trip is like what I see on
this page. What connection can you make?”

13. After the Reading of Nonfiction

14. After the Reading of Nonfiction
On the next slide, is a bookmark that can be
copied and used.
I give this bookmark to students and guide
them to use several of the prompts as they
read. OR, a teacher might use this to guide
his or her questioning.

16. At the beginning of this presentation this quote was shared:
“I used to believe that I was teaching comprehension
when I carefully asked readers questions. Sometimes
these questions came from a teacher resource guide,
sometimes I generated the questions myself, but
rarely were these the questions of the learners.
When learners ask questions before, during and after
reading they learn more. Student generated
questions build intrinsic motivation for reading, have
an established purpose for reading, increase personal
connections and simulate higher order thinking.”
(Hoyt, pg 118)

17. Here is an example of students coming up with questions
before, during OR after the reading.

18. We
When teaching children how to ask
their own questions, the teacher
should discuss with children that
when answering questions about
their reading, there are two places
they can look to find the necessary
information: in the book and in my head.
Reutzal and Cooter (pg 127) explain this
as teaching children Question-Answer
Relationship. Figure 4.19 shows the
learner how to determine one should
look for an answer in the text or in the
head. Teacher and students can
collaborate together to write questions
across the four different categories.

19. Alvermann, Swafford and Montero (pg 38) discuss
that when a strategy is being taught, it doesn’t just
happen in a brief lesson and then is not discussed
again. Rather, it has to be taught and modeled and
demonstrated and children need time to practice with
their teachers assistance. This should happen until
the students can use the strategy with no assistance.
Then as new strategies are introduced, the teacher
encourages the students to continue using the familiar
strategies along with the new one being taught.
This means that strategies should be taught and modeled and
retaught!

20. In conclusion, “although strategies have been
presented one by one, they are applied in
integrated fashion. In reading even a brief
selection, students might use three or four
strategies or more. One of the best ways to
teach children how to read difficult texts is to
model the process.”
Gunning, pg 143

21. References
Alvermann, Donna, Swafford, Jeanne, and Montero, M. Kristina (2004). Content Area
Literacy Instruction for the Elementary Grades. Boston, MA: Pearson.
Frey, Nancy and Fisher, Douglas (2007). Reading for Information in Elementary School:
Content Literacy Strategies to Build Comprehension. Columbus, OH: Pearson.
Gunning, Thomas G. (2004). Creating Literacy Instruction for All Children in Grades PreK
to 4. Boston, MA: Pearson.
Hoyt, Linda (2002) Make It Real: Strategies for Success with Informational Texts.
Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Moore D., Moore S., Cunningham P., Cunningham J., (2006) Developing Readers and
Writers in the Content Areas K-12. Boston, MA: Pearson.
Pike, Kathy and Mumper, Jean (2004). Making Nonfiction and Other Informational Texts
Come Alive. Boston, MA: Pearson.
Reutzel, D. Ray, and Cooter, Robert B. (2005). The Essentials of Teaching Children to
Read. Columbus, OH: Pearson.