This presentation has excellent information for teachers about how to actively teach and model comprehension strategies for students.

1. Teaching Reading
Comprehension
Strategies
by B. J. Zagorac, M.A., M.Ed.

2. Workshop Outline
• Anticipation Guide
• Introductions & Workshop Goals
• Presentation on Teaching
Comprehension Strategies
• Discussion– Teacher Application of
Strategies
• Concluding Remarks & Review
Anticipation Guide
• End-of-Workshop Survey

3. Anticipation Guide
• Please take a minute or so to fill out
the Anticipation Guide. We will review
your responses together at the end of
the workshop to see how your
thinking has changed.

4. Major Goals of Workshop
• Learn and apply the 3 different types of
knowledge needed to teach reading
comprehension strategies.
• Learn specific information about 2 reading
strategies from Ellen Oliver Keene’s 7
Essential Reading Strategies.
• Learn and apply present research on teaching
reading comprehension strategies to the
classroom setting.

5. The Need for Strategy Instruction
• Comprehension is at the heart of the entire
reading process.
• Many children are unaware of how to use
strategies and apply them consistently during
reading.
• NAEP Data indicates that about 1/3 of fourth
graders read below even the basic level,
which is defined as the ability to read and
understand directions on homework
( National Center for Education Statistics, 2012)

6. The 7 Key Comprehension Strategies
• Keene (2010) and McLaughlin (2012)
recommend teaching these key strategies:
– Monitoring for meaning
– Using schema (background
knowledge/experiences)
– Making inferences
– Asking questions
– Creating images in the mind
– Determining importance
– Synthesizing information

7. 2 Strategies of Focus
• Asking Questions
– Good readers continuously ask themselves
questions about what they are reading.
– Self-questioning sets a focus for certain concepts
within the text and can even help readers monitor
their understanding.
• Creating Mental Images
- Good readers create pictures in their minds based
on what their reading.
- Images could include sense of sight, smell, taste,
touch, and sound.

8. The 3 Types of Knowledge
• To effectively use a reading strategy, the reader
must possess 3 distinct forms of knowledge
(Almasi & Fullerton, 2012):
1. Declarative Knowledge: Reader knows of the strategy
and is able to describe it in the context of the reading
task.
2. Procedural Knowledge: Reader knows how to perform
or use the reading strategy. This might involve certain
steps for using the strategy.
3. Conditional Knowledge: Reader knows when and why
to use the strategy.
• This type of knowledge is very important as this is when
the reader knows the strategy would be useful.
• Teacher modeling should be extensive in this area.

9. Strategies in Action
• Example from story book (Demonstration)
– I love You the Purplest by Barbara Joosse
• Creating Mental Images - use of sensory images to
create a picture in the reader’s mind (pp. 3-4)
• Asking Questions – using information in story to help
the reader formulate a good question (pp. 13-14)
• Each reading strategy will be demonstrated with the
types of knowledge a reader must have: declarative,
procedural, and conditional.
Important Note: Students may not be able to apply reading
strategies independently after only modeling for them a few
times. Multiple lessons modeling strategies are necessary
with most younger students. A gradual release of
responsibility model is appropriate.

10. Think & Share
• Everyone will receive a children’s book with a
specific place marked with a recommended
reading strategy to use.
• Think about how you would teach that strategy to
your students using the 3 types of knowledge we
discussed.
• Feel free to jot down some notes for each type of
knowledge.
• Share your responses with the colleagues at your
table.

11. Final Thoughts
• Review Anticipation Guide
– How has your thinking changed today?
– What new information will you take back to
your classroom?
• Questions from you?
• End-of-Workshop Survey
• Be sure to pick up the following items
before you leave:
Reading Comp Info Sheet
 Recommended Resources Sheet

12. Thank You for
Coming!

13. References
• Almasi, J. F., & Fullerton, S. K. (2012). Teaching
strategic processes in reading. New York, NY: The
Guilford Press.
• Keene, E. O. (2010). New horizons in comprehension.
Educational Leadership, 67(6), 69-73.
• McLaughlin, M. (2012). Reading comprehension: What
every teacher needs to know. The Reading Teacher, 65,
432-440. doi: 10.1002/TRTR.01064
• Miller, D. (2013). Reading with meaning: Teaching
comprehension in the primary grades. Portland, ME:
Stenhouse Publishers.
• National Center for Education Statistics. (2012). NAEP
Date Explorer. Retrieved at
http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/naepdata/