BEFORE YOU LEAVE, LET'S RECAP......
There is demand for comprehension instruction within classrooms and a demand for teachers to align literacies inside and outside of the classroom.
Reading Comprehension depends on the reader, text, task and sociocultural context. These factors are interdependent and strengthening any one of these will strengthen your reading comprehension structure. All teachers should constantly be supporting these factors/pillars.
There are a range of strategies we can employ to improve students' reading comprehension. There is no one recipe for success, but as these strategies are interdependent, it is recommended that teachers employ all of them, within close proximity of each other. Strategies should be taught before, throughout and after reading. The crux of most strategies is connecting with students' diversity, prior knowledge, and asking targeted questions.
Depending on readers' needs, comprehension instruction should be modified in accordance with the gradual release of responsibility model. As students increase their comprehension, responsibility should shift from the teacher to the students proportionately.
Teachers need to align literacies inside and outside of the classroom, which means keeping up to date with new technologies and forms of literacy, and the changing nature of comprehension. This demands teachers to also teach students critical literacy.
It is hoped that this resource assists you with learning and teaching reading comprehension. There is an abundance of literature and resources on the topic to guide you. If you require further resources on any of the topics discussed within this site, please re-visit the 'Further Resources' section at the bottom of each page.
Links to comprehension outcomes within the Australian Curriculum for the middle and upper years can also be found at the bottom of this page.
Good luck in the classroom!
Australian Curriculum Links.........
- Year 3 – Read an increasing range of different types of texts by combining contextual, semantic, grammatical and phonic knowledge, using text processing strategies, for example monitoring, predicting, confirming, rereading, reading on and self-correcting (ACELY1679)
- Year 4 – Read different types of texts by combining contextual , semantic, grammatical and phonic knowledge using text processing strategies for example monitoring meaning, cross checking and reviewing (ACELY1691)
- Year 5 – Navigate and read texts for specific purposes applying appropriate text processing strategies, for example predicting and confirming, monitoring meaning, skimming and scanning (ACELY1702)
- Year 5 – Use comprehension strategies to analyse information, integrating and linking ideas from a variety of print and digital sources (ACELY1703)
- Year 6 – Use comprehension strategies to interpret and analyse information and ideas, comparing content from a variety of textual sources including media and digital texts (ACELY1713)