What We Can Do
Supporting the Reader, Text and Sociocultural Context
Supporting
any 'transactor' in the comprehension 'transaction', or any part
of the framework, will benefit the entire structure. It may help to visualise
this framework as a house; strengthening its walls or pillars
will strengthen the entire structure.
Below follows a broad description of how we can support the reader, text, task and sociocultural context, with additional resources.
The pages that follow in this section of the site hone in on the reader, providing a description of skills and strategies, and models of instruction, again with additional resources and importantly for pre-service teachers; practical ideas for developing these skills and using these models in the classroom.
Below follows a broad description of how we can support the reader, text, task and sociocultural context, with additional resources.
The pages that follow in this section of the site hone in on the reader, providing a description of skills and strategies, and models of instruction, again with additional resources and importantly for pre-service teachers; practical ideas for developing these skills and using these models in the classroom.
Supporting the Reader
Vocabulary, word recognition, fluency, prior knowledge, metacognition and motivation are all factors which influence the reader/student.
Although students' vocabulary, word recognition and fluency all impact their comprehension, it is their prior knowledge and metacognition which requires most focus as they enter their middle years. Significant teaching opportunities open up in these areas, as outlined below.
Although students' vocabulary, word recognition and fluency all impact their comprehension, it is their prior knowledge and metacognition which requires most focus as they enter their middle years. Significant teaching opportunities open up in these areas, as outlined below.
Supporting Students' Prior Knowledge
Students' ability to make connections to prior knowledge significantly impacts their comprehension. This is what allows them to draw inferences and make predictions as they read. Prior knowledge may include knowledge relating to themselves, other texts, and the world. It also includes literary and critical knowledge.
Strategies to support students' connections to prior knowledge can be found here.
Metacognition
Metacognition is another process which significantly impacts comprehension, and which emanates from the reader. This is the process students use to consciously think about their thinking, how they monitor their understanding of the author’s message, and their reasoning (Fisher & Frey, 2012; Pressley, 2006).
It manifests in self-monitoring practices, as students stop, think, consider alternative perspectives, and make informed, flexible decisions when confronted with challenging texts. |
This video was developed by the Department of Education in the US, and demonstrates the importance of metacognition in learning, verbalising our thinking and strategies, and include metacognitive approaches and strategies in daily lesson plans.
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Self-monitoring strategies to support students' metacognition can be found here. Metacognition can also be supported in the classroom through worksheets as well as displaying posters to remind students to think about their thinking....
Supporting the Text
Different texts have different messages, style, structure, genre, language and other varying features. Similarly, some texts are easier for students to comprehend than others. We must also be conscious of "surface features" which influence students' interaction with texts, such as font, text size and general readability (Tracey & Morrow, 2002). All of these factors impact the transaction and reader comprehension.
Reading is about appetite and diet (Harvey, 2008). Students will likely have arrange of reading preferences (appetite), but it is up to teachers to introduce them to a wide range of texts (diet). This is due to the value different text types provide. For example, non-fiction texts introduce diverse vocabulary and concepts, and reveal distinctive writing styles. Therefore, students' reading diet should consist of a range of both fiction and non-fiction books.
Further, different texts provide opportunities to develop particular comprehension strategies which students need to develop. Some books draw on students' inferential skills in order to understand the author's message, others may be very descriptive and encourage visualisation. Depending on your comprehension goal, a variety of books will provide a perfect context to develop students' comprehension. Within the skills and strategies page you will find examples of middle and upper primary texts which target specific comprehension strategies.
Pardo (2004) identifies the following three factors as most significant to teachers supporting texts:
Teaching text structures: teaching a variety of text structures and selecting texts with obvious structure and that have elements specific to a particular genre.
Modelling appropriate text selection: showing students the features to look for when selecting texts. This will change according to the reader and their level of comprehension.
Regular independent reading time: Students should always have regular independent reading time to practice interacting with different texts. The more students actually practice reading, the more they will improve.
Additionally, text introductions play a significant factor in supporting a student's reading motivation and are key to connecting to students' prior knowledge and their engagement. Throughout my own professional experience I have learnt that sometimes taking the extra time to introduce a book is the difference between a motivated and unmotivated learner.
Reading is about appetite and diet (Harvey, 2008). Students will likely have arrange of reading preferences (appetite), but it is up to teachers to introduce them to a wide range of texts (diet). This is due to the value different text types provide. For example, non-fiction texts introduce diverse vocabulary and concepts, and reveal distinctive writing styles. Therefore, students' reading diet should consist of a range of both fiction and non-fiction books.
Further, different texts provide opportunities to develop particular comprehension strategies which students need to develop. Some books draw on students' inferential skills in order to understand the author's message, others may be very descriptive and encourage visualisation. Depending on your comprehension goal, a variety of books will provide a perfect context to develop students' comprehension. Within the skills and strategies page you will find examples of middle and upper primary texts which target specific comprehension strategies.
Pardo (2004) identifies the following three factors as most significant to teachers supporting texts:
Teaching text structures: teaching a variety of text structures and selecting texts with obvious structure and that have elements specific to a particular genre.
Modelling appropriate text selection: showing students the features to look for when selecting texts. This will change according to the reader and their level of comprehension.
Regular independent reading time: Students should always have regular independent reading time to practice interacting with different texts. The more students actually practice reading, the more they will improve.
Additionally, text introductions play a significant factor in supporting a student's reading motivation and are key to connecting to students' prior knowledge and their engagement. Throughout my own professional experience I have learnt that sometimes taking the extra time to introduce a book is the difference between a motivated and unmotivated learner.
Supporting the task and Sociocultural Context
The reader and text interact in a specific social context which necessarily involves the activity occurring around the transaction. Contexts are formed by the specific task/activity, as well as the wider sociocultural environment.
We influence the context through a variety of ways - topic selection, the focus we choose, the way we use text, our model of instruction, grouping etc. The context also forms from the discussion, questions and ideas etc. which ensue in the classroom.
There will always be a context, so we must ask ourselves what context that will be? Pardo (2004) highlights the importance of teachers creating context and learning opportunities that support the construction of meaning; that value reading and writing, that contain a wide variety of texts, that allow students to take risks and that allow time for reading aloud with the class and independently.
This must take into account student diversity, and connecting students everyday home, community and school literary practices. Importantly, it emphasises the importance of teachers getting to know their students' lives outside the classroom. This knowledge can then inform our choices. For example, choice of book, topic activity etc.
This highlights the interdependence of each of the above 'transactors'. The way we support a meaningful context will depend on our knowledge of the other transactors, namely the reader and the text. In the same way, when we are thinking about how to support the reader and the text, we must also consider the context.
We influence the context through a variety of ways - topic selection, the focus we choose, the way we use text, our model of instruction, grouping etc. The context also forms from the discussion, questions and ideas etc. which ensue in the classroom.
There will always be a context, so we must ask ourselves what context that will be? Pardo (2004) highlights the importance of teachers creating context and learning opportunities that support the construction of meaning; that value reading and writing, that contain a wide variety of texts, that allow students to take risks and that allow time for reading aloud with the class and independently.
This must take into account student diversity, and connecting students everyday home, community and school literary practices. Importantly, it emphasises the importance of teachers getting to know their students' lives outside the classroom. This knowledge can then inform our choices. For example, choice of book, topic activity etc.
This highlights the interdependence of each of the above 'transactors'. The way we support a meaningful context will depend on our knowledge of the other transactors, namely the reader and the text. In the same way, when we are thinking about how to support the reader and the text, we must also consider the context.
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