READING COMPREHENSION

Theresa Davis M.Ed

Instructor
 READING COMPREHENSION
MODULE 1 Reading Comprehension -- What It Means, Why We Should Care
Overview:
Current research at all levels of schooling emphasizes the importance of effective reading
comprehension as well as the challenges instructors face teaching it. Even as young
adults, our students need guidance with this important ability.
For example, the 2006 ACT report, Reading Between the Lines: What the ACT Reveals
About College Readiness in Reading, provides the following statistics, which affect not
only retention and graduation rates, but also students' performance as they enter the
workforce:
 READING COMPREHENSION
For example, the 2006 ACT report, Reading Between the Lines: What the ACT Reveals
About College Readiness in Reading, provides the following statistics, which affect not
only retention and graduation rates, but also students' performance as they enter the
workforce:

Of the students who took the ACT in 2004-2005, 49% of them

are underprepared for college.
Student readiness for college-level reading has steadily
declined since 1999 to its lowest point in twelve years.
 READING COMPREHENSION
The scores of eighth and tenth graders indicate that more of
them are ready for college-level reading than they are when
they graduate from high school; this indicates that their skills
actually decline before they enroll in college.
A survey by the National Association of Manufacturers,
Andersen, and the Center for Workforce Success (2001)
indicates that 80% of businesses have "moderate to severe"
difficulty in finding "qualified job candidates" because those who
apply are not proficient readers
 PURPOSE OF READING
Overview:
Many people--students and faculty alike--assume that when they encounter a text, they
simply sit down and read it. Yet different types of texts call for different reading strategies.
We should not assume that our students know this or have been taught this; in fact, many
studies show that reading comprehension strategies are not extensively taught in
secondary schools.
 PURPOSE OF READING
Students often have difficulties reading and retaining information from textbooks because
they fail to recognize both the intent of the text and the purpose of their reading .
It's like walking into a house for the first time without the benefit of a light or an idea of
the floor plan. Newcomers could just bumble around in the dark until they found a
doorway and would move from room to room with no clear idea of where they had been or
were going.
We can "hand students a flashlight" by helping them identify the purpose of the text and
understand the stages of an effective reading process.
 PURPOSE OF READING
Our learning goals for this module are:
Students will recognize purpose-driven approaches to reading.
Students will learn about three stages of the reading process.
Students will engage in purpose-driven active reading.
 PURPOSE OF READING
Good readers are good thinkers.
Good readers think about and identify the purpose of a reading and then read with that
purpose in mind.

As you read the following texts, we will ask you to slow down and experience this
conscious effort to identify the purpose of your reading, as well as what would motivate
you to read such a text, what you do while reading it, and what you learn.
 PURPOSE OF READING
1. What could be the purpose of reading a text like this?
2. Why would you choose to read a text like this?
3. What did you focus and/or reflect on while reading this text? Why?
4. What did you learn from this text?
 PURPOSE OF READING
The passage you just read is from an article in a monthly popular culture magazine called
Ode.
Most people will read this article because they choose to do so, as the magazine caters to
a readership with specific interests and purposes.
When students choose to read for pleasure, they already have an interest in the subject
and clear goals for reading.
These goals may include intellectual stimulation, emotional pleasure, and, yes, they read
to learn something new! When students read for pleasure, they automatically make
connections to prior knowledge and feel satisfied that they have not wasted their time,
largely because of their personal motivation to read.
 PURPOSE OF READING
However, when students enter the classrooms, reading is usually required and rarely
elective.
To compound this, often the reading is in new subject fields where prior knowledge--to
which they may attach the new information--is limited or lacking. Although we may hope
that our students are passionately motivated to learn all they can about our subject, those
with less intrinsic motivation, which often includes the weaker readers, need a little help to
get focused and be productive in their reading.
 THE READING PROCESS
Many college students, we imagine, would define their reading process something like
this: find the reading assignment on the syllabus, locate the textbook and open to the
appropriate page, use a yellow highlighter to mark passages that might be important to
remember for the test, read to the end of the assignment, close the book, take a coffee
break.
 THE READING PROCESS
While this is certainly a process, it's not particularly effective for comprehension and
retention, much less analysis, interpretation, and application. Faculty can use the
following strategies to help students think about what happens before, during, and after
reading.
 THE READING PROCESS

The Reading Process

STAGE GOALS
to activate prior knowledge
Pre-reading as a framework for
understanding
is what readers do before to stimulate interest in the
they read to create topic
expectations, focus, and a to identify the purposes
plan for the best approach and goals for the reading
to the reading. to provide language
preparation for the text
 PURPOSE OF READING
Active Reading

is what readers do while they are reading to stay focused and comprehend the material.
to build knowledge within the context for reading
to self-monitor comprehension and correct as needed
to make material more memorable for recall and application
 THE READING PROCESS
Post-reading

is what readers do after they have finished the text to enhance understanding and enable
long-term retention.
to "fill in the blanks" by checking knowledge, finding answers, and taking additional notes
to integrate lecture notes with book notes to form complete study guides
to increase vocabulary
 THE READING PROCESS
Strategy: Using pre-reading questions
There are several questions students need to ask themselves before they begin to read any
text in depth. Ask your students to preview the reading by looking at the title of the selection,
noting the sub-headings, and skimming the first and last paragraphs. Then, ask them to jot
down answers to the following questions before they begin reading.
1. What do you already know about this topic?
2. List three things you would be interested in learning about this topic.
3. What do you think is the purpose of this reading?
4. What learning goal(s) can you set for yourself as you read this?
5. Have you already noticed words which you do not recognize? How will you deal with
unfamiliar vocabulary? Will you try to understand words in context? Will you look them up in a
dictionary or the book's glossary?
THE READING PROCESS
Strategy: Using active reading questions
As they read, students need to "dialogue" with the text by identifying main ideas and supporting
details, making connections, marking confusing areas, identifying unfamiliar words, and
examining graphics. Here are some active reading questions you can provide to your students.

1. What is the main idea of the passage? What is your evidence for this?

2. How does the reading connect to the course lectures and discussions? What are the
connections between sections of the reading?

3. Which words are unfamiliar to you? Circle them on your initial reading. Can you determine
the meaning based on the context? If not, when you have finished reading the passage, define
them with the help of a dictionary.

4. Look at the pictures, charts, and other graphics accompanying the text (if applicable). Why
are they there? How do they help you understand the content of the passage?
THE READING PROCESS
Strategy: Using post-reading questions
When they are finished reading, ask students to reflect on what they have read. They
might want to compare and enhance the answers to their active reading questions with
notes from class lectures. Here are some post-reading questions you can provide to your
students.

1. What do you think were the most important ideas in this reading selection? Why?

2. What was unclear to you? Why?

3. Formulate some questions that will help you clarify the reading. Briefly answer them.

4. What parts of the reading must be remembered?

5. How does the reading relate to the class lectures and activities?
THE READING PROCESS
THE READING PROCESS