CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING
Gail Boushey and Joan Moser again align with Fontas and Pinnell in their identification of "comprehension within text" components by including several variations of self-monitoring on their CAFE Menu under the goal of "comprehension." Although the main strategy they present is "Check for Understanding," "Monitor and Fix Up" and "Ask Questions Throughout the Reading Process" also fall under the self-monitoring umbrella term (p. 154, 156, 160). Below are more specific strategies for self-monitoring that fall in the general strategies of CAFE, providing teachers with specific and different ways to promote question asking and fix up strategies. Boushey, G. & Moser, J. (2009). Ready reference form: Strategy - Check for understanding; Monitor and fix up; Ask questions throughout the reading process. In The CAFE book: Engaging all students in daily literacy assessment & instruction (p. 154, 156, 160). Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers.
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CLICK = I understand it perfectly!
CLUNK = I'm confused. I'm not sure what I just read. |
CLICK! and CLUNK! CARDS
As a during-reading strategy, students indicate their level of understanding through red and green cards. Ideally, when students indicate the clunk card (red), it signals to the students that he or she must go back to the text and apply "fix-it" strategies. This self-monitoring strategy can be seen in the form of a laminated index card, one side red and the other green, that students flip depending on the quality of their comprehension.It can also be taught as just the words - "click" and "clunk" - and students write them in the margins (as annotations) next to each paragraph to track their understanding. Lastly, as learned via EDUC 302) red and green solo cups could also be used. Students stack the cups, the top cup color being indicative of their understanding.
Babbs, P. J. (1984). Monitoring cards help improve comprehension. The Reading Teacher, 38(2), 200-204. |
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I.N.S.E.R.T. (Interactive Notation System in Effective Reading and Thinking) As a during reading strategies for students to self-monitor their reading comprehension, I.N.S.E.R.T. directs students to use a notation system. Organized in a chart to the left, the notation system consists of four marks that symbolize common student thoughts that may come to mind while reading: a check for prior knowledge, a minus sign for a information that contradicts one's original thinking, a question mark for confusing information, and a plus sign for new information. Students should use this notation system in the margins of their texts. The anchor chart could also be posted on a bookmark and distributed to students.
McLaughlin, M. & Allen, M. B. (2009). Teaching ideas and blackline masters. In Guided comprehension in grades 3-8 (2nd ed.) (pp. 219-220). Newark, DE: International Reading Association, Inc.
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PAINT STRIP "CLEAR" - "FOG" PAPER-CLIP SLIDING SCALE Free in common stores like Sears and Wal-Mart, paint chips offer teachers a continent, cost-effective teaching resource. Meant to be used as book marks for students to have by their side while they are reading, students move their paper clip (or clothes pin for younger readers who need more surface area to grip!) to the degree of their self-assessed comprehension. It is a four-point sliding scale operating on a metaphor that equates fog to confusion. The metaphor is extended visually via color, since the lightest shade represents clarity while the darkest/densest color symbolizes confusion. The images to the left are original interpretations of the versions on the teacher blog. Please note that this strategy was originally designed for third grade readers. The four categories are as follows, from total comprehension down to failed comprehension: - "It's crystal clear." - "It's a bit hazy." - "It's cloudy." - "I'm in a fog." McGregor, T. (2007). 2: Metacognition: It's the thought that counts. In Comprehension Connections: Bridges to Strategic Reading (pp. 11-27). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
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ELEMENTARY RECIPROCAL TEACHING WITH STRATEGY PUPPETS
Instead of based around small groups and unfamilar, new texts, this adapted version of reciprocal teaching operates around whole-class read-alouds (to accommodate the nonreaders in lower elementary classes) and repeated stories. As an "interactive teaching model," reciprocal teaching involves the explicit instruction of summarizing, seeking clarification, asking questions, and making predictions. Four different puppets were linked to each of these strategies for kindergarten students, and labeled appropriately: Princess Storyteller (summarizing); Wizard (making predictions); Quincy Questioner (asking questions); and Clara Clarifier (self-monitoring and correcting). Serving as a motivational, fun twist to the strategies as well as a visual point of concrete reference, the puppets - and their corresponding strategies - were introduced one at a time to students. Once able to combine the strategies, four students could sit in the front of room to model - with the appropriate puppet in hand - how each of the strategies is implemented. A study showed the beneficial effects - and how kindergarteners are not too young! - of this instructional approach on students' comprehension of read-alouds and their self-monitoring ability. Myers, P. A. (2005/2006). The princess storyteller, clara clarifier, quincy questioner, and the wizard: Reciprocal teaching adapted for kindergarten students. The Reading Teacher, 59(4), 314-323.
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McGregor, T. (2007). 2: Metacognition: It's the thought that counts. In Comprehension Connections: Bridges to Strategic Reading (pp. 11-27). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
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THE THOUGHT BUBBLE
Adapted for either the primary level (first citation) or the middle school classroom (second citation), during-reading Thought Bubbles involve a circles cut-out for a readers' head in an enlarged thought bubble outline. For modeling, refer to the picture to the left. The Thought Bubble should include during-reading questions that reflect self-monitoring and a student reads aloud and models the thinking while another student holds the Thought Bubble in front of them. As a during-reading activity, students can actually write their thoughts and questions and confusions on the Thought Bubbles as they read (see images on the blog in the second citation for examples).
Amanda (2010, October 9). Teaching metacognition [Blog post]. One Extra Degree: Confessions of a Teach-a-holic. Retrieved from http://oneextradegree.blogspot.ca/2010/10/i-never- realized-how-much-i-was-talking.html?m=1
Zrihen (2011, October 22). Treasure tip: Reading is thinking thought bubbles!!! [Blog post]. A Teacher's Treasure. Retrieved from http://www.ateacherstreasure.com/search/label/thought%20bubbles |
REQUEST
Asking questions to one's self about the text during-reading helps readers express their confusions - and monitor their confusions. The ReQuest strategy prompts students to chunk their reading and document their confusions at predetermined stopping points in a text through the self-generation of a concrete question (which they can follow-up on by asking a peer or going back to it after they read further to see if it was clarified by the text itself). The graphic organizer to the left is an example of how students can record their stopping points and questions as they implement the ReQuest strategy. For the ReQuest strategy, students will read to predetermined stopping points (most likely mapped out by the teacher) and write down and ask as many questions as they can. The teacher can initiate class discussion about some of the student questions, so peers help one another. The teacher models the question-making process by providing examples of high-quality questions at the first (and second) stopping point. The ReQuest strategy is basically a reading-questioning cycle. McKnight, K. S. (2010). 61: ReQuest. In The teacher's big book of graphic organizers: Grades 5-12 (pp. 134-135). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
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FIX-UP STRATEGIES
The Fix-up strategy is an effective reading comprehension to implement in both elementary and secondary classrooms. Before students read, they must preview the text and pictures and make a prediction about what they think will happen. After the first few pages of reading, students will decide why they are reading the text that they are reading and create a mental picture, visualize what they are reading. Secondary students can either write or draw what they have visualized in the first few few pages; however, elementary students may find it easier to draw a picture. The third step in the Fix-up strategy challenges students to make a personal connection to the text they have read and simply check their comprehension as they read. Asking students to make connections to the text encourages them to be invested in the content on a personal level. Finally, students must use their prior knowledge to reflect on what they already know about the content. They are challenged to make inferences about the text based on their own experiences and the content of the text so far. The fix-up strategy encourages students to monitor their own reading to comprehend within text and make connections to their personal lives.
McKnight, K. S. (2010). 59: Fix-up strategies. In The teacher's big book of graphic organizers: Grades 5-12 (pp. 130-131). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
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THINK MARKS As "one of the most helpful tools for active reading," bookmarks - or in elementary terminology, Think Marks! - are intended to be used by students during-reading. Bookmarks can help students keep track of important characters or information. They can be an informal log for the reader's questions as they read. And they can also provide a checklist for effective reading and remind them of important "fix-it" strategies to use when they are confused. Therefore, students can determine if they utilized their time wisely at the conclusion of Sustained Silent Reading (SSR) time and know what to do when comprehension wavers. McKnight's textbook (as cited below) encourages the lamination of photocopied bookmarks in order to increase their durability. However, then students would not be able to write on them as they read, which may affect the effectiveness of the bookmarks as self-monitoring tools. Keep that in mind!
Burke, J. (2007). Bookmark: Reading : Think A. In Tools & Texts for 50 Essential Lessons (p. 14). Portsmouth, NH: Firsthand Heinemann. McKnight, K. S. (2010). 45-48: Bookmarks. In The teacher's big book of graphic organizers: Grades 5-12 (pp. 98-102). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. |