comprehension TEKS talk image

Knowledge and Skills Statement

Comprehension skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts. The student uses metacognitive skills to both develop and deepen comprehension of increasingly complex texts.
Students should understand that some details in a text will not only support but also help to fill in understanding of the key ideas. These details tell a reader what is happening, who is affected, and why the idea matters or is being discussed in the first place. Other details cover fewer specifics and provide general information that adds to the background knowledge. Students must consider the intended purpose of a detail in order to evaluate whether the detail is effective.
Key ideas are ideas that must be understood to fully comprehend the meaning of the larger text. While reading, students should look for the relationships between details and how those details are organized so they can determine which key ideas the details focus on and support. If students are unable to figure out what the key ideas are in a text, they cannot determine the overarching message of a text.

Research

Accardi, M., Chesbro, R., & Donovan, K. (2018). Outlining Informational Text: A Learning Transfer Tool. Science Scope, 42(3), 34+. Retrieved from https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A556734510/PROF?u=tea&sid=PROF&xid=c17eb615

Summary: This article features an instructional sequence that takes students through the notetaking process. The purpose of the process is to move students away from simple bulleted lists toward notes that demonstrate, through organization of details and key ideas, that students have synthesized and evaluated what they have read. Through a more sophisticated notetaking process, students can better understand and engage with content text.