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.

During small group instruction, have students share strategies they use while reading. Encourage discussion about a variety of reading strategies that students use. Students should also share why they believe a particular strategy is helpful to them.

Further Explanation

This assessment requires students to independently choose strategies to check for understanding. Students should know how to actively think about the literal meaning of the text and assess whether they are making appropriate connections and drawing reasonable conclusions. Continually monitoring for understanding while reading allows the student to apply focused strategies when understanding breaks down.

interact with a text by adding notes or comments to the text in order to record significant features and/or personal commentary or reactions that may enhance one’s understanding of the text while reading
Students are expected to make adjustments or self-correct when they determine their understanding of a text has broken down. Students should know how to revisit the text in a purposeful and methodical way to identify where a misunderstanding has occurred. If students do not adjust how they are extracting meaning from the text, the disconnect will only increase, causing the text to become more difficult to comprehend.
When students track their comprehension over time, they choose which strategies to use to check for understanding. Students should think actively about the literal meaning of the text as they read. They should also assess whether they are making appropriate connections and drawing reasonable conclusions. For example, students at this grade level might create a graphic organizer to summarize sections of a text as they progress through it. Continually monitoring for understanding while reading allows students to apply focused strategies when breakdowns in understanding occur.

Research

Hedin, L. R., & Conderman, G. (2010). Teaching students to comprehend information text through rereading. The Reading Teacher, 63(7), 556–565. doi:10.1598/RT.63.7.3

Summary: Hedin and Conderman describe specific strategies that students can use to make meaning of the text and increase reading and writing comprehension. The study includes successful strategies for struggling readers. The approach uses paraphrasing and rereading to identify the placement of the main ideas, key terms, and definitions. The approach also includes pronouns, appositives, or text enhancements. Charts, samples, and references are included.