Strategies to Increase Student Comprehension of Academic TextsDeb Wragge, ESU 8ddwragge@esu8.org

Strategies to be Shared:• Addressing AdvancEd Standard 3 – Teaching

and Learning• Student Responses:

• Verbal Responses• All Students Respond. When possible use response procedures that

engage all students

• Academic Vocabulary Instruction• Paragraph Shrinking

Verbal Responses:• Choral Responses - Use when the answers are Short & the Same• Partner Responses – Use when the Answers are Long or

Different• Procedure for asking a Comprehension Question

• Ask a question• Have student share answers wit their partners• Have partners provide feedback to their partners• Call on a student to share his/her answers• Guide students in discussing the answer

• If the question is a difficult higher order questions, scaffold by asking easier, foundation questions first.

Paragraph Shrinkinghttp://kc.vanderbilt.edu/pals/teachmat/2-6VPMPS.html

• Activity developed as part of the Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies (PALS)

• Allows each student:– to take turns reading, pausing, and

summarizing the main points of each paragraph

– to provide their partner with feedback as a way to monitor comprehension

Why use Paragraph Shrinking?• It helps students develop their reading

comprehension skills. • It allows each student to take turns reading,

pausing, and summarizing the main points of each paragraph.

• When to use: During and/or after reading• How to use: Individually, small group or whole

class setting

How to Use Paragraph Shrinking…1. Choose the assigned reading and introduce the text

to the students. 2. Create pairs within the classroom by identifying

which children require help on specific skills and who the most appropriate children are to help other children learn those skills.

3. Model the procedure to ensure that students understand how to use the strategy.

4. Have each member of the teacher‐assigned pair take turns being "Coach" and "Player."

Con’t5. Ask each student to read aloud for 5 minutes without

rereading a text. After each paragraph, students should stop to summarize the main points of the reading. Ask students to then summarize the following information:a. The who or what of the paragraphb. The most important thing about who or what c. The main idea

Note: If a "Player" gives a wrong answer, the "Coach" asks the "Player" to skim the paragraph again and answer question a second time.

6. Ask students to state the main idea in 10 words or less which will encourage them to monitor comprehension while taking turns reading.

7. Award each pair points when the above goals of the strategy are met.

How to Use Paragraph Shrinking…1. Choose the assigned reading and introduce the text to the students.

2. Create pairs within the classroom by identifying which children require help on specific skills and who the most appropriate children are to help other children learn those skills.

3. Model the procedure to ensure that students understand how to use the strategy.

4. Have each member of the teacher‐assigned pair take turns being "Coach" and "Player."

5. Ask each student to read aloud for 5 minutes without rereading a text. After each paragraph, students should stop to summarize the main points of the reading. Ask students to then summarize the following information:a. The who or what of the paragraph

b. The most important thing about who or what

c. The main idea

Note: If a "Player" gives a wrong answer, the "Coach" asks the "Player" to skim the paragraph again and answer question a second time.

6. Ask students to state the main idea in 10 words or less which will encourage them to monitor comprehension while taking turns reading.

7. Award each pair points when the above goals of the strategy are met.

Paragraph Shrinking• Can be used with any narrative or informational text

• Assign partners (alternate ranking)

• Pairs take turns being the coach/player

• Read aloud 5 minutes (adjust by time or length of material)

• Stop and Tell– tell the who or what– name the most important thing about the ‘who’ or ‘what’– tell the main idea– shrink into 10 words or less

Vocabulary for Medical Excerpt • Perioperative

• Metabolic acidosis

• Hyponatremia

• MCHC

• Lactated ringers

• Osmolality

Medical ExcerptNo particular drugs, such as prophylactic bicarbonate infusions or dextran infusions, have been found to be beneficial in the perioperative period. However, bicarbonate along with adequate ventilation should be used to correct for metabolic acidosis. Theoretically, slight hyponatremia may be beneficial by decreasing the concentration of hemoglobin within the red blood cell and MCHC. Hence, this author prefers to use lactated ringers if there is no lactic acidosis over normal saline because of the lower sodium content of lactated ringers. Lastly, mannitol or hypertonic saline should be used with great caution in the sickle-cell disease patient because increased serum osmolality may cause red blood cell dehydration.

Stop and Tell…–tell the who or what–name the most important thing about the ‘who’ or ‘what’

–tell the main idea–shrink into 10 words or less

Easy to Alter Elements• Time

• Increase response opportunities

• Vary modalities – oral, motor, written (non-linguistic representation)

• Questioning

Research which supports this strategy:• Fuchs, D., Fuchs, L., & Burish, P. (2000). Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies: An

Evidence-Based Practice to Promote Reading Achievement. Learning Disabilities Research and Practice, 15(2), 85-91.

• Fuchs, L., Fuchs, D., & Kazdan, S. (1999). Effects of peer-assisted learning strategies on high school students with serious reading problems. Remedial and Special Education, 20(5), 309-318.

• Saenz, L., Fuchs, L., & Fuchs, D. (2005) Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies for English Language Learners with Learning Disabilities. Exceptional Children, (71).

• Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development. (n.d.). Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies. Retrieved 2008, January 21, from http://kc.vanderbilt.edu/pals/

• http://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/paragraph_shrinking