Just What Does It Mean To Make

Sense?

Keith Pruitt, Ed.S.

Words of Wisdom Educational Consulting

www.woweducationalconsulting.com

WhatIs

Comprehension?

Some Popular Definitions

Reading comprehension is defined as the level of understanding of a text. This understanding comes from the interaction between the words that are written and how they trigger knowledge outside the text. --Wikipedia

Simply put, reading comprehension is the act of understanding what you are reading. While the definition can be simply stated the act is not simple to teach, learn or practice. Reading comprehension is an intentional, active, interactive process that occurs before, during and after a person reads a particular piece of writing. --Joelle Brummitt-Yale, K12 Reader

As defined by Partnership for Reading (2005), Reading comprehension is understanding a text that is read, or the process of "constructing meaning" from a text. Comprehension is a "construction process" because it involves all of the elements of the reading process working together as a text is read to create a representation of the text in the reader's mind.

To What Degree is this Input Comprehensible?

regards situation Mark strong usLincoln station assassination carton style language partition

1. Can I understand each word? Thus comprehension is available at the word level.

2. But can one make sense of this as a text?

In regards to the assassination of Lincoln, Mark was reading a book while sitting on a carton at the train station. He had a strong feeling from the language of the author that he felt the President’s style of governing had disturbed many people. His unwillingness to partition off the south had enabled us to heal as a nation. Otherwise, the situation could have ended very differently.

Has the dynamic of comprehension changed?

What is the level of Understanding Here?

“A related observation about the F distribution is that it is positively skewed, not symmetric as are z and t. This is because F is always positive: It is the ratio of variances, both of which are positive, so F itself must be positive. There is no left-hand tail of F because the F distribution ends abruptly at 0.”

Russell T. Hurlburt (2003). Comprehending Behavioral Statistics. Thomson: Australia, p. 336.

Who Moved My Cheese?

fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can.

i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm.. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

Can You Read This?

Now again we have changed the traditional rules of comprehension.

What is Involved In Comprehension?

What Does it Mean to Understand?

•Making Sense of text based on author’s intention and message.

•Understanding how the words interplay to relay a message.

•To exercise intellectual muscle

•To connect with a text in a meaningful way

Jamika’s Story

…strategic readers are more active readers and that active readers both retain more and are more likely to apply what they remember in new contexts. --Mosaic of Thought, 2nd Edition (2007) Keene & Zimmermann

To create strategic readers the teacher must first create readers who can make sense of reading

text. This is done by putting tools in their belt.

How Can I Help Students to Make Sense of Texts?

By thinking in terms of Comprehension Strategies, a

teacher can focus on the necessary tools for

comprehension.

Making Connections

The new student had long dark hair and a chiseled chin.

Use Think Aloud to Model Make Connections I am thinking this character

reminds me of an uncle of mine who farmed out in South

Dakota.

Now ask students to make connections. In your writing journal, please

tell me what character in Sarah, Tall and Plain, you most relate

to and why?

Asking Questions

Have students ask each other questionsWhy do you think

the little boy is being silly with

Sally?

Picture Walks are a great opportunity for children to

pose questions?

What questions would you have about these pictures and this story?

Old Framework

New Framework

Bloom’s Taxonomy

How Does This Transform the type of

questioning done in the classroom?

Jack and JillWho is the story about?

What did they do?

Why did they go up the hill to fetch a pail of water?

How do you know that was where the well was?

So let me ask another question, why would anyone put a well on top of a hill?

Creating a Visual ImageTell a partner what visual images are created with the following reading.

The snow covered peaks grew larger on the horizon as we approached the last two miles of our long journey. The slopes would be packed with powder and the hordes taking advantage of an early season. We had awaited this getaway all summer; now the time was here and we were anxious to take to the lifts.

Now Let’s Put This in Reverse and Create Words from an Image.

Tell your partner a story based on the picture you see.

In this presentation we have but touched briefly on the idea of what

it really means to make sense of text and some methods.

Keene & Zimmermann, Mosaic of Thought

Keene, To UnderstandHarvey & Goudvis, Comprehension

Toolkit

Thank You

Keith Pruitt, Ed.S.Words of Wisdom Educational

Consulting

www.woweducationalconsulting.com