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Teaching Reading: K-2 Workshop
Comprehension and Response
In this session, you will investigate and apply research-based principles of effective comprehension instruction in early literacy.
In this session, you will investigate and apply research-based principles of effective comprehension instruction in early literacy.
Learning Goals
At the end of this session, you will better understand:
- comprehension strategies used by proficient readers
- characteristics of effective comprehension instruction
- the components of explicit and strategic instruction
- the nature of reading response
Factors Related to This Session
- Background knowledge
- Word-recognition skills
- Vocabulary knowledge
- Text structure
- Fluency
- Monitoring comprehension
- Interest
“The thing about comprehension that’s easy, for any of us who teach, is the assignment or assessment of comprehension. What’s more difficult is to step back and figure out how you are actually demonstrating or modeling these [comprehension] processes.”
Jeanne R. Paratore
Related Resources
Professional Resources
Blachowicz, C., and D. Ogle. Reading Comprehension: Strategies for Independent Learners. New York, N.Y.: Guilford Press, 2001.
Cunningham, P. M., and R. L. Allington. Classrooms That Work: They Can All Read and Write. New York, N.Y.: Longman, 1999.
Gambrell, L. B., and A. L. Dromsky. “Fostering Reading Comprehension.” In Strickland, D. S., and L. M. Morrow, eds. Beginning Reading and Writing. New York, N.Y.: Teachers College Press, 2000.
Harvey, S., and A. Goudvis. Strategies That Work: Teaching Comprehension to Enhance Understanding. Portland, Maine: Stenhouse, 2000.
Keene, E. O., and S. Zimmerman. Mosaic of Thought: Teaching Comprehension in a Readers’ Workshop. Portsmouth, N.H.: Heinemann, 1997.
Miller, D. Reading With Meaning: Teaching Comprehension in the Primary Grades. Portland, Maine: Stenhouse, 2002.
Pearson, P. D., et al. “Developing Expertise in Reading Comprehension.” In Samuels, S. J., and A. Farstrup, eds. What Research Has To Say About Reading Instruction. 2d ed., 145-199. Newark, Del.: International Reading Association, 1992.
Pressley, M., et al. Learning To Read: Lessons From Exemplary First-Grade Classrooms. New York, N.Y.: Guilford Press, 2001.
Rosenblatt, L. Literature as Exploration. New York, N.Y.: Modern Language Association, 1983.
Rosenblatt, L. The Reader, the Text, and the Poem. Carbondale, Ill.: Southern Illinois University Press, 1978.
Snow, C. E., M. S. Burns, and P. Griffin. Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, 1998.
Related Research
Durkin, D. “What Classroom Observations Reveal About Reading Comprehension Instruction.” Reading Research Quarterly 14 (1978): 481-533.
Rosenblatt, L. The Reader, the Text, the Poem: The Transactional Theory of the Literary Work. Carbondale, Ill.: Southern Illinois University Press, 1978.
Classroom Excerpts Used in the Video
Classrooms shown in the video session are from Teaching Reading K-2: A Library of Classroom Practices.
Building Oral Language with Cindy Wilson
Promoting Readers as Leaders with Valerie Kostandos
Staying on Topic with Martha Duran-Contreras
Students Making Choices with Becky Pursley
