Introduction:
In this literature review, I will share what I have learned from the three articles related to my wondering statement: "How can I differentiate reading comprehension for students with mixed-abilities?"
To find these articles for my wondering, I used the USF online library. Here I looked up articles in The Reading Teacher by typing in certain keyword such as teaching reading comprehensions, mixed-abilities, and differentiating instruction during reading. It was a little difficult at first to find the articles that really helped me with my wondering but I was able to find three that taught me a few things.
The Comprehension Matrix: A Tool for Designing Comprehension Instruction
By: Sharon Ruth Gill
Out of all of the articles I found, this was by far my favorite one to read. According to the article there are 3 major factors that affect comprehension, the reader, the text and the situation. Comprehension can be affected by the students interest and background knowledge of the topic they are reading about. It can also be affected by strategies the student knows how to use, and even their physical and emotional state. I also learned that comprehension doesn't just occur after reading something, it also happens before, during and after reading and the article gives specific examples for each one. Before reading will help access background knowledge, teach/model new strategies, and get the students interested. Some activities for before reading are discussions, graphic organizers, or K-W-L charts. During reading teachers can use strategies like think-aloud, story guides and reading guides to help their students and students should read silently. After reading will help students solidify strategies and extend their understanding of the text. Good post reading activities are news reports, timelines, or graphic organizers.
Help with teaching reading comprehension: Comprehension instructional frameworks
By: Lauren Aimonette Liang and Janice A. Dole
The article talks about different frameworks that assess comprehension in small group as well as whole group. There are five comprehension instructional frameworks with two different focuses. Scaffolded Reading Experience (SRE) and Questioning the Author (QtA) focuses on understanding the content, Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR) and Peer Assisted Learning Strategies (PALS) focuses on learning the process and Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction (CORI) focuses on both understanding the content and learning the process. SRE and QtA are for whole group or small group, help students understand the content of a given text and are usually short lessons. CRS and PALS are for cooperative learning groups and usually last between a semester and a whole school year. CORI is for whole group or cooperative learning and will last about one week. This article shows teachers the different ways of organizing and teaching reading comprehension.
Using a Conceptual Framework of Comprehension to Empower Literacy Instruction
By: Martha McGovern
This article talks about how pre-service teachers use a conceptual framework of comprehension to create a tool kit and to enable themselves as literacy instructors. It explains three process levels which are integrative processes level, macroprocesses level, elaborative processes level and metacognitive processes level. At the integrative processes level involves making connections between parts of sentences and between sentences as well as making slot-filling inferences. The macroprocesses level is where the reader understands and organizes all of the elements of a story. In the elaborative processes level, the student elaborates on the content of the text and enriches the mental movie of its meaning. The last level metacognitive processes level, the student is in executive control of their self and of the reading task. The article also talks about how understanding why teachers use particular instructional tactics increases the effectiveness of those tactics.
Conclusion:
These helpful recommendations I discovered from the three articles that I chose will help me apply the many tools and ideas that I can use with my focus students. These will guarantee that my focus students will be able to comprehend what they have read no matter what reading level they are on. I noticed all three of these articles give many examples on how I can differentiate instruction for reading comprehension. I will continue to do my research in order to teach me how I can differentiate instruction during reading with students who have mixed abilities such as different reading levels.
References:
Gill, S. R.. (2008). The Comprehension Matrix: A Tool for Designing Comprehension Instruction. The Reading Teacher, 62(2), 106–113. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20203091
Liang, L. A., & Dole, J. A.. (2006). Help with Teaching Reading Comprehension: Comprehension Instructional Frameworks. The Reading Teacher, 59(8), 742–753. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20204415
McGovern, Martha. (2010). Using a Conceptual Framework of Comprehension to Empower Literacy Instructors. Journal of Reading Education; Spring/Summer2010, Vol. 35 Issue 3, p47-49, 3p.
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