Comprehension in the Preschool and Primary Grades
Contents of Today’s Talk
What Parents Do to Support Children’s Language Acquisition Cazden, 1983
History of Strategies Instruction: Palinscar & Brown
History of Strategies Instruction: Paris & Colleagues
History of Strategies Instruction: Duffy & Roehler
History of Strategies Instruction: Teachers’ Rejection
History of Strategies Instruction: Pressley
The Essence of TSI
A Developmental Model of Comprehension
Comprehension Acquisition
Comprehension Acquisition: What Should We Do?
The Interactive Information Book Read Aloud
Links Within a Sentence
Carol: Now the treasure can be brought to the surface. Salvage boats are moved in. Divers descend and crew members lower baskets over the side to them. What does descend mean? We learned this word when we talked about hot air balloons. Pete?
Links Between Sentences - Teacher Initiated
Carol: Look! 13th Day. The white kitten has both eyes open. The light bothers the black kitten, and he looks away. So, their eyes are still sensitive to the light.
Links Between Sentences - Child Initiated
Child: That yellow stuff wasn't there. [why did it disappear?]
Summarizing
Carol: Fourth day. The white kitten rests under its mother's chin. It decides it is time to eat. The black kitten has the same idea. What do babies do most? They...
Examining Text Structure
Carol: And 100 year old popcorn kernels were found in Peru that could still be popped. Now. This guy is doing different... [It's] kind of like two stories [are] going on. What is this part giving us?
Establishing Links to Prior Knowledge:
Carol: Dinosaurs came in all sizes and shapes. The smallest were no larger than chickens. How big is that?
Carol: 21st day. The white kitten practices walking. Her front legs are strong but the hind legs drag.
Child: I seen it.
Carol: (providing an oral commentary on the "story") Okay, now it's hot enough [for the brothers] to add a few kernels.
Considering Authors and their Texts:
Carol: And, listen to this. The author wishes to express his thanks to Dr. Eugene S. Gaffney of the American Museum of Natural History for checking the accuracy of the manuscript of this book. That means they [the author] asked someone who knows a lot about dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum if this book was accurate, if the facts in this book were true.
Carol: The dedication is To Cassey, a natural caring mother who graciously allowed me to observe and photograph her kittens. She used black and white photographs.
Fix-up Strategies
Carol: Insects live on the tree, too. This big cicada just crawled out of its brown, shell-like skin. For several years. (Carol pauses. The next word in the text is “it”. Let's start back here. Insects live on the tree, too. This big cicada just crawled out of its brown, shell-like skin.
Webbing Into Literacy
Email: lbs5z@virginia.edu