Maximizing Effectiveness of Reading Comprehension Instruction in Diverse Classrooms

by
Sheri Berkeley, Ph.D.
George Mason University
and
Ana Taboada Barber, Ph.D.

Contents

1. What Is Comprehension?
   • Overview of Reading Comprehension
   • How Is Language Development Related to Reading Proficiency?
   • Why Do Some Students Struggle with Learning Language?
   • What Does This Mean for Classroom Teachers?
2. Basic Reading Skills
   • What Are Basic Reading Skills and Why Are They Important for Reading?
   • How Are Basic Skills Taught at the Secondary Level?
   • How Do I Select Texts for Students that Are Not Proficient in Basic Reading Skills?
   • What Are Considerations When Modifying Text or Providing Accommodations?
   • What Are Other Considerations for Selecting Texts for Struggling Readers?
3. Teach Vocabulary
   • What Is Vocabulary and Why Is It Important for Reading Comprehension?
   • What Types of Vocabulary Words Should Be Explicitly Taught?
   • What Instructional Techniques Can Help Students Learn Important Vocabulary?
   • What Are Potential Problems with Students’ Understanding of Vocabulary?
   • How Can Teachers Assess Students’ Understanding of Vocabulary?
   • What Else Do Teachers Need to Know About Vocabulary?
4. Teach to Activate Students’ Prior Knowledge and Help Them Make Connections
   • What Is Prior Knowledge and Why Is It Important for Reading Comprehension?
   • What Instructional Techniques Can Help Students Activate Prior Knowledge?
   • What Are Potential Problems with Student Activation of Prior Knowledge?
   • How Can Teachers Help Create Shared Prior Knowledge to Support Instruction?
   • What Are Other Aspects of a Reader’s Prior Knowledge to Consider?
5. Teach Students to Ask and Answer Questions
   • What Are Questioning Strategies and Why Are They Important for Reading Comprehension?
   • What Are Types of Questions that Teachers Should Ask and Teach Students to Answer?
   • How Can Students Be Taught to Ask Their Own Questions About Text?
   • How Can Questioning Help Students Summarize Text?
   • What Challenges Might Arise Related to Questioning?
   • What Else Do Teachers Need to Know About Questioning?
6. Teach Students to Recognize Text Structure
   • What Is Text Structure and Why Is It Important for Reading Comprehension?
   • What Instructional Techniques Can Help Students Understand Narrative Text?
   • What Instructional Techniques Can Help Students Understand Expository Text?
   • What Are Potential Problems When Using Graphic Organizers to Teach Students to Recognize How Text Is Organized?
   • What Else Do Teachers Need to Know About Text Structure?
7. Teach Students to Read Strategically and Monitor Their Comprehension
   • What Is Strategy Instruction and Why Is It Important for Reading Comprehension?
   • Why Is Comprehension Monitoring Important for Reading Comprehension?
   • What Does This Look Like in Instruction?
   • What Is the Bottom Line with Strategy Instruction?
8. Motivation and the Struggling Reader
   • How Do Students Respond to Past Failures in Reading?
   • Why Does Motivation and Engagement Matter for Reading Success?
   • How Can Teachers Address Motivation and Engagement in the Classroom?

About the Authors

Sheri Berkeley, Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Division of Special Education and disAbility Research, George Mason University. Prior to her current position, Dr. Berkeley was an assistant professor at the University of Georgia and served in a diverse public school district as a special education teacher. Her professional efforts have aimed to improve reading outcomes for older students with learning disabilities in reading.

Ana Taboada Barber, Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Counseling, Higher Education, and Special Education, University of Maryland. Dr. Taboada Barber’s research focuses on the examination of classroom contexts that support reading engagement for monolingual and second language learners. She has worked on the development of frameworks within the engagement model as they apply to second language learners.

Motivation and the Struggling Reader

Although reading skills are important, addressing issues of motivation and engagement is crucial. Many older students who have struggled in reading throughout their schooling lack motivation to persist on difficult tasks and become disinterested in reading.

Good readers generally are motivated readers. Poor readers read too little, rarely read for deep understanding, and develop negative self-concepts about who they are as readers. It is essential to monitor students' perceptions of their abilities and explicitly address motivation and engagement, as both are tightly connected to reading success.

Research indicates that students who see themselves as less competent readers view reading negatively, and these attitudes can become entrenched over time. Therefore, it is vital for educators to foster positive attributions about effort and success among struggling readers, which may encourage persistence and the use of effective reading strategies.

Knowledge Goals

Using knowledge goals in reading tasks can significantly improve reading comprehension. Knowledge goals involve organizing content units around themes that help explain substantial principles of a domain.

Final Thoughts

Struggling readers include both students with learning disabilities and English language learners. Employing a range of instructional approaches before, during, and after reading is essential to help these students understand text and develop self-regulation in their reading strategies. Teachers play a critical role in motivating and re-engaging struggling readers.