Components+of+Text+Comprehension





Good readers make many connections between the text they are reading and their own experiences to gain more meaning as they read. When reading or viewing a text, students should be encouraged to make connections. These can connections can be made at three levels, and may occur simultaneously: Connections that the reader makes between the text they are reading and their past experiences or background knowledge.
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Connections that the reader makes between the text they are reading and another text. The student may make connections between other books, poems, songs and movies (visual texts).
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Connections that the reader makes between the text they are reading and the bigger issues, events, or concerns of society and the world at large.
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Students need to be supported when responding to texts and this can occur through: § Whole class sessions, with a focus on explicitly teaching students how to respond to a text § Small group teaching sessions § Conference groups

Effective readers ask questions constantly – prior to reading, during their reading and when reflecting upon the text. Asking questions promotes engagement, invites prediction, creates reasons to read and fosters comprehension. The types of questions we ask can be grouped into three categories: Ø ** Literal Questions ** – The answer is stated directing in the text. (Low level questioning) Ø ** Inferential Questions ** – The student is required to thin and search for the answer. It is in the text but harder to find. Ø ** Evaluative Questions ** – This is where students have to think for themselves – the answer is not in the text. Eg Why do you think, feel... What would happen if..



The strategy of visualising refers to the minds’ capacity to imagine what is being suggested by words or symbols in the page or screen of in a text that is heard. As proficient readers read or hear a text, they can “se” what is happening, almost as if they are running a movie in their mind. They utilize all their senses to create mental pictures of what they read, this is what we should model and teach to our students. Visualising is strongly related to making connections and drawing inferences.

The strategy of drawing inference refers to the students’ ability to ‘read between the lines’ in order to find meaning that is not directly stated in the text. Students’ use their background knowledge and clues in the text in the text to make predictions and draw inferences. Inferring allows readers’ to make their own discoveries and if readers do not infer meaning whilst reading they will not grasp the deeper essence of the texts they read.

Determining important ideas is sometimes referred to as finding the main ideas and supporting details in text and as such is an important part of reading competence. Knowing why and for what purpose we are reading a text helps us determine what is important in the text. Whether we are reading fiction or non-fiction, determining important ideas depends on the readers purpose for reading. The purpose for reading could be to: · Remember important information · Learn new information · Distinguish what’s important from what’s interesting · Discern a theme, opinion or perspective · Answer a specific question · Determine if the authors’ message is to inform, persuade or entertaining



Synthesising is the process of deriving insight form reading – of thinking your way through a text. At a basic level synthesising is about taking stock of what we are reading, stopping to think about what we have read before reading on. In order to achieve this students need to be able to summarise what it is they are reading. As readers pause every now and then to take stock of meaning, they combine new information with what they already know to create new and original ideas or see a new perspective. When readers synthesise they: · Stop and collect their thoughts before reading on · Sift important ideas from less important ideas · Summarise the information by briefly identifying the main points · Combine these main points into a larger concept or bigger idea · Make generalisations about the information they read · Make judgements about the information they read · Personalise their reading by integrating new information with existing knowledge to form a new idea, opinion or perspective.