Cognitive Theories and Reading Comprehension Building Blocks of the Reading Process.

Cognitive Theories and Reading

Comprehension

Building Blocks of the Reading Process

Why is reading comprehension important?

NCLB – reading scores are critical to making AYP and everything that goes along with it

Content-Area reading comprehension continues to suffer – impacting students ability to independently process complex ideas

Students reading skills will have a direct impact on their earning potential

How can teachers improve students reading comprehension?

Recognize the complexity of a reading process

Use knowledge of cognitive and the reading processes to develop lessons that help students comprehend a variety of text

Help the students develop and master the skills that will enable them to become successful readers

During the Presentation I will:

Examine the reading process from both the Information Processing Theory and the Constructivism theoretical perspectives

Provide the background on the reading process and how it ties in with the cognitive theories

Instructional Reading Strategies

Many of the cognitive theories act as a basis for reading instructional theories

Overall comprehension is directly impacted by all three stages of the reading process (Before, During & After)

Each stage has a set of skills that are common to all successful readers

Instructional Reading Strategies

Many of these skills transcend one particular stage of the reading process

The reading process is a dynamic process – everyone must find their own recipe to become a successful reader. That recipe is constantly changing

Many people have an over simplified understanding of the reading process

Levels of Comprehension

Synthesize

Evaluate

Analyze

Application

Comprehension

Knowledge

Rote Learning:Learning without attaching much meaning to it.

Meaningful Learning:recognizing a relationship between new information and information already in your long-term memory

Bloom’s

Taxonomy

Theoretical Perspectives of the Reading Process

Information Processing Theory Focuses on what goes on inside the

learners head – learning, memory & performance

Identify the internal mechanisms that help people process information

Many of the skills of the Before and During reading stages focuses on mechanisms readers dynamically employ to comprehend a reading

Theoretical Perspectives of the Reading Process

Information Processing Theory - Examples Prior Knowledge and Making Connections

Computer Analogy – Forgetting to Save the information to your long-term memory

Predictions and Questions Ways of interacting with the information

Monitoring Comprehension Metacognition – Thinking about thinking The reader is able to adapt their own reading

process to ensure comprehension – fix-it-up strategies

Theoretical Perspectives of the Reading Process

Constructivism Theory Focuses on how the learner internalizes

new information and creates their own understanding

Examines how people combine new knowledge with their already created schemas

Much of the After reading stage focuses on the skills the readers dynamically employ to comprehend a reading - building their own interpretations of new information

Theoretical Perspectives of the Reading Process

Constructivism Theory - Examples Summarize – Explicit vs. Implicit (Not

Paraphrasing) Students perceptions of the reading will be

impacted by the prior or background knowledge Synthesize – mix new and old information

to generate a personal understanding Students take ownership of the information -

strengthens the students ability to retrieve information

Evaluation – Form and Support Opinions Students take ownership of the information -

strengthens the students ability to retrieve information

Before Reading Skills Previewing / Surveying – scan pictures,

titles and subtitles Text Analysis – identify text format and

select proper reading strategies based on the type and genre of the text

Elicit prior knowledge – past experiences used to make connections while reading

Develop a purpose for reading by making questions and predictions based upon the preview of the text

Before Reading Skills - continued

Helps readers focus their attention Questions, Predictions and Text

analysis allows the reader to read at the appropriate rate

Will help them move information from the sensory register into their working (short-term) memory

Eliciting Prior knowledge helps reader jump start the cognitive process

During Reading Skills Update and create new predictions and

questions to maintain focus while actively reading

Work to expand vocabulary skills Reading Rate – adjust reading rate based

on the difficulty of the text and personal reading skills

Visualize – using information from both the text and prior knowledge to create and maintain a mental image while your read

Connection – develop links between the text and prior knowledge to ensure comprehension

During Reading Skills - continued

Develop Inferences – combining information from the text and prior knowledge to make both explicit and implicit conclusions

Monitor Comprehension – identifying possible reading difficulties while completing a reading assignment, then taking correct measures to ensure comprehension

Re-read – taking time to re-read a passage if not completely understood

Context Clues – use various strategies to determine the basic meaning of an unknown or unfamiliar word

During Reading Skills - continued

During reading skills help the reader sift through the information in their working memory

Starts the process of transferring information into long-term memory

Students move beyond rehearsal – focusing on basic facts

Stop reading passively and begin to become an active reader

During Reading Skills - continued

Active Readers start the process of transferring information in the long-term memory by: Elaboration – adding additional ideas to

new information Organizing – Making connections among

various new pieces of information Visual Imagery – Making mental images

After Reading Skills Assess Reading Comprehension – use a

series of questions to check overall comprehension

Summarize – identifying the both the explicit and implicit main idea(s) and the supporting details

Synthesize – mix prior knowledge with information from the text to generate a personal understanding from a passage

Evaluate – form and support opinions based upon information from a reading

After Reading Skills - continued

Active Readers continue the process of transferring information in the long-term memory by: Elaboration – adding additional ideas to

new information Organizing – Making connections among

various new pieces of information Visual Imagery – Making mental images

After Reading Skills - continued

Once the students begin to summarize, synthesize and evaluate more often and with greater incite: More meaningful learning experiences will

occur Greater chance of retrieving the

information The information could be less likely to

decay

Building Comprehension

Sen

sory

Reg

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Inp

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Work

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(Sort

-Term

)M

em

ory

Lost

Attention

Lost

In-depth cognitive

processing - Making

Connections

Lon

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erm

Mem

ory

Lost

?

Ormond, J. (2006). Essential of Educational Psychology. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, Inc. (p. 25)

The Reading ProcessBefore During After

Preview/SurveyingText AnalysisElicit Prior KnowledgeQuestionPredictionsPurpose for Reading

Update Questions & Predictions

VisualizeConnectionsMonitor Comprehension

Apply fix-it-up reading strategies

Assess Comprehension

SummarizeSynthesizeEvaluate

A Model of Hunan Memory

Resources

Daniels, H. & Zemelman, S. (2004). Subjects matter: Every teacher’s guide to content-area reading. Portsmouth: Heineman.

Ormond, J. (2006). Essential of Educational Psychology. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, Inc..

Oczkus, L. (2004). Super 6 comprehension strategies: 35 lessons and more for reading success. Norwood: Christopher-Gordon Publishers.

Robb, L. (2000). Teaching reading in middle school. New York: Schoolastic Professional Books.

Wilson, E. (2004). Reading at the middle and high school levels: Building active readers across the curriculum. Arlington: Educational Research Service.