Comprehension+and+Vocabulary

=Comprehension and Vocabulary During Shared Reading = //**Initiated by Sarah Camp **//

According to Fisher, Frey, and Lapp (2008), “One of the most common forms of teacher modeling of text processing is shared reading.” (p. 548) and Blachowicz and Fisher (2010) said, “Good instruction emphasizes that talking, thinking, and planning before reading enhance comprehension as they aid readers in developing strategic approaches. Vocabulary stimulates prereading thinking and is an excellent initiator of the prediction process” (p. 49). Through shared reading, students and teachers share a particular text during a lesson and, together, comprehend the text and vocabulary. Using shared reading in the classroom and thinking aloud through vocabulary and comprehension strategies, various student groups are given visual and auditory examples of how to model their own learning. Shared reading is beneficial for an entire class, especially emergent readers and English Language Learners (ELLs). The goal of the teacher’s shared reading lesson should focus on modeling his or her own thinking and not asking students to answer specific questions. A shared reading lesson does not mean the teacher talks the entire time while students are silent; therefore‍‍‍‍‍, students should be involved and can turn and talk with a neighbor or partner, write their own thoughts and reflections, ask questions during the lesson, and agree or disagree with the teacher’s thoughts during a lesson. Shared reading is often thought to be for younger, emergent readers. However, shared reading can be a useful tool in the classroom for older students as well (Fisher et al., 2008).

Fisher et al. (2008) performed a study in which they determined the most common think alouds ‍‍‍during lessons. The most common think aloud was in the area of comprehension, which includes the teacher using strategies and active moves to convey understanding for the students. Teachers focused on activating background, inferencing, summarizing, predicting, clarifying, questioning, visualizing, monitoring, synthesizing, evaluating, and connecting during the lessons for students. An example from a third grade classroom exploring comprehension while reading //The Red Book// (Lehman, 2004) included a document camera focused on the text and a projector for the students. The teacher talked through her thoughts as she looked at the cover of the book and said, “It seems to me that this boy is cold. I see his hat, scarf, jacket, and boots. But it’s just all red on the cover so I don’t have all of the clues I need to make a good inference or prediction. But I can tell that he’s walking quickly, and when I add that to the clothing, I predict that it’s cold where he is” (Fisher, Frey, & Lapp, 2008). According to Blachowitz and Ogle (2001), teachers can choose to use several strategies to comprehend and think through vocabulary with their student such as echo reading, choral reading ,and cloze reading (cloze reading occurs when ‍‍‍‍‍‍teachers should read aloud and periodically have students fill in missing words).

In addition to comprehension being a common think aloud focus, vocabulary is also a large focus for think alouds during shared reading. Vocabulary think alouds during shared reading should have a focus on solving unknown words and not simply giving or calling on students for the meanings of words to students. According to Fisher, Frey, and Lapp (2008), there are vocabulary strategies that can be used for think alouds: context clues (outside the word strategies), word parts (inside the word strategies), and resources. When using context clues to think through vocabulary strategies for students, the teacher should focus on embedded or surrounding definition in the sentence or other sentences, synonyms, antonyms, comparisons, contrasts, descriptions, and examples. Gambrell and Headley (2006) conclude that there will likely be a considerable vocabulary growth for students if they are able to actively connect words in texts with prior knowledge. From a shared reading lesson using Woodson’s Coming on Home Soon (2004), the first page contains the word satchel, which the teacher goes through in this example:


 * When she put her dress into the satchel, I held my breath…Mama folded another dress and put it in the bag…Another dress in the bag? She already put a dress in the satchel. I bet that a satchel is a special kind of bag, but it looks like a suitcase in the picture. I’m going to reread this page with the word suitcase in place of both bag and satchel to see if this makes sense…Yes, it does. So there’s another word for a suitcase—a special kind of bag for traveling (Fisher, Frey, and Lapp, 2008).

Continuing with vocabulary think alouds during shared reading, word parts can be used when considering the prefixes, suffixes, roots, bases, word families, and cognates. When thinking aloud with word parts, they should be very quick and explanatory mini-lessons. For example, a teacher using a science text read the word evaporation and said, “I know how to remember this word. It has vapor in it and that means steam—like to vaporize. I also know that –tion is a process. So, evaporation is a process that allows the water to disappear into the steam or air” (Fisher, Frey, and Lapp, 2008). Coyne et al. (2004) concluded that “explicitly teaching word meanings within the context of shared storybook reading is an effective method for increasing the vocabulary of young children at risk of experiencing reading difficulties” (p. 152). And lastly, during vocabulary think alouds during shared reading, teachers may model using other resources when the other strategies still have not helped. The teacher may model asking someone else for help, using classroom resources, using dictionaries, or the Internet if necessary.

**References ** Blachowicz, C.L.Z., & Fisher, P.J. (2010). //Teaching vocabulary in all classrooms// (4th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon).

Blachowicz, C.L.Z., & Ogle, D. (2001). //Reading comprehension: Stategies for independent learners//. New York, NY: Guilford.

Coyne, M.D., Simmons, D.C., Ame’enui, E.J., & Stoolmiller, M. (2004) Teaching vocabulary during shared storybook readings: An examination of differential effects. //Exceptionality, 12//(3), 145-162.

Fisher, D., Frey, N., & Lapp, D. (2008). Shared readings: Modeling comprehension, vocabulary, text structures, and text features for older readers. //The Reading Teacher, 61//(7), 548-556.

Gambrell, L.B., & Headley, K.N. (2006). Developing vocabulary by learning words through context. In C.C. Block & J.N. Mangieri (Eds.), //The vocabulary-enriched classroom: Practices for improving the reading performance of all students in grades 3 and up// (pp. 18-35). New York, NY: Scholastic.

Kesler, T. (2010). Shared reading to build vocabulary and comprehension. //The Reading Teacher, 64//(4), 272-277.

Nagy, W.E., Anderson, R.C., & Herman, P.A. (1985). Learning words from context. //Reading Research Quarterly, 20//(2), 233-253.

Senechal, M., Pagan, S., Lever, R., & Ouellette, G. (2008). Relations among the frequency of shared reading and 4-year-old children’s vocabulary, morphological and syntax comprehension, and narrative skills. //Early Education and Development, 19//(1), 27-44.

**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Literature Cited ** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Lehman, B. (2004). //The red book//. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Woodson, J. (2004). //Coming on home soon//. New York, NY: G.P. Putnam’s Sons.