Thanks, Jeri. Those are great suggestions. It might also be a good idea
to work on the kinds of tasks she needs to do in her library job. We
agree that the problem with alphabetizing is a bit mysterious.

 

________________________________

From: familyliteracy-bounces at nifl.gov
[mailto:familyliteracy-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of jalsails at aol.com
Sent: Tuesday, February 05, 2008 5:14 PM
To: familyliteracy at nifl.gov
Subject: [FamilyLiteracy 972] Re:
ComprehensionMonitoringStrategiesDiscussionBegins Today

 

Susan,

Here are a couple of more thoughts shared by another of my colleagues,
Tom Schnell at UMSL. 

I'd say that she adult learner has been the "beneficiary" of a reading
approach that has emphasized ability to call words 




over a more inclusive approach that includes word meaning, sentence and 




paragraph comprehension, and general information.  Her inability to
alphabetize 




seems strange, unless she fails to grasp the concept of alphabetizing.
I'm not 




sure what it means to say she cannot make obvious choices about leveling





children's books unless it requires reading skills she doesn't have
herself.









A quick answer is to utilize reading materials that are of interest,
perhaps 




starting with stories she dictates to a tutor, and which might need to
be 




rewritten to a lower vocabulary level than her actual speaking
vocabulary.  




Then, I'd teach Directed Reading Activities using that material and
include lessons on alphabetizing, 




vocabulary, and simple sentence comprehension.









With older learners, the keys are interest, motivation, short lessons
with detailed instruction, and appropriate 




materials.









Best,




Jeri Levesque, Ed.D.




Evaluator, LIFT





 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Susan McShane <smcshane at famlit.org>
To: The Family Literacy Discussion List <familyliteracy at nifl.gov>
Sent: Tue, 5 Feb 2008 2:30 pm
Subject: [FamilyLiteracy 971] Re:
ComprehensionMonitoringStrategiesDiscussionBegins Today

This learner obviously presents many challenges, and I'm afraid I don't
have any simple answers for you. However, I would like to say I'm very
glad you're working with her. It's clear that she needs and deserves the
help. She's apparently just "calling words" as they used to say, and
that's not an indication of her comprehension of the passage. It also
appears that both oral communication skills and background knowledge may
be limited. 

 

It might make sense to work on vocabulary-teaching a few new words every
week, with plenty of examples of how to use them, lots of practice, and
regular review. She might create a "personal dictionary" that includes
all the new words she learns, along with definitions and sample
sentences. This makes vocabulary development "concrete" and she'll be
able to see her growth.

 

Once again, I think we all appreciate your efforts. If anyone else has
any ideas, please pass them on.

 

 

Susan McShane

National Center for Family Literacy

502-584-1133, Ext. 175

smcshane at famlit.org

________________________________

From: familyliteracy-bounces at nifl.gov
[mailto:familyliteracy-bounces at nifl.gov
<mailto:familyliteracy-bounces at nifl.gov?> ] On Behalf Of Charlotte
Learning Center
Sent: Tuesday, February 05, 2008 2:14 PM
To: 'The Family Literacy Discussion List'
Subject: [FamilyLiteracy 970]
Re:ComprehensionMonitoringStrategiesDiscussionBegins Today

 

Hi all thanks for all of your replies. Here is more information on the
individual I spoke of yesterday:

The student is a 67-year-old African American female who quit a
segregated school in the 11th grade, and probably had a poor education
up to that point. She just got a job at a library recently through the
Virginia Older Workers program. She cannot alphabetize. She also cannot
make pretty obvious choices about leveling children's books. Her tutor
(and new boss) has had to rephrase directions quite often and says weak
vocabulary and weak oral communication skills are definitely part of her
case.

 

What I mean by mainstream refers to what we expect of someone who has
gone to school and has the cultural literacy we would expect of a high
school graduate today; for example she may not know what a "main idea"
is, but can still learn and understand? How can she possibly be able to
read at a 6th grade level and not comprehend at a 1st grade level?

 

For those of you who want more info from the assessment:

 She is in the late within word stage of spelling (cluct for CLUTCH),
reading at 98% on her Word Recognition in Context 6th grade passage, 90%
on the untimed Word Recognition in isolation at the 6th grade list. She
demonstrated Independent and Instructional scores up to that point,
except in the Oral Comprehension where she bombs across the board. Her
silent reading comprehension also bombed. Her reading rates are around
100 wpm. Yes, which come to think of it contradicts a fluency reader at
the 6th grade, but could be 3rd. Before she read the passages on the
informal reading inventory, I asked her some questions to assess her
background knowledge e.g.: Her answer to "What is soccer" Her answer:
"Game played outside by two people". Or, "What do flowers need to grow?
"A yard."  

 

Mora

 

________________________________

From: familyliteracy-bounces at nifl.gov
[mailto:familyliteracy-bounces at nifl.gov
<mailto:familyliteracy-bounces at nifl.gov?> ] On Behalf Of Susan McShane
Sent: Monday, February 04, 2008 5:28 PM
To: The Family Literacy Discussion List
Subject: [FamilyLiteracy 961] Re:
ComprehensionMonitoringStrategiesDiscussionBegins Today

 

Hi Mora,

 

I was actually referring to simplifying the task rather than the reading
level of the material, but you raise a good point. To introduce a
comprehension strategy you probably want to begin with material that
isn't too difficult to decode. The learner should be able to focus
mainly on the strategy, not on identifying the words. (After they've
learned the strategy, obviously they can use it with anything they need
to read, and sometimes the material will be difficult. That's when they
need the strategy most!)

 

As to your other points, before responding we have a few clarifying
questions: 

 

1.	Has this student been successful in demonstrating her
comprehension when reading silently? Is oral reading as an assessment
task intimidating for her, so perhaps she is working hard not to make
any mistakes and is therefore not able to focus on meaning? 
2.	You suggest that her "mainstream" communication skills are
limiting her ability to answer questions/demonstrate understanding. I'm
not quite sure what you mean by this. I assume you've had other
opportunities to converse with her. Is there any reason to believe she
is not a good oral communicator? 
3.	Is it possible that the vocabulary is part of the problem? You
used the term "native" in describing her. Is she a native English
speaker or do you mean to say she is a Native American? Of course, even
native English speakers may have very limited vocabularies.
4.	We also find it baffling that she can read accurately at the
6th-grade level but doesn't appear to comprehend even at the 1st-grade
level. Do you have any other-perhaps less formal-assessment of her
understanding? Have you heard her participate in discussions about her
reading? Or, once again, have you given a silent reading test-perhaps
answering questions in some curriculum material she's using?

 

You've presented us with a very interesting-and intriguing-example. If
you can give us some more information, we might continue with this
conversation. Do others have anything to suggest with regards to this
student?

 

Susan

________________________________

From: familyliteracy-bounces at nifl.gov
[mailto:familyliteracy-bounces at nifl.gov
<mailto:familyliteracy-bounces at nifl.gov?> ] On Behalf Of Charlotte
Learning Center
Sent: Monday, February 04, 2008 3:54 PM
To: 'The Family Literacy Discussion List'
Subject: [FamilyLiteracy 956] Re: Comprehension
MonitoringStrategiesDiscussionBegins Today

 

Susan, you said to have a student restate after a few sentences if
necessary. If a student has such low understanding of a text (that they
are able to read fluently) it does make sense to lower their
instructional reading level, to something, as you said, that isn't too
complicated.

However,  I have a native, elderly adult student who can read fluently
up to a 6th grade level, but cannot correctly answer comprehension
questions at any level (1st-6th) on a QRI.   Deciding an instructional
level given her fluency rates is a little baffling. 

How does one assess a starting point for using these comprehension
strategies?

 

And also, how much of comprehension testing is also a test of oral
communication skills, and perhaps in this instance (in the QRI)
"mainstream" communication skills are required to demonstrate
comprehension, e.g. give the main idea.

Mora

________________________________

From: familyliteracy-bounces at nifl.gov
[mailto:familyliteracy-bounces at nifl.gov
<mailto:familyliteracy-bounces at nifl.gov?> ] On Behalf Of Susan McShane
Sent: Monday, February 04, 2008 11:44 AM
To: The Family Literacy Discussion List
Subject: [FamilyLiteracy 953] Re: Comprehension Monitoring
StrategiesDiscussionBegins Today

 

Hello Everybody! Since there are so many possibilities in the broad
category of comprehension monitoring, Donna and I think that it's
probably best to start with something that makes sense to the learner
and isn't  too complicated. 

 

One possibility is restating-that is putting what they've read into
their own words. You can explain that it's a good way to stay focused on
the meaning and to "test" their understanding.  Ask them to stop after
the first section or paragraph (or even the first couple of sentences)
and try to put what the writer said in their own words. If they can't do
it, that's a clue that they may need to re-read and think about it more
carefully.

 

Another possibility is a variation on the "coding text" strategy. The
book includes an example that has several different kinds of marks to
indicate questions, mark important facts, and make other responses to
the text. You might start with something much simpler that introduces
the idea of marking the text. Maybe they could just underline any words
they don't understand or put a check mark by any important or
interesting facts or bits of information. If they begin with just one or
maybe two kinds of "codes" it may be less intimidating. 

 

Starting with one of these simple approaches also makes it easier for
you/the teacher to demonstrate and model the strategy.

 

Does this sound reasonable? Has anyone done anything like this or used
any other comprehension-monitoring strategies?

 

________________________________

From: familyliteracy-bounces at nifl.gov
[mailto:familyliteracy-bounces at nifl.gov
<mailto:familyliteracy-bounces at nifl.gov?> ] On Behalf Of Gail Price
Sent: Monday, February 04, 2008 11:19 AM
To: The Family Literacy Discussion List
Subject: [FamilyLiteracy 952] Comprehension Monitoring Strategies
DiscussionBegins Today

 

Good morning, List members,

 

I am very pleased to welcome Susan McShane, Reading Initiative
Specialist at the National Center for Family Literacy, and Donna Elder,
Reading Specialist at the National Center for Family Literacy, to our
List. They will be leading the discussion on comprehension monitoring
strategies for adult readers. I know many of you have been looking
forward to this discussion and I hope you are prepared to join in with
your questions, comments and experiences. 

 

I would like to get us started by asking Susan and Donna how they
introduce the comprehension monitoring strategies on pages 80- 82 of
Applying Research in Reading Instruction for Adults: First Steps for
Teachers, to students. Is there a particular strategy that you introduce
before the others? How might you present the strategy to maximize
learner buy-in? 

 

 

 

 

Gail J. Price

Multimedia Specialist

National Center for Family Literacy

325 W. Main Street, Suite 300

Louisville, KY 40202

gprice at famlit.org

502 584-1133, ext. 112

 

 

Join us for the 17th Annual National Conference on Family Literacy!
"Literacy Grows Families and Communities"
March 30, 31, & April 1, 2008-Louisville, KY
Register online at www.famlit.org/conference

 

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