Developing Reading Comprehension

A significant minority of children aged 7-11, despite being able to read fluently and accurately, have difficulty extracting meaning from text. This detailed guide offers three evidence-based intervention programs, drawn from the cutting edge of educational psychology, for improving the reading skills of children in this group.

• An in-depth introduction to the "poor comprehender profile", which describes children who despite being fluent readers have difficulty extracting meaning from text.
• Sets out a range of practical interventions for improving reading skills in this group - along with comprehensive guidance on assessment and monitoring, and insightful accounts of professionals experience in delivering the techniques described.
• Includes an overview of psychological theories of reading comprehension, evaluating their practical applicability.

With invaluable strategies for teachers, psychologists, and special educational needs co-ordinators, the book will help professionals to support learners in their efforts to explore the full richness of language and to read with real understanding.

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Table of Contents

Foreword by Jean Gross CBE xiii

Acknowledgements xv

Chapter 1 What is Reading Comprehension? 1

Chapter 2 The Poor Comprehender Profile 13

Chapter 3 The York Reading for Meaning Project: An Overview 27

Chapter 4 Teaching Principles 47

Chapter 5 Intervention Materials: Oral Language Programme 59

Chapter 6 Intervention Materials: Text Level Programme 99

Chapter 7 Intervention Materials: Combined Programme 135

Chapter 8 Feedback and Evaluation 141

Chapter 9 Theoretical and Practical Implications 157

Appendices

• Appendix 1. Consent Procedures 165
• Appendix 2. Training of Teaching Assistants 166
• Appendix 3. Teaching Assistant Feedback on Training 166
• Appendix 4. Manual Production 168
• Appendix 5. Additional Preparation 168
• Appendix 6. Fortnightly Tutorial Groups 169
• Appendix 7. Record Sheets 169
• Appendix 8. Observations and On-site Feedback 170
• Appendix 9. Newsletters 172
• Appendix 10. Sharing Data 172

Glossary 175

References 187

"In recent years the debate about teaching young children to read has tended to focus upon equipping them with the crucially important knowledge and skills they need to read words accurately in and out of context, that is to say, teaching them how the alphabet works for reading and spelling. While such knowledge and skills are essential, more is required for children to become literate, fluent readers who understand what they read. In short, the goal of reading is comprehension. This book scrupulously examines the obstacles to reading comprehension and exemplifies what can be done to help children overcome them. It is anÊ importantÊandÊ timely contribution to securing high quality teaching of the range of attributes children need to become fully-fledged readers."
- Sir Jim Rose, CBE