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Six Strategies to Support Reading Comprehension in a First Grade Classroom

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Six Strategies to Support Reading Comprehension in a First Grade Classroom

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Previewing is a before reading strategy that "helps activate prior knowledge and set a purpose for reading." (Gunning, 2016, pg. 299) When students preview a story, they explore the illustrations and read the title, headings, introduction, and summary. This preview allows students to gain a sense of what the story will be about. This strategy will work for my students because it will help them form an idea of the story's meaning before they even read a page. Previewing will help all students in my class, no matter what their reading level may be. It will help emergent readers because they can use their preview to decode tricky words. It will also help advanced readers because it will help them connect the subject matter of challenging books to their own lives. This will allow these students to comprehend the story on a deeper level.
I will teach this strategy to my students during our Reader's Workshop time. I will begin by modeling this skill with a big book in front of my class. I will invite my students to share what they notice in the pictures along with me. We will also discuss what we think the story will be about based on the title, headings, introduction, and summary if they are offered in the big book. When my lesson is finished, I will send students to their reading spots to practice this skill individually.
I will use this independent reading time to assess the effectiveness of the previewing strategy. I will conference with students individually and make notes of how they preview each book in their book baskets. I will be able to formally assess their reading levels at the end of each quarter with a complete running record.

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Strategy Two - Activating Prior Knowledge

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Strategy Two - Activating Prior Knowledge

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Activating prior knowledge is a before reading strategy that "relates the unknown to the known." (Gunning, 2016, pg. 299) A teacher supports students as they activate prior knowledge about a book's subject through questioning. This strategy will work for my students because it will support their comprehension as they relate the book's subject to their own lives. All students will benefit from this strategy because it can be useful at every level. It will help both begging readers and advanced readers better comprehend the books they are reading.
I will teach this strategy to my students during our Reader's Workshop time. I will use modeling to show students how I can activate my prior knowledge when I prepare to read a new book. I will also help them activate their own prior knowledge of our shared read-aloud with questioning. Eventually, I will support students by questioning them individually as they read independently and activate their prior knowledge on their own.
I plan to assess the effectiveness of this strategy during independent reading time. I will check in with my students and ask them how they have connected their book to their own experiences. I will make observations and take anecdotal notes in my reading conference binder. I will be able to assess their growth formally at the end of each marking period with a complete running record.

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Elaboration is a during reading strategy that "is a generative activity in which the reader constructs connections between information from text and prior knowledge." (Gunning, 2016, pg. 310) When readers elaborate, they "generate inferences, images, questions, judgements, and other elaborations." (pg. 310) This strategy will work for my students because they are familiar with talking about books during "partner time" of Reader's Workshop. They will be able to complete the strategy of elaboration by having discussions with their partners and by writing notes in their reader's journals. Although all students will benefit from this strategy, advanced readers may benefit the most. These readers have grasped basic comprehension skills such as retelling and are ready to dig deeper into a story's meaning by generating inferences, images, questions, and judgements.
I will teach this strategy by modeling it to my students during whole-group reading lessons and within small-group guided reading lessons. I will make sure to introduce this strategy to my entire class, but I will dig deeper into the instruction of elaboration during guided reading groups with my advanced readers.

I will assess the effectiveness of this strategy as I conference with my students during guided reading and during independent reading time. I will record observations and anecdotal notes in my reading conference binder. Formal running records will also allow me to assess this strategy when they are conducted at the end of each marking period.

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Imaging is a during reading strategy that guides students to create mental images of what they are reading. When a student does this, it "serves three functions: fostering understanding, retaining information, and monitoring for meaning." (Gunning, 2016. pg. 319) This strategy will work for my students because they are at an appropriate age and grade level to understand imaging. They can be taught to visualize a written description to help support their reading comprehension. All students in my classroom will benefit from this strategy. Students of all levels can create images of their stories to help them foster understanding, retain information, and monitor for meaning.
I will teach this strategy to my students by modeling it with familiar poems during whole-group lessons. I will describe my mental picture to the class and invite them to create their own images of the poems as well. Each child will be able to share their images with the class or turn-and-talk partners. When I am finished modeling the strategy, students will be sent to their reading spots to practice it independently.
I will encourage students to draw some of their images on paper during their independent reading time. I will use these pictures to assess the effectiveness of this strategy with each child. I will also conference with my students to check for understanding and record my observations in my reading conference binder.

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Summarizing is an after reading strategy that allows students to summarize or retell the main events of a story when they are finished reading it. This strategy "which builds on the organizational strategy of determining main ideas and supporting details, improves comprehension and increases retention." (Gunning, 2016, pg. 309) This strategy will work for my students because it will provide them with an outlet to make oral summaries of their favorite books. All students can benefit from this strategy. If a student is not yet reading independently, they can still practice summarizing by retelling books that were read as whole-group read-alouds.
I will teach this strategy by modeling it during whole-group lessons. I will use story maps as a guide to help us retell our stories in order as a class. I will also help students structure their own retellings during guided reading instruction. I will ask them questions to help them retell the main events of their stories.
I will assess the effectiveness of retelling as I conference with my students during guided reading and during independent reading time. I will record observations and anecdotal notes in my reading conference binder. Formal running records will also allow me to assess this strategy when they are conducted at the end of each marking period.

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Using manipulatives is an after reading strategy that allows students to "understand a passage by performing the actions specified by the text." (Gunning, 2016, pg. 320) When this strategy is performed, students might use toys or action figures to reenact what happened in a story. This strategy will work for my first-grade students because it is a very engaging and hands-on strategy. They will be very excited to learn through role playing with familiar toys. All students will benefit from this strategy. Beginning readers can reenact simple stories while advanced readers reenact detailed stories.
I will teach this strategy to my student by modeling. I will begin by reading a big book with my class. I will then use puppets or action figure to reenact the main events of my story. I will call on several students to act as the various characters during this reenactment. When we are finished reviewing this story, students will be sent to their reading spots to read with their partners. Manipulatives will be passed out to each partnership so that they can practice this strategy again.
I will assess the effectiveness of this strategy as I conference with my students during partner reading time. I will look for students who act out the story in the same way it is described in the book. I will record observations and anecdotal notes in my reading conference binder.

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Gunning, T. (2016). Creating literacy instruction for all students. Pearson.