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COMPREHENSION
Comprehension is the ability to understand the meaning of text. A reader with good comprehension is able to identify with characters and create mental pictures of a story while reading. He or she can follow the sequence of action or thought, distinguish main events from details, and predict the outcomes of events. A reader with strong comprehension is able to become completely engaged in reading and draw personal meaning from the story. This experience of absorption in a book is formative for a child and has a lasting impact.
The Institute's curricula are designed to build strong comprehension at every level of reading development, with the aim of turning children into readers. At each level, reading in excellent children's literature is integrated with direct comprehension instruction in the form of guided discussions and written responses. As students talk about stories and characters, they internalize an approach to thinking about books and constructing meaning that then transfers to the reading they do independently.
Listening Comprehension
Curriculum for children who have not yet developed decoding skills focuses on listening comprehension. Well before they are able to read independently, children are able to develop strong comprehension by listening to stories read aloud. As they listen to and discuss books, they gain experience identifying with characters, following story development and predicting outcomes. They become familiar with story structures and build their vocabulary. This listening comprehension translates directly into reading comprehension as children's reading skills develop.
Story Grammar
Curriculum developed for independent readers uses story grammar as the basis for comprehension instruction. Story grammar refers to the set of elements around which most stories are organized: character (including the main character's problem or goal), setting, plot (including a beginning-middle-end structure and main events), and theme, or meaning. When students learn to recognize these elements in the stories they read, it gives them a framework for understanding and, ultimately, finding personal meaning in a story.
Story grammar is used to help readers understand and engage with text from inside the story. This stands in contrast to an analytical approach that would distance students from the stories they read. In this way, students internalize how to think about story elements, while maintaining the reading experience as one of absorption within a story.
Metacognitive Skills
Comprehension curriculum for secondary, college and adults students focuses on metacognitive skills as well as story grammar. Metacognition refers to an awareness of one's thought processes, or "thinking about thinking." The curriculum describes this as "active reading," an approach that enables students to exercise conscious control of the reading process based on their purpose as a reader and on the demands of the text. Skills and strategies include previewing to identify text organization, monitoring comprehension while reading, adjusting reading speed, and retention techniques.
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