If any of my readers have ever had a hard time comprehending what they are reading, they can sympathize with me! Often when I read I look like the reader in the above image. It can be very frustrating to spend time reading something, and then not fully understand what it is saying. Teachers spend a lot of time trying to get their students to understand what they are reading. The Comprehension Matrix is a tool that educators can use to help them understand and plan comprehension instruction with their students. The Comprehension Matrix is a chart that helps to divided up reading activities into prereading, during-reading, and postreading. By dividing these activities up it better enables the students to comprehend and learn from what they are reading. The Matrix can be used with different comprehension teaching strategies, and can help to give children multiple ways to comprehend and understand what they read.
The first part of the Comprehension Matrix is the portion that details what to do before the students read the text, also called prereading. During this the teacher can talk with the students and get the prepared for the reading by introducing them to the text, getting them excited about it, and giving them any background knowledge that they need for the reading. It is also important the teacher shows the children the structure of the text during this phase and should let them know the purpose of their reading.
The next part of the Matrix is the during-reading step. The teacher should give the students time to read the text and understand what it is saying. It is possible that in some classrooms it is more helpful if the teacher gives the students a specific thing to be looking for, or if they are told to underline important actions in the story. Some teachers also have great success with structuring this reading time so that the students read one paragraph at a time and then ask the students questions.
Postreading, the last step in the Comprehension Matrix, is when the teacher checks for understanding and comprehension. A discussion on the reading could be really beneficial to bring some of the students ideas to the whole classroom. Asking the students specific questions is also important to see whether or not they understood the key points in the reading. This can also be done by having the students write a quick summary or to draw a snapshot from a scene in the story. The Postreading step does not have to be formal or difficult for the students, it can be fun for them!
Just by looking at the simply steps of the Comprehension Matrix I believe one can understand how helpful it may be for students. As good as it sounds, the matrix does not work well if the teacher does not prepare well for the activity. The teacher must first of all know her students, know how well they stay on task, and know what interests them. Through this she can pick the reading for them and then design the activities around her students. It is also important the teacher has previewed the text and is really familiar with it. This way she is able to bring up questions to the students throughout the process that will help them better understand the reading. The teacher is also able to better design postreading activities if he or she has actually studied the reading.
I really like the idea of the Comprehension Matrix and can already see how it could be beneficial in a classroom. I am also wondering if using similar techniques would help me to better understand by readings for my history courses that are sometimes very difficult to follow. It sounds as though the Comprehension Matrix is really universal and could be useful across all grade levels and disciplines. I hope I am able to implement similar activities into my classroom.
Has anyone ever used anything similar to this when completing a reading? I remember doing it very little when I was in Elementary School, and it seemed even more rare in higher grades. Do you think it would be beneficial for students to get in a pattern of doing this with all of their readings while they are young?
I use something similar to a comprehension matrix when I have trouble comprehending difficult articles!
ReplyDeleteI like how you thought about how the teacher needs to be prepared and know the students-- such an important element of comprehension instruction.
Great blog!!! I do think it is so important that the teacher is so familiar with the blog and knows all of her students so she can ask questions all about the text just as you posted! That is so crucial. If the teacher doesn't know how to teach the text that the students are having trouble comprehending how in the world will they ever be able to understand it?
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