Self-monitoring

Initiated by: Teresa Gunn

Introduction:
An essential part of comprehending a text is the ability to self-monitor and clarify places where understanding breaks down. Students need to possess strategies that will allow them to comprehend text. Good readers seem to do this intuitively; however, struggling readers and some ELLs don’t automatically know how to monitor their comprehension of the text. Readers have to be taught some strategies to use to monitor their comprehension and what to do if comprehension breaks down.

Background:
There have been big debates over whole language instruction and phonics instruction. Studies seem to suggest that neither method may work perfectly in and of itself. These studies have probably contributed to the balanced literacy programs that are in many schools today along with the National Reading Panel (2000) naming components of both phonics and whole language as being important in reading instruction. Delores Durkin’s (1978) study in the late seventies suggested that teachers spent more time testing comprehension and not on com

prehe nsion instruction. LaBerge and Samuels (1974) discovered that decoding a word doesn’t mean they will understand the meaning of the word. These researchers seemed to make a case that students need comprehension instruction as well as decoding skills in order to be effective readers.

Importance:
Students need to be taught comprehension strategies and to self-monitor their own comprehension. “Just as it is being recognized that much more must be learned about how to increase fluency of word-recognition processes (National Reading Panel, 2000), there is additional recognition that much needs to be learned about how to increase fluency of higher order reading processes, including the automatic use of comprehension and monitoring strategies (Pressley, 2001, p.1).” Reading is a complicated process involving many steps. There are other components that readers do before, during, and after reading. It is important to build on prior knowledge and activate the schema of the student (Anderson, 1981). This helps the student “attach” new knowledge to prior knowledge. Students need to make predictions and connections in the text while they read. They should be asking questions and trying to answer them as they read along. Reading is a process where the reader has to consistently interact with the text. If there is breakdown of understanding, the reader needs to know where and how to solve these issues.

Self-Monitoring Procedures:
There are many strategies that can aid students in self-monitoring. Students need to stop periodically and assess whether what they read was a “click” or a “clunk” (Almasi, 1991). Clicks are passages that they understood. Clunks are passages where they need to apply “fix-up” strategies. Depending on what type of clunk it is will determine the strategy to be used by the student. There are differences between word clunks and meaning clunks. Word clunks might use more decoding strategies while meaning clunks would focus more on rereading or questioning strategies.

There are many different varieties of checklists targeted for different age levels. Many of them have helpful strategies for students to use when they encounter comprehension problems. These "fix-up" strategies will be especially useful for struggling readers and ELLs. Some of these “fix-up” strategies (Taylor et al., 1992) seem obvious; however, it doesn’t’ always come naturally to struggling readers or ELLs. Readers need to go back and reread if they don’t understand. Reciprocal teaching has a clarification step where the students try to reread to further clarify the text (Palinscar & Brown, 1984). Read ahead a little and come back to see if the meaning becomes clear in the context of the passage. Readers should adjust the reading rate to help with comprehension. Readers can also use graphic aids such as pictures and charts to decipher text.

Readers might also need to use some word attack strategies to help interpret the text. They can try to substitute a word that makes sense. Readers should attempt to decode the word using word parts they already know. After doing these strategies, it is important to reread the passage to see if it “clicks”.

If all else fails, the reader should ask for help. They can ask a peer, or they can ask an adult. Readers need to be reading independently on their reading level. If they are reading material that is too difficult, it will cause frustration for the reader. They need to practice using these “fix-up” strategies to become more strategic readers. Think alouds are a useful tool that allows students to “see” inside the head of a skilled reader. The teacher can access a passage and practice using a few of the self-monitoring strategies in order to fix any passage “clunks”. The teacher will model the use of the strategy first thinking aloud as she is reading it. The students can then practice with a passage of their own with help from the teacher. The final step is for them to practice on their own. This will need to be a regular part of instruction for younger students.

Things to Remember:
<span style="font-family: 'times new roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">The National Reading Panel Report of 2000 suggests that comprehension monitoring strategies can be taught in second and third grade. These strategies can help students monitor their own progress while reading. They will also develop some strategies of what to do when their comprehension breaks down. These processes need to be strategically taught and modeled. Many teachers tell the kids what to do, but some will fail to show them the process and how it works. Students need to practice these skills, and they need to “see” a strategic reader’s thoughts to know how to use these processes. Students, especially struggling readers and ELL’s, need to think about their own metacognitive processes in order to become strategic readers. These strategies need to be practiced frequently in order for student to start using them without teacher guidance. A visual within the classroom would be a good tool to help remind students what they need to do when they have comprehension break-down.

<span style="font-family: 'times new roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">The following chart, retrieved from: www.thinkport.org, <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'times new roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">is a checklist for the various strategies I discussed; however, there are many such charts available. These range from one or two strategies to several. Depending on the age of your students, you might want to start off with one or two strategies.

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References: Almasi,J.F. (1991). Helping students deal effectively with comprehension failure. //Literacy: Issues and Practices, 8, 59-66.// <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 13px;">Anderson, R.C., & Freebody, P. (1981). Vocabulary knowledge. In J.T. Guthrie (Ed.), //Comprehension and teaching: Research reviews// (pp. 77-117). Newark DE: International Reading Association.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 13px;">Durkin, D. (1978-79). What classroom observations reveal about reading comprehension instruction. //Reading Research Quarterly,////<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 13px;"> 14, //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 13px;"> 481-533.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">LaBerge, D., & Samuels, S.J. (1974). Toward a theory of automatic information processing in reading. //Cognitive Psychology, 6,// 293-323.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 13px;">National Reading Panel. (2000, April). //Report of the National Reading Panel: Teaching children to read.// Washington, DC: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Available: www.nichd.nih.gov/publications/nrppubskey.cfm

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Palincsar, A.S., & Brown, A.L. (1984). Reciprocal teaching of comprehension- fostering and monitoring activities. //Cognition and Instruction, 1,// 117-175.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 13px;">Pressley, M. (2001, September). Comprehension instruction: What makes sense now, what might make sense soon. //Reading Online, 5//(2). Available: []

Taylor, B. M., & Frye, B. J. (1992). Comprehension strategy instruction in the intermediate grades. __Reading Research and Instruction, 32__(1), 39-48.

Thinkport. (n.d.). //Thinkport//. Retrieved June 25, 2012, from http://www.thinkport.org