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Knowledge and Skills Statement

Comprehension skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts. The student uses metacognitive skills to both develop and deepen comprehension of increasingly complex texts.

Use an observational checklist or take anecdotal notes during a read-aloud, shared reading or small-group reading instruction. When observing student behaviors and recording responses on a checklist, a rubric that scores a student's ability to generate questions makes tracking easier.

Sample Rubric:

1) The student does not generate questions to deepen understanding and gain information.
2) The student generates questions, but the questions are not always on topic.
3) The student generates simple questions before, during, and after reading to deepen understanding and gain information with adult assistance.
4) The student generates high-level questions before, during, and after reading to deepen understanding and gain information with adult assistance.

Notes:

  • It is important to assess all three parts of the SE (before, during, and after) and it is important to assess students’ ability to generate questions not just answer them.
  • To score a 4 on the rubric, a student must generate high-level questions. Types of high-level questions can include the following:
    • Connections to other texts or self
    • Problem-solving
    • Critical thinking
    • Analyzing
in reading, thinking of questions that require integration of new information and then reading to answer those questions

Research

What Works Clearinghouse. (2010). Improving reading comprehension in kindergarten through 3rd grade: practice guide summary. Washington, DC: Institute of Education Science. Retrieved from https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/PracticeGuide/14#tab-summary

Summary:The goal of this practice guide is to offer educators specific evidence-based recommendations that address the challenge of teaching reading comprehension to students in kindergarten through 3rd grade. The guide provides practical, clear information on critical topics related to teaching reading comprehension and is based on the best available evidence as judged by the authors.