Comprehension is ”the orchestrated product of a set of linguistic and cognitive processes.”- Castles et. al

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​​For the longest time, I thought teaching comprehension was a bit of a mystery. We worked together to make sense of the text, yes, but not much more than that. The more I’ve learned, the more I understand that there was much more I could be doing to help my students than teaching them to find the main idea. It’s true, comprehension instruction is complex, but it doesn’t have to be a mystery. Something I was missing in my former approach was an understanding that my level of comprehension in texts was due to my level of language understanding - there were specific reasons I could comprehend the texts we read in class, but I couldn’t name them. I have a better grasp on that now.

This summer, The Reading League North Carolina studied Nancy Hennessy’s Reading Comprehension Blueprint. This “textbook” dives deep into what the research supports for comprehension instruction and the concepts in it provide the pillars of LETRS Volume 2. I also read The Reading Comprehension Blueprint Activity Book, Nancy Hennessy and Julia Salamone’s new companion to The Reading Comprehension Blueprint and anchor text for the work I’m supporting in Plymouth-Canton Community Schools. In addition, I read David and Meredith Liben’s Know Better Do Better: Comprehension. In the midst of all of this studying, I revisited the publication Placing Textsat the Center and the Melissa and Lori Love Literacy podcast episode with Sue Pimentel and Meredith Liben that has the same title.

All of these texts have a throughline - it's centering the text in our comprehension work. There is a reason for this. As I explained in July’s newsletter, some skills cannot be taught or practiced without a text. Which means the text influences the comprehension skills we teach and influences our comprehension: “Each text is essentially a frozen kaleidoscope, presenting its own combination of features and its own unique degree of challenge.” (Liben & Liben, 2024) When we try to keep centering standards or strategies in our planning process we continue to make comprehension instruction confusing for teachers and students.

In The Reading Comprehension Blueprint, Nancy Hennessy goes deep into how to address comprehension. She describes the blueprint as exactly that - a guide for how we can begin to analyze texts to determine what we need to teach: “it is intended to organize and scaffold the teacher’s preparation of varied texts for varied purposes.” (p. 43) After selecting a text, teachers use the questions in the blueprint to determine the complexities within and begin to design instruction. The sections of The Blueprint cover Vocabulary, Language Structures, Knowledge, Levels of Understanding and Inference, and Expression of Understanding. Do these sections sound familiar? They should; the image below shows the connection between The Blueprint and Scarborough’s Reading Rope (2001), specifically addressing the Language Comprehension strands.

Previously, I tried to support students in developing their comprehension. I spent time on vocabulary, discussed context clues, types of text structures and making inferences. But I’m learning that my instruction didn’t go deep enough. Even my making inferences instruction lacked clarity - I would find myself saying “You need to add what you know to what the text says.” While this is true, there is SO MUCH MORE I could be teaching my students. I lacked knowledge about local coherence in text and why it is important to pay attention to cohesive ties and connectives in texts to support inferring. I didn’t consider the importance of syntax or pronoun referents to comprehension. As a good comprehender, I didn’t know that my brain was making sense of all these features of the text to come away with understanding, and I didn’t have a guide or the knowledge to support my instruction differently - I was leaning on what I knew.

If I could go back and do it again, I would plan differently (and hopefully with a curriculum in hand). I would begin with the texts included in our units of instruction, reading them with the lens of The Blueprint questions, looking for those strands of the rope in the text that would present challenge and possible need for instruction. I would check the lessons included in my curriculum, then I would reference The Reading Comprehension Blueprint Activity Book to support my lesson design or fill in any instructional gaps. I would deepen my knowledge of syntax, sentence comprehension, text structures, and the micro/macro structures within text, practicing identifying these as I read to better pay attention to those factors contributing to my comprehension.

And if I were leading literacy in a school-building again, I would leave room for this work during planning. Clear comprehension instruction is possible once we understand the clues the text provides.

Leadership Moves:

1. Support teachers in placing texts at the center of instruction.
2. Deepen understanding of language comprehension strands and all they entail.
3. Ask for connections to standards once teachers have identified the instruction needed to understand a text, not the other way around.

What does this mean for me?

David and Meredith Liben say it better than me: “Our primary goal should be helping students to understand texts and to express that understanding in insightful discussions and writing. If students don’t understand the text, they cannot address standards-based questions, either in instruction or assessment. If they can comprehend grade-level texts, they stand a much better chance of attaining annual standards of achievement.” An important takeaway from this work is that planning with a standards-first approach often encourages a focus on strategies we think are applicable to all texts but that in reality are not. Instead, starting with the text at the center of planning leaves room for instruction of many standards in a way that makes sense. Let’s leave room for that in our literacy planning.

Revolution Resources

​The Reading Comprehension Blueprint Book Study videos from TRL-VT​

​The Reading Comprehension Blueprint Book study Padlet from TRL-PA​

​​Coaching System Assessment Download the PDF below ​LRC Coaching System Assessment PDF - Final.pdf​ Watch the February workshop about this resource! ​

Literacy System Assessment Download the PDF below ​LRC Literacy System Assessment PDF - Final.pdf​ Watch the webinar about this resource below! ​

**Note, the September 30th session is cancelled. A recording will be sent to registered participants.

Listen, Linda a new Spotify playlist I've collected all of my podcast guest appearances in one place. Make sure to follow along for new episodes as they come out! Listen here

Where have we been?

CoachFest 2024 was incredible! I presented two sessions: one on the Coaching System Assessment and one about adjusting our coaching language to be teacher-centered.

I got to hang with my consulting colleagues who are all doing great work across our country. Pictured are (L to R) Gretchen Bridgers, Nicole Turner, Becca Silver, Jana Lee, and Melanie Matthews-Calhoun.

Top left is evidence that Gene Tavernetti and I finally met in person! Gene flew cross-country to CoachFest and his keynote was amazing!!

Let's Work Together

I'm thrilled to be working with some new districts and continue with current clients in the upcoming year! Having the opportunity to expand my reach and continue this work brings me so much joy.

I have the capacity to offer professional development opportunities or smaller scale ongoing work next year. If literacy or coaching is part of your strategic plan or goals, let’s work together to design tailored support for Spring 2025 or the 2025-2026 school year. Click here to sync our calendars for a conversation.

One on one support for school leaders

Mojdeh Harlan is moving into a new principal role at Smithfield Elementary in Charlotte, NC. She is living the phrase "walk the talk."

Learn more about our services for leaders at this link. Mojdeh meets with each applicant for a "gain clarity" call that allows you the space to share your needs. Apply now to set up this call.

Where can we connect? Bold font shows events at which I'm presenting. 7/9 - 7/10 - Get Engaged Coaching Con | Learn more here​ 10/8 - 10/10 The Reading League 9th Annual Conference | Learn more here​ ​ Check out my calendar