Painless Reading Comprehension - Darolyn “Lyn” Jones Ed.D. 2016

Raising questions aids your reading
Keeping what you read in your head

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. once said, “Man’s mind, once stretched, never regains its original dimension.”

When you read and question, your reading brain grows, and after it does so, it can’t go back. This is a good thing! Think about it. You ask questions all the time. Why does the cat in the hat wear a hat? Why do they call periodic elements periodic? Why is water wet? Why didn’t Sarah call last night like she said she would?

There are two types of questions: brainer questions and no brainer questions. No brainer questions require very little thought. The answers to no brainer questions can be found directly in the text. They don’t confuse you, and they don’t require you to think.

Brainer questions, however, make you think. You must use your background knowledge, infer, look several places in the text to gather information, or perhaps even do further research to answer the question.

Let’s Practice!

After you read the following poem, write down or type questions about what you don’t understand.

English Selection: “I heard a Fly buzz” by Emily Dickinson

I heard a Fly buzz— when I died—

The Stillness in the Room

Was like the Stillness in the Air—

Between the Heaves of Storm— . . .

I willed my Keepsakes— Signed away

What portion of me be

Assignable— and then it was

There interposed a Fly—

With Blue— uncertain stumbling Buzz—

Between the light— and me—

And then the Windows failed— and then

I could not see to see—

When I read this poem, I have many questions:

✵ Is she really dying or is this some kind of nightmare?

✵ Why does she hear a fly and not the other noises surrounding her?

✵ When the windows fail, does that mean she is dead?

✵ I wonder what people think about right before they die?

✵ What is blue?

All these questions are brainer questions. And, they are questions I have because I am curious and because I am confused. If I try to answer these questions myself, I will be forced to reread Dickinson’s poem, and then I will learn more about the poem. If I read it once, I wouldn’t be prepared for a quiz, a test, or even a classroom discussion. Check out my answers below.

Q. Is she really dying or is this some kind of nightmare?

A. I think she must be really dying because she talks about willing her keepsakes, like signing a will.

Q. Why does she hear a fly and not the other noises surrounding her?

A. When I get really quiet and am in deep thought, I sometimes hear things I hadn’t heard before. Once when my students were engaged in silent reading and I was reading with them, I kept hearing this “tap, tap, tap.” It seemed very loud and was driving me crazy. My school is off a major road but instead of hearing the loud truck traffic, all I could hear was that tapping noise. I looked around and saw it was just one of the students swinging her foot; the plastic on her shoelace was hitting her shoe. It wasn’t really loud, but it was all I could hear. She must be used to all the other noises, but the fly buzzing must be different for her.

Q. When the windows fail, does that mean she is dead?

A. I think it must be that she is dead because it’s like the lights went out. The windows failed means she can’t see the windows because she is now in the dark and has passed on.

Q. I wonder what people think about right before they die?

A. I have heard about people saying your life passes right before your eyes. I hope I think of my life and family, not a fly.

Q. What is blue?

A. I think the blue must mean quiet noise. Like when we think of red, we think loud and fun. The buzz must be a humming kind of noise. I think of how hospitals always have that humming noise because of the equipment. In fact, maybe there isn’t a fly at all, it’s just that noise and she thinks it is a fly.

Now, my answers may not be exactly right, but my questions are good ones. Because I questioned, I was forced to reread and use Emily Dickinson’s words to answer my questions. I can now say I understand the poem better, I would have a lot more to say in class discussion, and I would do well on a pop quiz!

My no brainer questions for the poem would be:

✵ What is the title of this poem?

✵ Who is the author?

✵ What bug is bothering the person?

✵ What did she will away?

✵ What failed?

I can answer these without looking at the text or by looking at it very quickly. The title is “I heard a Fly buzz.” The author is Emily Dickinson. The bug is a fly. She wills her keepsakes. The windows failed. What am I going to learn from that? Very little! Those questions and answers required no brain power. Remember brainer questions make you think and may have more than one answer.

Let’s Practice!

Now, you try. First, read the following poem. Then write five questions and try to answer them. Write questions about anything that confuses you or that you are curious about.

English Selection: “To J.W.,” a poem by Nora Pembroke (Margaret Moran Dixon McDougall)

Dear Jane you say you will gather flowers

To win if you may a verse from me

Can you bring to me those brillant hours

When life was gladdened by poesy?

Bring me the rose with pearls on her breast,

Dropped down as tears from early skies,

Pale lilies gather among the rest

And little daisies, with starry eyes

The heart’s-ease bring for many a day

In vain for that flow’ret fair I sought

Turn not your gathering hand away

From the wee blue flower, forget me not

Unless inspiration on them rest

In vain you tempt me to rise and sing

The passage bird that sang in my breast

Has fled away with my life’s young spring

My harp on a lonely grave is laid,

Untuned, unstrung, it will lie there long,

If you bring flowers alone dear maid

Without bringing the spirit of song

But accept the friendship that can spring

Out of this romantic heart of mine,

Devoted, true and unwithering,

And for ever thine, for ever thine.

Sticky notes

I hate to write in my books—even if I own them. I feel as though I am messing up the pages. So, I use different colors and shapes of sticky notes. My students sometimes use books provided by the school. Because they do not own their books, they are not allowed to write in them. But, in the real world, people write or make notes in their books to help them remember what they read. Sticky notes allow you to write “in” your book. If you are reading online or an electronic textbook, you can add margin notes or virtual sticky notes you can “stick” to your reading.

So that I could allow my students to “write” in their books, I adopted and adapted this strategy from Cris Tovani in her book I Read It, but I Don’t Get It: Comprehension Strategies for Adolescent Readers.⁹ Any time you read something important, you can write your reaction to it on a sticky note. You can record your conversation with the book.

STARTERS

I already know that …

This reminds me of …

ASKING QUESTIONS

I wonder why …?

Why is it that …?

What about …?

What if …?

MAKING CONNECTIONS

That reminds me of what we studied in …

This is similar to … because …

I can relate to that because …

I agree with this because …

I disagree with this because …

SUMMARIZING

So, the gist is …

You (the author) are telling me that the most important points to remember are …

✵ Try to use each prompt once during each reading selection. If you aren’t confused about anything or can’t agree or disagree with something, write down what someone else might find confusing, agree with, or disagree with instead. The point is that you are stopping and taking notes and rereading more closely and critically.

✵ When a sentence, a quote, a phrase, a passage, or a paragraph makes you curious about something, makes you question something, or reminds you of something you know about that topic, write that something down on a sticky note and place the sticky note under the words.

✵ If you are reminded of something like a movie, another story you read, a topic you discussed in another class, something that happened with your family or friends, write that down.

✵ If you agree with what the author or the character is saying or the character’s actions, write down why you agree. Likewise, if you disagree with the author or character, write down why you disagree.

✵ If you find something that really makes sense to you, or that resonates for you, write down why. If you find something the author or character says that is confusing, write down why it doesn’t make sense.

✵ If you can’t get ahold of sticky notes, then just write part of the sentence, quote, or passage and page number on a sheet of paper and stick the paper in the page like a bookmark.

Let’s Practice!

Reread “A School Ghost Story”. Use all of the sticky note prompts at least once.

STARTERS

I already know that …

This reminds me of …

ASKING QUESTIONS

I wonder why …?

Why is it that …?

What about …?

What if …?

MAKING CONNECTIONS

That reminds me of what we studied in …

This is similar to … because …

I can relate to that because …

I agree with this because …

I disagree with this because …

SUMMARIZING

So, the gist is …

You (the author) are telling me that the most important points to remember are …

REFLECT ON WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNED!

Some strategies you learned for keeping what you read in your head were skimming for information, rereading and RADAR, rereading and text messaging, rereading and asking brainer questions, and rereading and using sticky notes.

Which of these strategies did you find most useful? Which strategies will you add to your toolbox? Why did they work for you?

Which strategies did you find confusing? Why didn’t they work for you?

Set # 6

Answer the following multiple-choice questions. Remember to use the strategies discussed in Chapter Two.

1.Skimming for information allows you to quickly locate information you need in a reading selection. Which one of the following strategies is not a strategy to use while skimming?

a. Use the title of the article as a tool.

b. Use paragraph indentations as a guide to a new idea.

c. Use the chapter titles as a guide.

d. Use the boldfaced headings.

2.RADAR stands for Read, Anticipate, Decide, Analyze, and Record. Which one of the following ideas is not a benefit of using RADAR?

a. Some ideas are more important than others.

b. Using reading RADAR is an effective way to reread and find the important ideas.

c. RADAR helps you to preview what you will read before you read it.

d. RADAR allows you to see all the words on the page, but only the information you need is focused in on.

3.Which one of the following statements is true of only brainer questions?

a. Brainer questions can be asked with Who, What, Why, Where, When, and How.

b. Brainer questions require you to reread and think to find the answers.

c. Brainer questions are asked by the reader.

d. Brainer questions must have answers that are long.