Painless Reading Comprehension - Darolyn “Lyn” Jones Ed.D. 2021
Raising questions aids your reading
Keeping what you read in your head
Did you know that one of the reasons that someone struggles with reading comprehension is because they also struggle to understand what someone is saying when they speak? Does this ever happen to you? If you don’t understand what someone is saying, do you ask them questions like: When you say . . . what did you mean? or Why did you say . . . ? or I’m just trying to understand what you are saying, so could you repeat what you just said? Sometimes it helps to hear something twice. And guess what! Just like you ask the speaker questions, you should also ask the author of whatever you are reading those same questions!
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. They might just ask you to recall or skim quickly for the answer.
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 round my form
Was like the stillness in the air
Between the heaves of storm.
The eyes beside had wrung them dry,
And breaths were gathering sure
For that last onset, when the king
Be witnessed in his power.
I willed my keepsakes, signed away
What portion of me I
Could make assignable,—and then
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?
o Why does she hear a fly and not the other noises surrounding her?
o When the windows fail, does that mean she is dead?
o 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. The poet 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 you think of red, you 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.
PAINLESS TIP
As with the texting strategy, you can pair up with someone—either physically or virtually—to exchange questions and compare answers. It’s a great way to remember what you read, to study, and to have fun!
English Selection: “A Word to the Guy with the ’God Bless’ Sign by the Side of the Road” by writer Angela Jackson-Brown
I try not to make eye contact
with you because if our eyes were
to meet, I might actually see inside
your soul. And the thought of being
that close to the essence of you scares
me, so each and every time I turn away
or I simply focus on the words you’ve
written on your sign.
Before, your sign said,
“Help! I’m homeless,” and before that “I’m hungry. Can you
spare some change?” Now, your sign simply says “God Bless.”
You ask for nothing—you simply shuffle around in some
bizarre dance, arms flapping like a strangled bird.
Each day you and your sign haunt me. I
worry that if I see your eyes, if I really look into them
I will find that you are no con man, no flim flam artist
but a man whose down on his luck and has no greater
wish than to make me smile and send God’s blessings
my way—and for that, you neither want nor desire for
me to pay.
The other reason I never meet your eyes is because I don’t
want to see that you need more from me
than some nickels and dimes. I’m worried that
to see your soul I’ll see a reflection of the souls of my dad,
my uncles, my brothers or my cousins who
by fates chance never ended up
on the side of the road hoping God or some kind lady
would offer them a look—a glance.
So I don’t look at you because I don’t have
time to be my brother’s keeper. Not today. I’ve got schedules
to keep and deadlines to meet and for me to take on
your problems on top of my own
is way too much.
So I look away.
I look away.
Sticky notes
Remember that it is important to say something back, to have a conversation with the author to keep what you read in your head. One way you can do that is with sticky notes. My students rent their textbooks and can’t write in them. But when you own your own books, you can. I don’t like to write in my books, because there isn’t always enough space in the margins, or I feel like I’m distracted by the text and all of my handwriting. For the books I own and use to teach, I use sticky notes to take notes on the page, so I can remember the important ideas I read and want to teach my students. And I do the same with my online documents, too, like webpages or PDFs. What I like about sticky notes is that I can halt and stop, write or type a note, and then stick the note right under the sentence or paragraph I want to talk back to. The use of sticky notes allows you to write in your books or virtually on your documents without messing them up.
If you have a PDF document, it has a sticky note on the tool bar that you can click and write on and stick where you want it. And there are several free Chrome extension tools and apps like Web Page Sticky Notes that allow you to add sticky notes to webpages if you are reading online. There are free online sticky notes like Simple Sticky Notes that you can use on most documents. And on Google docs, you can use a mark-up feature that allows you to type a note in the margin but points to the sentence or paragraph you want to note. And remember, taking notes helps you keep what you read in your head. The sticky notes help what you are reading stick and stay glued like superglue in your brain!
I teach my students how to halt and jot and use sticky notes to take notes in their books or in online documents. I adopted and adapted stop-and-jot prompts from Cris Tovani’s book I Read It, but I Don’t Get It: Comprehension Strategies for Adolescent Readers.9 Any time you read something that reminds you of something else you know that is related, that makes you question or curious, or that is something you agree or disagree with, you can make a note on your sticky note and place it right under or next to the text. Try these prompts:
STARTERS:
Before you read, skim the title, any images or graphs, and the subheadings. Think about what you know and make a prediction!
✵ I already know about . . .
✵ I think I will be reading about . . .
STARTERS:
Before you read the text, see if there is a conclusion or summary, and read that first and make predictions.
✵ When I read this, I know I will be reading about these ideas or this information . . .
✵ When I read this, I think I will learn more about . . .
ASKING QUESTIONS:
During or after your reading, ask the author questions about what you don’t understand or what you are curious about.
✵ When I read this, I wonder, why . . . ?
✵ When I read this, I want to know, why is it that . . . ?
✵ When I read this, I want to ask, what about . . . ?
✵ When I read this, I think, what if . . . ?
✵ When I read this, I wonder, will this be on the quiz or test?
✵ When I read this, I want to know more about . . .
✵ When I read this, it’s not what I expected; I thought . . .
MAKING CONNECTIONS:
During or after your reading, tell the author and yourself what connections you are making to the ideas, information, or story.
✵ When I read this, it reminds me of . . . (something personal, something you are learning or read somewhere else, a song, a movie, etc.)
✵ When I read this, it is similar to . . . because . . .
✵ When I read this, I can relate to it because . . .
✵ When I read this, I agree with it because . . .
✵ When I read this, I disagree with it because . . .
✵ When I read this, I was surprised because . . .
✵ When I read this, I was upset because . . .
✵ When I read this, I think it’s important because . . .
SUMMARIZING:
After you read, note what the gist is.
✵ Now that I have read this, I know that the most important ideas the author wants me to know and remember about this chapter or this section are . . .
You can also use these prompts to think aloud and text or tell someone what questions, connections, and conclusions you are making as you read.
Let’s practice!
Reread “A School Ghost Story” on pages 77—82. Try using all the sticky note prompts. Again, you can write them out or just tell someone!
STARTERS:
Before you read, skim the title, any images or graphs, and the subheadings. Think about what you know and make a prediction!
✵ I already know about . . .
✵ I think I will be reading about . . .
STARTERS:
Before you read the text, see if there is a conclusion or summary, and read that first and make predictions.
✵ When I read this, I know I will be reading about these ideas or this information . . .
✵ When I read this, I think I will learn more about . . .
ASKING QUESTIONS:
During or after your reading, ask the author questions about what you don’t understand or about what you are curious about.
✵ When I read this, I wonder, why . . . ?
✵ When I read this, I want to know, why is it that . . . ?
✵ When I read this, I want to ask, what about . . . ?
✵ When I read this, I think, what if . . . ?
✵ When I read this, I wonder, will this be on the quiz or test?
✵ When I read this, I want to know more about . . .
✵ When I read this, it’s not what I expected; I thought . . .
MAKING CONNECTIONS:
During or after your reading, tell the author and yourself what connections you are making to the ideas, information, or story.
✵ When I read this, it reminds me of . . . (something personal, something you are learning or read somewhere else, a song, a movie, etc.)
✵ When I read this, it is similar to . . . because . . .
✵ When I read this, I can relate to it because . . .
✵ When I read this, I agree with it because . . .
✵ When I read this, I disagree with it because . . .
✵ When I read this, I was surprised because . . .
✵ When I read this, I was upset because . . .
✵ When I read this, I think it’s important because . . .
SUMMARIZING:
After you read, note what the gist is.
✵ Now that I have read this, I know that the most important ideas the author wants me to know and remember about this chapter or this section 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.
1. Which of these strategies did you find most useful? Which strategies will you add to your toolbox? Why did they work for you?
2. Which strategies did you find confusing? Why didn’t they work for you?
BRAIN TICKLERSSet # 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, Where, When, Why, 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.
(Answers are on page 94.)