VELS Level 1 and 2 – Comprehension Strategies: Responding to Reading Through Writing

Comprehension strategies are specific cognitive procedures that guide readers to become aware of how well they comprehend as they attempt to read and write. (National Reading Panel 2000)

Effective comprehension instruction is instruction that helps students use both cognitive strategies and text content to arrive at deeper understandings of what they read. It does so in ways that motivate students not just to read but to want to read.

Effective instructional approaches vary in emphasis across the stages of learning. (National Reading Panel 2000)

Resource: Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction. Washington, DC: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development 

Responding to reading through writing

Writing about reading can improve students’ comprehension in two ways.

• Reading and writing are both ‘composing’ processes: writers compose meaning as they write; readers compose meaning as they read (Raphael and Englert 1989; Tierney and Pearson 1983). Expressing opinions and interpretations in writing helps readers organise their thoughts about a text.
• Writing provides students with an insight into the tools of the literary trade: how an author’s choice of genre influences his or her writing style, vocabulary use, and text organisation; and how the author uses these tools to make text understandable.