.. developing comprehension skills
Some schools use a 'traffic light' system. The child can use colour-coding, placing stickers by their work, for example:
:
Helpful strategies might include the use of:
- visual clues: a set of pictures to remind children what they have to do or visual timetables to show the expected sequence of activities;
- mental pictures: try to see what is happening as I speak, or in this story; does it help to close your eyes?
- use of note-taking.
Children should be encouraged to monitor their own understanding, and to start to distinguish between what they have or have not understood. If they can identify the cause of any breakdown, this helps the speaker to clarify their meaning. For example,
- 'I don't know what a patella is'
- 'I couldn't hear what you said - the lawnmover was going past'
- 'I think I would understand that if you said it a simpler way'.
Barrier games can help to pinpoint misunderstanding:
- Set a screen between adult and child
- Each of you has the same material, whether objects/pictures/maps
- Adjust the material to the interest and age level of the child
- Take turns to give instructions or make comments about the material
- Adjust the instructions by making them simple or complex
- Take the screen away and compare the results
This encourages good listening and precise talking. It also allows you to comment on the process of listening, for example, by saying 'You listened really well then; there are two wizards but I said the 'wizard with long ears' and you chose the right one because you were listening so well'.
Group/individual focus
Some children may need:
- extra focus on words and their meaning and/or basic grammar
- reinforcememnt of key concepts/vocabulary/content/ideas
- to repeat an activity in a different way
- to listen to shorter stories or texts and respond; to practise comprehension work
- to learn to monitor their own understanding and develop strategies to highlight breakdown of communication to others.
Classroom management
Teachers can help by talking explicitly with the class about:
- the focus and content of lessons
- the key words
- the relationship between ideas and events
- the relationship between old and new information
- the nature of any connections or associations
- task analysis: the sequence of steps to be followed for success.
Recapping and revision techniques will be useful to most children. Lines or argument can be presented visually by notation on the board or by using mindmapping, spidergrams, quick sketches. Adults should be aware of their own use of language:
- clarity and length of instructions
- the pace of the lesson
- complexity of spoken or written language. Modification may be needed for individual/groups of children
- further explanation
- instructions broken down into smaller steps and in the order you want them to be followed
- pace may need to be adjusted
- some children may need extra time to process what they have heard or to prepare an answer
- outcomes may need to be differentiated in terms of the amount an individual child is expected to retain and understand; this should relate to the key focus of the lesson
- vocabulary and ideas may need to be simplified or introduced with more time for assimilations.