Over recent years, there has been a shift towards teaching comprehension through whole-class reading sessions.

Compared with traditional guided groups, whole-class reading offers the benefits of:

• Increased exposure to challenging texts
• Increased time for deep exploration of a text
• The opportunity for class discussion

Whole-class reading: what the research says

But what strategies are proven to make a real impact on learning?

Here are some key tips for planning an effective whole-class reading comprehension lesson based on research and good practice.

1. Be picky with the text

For a lesson to be effective, the text needs to be engaging and fit for purpose. So instead of choosing the lesson focus based on the text, choose the text based on the learning needs of the class.

Of course, you may have a class book on the go and the next chapter works perfectly, but sometimes it’s nice to branch out - and using a poem, song, non-fiction extract or short story linked to your topic can provide enrichment and increased scope. Choose this based on the objective that needs covering.

2. Teach the context

Background knowledge is the most important component of language comprehension, according to the National Foundation for Educational Research.

Research shows that pupils who have an understanding of context can outperform their peers in comprehension, irrespective of phonic reading ability.

In an iconic American study conducted in the 1980s by Donna Recht and Lauren Leslie, the researchers asked pupils to read a fictional recount of a baseball game before re-enacting it on a model. The study found that reading ability had little impact on the recall and comprehension of the text. The pupils who excelled at reconstructing the game, were those with prior baseball knowledge.

To apply this in the classroom, start the lesson by teaching the required background knowledge and vocabulary. This provides a scaffold and ensures that all pupils start with the necessary information to engage with the text.

3. Make reading visual

Aphantasia is the inability to form mental images. Many children and adults have this condition without being aware of it.

When teaching background knowledge and vocabulary, include pictures and diagrams. You could then make them available on word mats to be used throughout the lesson.

As well as supporting pupils who find visualisation difficult, this will also help those who have never experienced the context to develop a mental model for future lessons.

Additionally, don’t rule out picture books. Even in key stage 2, picture books can be useful in developing an understanding of inference and hidden meaning. Good examples are stories by Anthony Browne, and Dreamers by Yuyi Morales.

4. Read to pupils

During whole-class sessions, the focus should be on comprehension rather than fluency.

Fluency and comprehension are separate skills. However, a lack of fluency can inhibit comprehension, as pupils need to be able to decode a massive 95 per cent of a text to be able to understand it (Hirsch, 2003).

Having an adult doing the reading in whole-class sessions means that the language content of the text doesn’t need to be limited.

By modelling, you also provide a scaffold for inference and understanding of emotion that your pupils can use later when re-reading.

5. Read the text twice in succession

In the first read of the text, focus on modelling fluency and expression, and allow pupils to develop an initial response.

In the second read, focus on comprehension. Give pupils a specific objective to keep in mind, such as tracking the emotions of the characters or identifying the descriptive language.

If a text is accessible, pupils can do this in pairs. Alternatively, this can be repeated by the teacher so the pupils can focus on the objective of the lesson.

6. Focus on questions and answers

During the second read, ask the questions you want answered as you go along. You could then have pupils create an answer through paired discussion, before feeding back to the class.

The importance of talk in developing understanding and writing ability is proven. Research shows that when meta-cognitive strategies (thinking about thinking) such as this are used, they produce better understanding and follow-up writing (Owen and Vista, 2017).

Reinforce this by teaching pupils how to find the answer and then model the sentence yourself. So the next time pupils come across a similar question, they will know exactly what’s required to create a good-quality answer.

7. Switch up the activities pupils do each lesson

While having a set of answers to questions can be useful for assessment, this repetitive activity can be boring for pupils.

Instead, use a range of engaging activities as a class to assess understanding of a text. Teacher and blogger James Durran has created a menu of activities that can be used during reading lessons.

For example, instead of asking pupils to answer questions about how the feelings of a character change throughout a text, get them to role play as the character (or for higher-ability pupils, the author) and explain their feelings through an interview situation.

8. Use stem sentences

Provide stem sentences to teach pupils how to respond, without providing the answers.

This also provides a starting point for pupils who might find formulating a response difficult without a scaffold. Using stem sentences can improve engagement and confidence, and help pupils to build upon each others’ ideas.

As well as for question and answer activities, stem sentences are also very effective during drama, writing in role activities and paired discussions.

Gemma Tonge was formerly a primary teacher at a British International school in China. This article was originally published on 13 April 2021

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