Teach whole-class comprehension skills with explicit instruction

Kristina Smekens will kick off CompCON by casting a vision for leading whole-class comprehension instruction all year long. To further articulate that vision, participants will receive a suggested list of yearlong comprehension skills from retelling to synthesizing that honors grade-level standards and best-practice instruction.

MORNING TRAINING SESSION:

Armed with this big-picture understanding, the primary focus of this first morning will be to learn the process for planning and teaching a single comprehension skill across an entire week.

During the morning session, Kristina will:

• Provide attendees a list of instructional points per comprehension skill.
• Model how to layer instruction across a multi-day mini-lesson series— targeting a new comprehension skill each week.
• Define the essential facets of every whole-class mini-lesson, including how to make lessons explicit and honor the gradual release of responsibility (i.e., I do, We do, You do).

AFTERNOON COLLABORATION & PLANNING TIME:

During the afternoon, participants will finalize their own list of 6-12 yearlong comprehension skills. Then they will drill down the order of instructional points to roll out each day of the mini-lesson series. While working independently or with a group, teachers will have access to Kristina and her team to ask questions, seek feedback, and troubleshoot concerns.

Map out a year of skills, texts, and writing

Knowing which comprehension skills to teach and how to teach them is the first step. The next hurdle is to determine when to teach these priority skills. The second day of CompCON will focus on creating a yearlong map of comprehension skills that honors developmental readiness and spiraled instruction— all in order to achieve grade-level mastery.

MORNING TRAINING SESSION:

Participants will learn how to parcel out the numerous instructional points per comprehension skill and plot them within three mini-rounds across the year.

CompCON attendees will learn how to:

• Launch the first weeks of their whole-class comprehension instruction.
• Spiral their yearlong comprehension skills to build on one another.
• Choose the texts that are best suited for individual skill instruction.
• Layer writing-about-reading instruction to prepare students for standardized assessment expectations.

AFTERNOON COLLABORATION & PLANNING TIME:

With this deeper understanding, teachers will spend their afternoon plotting and planning as they make decisions about their own yearlong calendars. The focus of this work time will be to create a week-by-week map of comprehension skills. As participants work independently or with a group, Kristina and her team will again be available to answer questions, provide feedback, and troubleshoot concerns.

CompCON will conclude with the last piece of this planning puzzle—a vision for assessing students’ individual comprehension skills under this approach.