For many teachers, it can be so difficult just to get students to read that it feels impossible to make sure that students actually understand what they read. Students across the United States continue to struggle with reading comprehension. The National Assessment of Educational Progress released the 2017 Nation’s Report Card, which shows little to no growth in reading comprehension among 4th and 8th graders in the USA over the last 20 years.
Students need to be engaged readers in order to improve comprehension skills. One of the best ways to engage students is to provide texts that they actually care about reading. Allowing students to choose what they read or providing texts that are relevant to student interests can help increase engagement. A 1997 study by Wigfield and Guthrie found that students who read for their own interests spend 300% more time reading, which leads to higher academic achievement.
Students need to be engaged readers in order to improve comprehension skills. One of the best ways to engage students is to provide texts that they actually care about reading. Allowing students to choose what they read or providing texts that are relevant to student interests can help increase engagement. A 1997 study by Wigfield and Guthrie found that students who read for their own interests spend 300% more time reading, which leads to higher academic achievement.
Providing a purpose for reading also increases student engagement. Resources like PenPal Schools can help teachers make reading meaningful by providing a clear purpose, high-interest topics, and choice as students navigate diverse texts.
Here are 6 ways to use global connections to help students improve reading comprehension:
Here are 6 ways to use global connections to help students improve reading comprehension:
Supporting Claims
Using evidence from the text to support a claim is a critical reading skill, however, most students only have the opportunity to practice this skill through rote activities that feel scripted and repetitive. Students need more than sentence stems and annotation strategies. Instead, students should be challenged to think “why” as they support a claim. Jordan from the United States did this well when he participated in Race in America.
Global connections challenge students to focus on proving their claim instead of simply plugging evidence from the text into their writing. An authentic audience of global peers can ask questions and challenge arguments, often requiring students to refer back to the text or additional resources to find evidence that supports their claims.
Summarization
Summarizing a text for an audience who has already read it often feels fake. However, it is an incredibly important skill that gives teachers a lot of insight into reading comprehension.
Global connections challenge students to think about the main idea of a text and the most important ideas presented instead of simply following a summarization structure or guide. An audience of global peers provides an authentic way to practice summarizing. When Daniela from the United States participated in Race in America, she did additional research about Oprah Winfrey and summarized her learning for her PenPals.
Global connections challenge students to think about the main idea of a text and the most important ideas presented instead of simply following a summarization structure or guide. An audience of global peers provides an authentic way to practice summarizing. When Daniela from the United States participated in Race in America, she did additional research about Oprah Winfrey and summarized her learning for her PenPals.
Vocabulary
There are many vocabulary strategies out there, yet teachers sometimes struggle to bring vocabulary to life and incorporate it meaningfully. It’s not only important that students develop new vocabulary, but also that students learn to decipher unfamiliar vocabulary when they read.
Global connections are a great way to practice using new vocabulary. A shared vocabulary list can help students hold each other accountable for using new words correctly as well as gain confidence using new vocabulary words. Global peers also provide immediate feedback and help each other to define unfamiliar words.
Global connections are a great way to practice using new vocabulary. A shared vocabulary list can help students hold each other accountable for using new words correctly as well as gain confidence using new vocabulary words. Global peers also provide immediate feedback and help each other to define unfamiliar words.
Reflection
Students are often encouraged to reflect, however the reading strategies available to help students do this can be limited and feel isolating. Instead of sitting quietly and thinking to oneself, global connections allow students to share their reflections and learn from each other. Invite students to reflect on what they’ve read by writing to global peers to make connections to their own lives, evaluate the author’s point of view, and ask questions about a text.
When students have the opportunity to connect a text to their lives and share this reflection with real peers, their reflections feel meaningful. Students can also gain a lot of insight from reading the reflections of their global peers. When Rawaz from Iraq learned about art and literature around the world in World Explorer, he reflected on ways that art and literature influences his country’s culture and his own life.
When students have the opportunity to connect a text to their lives and share this reflection with real peers, their reflections feel meaningful. Students can also gain a lot of insight from reading the reflections of their global peers. When Rawaz from Iraq learned about art and literature around the world in World Explorer, he reflected on ways that art and literature influences his country’s culture and his own life.
Fact Check
These days, it’s important to teach students that they can’t believe everything they read - especially on the internet! How can you help students to become more critical readers who fact check what they read?
Instead of simply arming students with a checklist to help them evaluate the validity of information, provide students with opportunities to practice distinguishing between facts and opinions with global peers. There are dozens of global lessons and projects emerging to help students practice fact checking, like the PenPal Schools project Facts, Opinions, and Fake News. In this project, students around the world work together to determine whether news stories are real or not.
Instead of simply arming students with a checklist to help them evaluate the validity of information, provide students with opportunities to practice distinguishing between facts and opinions with global peers. There are dozens of global lessons and projects emerging to help students practice fact checking, like the PenPal Schools project Facts, Opinions, and Fake News. In this project, students around the world work together to determine whether news stories are real or not.
Compare & Contrast
Global connects provide students with opportunities to compare and contrast multiple perspectives. From the perspectives of different authors to the perspectives of their peers around the world, global connections help students practice comparing and contrasting. Molly from Saudi Arabia practiced this when she participated in World Explorer.
Global connections challenge students even further by providing opportunities for students to conduct additional research as a team to find similar and different perspectives about a given topic. When Seryung from the United States participated in Walking to Freedom, she compared civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela to Michelle Alexander, a civil rights lawyer and author.
Reading comprehension practice doesn’t need to be limited to checklists, isolated strategies, or routine drills. Extend your learning community beyond your classroom to provide more meaningful and relevant opportunities for your students to improve reading comprehension through global project-based learning.
Teacher feedback is critical to help students improve reading comprehension. With the teacher dashboard, educators can assess their students' work and provide feedback to help them improve a variety of skills:
Teacher feedback is critical to help students improve reading comprehension. With the teacher dashboard, educators can assess their students' work and provide feedback to help them improve a variety of skills:
PenPal Schools learning objectives are aligned to a variety of academic standards, including Common Core State Standards and Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills.
