Grade 9 - Comprehend and Respond (Comprehension)

This sub-organizer contains the following sections:
Prescribed Learning Outcomes
Suggested Instructional Strategies
Suggested Assessment Strategies
Recommended Learning Resources

PRESCRIBED LEARNING OUTCOMES

It is expected that students will demonstrate their understanding of written, oral, and visual communications.

It is expected that students will:

demonstrate an understanding of the main ideas, events, or themes of a variety of novels, stories, poetry, other print material, and electronic media
organize details and information about material they have read, heard, or viewed using a variety of written or graphic forms
interpret and report on information from selections they have read, heard, or viewed
cite specific information from stories, articles, novels, poetry, or mass media to support their inferences and to respond to tasks related to the works
interpret details and draw conclusions about the information presented in a variety of illustrations, maps, charts, graphs, and other graphic forms
paraphrase and summarize information from a variety of print and non-print sources

To view the prescribed learning outcomes for Comprehend and Respond (Comprehension) in other grades click on an icon below.

SUGGESTED INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES

Students more fully appreciate the meaning of what they read and view when they understand the techniques authors use to organize and present ideas in communications.

After they read a novel or short story, ask students to examine some of the conversations among characters to consider questions such as the following:
- What do the conversations reveal about the relationships between characters? What evidence can you find in the text to support your views?
- What would have been different if the author had chosen to tell about the conversations rather than presenting the dialogue?
Have students view a video on a specific topic, first providing each with an organizer sheet outlining the subtopics of the video. As students watch the video, ask them to jot down points that they feel are important. Afterwards, have each student record the points on the organizer sheet, use it to summarize the video in a concise paragraph, and share this paragraph with another student in the same grade who has not yet seen the video but who will also be responsible for knowing its content.
Ask students to develop storyboards of videos or novels that they have viewed or read.
Suggest that students complete report cards for characters chosen from a piece of literature. Have them define the categories for the report (the criteria for each letter grade), note the grades, and locate evidence in the piece to support each grade assigned.

SUGGESTED ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES

The assessment of students' comprehension should include independent tasks to demonstrate their comprehension of new or unfamiliar materials as well as materials they have worked with previously. Ensure that the assessment criteria emphasize students' levels of understanding rather than their presentation skills.

Students' responses to questions and assignments can help to reveal their level of understanding of a work. Look for evidence that their answers are relevant and detailed, are consistent with the information presented in the selection, and include specific examples and references to the work.
- Given the information in this selection, what would likely happen if __________?
- Compare the author's view about __________ with your own (another author's).
- What questions could you ask the author (director) to learn more about his (her) views?
- Sketch (convey in words) the key images that the author creates.
- Summarize one passage or scene that is critical to understanding the work and explain why it is important.
When students work in literature discussion groups, note the extent to which they:
- interpret both literal and inferential meaning
- refer to specific ideas and details from the text to support their interpretations
- notice and use details and subtleties in the text
- draw attention to relationships among ideas, events, and characters
- make generalizations about characters or themes
When students show their understanding through notes and related formats, check for accuracy, completeness, use of specific detail and examples, differentiation among levels of importance, and logical relationships among the items of information recorded.