The Language Comprehension Side of Things~ Syntax
This content is also available as a video blog. You can access the presentation here. I talk through the actually presentation that I use with students. You can get those Google Slides here. The student reference guide and practice packet can be found for free in Reading Rev’s VIP site or here.
This quarter we are taking a deep dive into the language comprehension side of the Simple View of Reading. It began with a group of 4th graders who were mostly accurate, fluent readers, but were struggling to understand what they read. I decided it was time to dig into the other side of the equation and develop a systematic intervention plan.
Four Subskills of Language Comprehension
The importance of background knowledge.
How vocabulary impacts both oral and reading comprehension.
Four syntax ideas that will make reading and writing easier.
Visualization techniques for our non-visualizers.
Let’s talk SYNTAX.
Syntax is a key component of language comprehension; it is how words are arranged to create meaningful, well-formed sentences. If students do not understand our language at the sentence level, they can’t comprehend at the conversational or text level. Like foundational skills, syntax follows a predictable structure and is a code that we can explicitly teach. Some students pick it up effortlessly. However, many students need language structures broken down and explained. Let’s look at 4 Language or Syntax Ideas that can make listening comprehension, oral communication, reading, and writing, make more sense (Scott & Balthazar 2003).
Without syntax governing our oral speech and written language, we sound awkward and our writing is distracting and difficult to understand. Toddlers learning to speak don’t have syntax mastered and their speech is cute and funny. However, it’s not cute when older children and adults struggle with syntax. Many kids pick this up naturally. By the time they enter kindergarten, they know most of the oral language patterns. Those who struggle with language comprehension may not. Written language is a historically new concept, and human brains are not wired for it. The structures that govern our language must be explicitly taught.
Teach These 4 Big Ideas of Syntax:
The Complete Sentence.
Children are often taught about the sentence on a very basic level in kindergarten. Then, we expect that they should understand this vital syntactic concept going forward. The problem is that our expectations about the sentence evolve and get more advanced than that basic kindergarten sentence. Direct instruction must continue to take place from the most basic sentence to the most advanced complex sentence.
Student cannot understand when or why they are creating fragments and run-ons if they don’t understand subjects and predicates. Students in first grade can learn these terms and concepts.
The first idea is that every sentences needs 4 things. A capital letter and end mark are visual cues that the sentence is beginning and ending. Every sentence must have a subject (who or what the sentence is about) and a predicate (what we are saying about the subject). You can see how I teach and practice this concept here at 00:8:10.
Write so our readers can visualize!
Reading and writing is reciprocal. As a writer, we should think about giving our reader the information they need in order to visualize what we are thinking and describing.
It is difficult to visualize much detail at all with the simple sentence, “The monkey eats.” It is a complete sentence, but lacks any information that will help me create a mental image.
We can give students a formulaic way to expanding their sentence. The parts of speech are key. Grammar is not about sentence diagramming (although I secretly love that too); it is about understanding how the parts of speech can aid us in communicating our ideas effectively.
By understanding grammar, I can write, “The mischievous monkey quickly eats the yellow, stolen banana before he gets caught!” Research shows that grammar taught as it applies to writing, has a strong positive effect on writing abilities. (Myhill et al 2013) Memorizing words as unconnected part of speech does not. You can see this process here at 00:15:05.
Combining sentences makes writing interesting and sophisticated.
Children are capable of great writing if we simply show them the “code” or formula. Like so many other intricate processes, writing can be understood by understanding the basic concepts. Clauses are the basic concepts of sentence combining.
There are two kinds of clauses: the independent clause and dependent clause. Relating this to Santa and Mrs. Claus is concrete and fun. Santa can be seen all by himself. He is independent. Mrs. Clause, however, depends on Santa to make sense. If we went to the mall in December and saw only Mrs. Claus, we’d look around for Santa. She depends on him to make sense. We don’t really even know the lady’s name!
When we combine two independent clauses, it’s called a compound sentence. When we combine an independent clause with a dependent clause, it’s called a complex sentence. There are very specific ways we punctuate when we combine clauses: I,ccI I;I ID D,I
Watch the mind-blowing explanation here at 00:22:00.
Phrases aren’t necessary, but they make ideas crystal clear!
A phrase is a group of words that carry meaning but does NOT have a subject or predicate. You can often remove the phrase and the sentence will still make sense!
Phrases can get complicated. The phrase itself can act as a part of speech and do that “job” in the sentence. There are noun phrases, adjective and adverbial phrases, verb phrases and prepositional phrases.
The basic three kinds of phrases that are important for elementary students to understand are: 1) Introductory Phrase 2) Prepositional Phrase 3) Appositive Phrase.
Understanding why these phrases are in our texts and how to read them, will greatly increase students’ language and reading comprehension.
You can hear about these 3 basic phrases here at 00:34:38.
Model, Practice, Model, Practice, Model, Practice
These concepts need to be explicitly taught, but students also need LOTS of practice. Dedicating time to these four language ideas will build your students’ oral and reading comprehension and will make a huge difference in their writing. However, it takes time. Make this fun and engaging. It can feel like you are playing with language. Remember, the best way to accelerate learning is to utilize a Feedback Loop. The feedback loop is when, after instruction and modeling, the student produces the skill or task. Then, the teacher gives feedback on one objective. The student makes the correction and the teacher offers praise. This evidence-based practice is effective because the feedback isn’t delayed or overwhelming. Success is felt immediately.
This student resource is a reference guide of the slide presentation as well as a place to track progress. To get even more language-building bang-for-your-buck, use content that will build background knowledge and utilize tier 2 vocabulary! You can find this packet here or here.
My fourth graders have come SO far already, and I am excited to see the difference these language interventions make! Join us next month for the final blog in the series, visualization for students who don’t visualize!
If you’d like to revisit other blogs in this series, you can find them here:
The Language Comprehension Side of Things
Four syntax ideas that will make reading and writing easier.
Visualization techniques for our non-visualizers.
