Readiness for Comprehension Instruction - SharpReading Stage 3

There will always be some debate about this as some level of comprehension is always taking place when the reader interacts with words on a page.

However, the cognitive research is quite clear about this. While the brain is wrestling with decoding the words (learning the code) this requires most if not all the available working memory. As the reader becomes more familiar with letter-sound relationships and begins to recognise phonic patterns, orthographic mapping takes place and words are transferred into the long-term memory.

The result - less cognitive effort is devoted to decoding and the working memory becomes freed up for deeper processing of the message. When this is evident, the student can move on from SharpReading Stages 1&2 instruction ('Developing Decoding Fluency') to Stage 3 ('Teach Comprehension Skills').

• The reader must demonstrate reasonable fluency at a reading age of 7 or above. That means a good flow as they are reading (automatic word recognition) not hesitant word-by-word decoding.

• As unfamiliar / multisyllabic words start appearing in the text they are reading (at around a reading age of 7-8 years) the reader must have an efficient word attack strategy so they can sound out and chunk to solve these word challenges.

• The reader must be monitoring their reading and self-correcting miscues especially visual clues ("That doesn't look right!").

• The reader must be able to hold onto the gist of the sentence. This means they are using the newfound space in their working memory to ‘hold onto meaning’ even though they may not be constructing the meaning for themselves ( Stage 2 fluency).

Students in Junior Classrooms 
The usual expectation is that students in the first two years of school will be working on Stages 1&2 (Developing Decoding Fluency). Towards the end of the second year, some may be meeting the criteria above and could be ready for Comprehension Instruction.

Students in Middle and Upper Primary Classrooms
In the middle and upper school (7-13 year olds) most students will be reading at or above their chronological age and will meet the criteria above. Whether they have a reading age of 7 or 15+, all students must work their way through Stage 3 as this is the foundation which Stages 4-6 are built upon.

CLICK HERE for our 'SharpReading Scope and Sequence' for schools where SharpReading has been implemented over a number of years.

In every middle and upper primary classroom, there will be a number of student who still have decoding issues (1 or 2 years behind their chronological age is a useful marker) and will not be ready for the challenges of Stage 3.

For advice on what to do with these students, click on the link to "The Struggling Older Reader".