2.3 Comprehension & Text Structure

Levels of Comprehension

Comprehension is not a single skill; it is layered. A Georgia P-5 teacher writes questions and tasks across all four levels.

A GACE item might ask which level of comprehension a question targets. "Why did the author include the photograph of the flooded street?" is evaluative — the student must judge the author's choice, not recall a fact or infer a character's motivation.

Comprehension Strategies

These are the cognitive routines a teacher explicitly models, then guides, then watches students use independently (the gradual release of responsibility):

• Predicting — before and during reading, students anticipate what will happen next, using text and picture clues. Predictions must be revisited — confirm or revise after reading.
• Questioning — students generate their own questions (QAR: Right There, Think and Search, Author and Me, On My Own). Self-questioning sustains engagement.
• Summarizing — students restate the most important ideas in their own words, omitting details. For narratives: somebody-wanted-but-so-then. For informational text: main idea plus key supporting details.
• Visualizing — students create mental images of the setting, characters, or processes described in the text. Visualization supports both literary and informational comprehension.
• Making connections — text-to-self (a personal connection), text-to-text (a connection to another text), text-to-world (a connection to events in the world). Connections must be anchored in textual evidence, not loose personal anecdotes.

Text-Structure Signals

Transition words are the most reliable cue to text structure. Teachers post anchor charts and have students hunt for signals in authentic texts.

A student who notices however knows to expect a contrast; a student who notices therefore knows to expect a result. Teaching these signals gives students a tool for previewing as well as understanding.

Close Reading

Close reading is a multi-pass approach to a short, complex text. In elementary classrooms it typically follows three readings:

1. First reading — what does the text say? Students read for the gist, identify the main idea, and ask clarifying questions about unfamiliar vocabulary.
2. Second reading — how does the text work? Students examine craft: why the author chose this word, how the structure shapes meaning, what the text features do.
3. Third reading — what does the text mean? Students connect the text to other texts, to themselves, and to the world, and form an evidence-based opinion.

Close reading uses short texts, often re-read across several days, with text-dependent questions that require evidence from the text in every answer. It is not a worksheet; it is a classroom conversation anchored in a single passage.

Vocabulary in Context

Students encounter unfamiliar words constantly. A teacher's job is to help them use context clues rather than skip the word or immediately reach for a dictionary.

Five common context-clue types appear across the elementary curriculum:

1. Definition clue — the word is defined right in the sentence. An asteroid, a small rocky body orbiting the sun, is visible through a telescope.
2. Synonym clue — a familiar word with the same meaning appears nearby. The puppy was energetic, full of bounce and life all afternoon.
3. Antonym clue — a word with the opposite meaning appears, often signaled by but, however, unlike. Unlike the timid rabbit, the bold fox approached the campsite.
4. Example clue — examples clarify the word. Predators such as lions, sharks, and hawks hunt other animals for food.
5. Inference clue — the reader must use surrounding information to infer meaning. After running the mile in the heat, Maria felt lethargic and could barely keep her eyes open.

A GACE item may present a sentence with an unfamiliar word and ask which type of context clue is present. Identify the signal word (such as = example clue; but with a contrast = antonym clue; an appositive with commas = definition clue).

Putting It Together in the Classroom

A Georgia third-grade teacher can combine these elements in a single week: a short close-reading passage on Monday (literal-level questions), a vocabulary-in-context lesson on Tuesday, a text-structure sort on Wednesday, an inferential discussion on Thursday, and an applied writing task on Friday. The GACE 702 exam expects candidates to recognize how these pieces connect — comprehension strategies are not isolated; they form a coherent literacy block.