Comprehension Cloze - Greenridge Primary School
Comprehension Cloze - Greenridge Primary School
Comprehension Cloze - Greenridge Primary School
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PSLE SEMINAR 2010<br />
<strong>Greenridge</strong><br />
<strong>Primary</strong> <strong>School</strong><br />
English Department
<strong>Comprehension</strong> and<br />
<strong>Comprehension</strong> <strong>Cloze</strong><br />
Strategies
PSLE Report<br />
Two main areas of concern are:<br />
(i)<br />
<strong>Comprehension</strong> Open-end<br />
(ii) <strong>Comprehension</strong> <strong>Cloze</strong><br />
Below National Average
Weightage<br />
Components EL FEL<br />
<strong>Comprehension</strong><br />
<strong>Comprehension</strong> <strong>Cloze</strong><br />
17.5% 10%
Tuning‐in Activity
Jibber jabber<br />
Webber woober<br />
Tibber<br />
Shabber<br />
tabber<br />
shibber
<strong>Comprehension</strong> OE<br />
• Reading a text is one thing…<br />
• …understanding and making sense of the text is<br />
another.<br />
• Understanding what the question exactly wants.<br />
• How to craft the answer to fit the question.<br />
• Tenses, punctuation, sentence structure.
Strategies for handling<br />
<strong>Comprehension</strong> OE<br />
Step 1 : Read through the questions.<br />
• This is to ensure that there is a<br />
purpose for reading the passage<br />
(setting the direction).
Step 2 :<br />
Step 3 :<br />
Strategies for handling<br />
<strong>Comprehension</strong> OE<br />
Read the passage.<br />
Look at the question and use CUB<br />
strategies to simplify the question.<br />
• Find answers in the passage and tailor them<br />
to fit the requirements of the question.
Strategies for handling<br />
<strong>Comprehension</strong> OE<br />
Step 4 : Re-read the section of the passage, if<br />
necessary.<br />
• Read answers to ensure that the sentence<br />
structure is sound, answers are correct and<br />
punctuation is in place.<br />
Step 5 :<br />
If time permits, re-read the passage<br />
and re-check the validity of the<br />
answers.
The types of questions asked:<br />
• Recall / literal<br />
• Inferential<br />
• Application<br />
Questions
Examples<br />
• A recall / literal question:<br />
2. What caused the car to stop in the<br />
desert?<br />
The leaking radiator caused the<br />
car to stop in the desert.
Let’s read the passage…<br />
I had decided to take the route across the dry bush-covered<br />
Kalahari Desert on my way to Windhoek in South-West Africa as<br />
this ill-defined trail would cut my journey by a thousand kilometres.<br />
Having started on this journey, I now found myself really out of<br />
luck. A slow leak had emptied the radiator of my car and I was forty<br />
kilometres from the nearest native village. I could not help wishing<br />
that I had a burst tyre instead – I could have replaced it without any<br />
help.
Examples<br />
• An inferential question:<br />
What sort of a person was the writer?<br />
The writer was a cautious person.
… The Bushman was squatting behind some tall brown grass.<br />
When he realised that I was looking at him, he stood up and walked<br />
slowly towards me. He smiled at me. As he came closer to the car,<br />
he began to talk in his own strange language. His face showed that<br />
he could not understand why I was not more friendly. (I felt a little<br />
ashamed) but I still did not trust him for I had heard many stories<br />
about Bushmen who showed little mercy to travellers.
Examples<br />
• An application question:<br />
8. Explain clearly why the writer was<br />
jealous of the Bushman.<br />
The Bushman had a fire to keep<br />
himself warm, while the writer<br />
remained in the car in the cold night.
… When night came, I found that I was rather grateful that the<br />
Bushman was near. Night was a lonely time in the desert. I was less<br />
afraid while another human being was close by. I envied him as he<br />
made his fire of dry sticks – the night had become suddenly cold.<br />
Every few minutes, the Bushman turned and waved at me. He<br />
seemed to be telling me that he would be my guardian angel<br />
throughout the long night. Gradually, I felt less afraid and finally,<br />
I’ve slept, still in my car.
CUB Strategy
Circle<br />
Examples:<br />
What<br />
When<br />
the question stem<br />
CUB Strategy<br />
caused the car to stop in the desert?<br />
did the writer start to feel frightened?<br />
Explain clearly why the writer did not “get out and<br />
explore” (line 10).
Underline<br />
Examples:<br />
What caused<br />
CUB Strategy<br />
the tense marker<br />
the car to stop in the desert?<br />
The car stopped __________.<br />
When did<br />
the writer start to feel frightened?<br />
He started to feel _________.
Examples (cont’d):<br />
CUB Strategy<br />
Explain clearly why the writer did<br />
explore” (line 10).<br />
not “get out and<br />
The writer did not get out and explore because<br />
__________.
Bracket<br />
Examples:<br />
CUB Strategy<br />
the key phrase<br />
When did the writer (start to feel frightened)?<br />
Explain clearly why the writer (did not “get out and<br />
explore)” (line 10).<br />
Why did the writer (feel “a little ashamed”)?
… The sun flared murderously overhead and made an oven of the<br />
car. There was no breeze and, to add to the discomfort, stinging<br />
sand-flies were beginning to mass on the inside of the windscreen.<br />
All this was bad enough but not until I spotted a Bushman – a<br />
member of the hunting and gathering people of Africa – (did I feel<br />
any sense of real danger).
… The Bushman was squatting behind some tall brown grass.<br />
When he realised that I was looking at him, he stood up and walked<br />
slowly towards me. He smiled at me. As he came closer to the car,<br />
he began to talk in his own strange language. His face showed that<br />
he could not understand why I was not more friendly. (I felt a little<br />
ashamed) but I still did not trust him for I had heard many stories<br />
about Bushmen who showed little mercy to travellers.
Question Stems<br />
What is a question really asking<br />
for?
ALL ANSWERS MUST BE IN COMPLETE SENTENCES<br />
State<br />
2. What<br />
caused<br />
the car to stop in the desert?<br />
The leaking radiator caused the car to stop in<br />
the desert.<br />
Explain<br />
4. After the writer’s car had come to a stop, how did<br />
he try to get help?<br />
He hooted the horn of the car regularly every<br />
ten minutes to attract the attention of anyone<br />
passing by to help him.
6. When<br />
8.<br />
Time<br />
did<br />
Explain clearly why<br />
Bushman.<br />
the writer start to feel frightened?<br />
The writer began to feel frightened when he saw the<br />
Bushman.<br />
Reason<br />
the writer was<br />
jealous of the<br />
The Bushman had a fire to keep himself warm, while the<br />
writer remained in the car in the cold night.<br />
“Where”<br />
indicates a place.<br />
“Who” indicates a person or a group of people.
<strong>Comprehension</strong><br />
<strong>Cloze</strong>
How to go about a<br />
<strong>Comprehension</strong> <strong>Cloze</strong><br />
Step 1 : Activate prior knowledge by reading<br />
through the passage once without filling<br />
in the blanks.<br />
• This helps you to pick out the passage’s<br />
theme and think about words associated<br />
with the theme.
How to go about a<br />
<strong>Comprehension</strong> <strong>Cloze</strong><br />
Step 2 : Use of contextual clues.<br />
Contextual clues are hints purposefully or deliberately put in<br />
the passage to help you find the answer to the<br />
blanks provided.<br />
• Identify the contextual clues<br />
• Fill in the blanks<br />
• Check for context<br />
• Check for grammar markers
How to go about a<br />
<strong>Comprehension</strong> <strong>Cloze</strong><br />
Step 3 : Read through the passage once the<br />
blanks have been filled in to ensure that<br />
it is coherent and grammatically sound.
Hands-on activity:<br />
<strong>Comprehension</strong> <strong>Cloze</strong> –<br />
Passage (Part 1)<br />
– Identifying contextual clues
peak<br />
stared<br />
Leo looked towards the summit of the mountain. His eyes remained fixed there as he<br />
climb,<br />
began his ________ ascent to the top. It had taken him an hour to get from his home to the base of<br />
(1)<br />
the mountain. He did not want to waste time standing there _________ any longer.<br />
recalled,<br />
(2)<br />
As he climbed the mountain, he ___________ rememberedthe<br />
intense hours of training he had<br />
boost<br />
(3)<br />
undergone to __________ build up his stamina for that day’s challenge. The desire to conquer<br />
(4)<br />
Mount Trafalgar had been a childhood __________ dream of his. Many of his friends and relatives<br />
(5)<br />
realise<br />
had wanted to view the scenery from the top, but had not pursued their wish to __________<br />
over<br />
their dream. Their interest had simply waned __________ the years.<br />
(7)<br />
(6)
<strong>Comprehension</strong> <strong>Cloze</strong> –<br />
Passage (Part 2)<br />
Hands-on activity:
For three months, Leo had _________<br />
put<br />
himself through a daily training schedule<br />
(8)<br />
_________ consisting of long-distance running, sprinting and weight-lifting. He had not trained so hard<br />
(9)<br />
since<br />
_________ his National Service. The thought of reaching the summit spurred him<br />
(10)<br />
_________. on<br />
(11)<br />
racing,<br />
climb,<br />
beating<br />
conquer<br />
With his heart ________ wildly, Leo pressed on in his desire to ________ the<br />
(12)<br />
(13)<br />
mountain. His breathing became more laboured as he neared the top. After what seemed like<br />
finally,<br />
rooted,<br />
an eternity, he was _________ standing at the peak of Mount Trafalgar. He stood ________ glued<br />
to the<br />
(14)<br />
pure (15)<br />
spot and admired the scenery spread before him, It was sheer delight!
Read through the completed passage
Q & A
Thank<br />
you!