Meaning Making
As noted in chapter 2 and previously in this chapter, meaning
making is a theme that runs throughout each of the strands
of the CA CCSS for ELA/Literacy and the CA ELD Standards.
The standards ensure that children understand texts, write to
communicate meaning, speak and listen to convey and clarify
meaning, and learn and develop their language to expand
opportunities for meaning making. This section focuses on
meaning making with text.
Meaning Making with Text
Comprehension is used synonymously with meaning making
in the context of engagement with text. (See figure 2.6 in chapter
2 for a definition of comprehension.) Comprehension is the focus
of read aloud experiences with literary and informational text. Children ask and answer questions (RL/
RI.1.1), with special, but not exclusive, emphasis on text-dependent questions, particularly those that
demand higher-level thinking. (See the overview of the span of this chapter for a discussion of text-
dependent questions.) They retell stories or information, identify the central message or main topic,
and describe story elements (characters, settings, major events) and information (RL/RI.1.2–3). They
learn about the craft and structure of literary and informational text, shifting their attention from
meaning to how meaning is conveyed as they identify words that evoke feelings or use text features
to locate information; explain differences between different genres and the purposes of various text
features (glossaries, icons, headings); and identify the source of the story (the voice) or information
(images or text) (RL/RI.1.4–6). They also attend to illustrations and details to describe characters,
settings, and events, or key ideas, and they compare and contrast the adventures and experiences of
characters and of two texts on the same topic (RL/RI.1.7, 9). Teachers provide systematic instruction
in comprehension to ensure that children understand, enjoy, and learn from texts that are being read
aloud.
Comprehension is vitally important as children gain independence with print. As beginning readers,
children use considerable mental energy to identify words when first learning to decode. Excellent
instruction ensures that they become accurate decoders and
that they build automaticity quickly so that decoding efforts are
not so demanding that they prevent comprehension. Teachers
continue, as they work with small groups and individuals,
to provide instruction in comprehension and turn children’s
attention to meaning even as children build skill with the code.
Questions are skillfully used by teachers for several
purposes. Some questions are used to assess children’s
understanding; others are used to guide understanding,
inference-making, and thinking. Some questions prompt
children to make connections between the text and their lives
or other learning. Some help children integrate information across paragraphs or pages. Some focus
children’s attention on word choice and how it impacts interpretation. Children are given opportunities
to reflect on and respond to the content of texts in a variety of ways, including critically and creatively,
and to engage in many conversations with peers and others about meaning.
EL first graders benefit from and participate in all of the instruction discussed in this chapter.
Particularly critical for EL children are opportunities for equitable interaction and a focus on meaning
making. Questioning and scaffolding are provided strategically with children’s English language
proficiency in mind.
Excellent instruction
ensures that they [students]
become accurate decoders
and that they build
automaticity quickly so that
decoding efforts are not
so demanding that they
prevent comprehension.240 | Chapter 3 Grade 1