Comprehension
Comprehension is one of the hardest things to teach a student that is struggling to read. A child can read and read, but retain nothing from the material. Comprehension, or understanding, often decreases as text complexity increases. As a reader understands less and less, their interest wanes, which leads to a further lack of retention. In short, reading is hard, and retaining what was read is even harder.
In recent years (or maybe not so recent) a strategy has emerged which has become fairly popular among teachers interested in increasing a student’s reading retention. It is called the Self Questioning Strategy, and has been shown to increase student’s test scores by 50 to 100%. That may not seem impressive to some, but for an English teacher, this is music to ones ears.
Now, before venturing further, the obvious question to get out of the way is, will this be an exhortation on how to improve my reading skills? Yes. Absolutely. And with little to no tweaking, the self-questioning strategy can be applied to our spiritual lives as well, both in how we read the Scriptures, to how we conduct ourselves in our daily walk.
But first, let me explain the strategy. There are books upon books explaining in detail how to properly administer the strategy among a class of intrepid young learners. There are tests, charts, and data that should be collected by the teacher, imputed and analyzed for the strategy to have a lasting effect on student’s scores. But if you are just looking to read a story or an article and get more information out of it, let me walk you through the steps.
- Divide a paper into three columns. Label in order, questions, predictions, answers.
- Having done this, number the paragraphs (sentences for shorter articles). DO NOT READ THE TEXT!
- Now, the prep work being done, you may read…
THE TITLE!
One thing you will notice doing this strategy, is you never read a lot at a time. This is super helpful for novice readers, as they do not get overwhelmed by the text. But for experienced readers, this can prove frustrating and tedious. Don’t despair! Having read the title, turn to your chart, and ask a question. It is best to ask open ended questions, more “Where is this article taking place,” less “will he take out the garbage?” Upon asking the question, we then make a prediction. What do we think the answer will be to the question we ask? Predictions should be based on real world experience and what we have read already.
For example, if the title is “Zoo Time,” I might ask a question like: “What does the author mean by zoo time?” Seeing as all I have read is the title, my prediction may be as simple as “I think this is about a time he or she went to the zoo.” I do not, however, answer the question, because I am looking for that in the text (which I cannot emphasize enough, I HAVEN’T READ). The prediction is what I know before I read, the answer is what I find when I read. All good? Still with me? So far, we have read the title, asked a question, and made a prediction. Now, forging ahead, we read the first paragraph. And STOP!
Now, before we do anything, we need to see, did our question get answered? If it did, we write the answer down and where we found it. But what if it wasn’t answered? Well, it is important that we do not get tempted to making something up to fill in the missing answer. If the answer isn’t there, then we leave the blank, well, blank. Now, having read the title, and the first paragraph, we now write a new question that we hope will give us more information to the article, one we hope will be answered by the end. And, yes, we must also make a prediction: as we read on, we can answer any previously unanswered questions with new information as we find it.
So, in short, the process is as follows:
- Ask a question.
- Make a prediction.
- Read a paragraph.
- Answer any questions with what we read.
- Repeat until finished with the article.
It seems like a lot of work, and frankly it makes the reading take at least twice as long, but the amount of information retained will increase dramatically. It stems from the idea that we ask questions because we do not know the answers. It serves little purpose to ask: what color is my car, when we know the answer already. By asking quality questions and actively seeking the answers, we are more likely to retain the information read.
Our Daily Readings
This is not just a great study tool for a book, or for the local paper, but in our daily readings as well. Is there a confusing chapter that we are preparing for Wednesday night class? Break it apart by the verses and ask genuine questions that we want answered. By focusing our questions, and asking questions we don’t know the answers to, we can glean more useful information from the words.
Yes, many of us already do this, a verse by verse analysis of a chapter, but often we find ourselves discussing points and questions that have already been answered or discussed, or we ask simplistic yes/no questions, without much if any spiritual growth or retention taking place.
And this principle applies to our daily life. We should constantly be asking questions about our walk. “What will happen if I do this?” “Is this action Christ-like?” “What does God expect me to be doing?”
“My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
This is a great example for a man asking a key question in his life, one we have sometimes wondered ourselves when times have overcome us with hardships. And David was a man like us who wondered this same thing:
“My God, my God, why have You forsaken me, and are far from my deliverance, and from the words of my groaning? (Psa 22:1 NKJV).
We often ask questions like this, but do we often think through and try to solve the puzzle? We cannot stop at the question, and David is a clear example of the next step.
“O my God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not answer; and in the night, and am not silent. But You are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. Our fathers trusted in You; they trusted, and You delivered them. They cried to You, and were delivered; they trusted in You, and were not ashamed. But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised by the people. All who see Me mock me; they shoot out the lip; they shake the head, saying, He trusted on Jehovah; let Him deliver Him; let Him rescue Him, since He delights in Him! For You are He who took Me out of the womb, causing Me to trust while on My mother’s breasts” (Psa 22:2-9).
Predictions
David’s prediction, if you will, was that God was not with him because he was unworthy. Despite the fact that the history of Israel was filled with times of being delivered from turmoil, David’s only solution was that he must not be of that caliber.
Sometimes we get this far in our self-questioning. We ask the question, and we sometimes make a prediction.
- Q: “What will happen if I miss meeting one week?”
- P: “I might miss out on the company of my brothers and sisters.”
- Q: “What does God expect me to be doing?”
- P: “Do my readings, go to meeting, hold memorial.”
These predictions are based on our prior knowledge and experience. And often they are faulty.
In the question, “What does God expect?” while the prediction was not incorrect, it was incomplete. Predictions often are, because they are not founded on anything more than prior knowledge.
That is why, whether in an article, or a chapter of Scripture, or in our daily lives, we must do the next step, because it is crucial.
- Seek the answers.
Unless we do this step, asking a question as to “why has god Forsaken me” is useless. Even if we make a prediction, that is not enough. Not without the answers. And the only way we can get answers, is if we read.
David did just this:
“You who fear Jehovah, praise Him; all of you, the seed of Jacob, glorify Him; and fear Him all the seed of Israel. For He has not despised nor hated the affliction of the afflicted; and He has not hidden His face from him, but when he cried to Him, He heard. My praise shall be of You in the great congregation; I will pay My vows before the ones who fear Him. The meek shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek Jehovah shall praise Him; your heart shall live forever. All the ends of the world shall remember and turn to Jehovah; and all the families of the nations shall worship before You. For the kingdom is Jehovah’s; and He is the ruler among the nations. All the fat ones on the earth shall eat and worship; all those who go down to the dust shall bow before Him; and none can keep alive his own soul. A seed shall serve Him; it shall be spoken of Jehovah to the coming generation. They shall come, and shall declare His righteousness to a people that shall yet be born, that He has done this” (Psa 22:23-31 NKJV).
Perhaps David was recalling the story of Job, and the trials meant to test his faith. Perhaps he read about the tests Jacob went through, and the lessons he learned to rely on God. Whatever he read, David came to the conclusion that God would not abandon him, any more than he had abandoned his servants of old. And the solution, or answer to his question is evidenced in the following Psalm:
“A Psalm of David. Jehovah is my Shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table for me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I shall dwell in the house of Jehovah forever” (Psa 23:1-6).
The Lord would be with him, and would keep him safe as long as he put his trust and faith in the lord.
- Q: Why hast thou forsaken me?
- P: It is because I am a worm.
- A: The lord will deliver those who trust in him. This is what I must do.
David asked, made a prediction, and searched for the answer. The missing answer
Sometimes though, just as when we ask questions about articles, or about readings, no matter how much we read, the answer isn’t there. Often it is and is not the answer we wanted, but sometimes, it just isn’t visible. “Why did this happen to me?” “When will God put an end to this?” “How much more till we are finished?”
“And He went a little further and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will” (Matt 23:9).
Not worded as a question, but a query none the less. “Must I endure this?” Followed by a prediction: “if it is God’s will then yes.”
I have no doubt that Christ was reading, or even recalling, Scripture fervently that night, seeking the answer to his all important question. And he makes a very good prediction, basing it on flawless understanding of God’s plan and purpose. But his answer would not be one he wanted, or even one he would find until it was over.
Sometimes, the answers to our questions are not immediate. Sometimes we do not see them at all. Still we must seek them. We must search, knowing that our current understanding is not enough. We should implore the Lord when we need to make a decision. Ask Him when we are unsure of the path ahead. Ask, even when we are sure, and seek the answer, to be assured or be redirected.
Ask when we meet a stranger “How can I help them to the truth?” Ask when we see a brother or sister “how can I be a strength or comfort to them?” “Am I being a strength or comfort to them?”
Question: “Why have I come to this memorial?”
Prediction: I am here to remember the last supper, to break bread and drink of the cup. I am here to seek forgiveness of my sins. I am here because it was commanded of me. I am here because I want this more than anything the flesh has to offer.
“And as they were eating, Jesus took bread and blessed it, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat, this is My body. And He took the cup and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink all of it. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on, until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom. And singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives” (Matt 26:26-30).
Answer: I am here because I am waiting for that day when Christ will return and drink it new with me in his Father’s kingdom. I am here because of the covenant that was made by the pouring of his blood for the remission of sins.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One