| NSW Department of Education Literacy and Numeracy Teaching Strategies - Reading

Literal comprehension
Stage 4

Learning focus
Students will use a range of texts to locate and interpret directly stated information, including multimodal and
digital texts. Students will use skimming and scanning strategies to identify key words to respond to tasks.

Syllabus outcome
The following teaching and learning strategies will assist in covering elements of the following outcomes:
 EN4-1A: responds to and composes texts for understanding, interpretation, critical analysis,
imaginative expression and pleasure
 EN4-2A: effectively uses a widening range of processes, skills, strategies and knowledge for
responding to and composing texts in different media and technologies
 EN4-2B: uses and describes language forms, features and structures of texts appropriate to a range
of purposes, audiences and contexts.

Year 7 NAPLAN item descriptors

 analyses the meaning of a quotation
 interprets directly stated information in a narrative
 locates directly stated information in a narrative
 interprets directly stated information in a persuasive text
 interprets directly stated information in an information text
 interprets information in an information text.

Literacy Learning Progression guide

Understanding Texts (UnT9-UnT11)
Key: C=comprehension P=process V=vocabulary

UnT9
 selects reading/viewing pathways appropriate to reading purpose (scans text for key phrases or
close reading for learning) (P)
 justifies an opinion or response by citing evidence from a text (C)
 classifies ideas or information for a set tasks or purpose (C)

education.nsw.gov.au
UnT10
 reads and views moderately complex or some sophisticated texts (see Text complexity) (C)
 synthesises information from a variety of complex texts (C)
 integrates automatically a range of processes such as predicting, confirming predictions, monitoring,
and connecting relevant elements of the text to build meaning (P)

UnT11
 reads and view sophisticated texts (see Text complexity) (C)
 identifies relevant and irrelevant information in texts (P)

Resources
 Australian Convict Sites - Appendix 1
 Fact-question-response on photosynthesis - Appendix 2
 Cloze passage ‘Ripples’ - Appendix 3

Background information
Literal Comprehension
Literal comprehension is often referred to as the ‘on the page’ comprehension; it is what the reader can see
and hear from the page. Surface level comprehension is the simplest form of comprehension and requires
students to locate directly stated information. Finding the main idea, summarising, identifying key facts and
understanding vocabulary are key building blocks of literal comprehension.

Questioning before, during and after reading a text is the key component of building comprehension skills
(Singer, 1978).

Literal comprehension questions are the “how, what, who, when, where” types of questions in their most
basic form. The answer is clearly evident, for example, who did Little Red Riding Hood visit? Where did her
grandmother live? What was in Litter Red Riding Hood’s basket? Readers will use decoding skills, as well
as syntax and semantic skills to recognise and remember directly stated information.

Skimming
Skimming happens when the reader is unfamiliar with a text and skims to find out what type of text it is to
get the general idea. Some strategies to use include:

 read the first and last paragraphs

 look for general information
 use headlines, page layout, graphs, diagrams and charts, pictures, highlights.

2 Reading: Literal comprehension Stage 4

Scanning
Scanning happens when the reader knows something about what the text is about but wants to find out
more and scan to find specific information and key words. Strategies to use include:

 look over the text quickly to locate words and sentences that link to what you need to find out
 use contents pages, first and last sentences in a paragraph, subheadings, captions, bold key words,
hyperlinks etc.

Where to next?
 Inference
 Main idea
 Text features

© NSW Department of Education, Nov-24

Teaching strategies
Task 1: Skimming and scanning
1. Teacher to review student understanding of literal comprehension by creating and referring to a KWL
chart on the topic of literal comprehension: what we know, what we want to know and what we learnt
during the lesson.
2. Skimming: Teacher explicitly teaches students how to skim ‘Australian Convict Sites’ (Appendix 1) to
identify the general idea by: reading the first and last paragraph; looking for general information; and
using structural features such as headings and sub-headings. Teacher displays Appendix 1 for
students to practise skimming to find the general idea or gist of the text. Students record the main
idea of the text on whiteboards, butcher’s paper or sticky notes to display. Compare interpretations of
main idea and some up with a whole-class collaboration of the overarching idea of the text.
3. Scanning: Teacher demonstrates scanning a text for the answer to a literal question e.g. What are
some World Heritage-listed Australian convict sites in NSW? Teacher highlights or circles key words
and demonstrates how to navigate the text by using a think aloud and noticing the supporting
graphics, headings and sub-headings to locate and interpret information. Using the same text, the
teacher asks literal questions for students to race to find the information by using key words from the
question, for example, how many sites are in Tasmania?

Task 2: Summarising and linking main ideas

1. Students are given a paragraph or section from ‘Australian Convict Sites’ (Appendix 1) to analyse.
Students develop their own coding system to identify key vocabulary, main idea and supporting
ideas. Students add these to a class anchor chart (butcher’s paper, smartboard, Google Doc).
Alternate Task: students select and use a graphic organiser to best represent their information.
Paragraph Key vocabulary Supporting ideas Main idea
1
2
3
4

2. Using the information on the anchor chart or poster, teams are given one row of information
(paragraph, key vocabulary, area addressed and main idea) to create a summary. The summary
may be in the form of dot points or in a paragraph.

4 Reading: Literal comprehension Stage 4

Task 3: Fact-question-response
1. Teacher to lead brainstorm using the word ‘photosynthesis’ to build background information and
predict vocabulary. Students are given Appendix 2 and use the text analysis guide to annotate.

Text Analysis Guide:

What to look for How to identify

subject-specific language highlight with one colour

unknown terms highlight with a second colour

repeated words circle

topic sentences underline

key messages or ideas highlight with a third colour

cause and effect circle with arrows connecting

2. Students complete the fact-question-response chart (Appendix 2) using the information from the text
excerpt on photosynthesis in Appendix 2.

Task 4: Locating directly stated information

1. Teacher selects a range of fiction and non-fiction texts, websites, short videos, journal articles
etc. Students devise a set of literal comprehension questions using question stems: who, what,
when, where, how. Questions can be put on sticky notes and attached to the text. Students walk
around and add answers to the questions.
2. Multimodal Texts: Students watch Behind the News or a TED-Ed Talk linking to a current area of
learning. On the second view, teacher pauses for students to create a literal comprehension
question. These are shared, ensuring they can be answered using the information presented.
Swap with a partner and answer and repeat throughout viewing where appropriate.

© NSW Department of Education, Nov-24

Task 5: Cloze
1. Have students brainstorm vocabulary in response to the word ripples. Keep displayed throughout the
learning, adding vocabulary to the word bank.
2. Students read text (Appendix 3), or alternatively, a text linked to current unit of learning, and
determine a suitable vocabulary choice. Share with a partner and add alternate words that still
maintain the meaning of the text.
3. Students design their own cloze passages to share with a partner, focusing on important vocabulary
omissions that will allow the reader to maintain meaning, for example, omitting words such as
‘interesting’ or ‘event’ rather than ‘the’ or ‘and’.

Variation: students suggest two synonyms for their partner to choose between one that fits the
context and one which does not.

6 Reading: Literal comprehension Stage 4

Appendix 1
Skimming and scanning

Australian convict sites World Heritage-listed

Australia’s newest World Heritage Site Australian convict sites
Eleven Australian convict sites, spread over three states and Tasmanian sites
Norfolk Island, constitute one single World Heritage Site. The sites  Brickendon-Woolmers
were selected as pre-eminent examples that show Australia’s rich Estates
convict history. There are more than 3000 convict sites around  Cascades Female Factory
Australia.  Coal Mines Historic Site
 Darlington Probation Station
What is World Heritage?  Port Arthur Historic Site
‘World Heritage is the designation for places on Earth that are of
NSW sites
outstanding universal value to humanity and as such, have been
 Cockatoo Island
inscribed on the World Heritage List to be protected for future
 Hyde Park Barracks
generations to appreciate and enjoy.’ (UNESCO)
 Old Government House and
Worldwide, there are over 900 World Heritage Sites, including the Government Domain
Stonehenge, Venice and Kilimanjaro National Park. Australia has  Old Great North Road
eighteen Sites, including Kakadu and the Sydney Opera House. WA site

Why were the Australian Convict Sites granted World  Fremantle prison
Heritage status? Norfolk Island site
To be selected for World Heritage listing, a site has to meet at least
 Kingston and Arthur’s Vale
one of UNESCO’s ten criteria, of which six are cultural criteria and historic area
four are natural criteria. The Australian Convict Sites were awarded
World Heritage status on the basis of these two criteria:

iv. to be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape

which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history
v. to be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic
and literary works of outstanding universal significance. (The Committee considers that this criterion should
preferably be used in conjunction with other criteria.)

More than 160 000 men, women and children were condemned to transportation from Britain to Australia
between 1787 and 1868. The Australian convict sites – steeped in this history – have no equivalent
elsewhere in the world, so they are unique in their ability to improve our knowledge and understanding of
the convict era. The forced migration of prisoners represented a shift in global ideas and beliefs about
punishment and reform. Transportation as a form of psychological punishment was a new way to deter
crime and reform criminals through hard labour: labour upon which a new colony and a new society would
be built. (Year 7 NAPLAN Reading Magazine 2012, ACARA)

© NSW Department of Education, Nov-24

8 Reading: Literal comprehension Stage 4
Appendix 2
Student copy: Fact-question-response

Fact Question Response

Fungi do not ‘do’ Do both fungi and plants use Only plants, not fungi, use the
photosynthesis but plants do. the process of process of photosynthesis
photosynthesis?

In 1771, English chemist

Joseph Priestly conducted the
first experiments with
photosynthesis.

Oxygen was discovered after

1771.

© NSW Department of Education, Nov-24

Appendix 2
Student text for fact-question-response
Photosynthesis
The big difference between ‘plants’ and ‘fungi’ is that plants can do ‘photosynthesis’, but fungi
cannot.

It was way back in 1771 when the English chemist Joseph Priestly did the first experiments with
photosynthesis. This was even before oxygen had been discovered. Priestly burned a candle
inside a closed jar. Sure enough, once the oxygen inside the jar had been consumed, the flame
went out. He then inserted a sprig of mint into the narrow mouth of the jar. After a few days, the
sprig of mint had made enough oxygen to again support a flame.

Photosynthesis is the process where a plant captures the energy of sunlight. It uses this energy to
turn water and carbon dioxide into carbohydrates (simple sugars) and oxygen.

Speaking of ‘carbon’, all life on our planet is based on the element carbon. This element is present
in practically every chemical in our body. (But not in water, which is made only from the elements
‘hydrogen’ and ‘oxygen’.)

More than 2.7 billion years ago, there was no photosynthesis. The cyanobacteria were able to grab
carbon dioxide from the air around them and split it into carbon and oxygen. They kept the carbon
for themselves to incorporate in their body. The oxygen was released into the atmosphere. Plants
evolved from the early cyanobacteria. And this is how we got oxygen.

But fungi are different from plants, even though they grow in the same soil. They can’t do
photosynthesis. So the only way they can get carbon is by ‘eating’ some organic chemicals in the
soil and breaking them down. These organic chemicals can come from rotting wood and leaves,
animal droppings and compost.

Curious and Curiouser: Burping cows, bending spoons, beer goggles and other scintillating
scientific stories – Dr Karl Kruszelnicki (Macmillan, 2010)

10 Reading: Literal comprehension Stage 4

Appendix 3
Student copy: cloze passage
How do ripples form and why do they spread out across the water?
By Simon Cox (Curious Kids, The Conversation, October, 2019)

When I was playing ‘splash rocks’, I noticed that when I threw the rock into the river it made a circle shape,
which got bigger. How does it make the ripple? Why do the circles spread out further and further? Why do
they stop? – Rowan, aged six, UK.

Hi Rowan, these are good questions, and a fun experiment to do.

When you throw a rock into a river, it pushes water out of the way, making a __________________ that
moves away from where it landed. As the rock falls deeper into the river, the water near the
__________________ rushes back to fill in the space it left behind.

The water usually rushes back too enthusiastically, causing a splash – and the bigger the rock, the
__________________ the splash. The splash then creates even more ripples that tend to move away from
where the rock went into the water.

When water is in its calmest, lowest energy state, it has a flat surface. By throwing the rock into the river,
you have given the water some __________________. That causes the water to move around, trying to
spread out the energy so it can go back to having a still, flat __________________.

This follows a powerful principle of __________________, which is that everything seeks to find a state
where its energy is as small as possible.

One way energy can move around is by forming __________________. For example, the waves you see at
the beach are formed by energy from the wind. Light and sound also move in waves, though we can’t see
that directly. And the ripples that you see in the river are small waves carrying away the energy from where
you threw the rock.

Up and down
You might already know that everything you can touch is made up of lots of tiny molecules, which are
themselves made up of even __________________ parts called atoms.

Water is also made of __________________. But during a ripple, the water molecules don’t move away
from the rock, as you might expect. They actually move up and down. When they move up, they drag the
other molecules next to them up – then they move down, dragging the molecules next to them down too.

That’s what creates the peaks and troughs you see on the __________________ of the water. And that’s
how the ripple travels away from your rock – a bit like a human wave around a stadium.

© NSW Department of Education, Nov-24

Dragging neighbouring water molecules up and down is hard work, and slowly uses up energy, so the
ripples get smaller as they get further away. Eventually, the ripples use up all the energy from the rock and
the splash, and shrink until we can no longer see them.

Rippling out

Ripples often spread out in circles, but this isn’t the only possibility. If you throw a stick into the water it will
create straight ripples on the sides, and round ripples near the ends. So your rock probably made
__________________ ripples because the rock itself was quite round.

But something else is happening too: different waves move at different speeds. Waves with a lot of energy
move more quickly. For example, really big tidal waves, or tsunamis, race across the ocean as fast as a
plane flies (up to 800 kilometres per hour).

When you throw a stick into the water, the ripples from the middle of the stick eventually catch up with the
__________________ from the ends, because of the different ways they spread out. So far away from the
stick, the ripples are round … just like they were for your rock.

12 Reading: Literal comprehension Stage 4

Appendix 3
Teacher answers: cloze passage
How do ripples form and why do they spread out across the water?
By Simon Cox (‘Curious Kids”, The conversation, October, 2019)
When I was playing “splash rocks”, I noticed that when I threw the rock into the river it made a circle shape,
which got bigger. How does it make the ripple? Why do the circles spread out further and further? Why do
they stop? – Rowan, aged six, UK.
Hi Rowan, these are good questions, and a fun experiment to do.
When you throw a rock into a river, it pushes water out of the way, making a ripple that moves away from
where it landed. As the rock falls deeper into the river, the water near the surface rushes back to fill in the
space it left behind.
The water usually rushes back too enthusiastically, causing a splash – and the bigger the rock, the bigger
the splash. The splash then creates even more ripples that tend to move away from where the rock went
into the water.
When water is in its calmest, lowest energy state, it has a flat surface. By throwing the rock into the river,
you have given the water some energy. That causes the water to move around, trying to spread out the
energy so it can go back to having a still, flat surface.
This follows a powerful principle of physics, which is that everything seeks to find a state where its energy is
as small as possible.
One way energy can move around is by forming waves. For example, the waves you see at the beach are
formed by energy from the wind. Light and sound also move in waves, though we can’t see that directly. And
the ripples that you see in the river are small waves carrying away the energy from where you threw the
rock.
Up and down
You might already know that everything you can touch is made up of lots of tiny molecules, which are
themselves made up of even smaller parts called atoms.
Water is also made of molecules. But during a ripple, the water molecules don’t move away from the rock,
as you might expect. They actually move up and down. When they move up, they drag the other molecules
next to them up – then they move down, dragging the molecules next to them down too.
That’s what creates the peaks and troughs you see on the surface of the water. And that’s how the ripple
travels away from your rock – a bit like a human wave around a stadium.
Dragging neighbouring water molecules up and down is hard work, and slowly uses up energy, so the
ripples get smaller as they get further away. Eventually, the ripples use up all the energy from the rock and
the splash, and shrink until we can no longer see them.
Rippling out
Ripples often spread out in circles, but this isn’t the only possibility. If you throw a stick into the water it will
create straight ripples on the sides, and round ripples near the ends. So your rock probably made circular
ripples because the rock itself was quite round.
But something else is happening too: different waves move at different speeds. Waves with a lot of energy
move more quickly. For example, really big tidal waves, or tsunamis, race across the ocean as fast as a
plane flies (up to 800 kilometres per hour).
When you throw a stick into the water, the ripples from the middle of the stick eventually catch up with the
ripples from the ends, because of the different ways they spread out. So far away from the stick, the ripples
are round … just like they were for your rock.

© NSW Department of Education, Nov-24