Theories
There are many different theories relating to reading comprehension. While only 2 are discussed in detail on this page this is not because the others are not important but rather that these are the two theories that best relate to the strategies discussed.
Bloom's theory of comprehension
Bloom's theory of comprehension consists of six levels of comprehension: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation. In 2001 a revised Bloom's theory was released. Created by Anderson and Krathwohl (Krathwohl, 2002) the revised levels are: remembering, understanding, applying, analysing, evaluating and creating. Each of these levels is designed to require a higher level of thinking than the previous. Knowledge consists of the ability to answer the basic who, what, where type questions. Understanding involves being able to translate into their own words and interpret. Apply is the skill of being able to take the knowledge and apply to other situations while analysing is the ability to break it down into parts. Evaluating involves being able to criticize or defend, compare or judge what has been read while create involves the ability to put all the elements together to create a new product. Bloom's theory of comprehension can be used for learning or assessing (Hill, 2008). As each level involves a higher level of thinking students need to be able to master one level before the next. However to accurately assess reading comprehension a variety of questions covering each of these levels are important.
Schema theory
Schema theory is about the importance of applying prior knowledge to a text before starting to read (Norton, 2007). The theory suggests that it is the way a reader's knowledge is organised about a topic that will affect their ability to comprehend the text they are reading. Norton discusses that the national reading panel (2000) found that activating prior knowledge helps children not only understand but also remember what they read. Some strategies that can help children activate prior knowledge include holding discussions before starting to read, providing information to increase prior knowledge before reading and identifying any gaps in the student (s) knowledge. Schema theory make use of some of the strategies we are about to look at, most notably the use of maps and timelines.