Comprehension Skills: Monitoring Comprehension And Making Adjustments When Understanding Breaks Down (TEKS.ELA.6.5.I)
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Texas 6th Grade ELA › Comprehension Skills: Monitoring Comprehension And Making Adjustments When Understanding Breaks Down (TEKS.ELA.6.5.I)
On the cliff above Breaker Bay, the lighthouse kept watch. Tourists climbed its narrow stairs to see waves twist like ribbons below. The brochure said, "At dusk, the light, a one-eyed sentinel, blinks Morse in a tired heartbeat, shepherding boats home." That line puzzled Mia. Did the light actually blink a heartbeat? The next sentence didn't help: "Its voice, a foghorn, stitches the night." She knew lighthouses had lights and horns, but the comparisons felt like a puzzle. Was the author being poetic, or describing real signals? Mia paused, unsure how to make sense of it.
Which strategy would best help a reader understand this section?
Ask questions like "Is this figurative language? What clues show it?" and check nearby context.
Skip the confusing lines and keep reading.
Guess the meaning and move on without checking.
Read faster to get past the hard part.
Explanation
Correct: A. Asking specific questions about the figurative language and checking context helps the reader see that the author is using metaphors ("one-eyed sentinel," "stitches the night") rather than literal facts. B, C, and D ignore confusion instead of fixing it. Extension: Students annotate a tricky paragraph in their own text, highlighting where they used a comprehension fix. Scaffold: Use symbols—? for questions/confusion, underline for key clues, and a star for main ideas. Enrichment: Discuss how advanced readers adjust strategies for complex texts, such as slowing down for figurative passages or previewing structure.
During our bike ride, we stopped at the old canal. A narrow chamber sat between wooden gates, and a boat drifted inside. The guide explained, "The lock is like a staircase for water." Then he turned a wheel, and the water level rose until the boat matched the upper canal. The brochure added, "When vessels equalize, they pass smoothly." Jamie wasn't sure what "equalize" or "lock" meant. It didn't look like a door, and no one had a key. The boat didn't climb steps, either. The comparison helped a little, but the paragraph still felt foggy. Jamie wanted to understand how the lock actually worked.
Which strategy would best help a reader understand this section?
Highlight the confusing words and keep going without thinking about them.
Use background knowledge about stair steps and water levels to infer what a canal lock does.
Ignore the unfamiliar terms completely.
Memorize the sentence without trying to understand it.
Explanation
Correct: B. Using background knowledge (stair steps and water levels) helps readers infer that a lock raises or lowers boats until levels "equalize." A, C, and D avoid understanding and won't fix the confusion. Extension: Students annotate a tricky paragraph in their own text, highlighting where they used a comprehension fix. Scaffold: Use symbols—? for questions/confusion, underline for key clues, and a star for main ideas. Enrichment: Discuss how advanced readers adjust strategies, like connecting to schemas, visualizing systems, or consulting diagrams for technical passages.
At the end of the field trip, the class left the museum and waited by the bus. The chaperone said it was running late, so they moved to the shade. This disappointed some students, because they had wanted to see it before closing. When it finally arrived, the driver said that he had to check it before we could get on. That made it even slower, and they worried about missing it. Sam tried to remember what "it" meant each time, but the words blurred together, and the paragraph felt like a knot of strings. Was "it" the bus or the exhibit? The switching made every sentence unclear.
Which strategy would best help a reader understand this section?
Skip every sentence that uses pronouns like "it."
Just guess what each "it" refers to and keep going.
Ask clarifying questions like "What does 'it' refer to here?" and check nearby nouns; mark them.
Read the passage louder to force attention.
Explanation
Correct: C. Asking targeted questions about each pronoun and checking nearby nouns, then annotating the matches, resolves the confusing references. A, B, and D don't build real understanding. Extension: Students annotate a tricky paragraph in their own text, highlighting where they used a comprehension fix. Scaffold: Use symbols—? for questions/confusion, underline for key clues, and a star for main ideas. Enrichment: Discuss how advanced readers adjust, such as tracking pronoun chains, paraphrasing sentences, or mapping characters and objects in complex narratives.
To build the mini-terrarium, gather pebbles, soil, and moss. Before placing the moss, add a thin layer of charcoal to keep smells away, unless you already rinsed the pebbles, which should happen after you test the drainage, a step you will complete once the moss is in. Next, mist lightly, but not yet, because first you need to choose a jar that has been wiped dry after its final rinse. Finally, press the moss gently—unless you plan to add a tiny fern, which goes in earlier. The instructions felt like a maze of "firsts" and "afters," and Jordan couldn't tell the proper order.
Which strategy would best help a reader understand this section?
Skip the steps and hope the project turns out fine.
Guess the order and keep going.
Rely only on general gardening knowledge to decide the exact sequence.
Annotate by numbering each step and underlining transition words like first, next, and finally.
Explanation
Correct: D. Annotating by numbering steps and underlining signal words organizes the sequence and clears up the mixed timing. A, B, and C risk errors because they ignore or replace the text's structure. Extension: Students annotate a tricky paragraph in their own text, highlighting where they used a comprehension fix. Scaffold: Use symbols—? for questions/confusion, underline for key clues, and a star for main ideas. Enrichment: Discuss how advanced readers adjust for procedural texts by mapping steps, chunking conditions, and revising annotations as they verify steps.
During our field trip, the guide explained how a marsh stays healthy. She said, 'The plants are like the marsh's lunch line: sunlight pays the bill, and the roots deliver tiny sugar IOUs to the mud.' I understood that plants use sunlight to make food, but I got stuck on 'sugar IOUs.' Do plants borrow? Who gets repaid? The guide kept talking about nutrients 'hitchhiking' with water, which sounded like a road trip. I could picture muddy water moving, but the money words confused me. Was she being literal or comparing? If the roots deliver something to the mud, what is it, exactly, and why would the mud need it?
Which strategy would best help a reader understand this section?
Skip the tricky lines and keep going; the meaning will probably appear later.
Guess that 'sugar IOUs' means money and move on.
Read faster so the confusing words don't slow you down.
Ask questions about the metaphor and connect it to what you know about how plants make food.
Explanation
D is best because asking questions about the metaphor and linking it to background knowledge clarifies that the guide is comparing plant-made sugars moving into soil, not actual money. A, B, and C avoid or guess at the confusion. Extension: Annotate a tricky paragraph in your own text, marking where you used a fix. Scaffold: Use ? for confusion, underline key clues, star helpful context. Enrichment: Discuss how advanced readers shift strategies—e.g., analyzing metaphors or consulting diagrams—when texts grow more technical.
Grandma handed me the box with a smile that looked almost secret. Inside was a jumble of seashells, a wrinkled map, and a key tied to blue string. 'It belonged to your grandfather,' she whispered. I traced the coastline on the map and noticed a tiny X near a cove I didn't recognize. Then the porch light flickered, and the room hushed. This made everything quieter, like the house was holding its breath. I stared at the key, wondering if it fit a lock or just a story. When Grandma said, 'He always knew where to look,' I wasn't sure what this meant.
Which strategy would best help a reader understand this section?
Re-read the sentences before and after 'This,' underlining clues to what 'This' refers to.
Ignore the unclear word and focus only on the key.
Make up a meaning that sounds exciting and keep going.
Skip the paragraph and come back later.
Explanation
A is best because re-reading around the pronoun helps identify what 'This' and 'this' refer to (the light flickering and the hush) and clarifies the moment. B, C, and D avoid the confusion or guess without evidence. Extension: Annotate a tricky paragraph in your own text, marking where you used a fix. Scaffold: Use ? for confusion, underline clues, star the sentence that solved it. Enrichment: Discuss how advanced readers track pronouns across longer passages and check coherence across paragraphs.
In the forecast, the meteorologist said a cold front would 'shoulder the warm air aside,' causing temperatures to tumble. Then he added that the front would stall, and the atmosphere would become 'unstable.' I know a front is where two air masses meet, but I'm not sure how air 'shoulders' anything. Does it push like a person in a crowd? And if it 'stalls,' does it stop moving or just slow down? The word unstable makes me think of a wobbly chair. In weather, does unstable mean storms are more likely, or just that the air can change fast? How could I use what I already know about storms to make sense of those terms?
Which strategy would best help a reader understand this section?
Skip the weather terms because the forecast will change anyway.
Use background knowledge about storms and ask, 'What happens when warm and cold air meet?' to interpret the terms.
Guess that 'unstable' just means windy and keep reading.
Read only the numbers and ignore the descriptive words.
Explanation
B is best because activating background knowledge and asking focused questions helps interpret figurative phrases like 'shoulder aside' and technical words like 'unstable.' A, C, and D ignore meaning or rely on guesses. Extension: Annotate a tricky paragraph in your own text, marking where you used a fix. Scaffold: Use ? for confusion, underline context clues, star background-knowledge connections. Enrichment: Discuss how advanced readers consult visuals or glossaries and test inferences against multiple clues in complex texts.
During the museum tour, we reached a display about ancient bridges. The placard claimed that one wooden bridge, rebuilt after every flood, 'lasted' for three centuries. That sounded impossible. How can something that keeps getting replaced be called the same bridge? The next line compared it to a ship whose planks are swapped out one by one, yet it keeps its name. I paused at that sentence-within-a-sentence, stuffed with commas, and lost the timeline. Was the bridge continuous, or a series of versions? If parts change over time, at what point is it new? The idea felt slippery and hard to pin.
Which strategy would best help a reader understand this section?
Skip the paragraph because philosophy is confusing.
Guess the author means the bridge is magic and move on.
Annotate the knotty sentence by circling the comparison and adding a question mark, then re-read to track the timeline.
Speed up your reading to get past the commas.
Explanation
C is best because annotating the confusing comparison and re-reading helps untangle structure and clarify the timeline, which supports comprehension. A, B, and D avoid the problem or rely on unsupported guesses. Extension: Annotate a tricky paragraph in your own text, highlighting where you used a fix. Scaffold: Use ? for confusion, underline key phrases, star helpful examples. Enrichment: Discuss how advanced readers slow down for abstract ideas, paraphrase complex sentences, and compare multiple examples.