Chapter 1
Phonological and Phonemic Awareness and Emergent Literacy
Course: Elementary Education Multiple Subjects 7001
Subject: Elementary Education Teaching Reading Subtest 7002
Chapter: Comprehension Of Literary And Informational Text
1. The Role of Assessment in Comprehension Instruction
Effective reading instruction requires a continuous cycle of assessing, planning, teaching, and reassessing. Formal and informal assessments provide valuable data on students’ abilities to comprehend text at both literal and inferential levels. Teachers must interpret these data sets to guide differentiated instruction and align teaching strategies with student needs. In addition, assessment data help educators evaluate how well students understand the author’s use of language, including word choice, sentence structure, tone, figurative language, and point of view.
Literal comprehension refers to the ability to recall and locate information explicitly stated in the text, such as facts, sequences, and details. Inferential comprehension involves reading between the lines—using clues from the text and prior knowledge to make predictions, draw conclusions, or infer a character’s motivation. Comprehension also includes analyzing how an author’s use of language influences meaning, such as using figurative language to evoke emotion or word connotation to convey tone.