Abstract of

CPMs: A Kinesthetic Comprehension Strategy

Cathy Collins Block

Sheri R. Parris

Cinnamon S. Whiteley

This article discusses a study to determine whether primary grade students can learn comprehension processes via hand motions to portray these mental processes. Comprehension Process Motions (CPMs) were designed to provide students with a way to make abstract comprehension processes more consciously accessible and also to give teachers a way to observe what students have (or have not) comprehended. Results were based on a 12-week study of 257 experimental and 256 control students in grades K–5. Comprehension scores on standardized, criterion-referenced, and norm-referenced tests were significantly higher for experimental students than for those who were not exposed to CPM instruction. These data provide evidence that even the youngest readers are capable of internalizing comprehension processes and knowing how to elicit them at specific points in a text when they are needed.

Abstract from Block, C., Parris, S.R., & Whiteley, C.S. (2008, March). CPMs: A Kinesthetic Comprehension Strategy. The Reading Teacher, 61(6), 460–470. doi: 10.1598/RT.61.6.3