Surface Code

Background Knowledge

Words & Phrases

Sentences

Schema Text Structure Inference

Density, Length, Structure, Cohesive Ties & Connectives

Coherent Representation of Text

Academic Vocabulary (depth and breadth)

Situation/Mental Model

Surface Code

Text Base

The exact words and syntax of the text used by the author. This is what is explicitly stated in the text and is the initial step in making meaning. Teachers can gauge students’ understanding of the surface code by asking text-dependent questions.

This level takes the reader beyond the words and sentences in the text. It requires the reader to understand the author’s intended meaning by making connections between ideas and integrating background knowledge to understand what is implied in the text. Teachers can gauge students’ understanding of the textbase when they ask them to describe the connections among ideas and within and between sentences or ask questions that require students to integrate their background knowledge.

This mental representation of the text uses information both explicitly and implicitly stated in the text. Readers must use language and cognitive processes, including inferences, to integrate the meaning of the surface code and textbase levels.