Routman
expressed a serious concern in chapter 8 that focused on how students are
getting the wrong message that reading is about words rather than meaning. I totally agree that we as educators do lots
of assessing of comprehension but not much teaching. By teaching students to analyze
what they have read instead of rehashing facts allows students to comprehend on
a deeper level. According to Routman,
students are often able to look and sound competent by reading smoothly and
retelling with some details. However,
most are unable to go further. Going further would include discussing why the
characters behave as they do as well as giving a concise summary. The summary could include discussing the
theme or big ideas as well as the author’s purpose.
Routman also identified key strategies that
are essential to achieving full understanding.
The strategies listed included:
Make
connections
Monitor
your reading for meaning
Determine
what’s most important
Visualize
Ask questions
Make inferences
Synthesize
Lastly,
Routman ended the chapter with “Try it, Apply it” tips that are very teacher
friendly and could easily be adapted to a reading lesson.
Blondell, I too have noticed this, especially with our struggling readers. I have been serving on our SAT team when students who are brought have reading difficulties. I have been able to do some formative assessments with them. I have seen a recurring theme with almost all of them. Many of our students have good decoding skills. They are good at word calling. However, they cannot comprehend what they are reading. Many have over 85% word accuracy, but will often have less than 50% comprehension of the text. We are teaching them how to read words, but some have not been able to learn to effectively comprehend what they are reading. I believe if we start with wordless picture books, we can teach students how to practice making connections, asking questions, and making inferences without them using so much energy to sound out words. As students begin to read books with text, they can begin to transfer those skills they have already practiced to books with text. How does kindergarten start to lay down those early comprehension skills? I know how important learning those letter sounds, blends, etc. is in the kindergarten curriculum, but I also know you all do a lot with teaching comprehension. I would love to hear about how you all foster that at such an early age!
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