A. Johnson- December Blog #5 Chapter 8 Teach Comprehension
Comprehension is one of the hardest things my students
struggle with. Almost every single one of my students have a comprehension goal
in their IEP and every student has a very hard time with it. In this chapter it
started out saying that if we want our students to wind up with comprehension,
we have to begin with comprehension. If we spend most of our time on just
reading the words, students get the message that reading is about words rather
than understanding the meaning.
My students come to me as such low readers and my focus is
to learn letter sounds, blends, and just to be able to sound out and read the
words. We focus on direct instruction curriculums trying to close the gap that has
been made. Routman shared that by the time the focus shifts to comprehension,
they have lost years of knowing what real reading is about. Having a lack in
comprehension can relate back to students not having the background knowledge,
prior experiences, or knowledge of the way texts and authors work that is
difficult for them. You can’t start
teaching comprehension in grade three, you start the day they enter
kindergarten.
Routman stated that students are more likely to increase their
comprehension when we as teachers show them how we understand a text and model
a variety of strategies; such as: asking questions, predicting, summarizing,
and clarifying.
Anna, I know it must be hard to find a balance between focusing on the foundations of reading words and the more functional aspects of comprehension. Strangely enough, my son's reading took off once he was no longer focusing on learning letters, letter sounds, and the "rules" of reading words (second grade). Once he was able to rely on other strategies to read the words, and there was less emphasis on phonics in isolation and reading for "speed," he learned how to read at a faster pace, and felt more confident! If you had told me going into second grade, when he still didn't know all his "sounds," that his fourth grade teacher would want to dismiss him from reading resource services, I would have call you a liar! I know if we were still drilling his letters and sounds, he would not have been as successful! Of course he is just one student, but I think his story gives us teachers evidence and support that we do not have to just drill those letters!
ReplyDeleteHi Anna,
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the time you are spending evaluating your teaching practices and determining what your students' needs are and how to best support their growth. While I understand that we have to meet our students where they are, I also agree that we need to provide students with opportunities to to try out what they are learning in their independent reading. Thank you for all you do for our students! Sincerely, Dawn