Blog #6- Nicole Ashley- Routman chapter 8- January 19, 2016

I wanted to read this chapter because I wanted some advice for one of my students.  She is a wonderful reader....can read anything and call any word....but I've noticed when she reads a long passage she tends to lose the meaning and has difficulty answering comprehension questions.  She especially has difficulty going further than the simple who, what, where questions.  I do know as a first grade teacher, we put a lot of emphasis on phonics and just being able to sound out the word to read it.  I guess sometimes we tend to focus on that more than the comprehension aspect....especially with our struggling readers.  I liked the list of strategies for comprehension for proficient readers- making connections, determine what's important, make inferences, synthesize, and ask questions.  I feel like we do many of these...but maybe we don't dig deep enough.  Also, the point was made in this chapter that just because we teach our students different comprehension strategies doesn't mean they apply or know how to apply them.  I get that- as with the example in the book when a student can spell a word correctly on the spelling test, but then misspell the word in their writing.  That is so frustrating.  One way they said to help with this every occurring problem is to make sure to demonstrate application in front of the class by thinking aloud as we go through the process so they can practice and apply the new strategy.  It's also important to show ALL strategies, especially in comprehension, so they can shift strategies when needed.  I think one of the best strategies for comprehension, aside from rereading, for first graders is retelling what was read.  If a student can retell me the story and remember most of the most important parts, I feel like they have a good grasp on what they read.  I also like them to talk to each other...they learn so much from one another and it increases their understanding in ways that I may not be able to touch.  I got some great ideas from this chapter...because teaching comprehension may be one of the toughest things to teach a little one.