Kelli Smith – Blog Post #5 Routman Ch. 8 –Teach Comprehension

I enjoyed reading this chapter because it made me realize that no matter how good a student can decode words, all is lost if he/she cannot understand what they just read.  I have seen this many times with my own personal children.  They may read an entire passage in a book, or unfortunately most of a book and then when asked comprehension questions, they have no idea what they just read.  In my classroom, I have non-readers.  My students are non-diploma track students and therefore,  may never actually be able to decode words to read.  However, they can comprehend what is read to them and learn to appreciate books and stories.  We focus on letter recognition, sound recognition and sight words but what good is that if there is no meaning attached?  I think this chapter shows us that we need to spend as much or more time concentrating on what is read rather than how it is read.  I love what Routman says about the fact that with most children it’s not the lack of word work that keeps them from understanding but rather the lack of knowledge etc.  We need to provide that knowledge as teachers and bridge the gap so that students can understand more of what they read or what is read to them.  I agree that this type of instruction needs to begin at the preschool level as soon as the students enter the school system.  Many of my students have that opportunity to receive instruction at the age of three.  We need to be consistent in ensuring that comprehension is weighted a heavily as word calling or word recognition.  If a student can read beautifully and pronounce all words correctly but cannot recall important facts then I think we need to take a closer look and ensure that comprehension skills are always taught, monitored and assessed.