Lori Henke -- Blog #4 -- Teach Comprehension

        In the very first paragraph of this chapter, I was hooked!  I had to read this chapters.  The quote: "We are turning out lots of superficial readers.  They look and sound competent.  They read smoothly and can retell what they've read with some detail, but they are unable to go further--".  This reminds me exactly of my small focus group in my classroom.  They can read, sound out words, and are quite fluent, yet the comprehension is not there.  This is what I need to focus on with them, and that's exactly why I chose those kiddos. 
        After reading this chapter, I know that I am using some "best practices" in my classroom.  I like the Café Book and the concept of posting the strategies we've learned  and always referring back to them throughout the year.  I feel like that allows me to teach the skill in isolation when introducing it, but then refer back to it again and again, so that students can realize that these skills are not a "one-time" thing, but a skill that we build on and use over and over as we read and comprehend what we are reading.
     The section titled: "Make your Reading/Thinking Process Visible" really validated another practice that I do in my classroom.  I do this constantly while doing a "read aloud" in my classroom.  I will stop and let the students know what I am thinking or strategies that I am using while reading.  This is also another reason that I think it is important to do a "whole class" read aloud every once in a while .
     Another section in this chapter titled, "Interact with Peers to Increase Comprehension and Enjoyment" made me excited to try "Book Clubs" in my classroom.  I am starting book clubs next week, and am looking forward to seeing how the "sharing" aspect of book clubs increase the students' comprehension.  This section was a good reminder of how to model what productive talk looks like and sounds like.  This will also give me an opportunity to do some heterogeneous grouping.  I am looking forward to starting the Literature circles.