Rhonda White-Blog #4

Chapter 8 – Routman, Teach Comprehension

Beginning with comprehension is most important!  It’s not about words, it’s the meaning.  My current lessons in Reading are to determine the author’s purpose.  This is a good example of how to teach students to go further in their reading.  It’s also important to make connections, visualize, and make predictions.  My students enjoy using sticky notes and sharing their connections with me and the class. Students need a teacher’s modeling and intervention.  I see the importance of this when we read our non-fiction texts in Social Studies and Science.  Students are asked to hi-lite important facts as we read whole group.  They ask, “Is this important?” and “Should we hi-lite this?”  I respond by saying, “Let’s talk about it and you decide if it’s important.”  Collaborative talk is a powerful way to make meaning. 

I understand that teaching and demonstrating a variety of strategies are important to increase comprehension.  After reading this chapter, I learned that when students are reading for understanding, they should know 95% or more of the words they encounter.  My question is, how can students comprehend if they don’t know basic site words?  That’s my biggest concern with my urgent intervention readers.