Rebecca Welch #3: Routman Reading Essentials: Chapter 8, Teach Comprehension

When looking for my next chapter to read, I wanted to find one that would help me the most. I have further realized that I need very much help in the teaching reading department and I have noticed that many of my students in my focus group struggle with comprehension. So this chapter stuck out like a sore thumb.

Right off the bat, I knew I had picked a good chapter. Routman tells us, "The current emphasis on word calling, automaticity, and fluency in the early grades is often at the expense of understanding. When we spend most of our energy focusing on words, students get the message that reading is about words rather than meaning....We are turning out lots of superficial readers. (pg. 117)" When we don't teach children to understand what they are reading, we are not teaching children to read. We are simply teaching them letters, sounds and words.

Since I know my students struggle with comprehension, I was looking for ways to help my students with their comprehension. On page 123, Routman talks about using writing to help recall key points. He says that he likes to have his own professional books because he writes in them. he says, "I underline, write comments in the margins, note key pages to return to. This writing aids my understanding and lets me reread, find, or verify information efficiently or summarize key points quickly." And then I underlined that. I kept reading about how he uses lots of short nonfiction pieces with his students and then I wrote in the margin "NewsELA" because that is something that I use in my room. And then I realized that I do exactly what Routman is talking about. But I know that before college, I was told to never write in a book. To just read it, don't write in it. But I understood everything I just read and I was able to make outside connections to what I was reading. This makes me want to find someway to let my students write on what they are reading. Do I want them writing in my books? Not really. Am I willing to make copies of some texts so students can mark on them. Absolutely.

Another tip I found helpful was on page 128. It says that a 4th grade teacher in Vancouver, Washington sets aside time every week for students to partner read easy, familiar materials and they have to read with extra expression using special voices and even faces. This helps students to become more fluent and build expression. This is something that I would really like to start including in my reading instruction.

Comprehension has to be more important than word calling, automaticity, and fluency. When we teach students to that being the fastest reader or read the most pages in the class, we are teaching students that quantity is better than quality.But if students don't understand what they are reading, they may as well not have read at all. You cannot enjoy what you are reading if you don't understand it.