Tara Burgess- Blog #4

Routman  Chapter 8- Teach Comprehension

     When I saw the title of this chapter, I knew I had to read it.  One big thing that I have noticed this year with my class is how much they struggle with comprehension.  When I conducted IRIs at the beginning of the year with all the students in my class, I could see that most of my students could read words, but a good many struggled telling me about what they read.  Routman discusses the same thing in this chapter.  He discusses how we spend a lot of time focusing on words, and students get the message that reading is all about the words not the meaning.  He goes on to tell about how students can read smoothly and maybe retell some details, but they are unable to discuss what they read in more detail.  That is exactly what I am seeing in my class.  I have students who can read the words and recall word for word from the text but can't discuss what was read in their own words or infer why characters are the way they are. 
   One thing Routman discusses which I talk about on a daily basis is the importance of rereading.  Students rarely take the time to go back a read things again because it takes extra time and they are unaware of the fact that they don't understand what they are reading.  Students need to stop periodically and ask themselves questions to make sure they are understanding what they are reading.  If things aren't clear then that is a clue that they need to go back and reread what they just read.  Routman gives a list of questions a reader can ask themselves to see if they are understanding what they are reading.  Even though the questions seem simple enough, it might be a good idea to make this list into a book mark that the students have to remind them of the types of questions they should be asking themselves as they read.  If they struggle with these questions, then they should reread.  This is definitely something that I will be incorporating into my reading conferences.