Cindy Black - Blog Post #6 - Routman Chapter 8 - Teach Comprehension

I chose to read this chapter because I wanted advice on how to teach students who can read almost anything you place in front of them but lack the understanding what they are reading. We spend so much time teaching students in kindergarten the phonics and the ability to sound out a words that comprehension sometimes seems to be lacking or missed. I have a student who can read beautifully and read higher grade level texts but when it comes to asking questions after she reads, she has a very hard time responding and remembering exactly what she read. I believe she spends so much of her reading ability trying to get all the words correct that she lacks the comprehension side of why we are reading in the first place. The strategies in chapter 8 for proficient readers- making connections, determining what's most important, visualize, ask questions, make inferences and synthesize were identified as key for achieving full understanding when we read. I feel we do a good job teaching these but maybe we don't dig deep enough or have enough time. This chapter also explains that just because we teach our students these strategies doesn't mean they know how to apply them. An example used in the text was that a student can get all the spelling words correct on a weekly spelling test but misspell the words in their writing. One strategy is to model and to think aloud as we go through the process so they can practice and be able to apply the new strategy. I believe that rereading is the BEST way to obtain comprehension. I know today that if I read something in a hurry and didn't understand exactly what I read I have to go back and reread it, sometimes a little slower and not so much in a hurry. In kindergarten we read a lot of books out loud and talk in whole group, smaller groups and sometimes with a partner retelling and acting out the story. The students can come up with ideas and thoughts that I myself may have overlooked. I always can learn from them just as much as they can from me.