Initial Post 2/23 Comprehension

Today’s readings helped me understand that when comprehension strategies and processes are explicitly taught then readers will be more likely to comprehend what they are reading. In order to elicit high level of thinking, it is necessary to ask questions that require students to think about ideas, not simply to recall text details. When reading different types of texts I use different types of strategies (connecting, determining importance, drawing inferences, monitoring, predicting, questioning, summarizing, etc.) to help me understand what I am reading. However, I do not explicitly think about the strategies I am using. For example, when reading a title on an article for class I may make predictions on what the article may be about, during reading I may connect this material to other readings in class, determine the importance or noticing the big ideas, and after reading I may summarize this reading. After reading the Applegate article, I found it interesting that 8 profiles for reading comprehension were defined. I can identify several students in my classroom that fit the description of the literalists, fuzzy thinkers, left fielders, and minimalists.The Gregory article stated that while many comprehension strategies are associated with the instruction of older children that younger students such as the kindergartners in the article can perform these strategies as well. It is important to remember that all students can benefit from instruction on comprehension strategies as this will help students construct meanings and interpret the texts.

 The readings helped me understand the reading behaviors of the students in my classroom because now I get an idea about the different types of thinking these students posses and what is needed in order to comprehend. The Tompkins reading explains that reading comprehension requires students to have adequate background knowledge about the topic or genre, be familiar with most words in the text and being able to read the text fluently.  Suggestions are offered to help ensure all students are meeting these prerequisites such as involving students in authentic experiences, pre-teaching or reviewing words in the passage, making K-W-L charts, graphic organizers and choosing appropriate texts in which even the struggling readers can read. Different comprehension strategies are also used to facilitate students understanding. The readings in Tompkins helped me learn some types of activities and experiences that can help students reading comprehension strategies such as think-alouds, reading logs, question-answer-relationships, etc. Furthermore, through explicit instruction on comprehension teachers can make these strategies more evident.