The Cunningham-Allington chapter summarized the importance of comprehension in the classroom. I really enjoyed the point they made when discussing how struggling readers are unaware that they should be thinking while they are reading. As a soon-to-be-teacher, it's scary to think that some of my students are going to have an enormous amount of difficulty not only with reading, but comprehending what they're reading. The thinking strategies will be a helpful guide to use when teaching students how to comprehend what they read. I also really liked the section on literate conversations, reminded me of how important it is to ask students open-ended questions as opposed to closed ones. The book says that literature circles would be a good way to conduct the conversations, this is a great idea but doesn't just happen on it's own. As a teacher, you must make your students feel comfortable enough to talk in front of others, especially about issues or topics they are unsure of. The modeling portion of the chapter was especially interesting for me because I believe students learn from watching others model, so I feel strongly toward the modeling theory of learning.
Pardo's article on comprehension is a guide for helping teachers support readers. A few suggestions they offer are providing scaffolding support, teach decoding skills, help students build fluency, activate prior knowledge, and motivate students. By using these teaching techniques, teachers help students become interested and focused on reading. Like the other articles discussed, motivation and modeling are important, and both of these can be practiced in the classroom through teacher behaviors. If teachers show they are happy and intrigued by something, it is likely the students will be as well.
Gregory and Cahill's article discusses the revolution of comprehension and how new intellectual tools have been developed, people are starting to realize there is more learning involved with reading than just decoding. The article stresses how there is little research available for comprehension for young students, but Mrs. Hope (teacher used in article) found a way to adapt lessons from work with older grades and use those lessons in her younger classroom. Mr.s Hope used schema's as the basis for interactions with text. A few other strategies discussed were making connections, visualization, questioning, and inferring. I really liked the questioning strategy, I find it very useful to work with students and help them understand better if they're asking appropriate questions. A teacher can also base whether or not students are on task and comprehending based off the questions they ask. Overall, the article did great stressing the importance of using comprehension strategies not only for older grades, but also for the younger grades. The students in Mrs. Hope's class benefited from her instruction and were able to construct meanings and interpretations for texts.
I found it interesting how Gill researched how people understand comprehension. The three factors affecting comprehension were the reader, the text, and the situation. The article mentioned how good readers adjust their reading in different situations and for different purposes. Although elementary students do not have the skill to do this, we teachers can teach them these skills. Activating prior knowledge is a very important idea in this article. It's discussed how children use their prior knowledge to understand text. This schema theory tells us that readers must have adequate background knowledge to understand what they read. So if a teacher gets students with few life experiences, it will be even more difficult to help them understand the text their reading. The comprehension matrix is a great tool for teachers to use to apply their knowledge of the various factors effecting comprehension. The strategies and activities of prereading, during reading, and postreading are great resources for new teachers. This article, along with the others, will be a great tool for me when i enter my own classroom.
Shannon, I agree it is going to be hard creating an atmosphere where students are comfortable talking about their interpretations and emotions. In my Early Childhood Classes, we talked about eliminating this problem by building a "community of learners." Granted these ideas where based on young children in Pre-k, but I think with a little modification it can be done for all grades. This process begins before students even walk into the room.Name tags are a great way to make students feel as though they belong, right away they have a space, some one knows there name, and everyone else has their name showing so unfamiliar faces are identified. Teachers create a warm and welcoming atmosphere with purposeful decorations and lighting. Also respect is not just expected it is modeled, enforced, and talked about on a regular basis in the class. I know these do not directly relate to reading and literacy, but it all begins with making students feel welcome before the learning begins. That is the type of thing I plan to do and I hope it works for my benefit!
ReplyDeleteModeling is very important. I am glad you feel inclined to include this in your classroom! Especially with such an important concept like comprehension.
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