Alisha Bridges - Oct. Routman Ch. 8 - Teaching comprehension

I chose to read this section on teaching comprehension because it is something that I will get to work closely on with my 2nd grade pull out group. I liked all of the author's suggestions and was pleased that there was no magic bullet hidden here with which I wasn't already familiar. Some of the ones that the author highlights that we used in first grade for years were: make connections to the story , think about the meaning of the words as you call them, visualize what you're reading, ask questions, and make inferences. These were standards in first grade ELA curriculum as well. As well as instruction on what to do to build comprehension, time to apply the strategies must be given. This is powerful to see the students try your direct instruction on comprehension and be able to understand more than ever before from their reading. Guided reading lessons provided the opportunity to do this with my class. Small group while students were engaged in other stations around the room gave each child one on one time to practice reading and have the teacher suggest which strategies will help, then they try it! The single most important strategy to teach comprehension, and I wish I knew this out of the gate as a first year teacher, is modeling what YOU do as a reader. This is why read alouds became important to me and went away from my time stealers list and onto my time savers list. I began to see that students won't know what you're thinking as you're reading unless you stop and give them a window into your mind. A little aside here and there while reading aloud every day gives them strategies to try when they are comprehending their own independent reading. In my opinion, this is what builds strong comprehension in our students more effectively than any other strategy. The author sites rereading as the single most important, but that gives the child no new tools. Modeling how you think when you read: making connections, looking for causation in the events, thinking how scenes in the book would look to you --these are new strategies for early readers. And daily repetition of them in your read alouds is the best way to sneak in reading instruction when the students are just enjoying your reading. It is also important to foster students making their own connections and monitoring their own reading. I like students asking themselves "does it make sense" "Do I know what's happening" or "Does it sound like language". If students can ask these things of themselves, it will invariably increase their comprehension. I also enjoyed that the author suggested lots of interaction for students. Turn and talk (if done right) can be such a great way to increase comprehension. Also, our LEGO initiative provides ways to focus students' interest and attention to what they can comprehend from the stories they read. Overall, I agree with this author and will make sure to incorporate the strategies outlined with my group of 2nd graders.