Kim Bresette - Chapter 8 - Teach Comprehension

Oh how I loved this chapter!  I have this conversation frequently when discussing the reading series I use with My Sidewalks on Reading Street.  This series is very phonetically based and seems their is little emphasis on comprehension.  I so agree with the the statement "w We are turning out lots of superficial readers  They look and sound competent.  They read smoothly and can retell what they've read with some detail, but they are unable to go further...."

I do believe in teaching kids how to decode words.  Fluency is important, too.  However,  why do the previous two pieces matter if a student finishes reading something and has no idea what they have read?  This is my frustration when working with students who have disabilities in reading.  Many have actual issues with decoding and therefore since they can't call the words, of course there is nothing to understand.  BUT, I have students who can decode and read with some degree of fluency but when they finish reading, they have absolutely no idea WHAT they have read about.  They may be able to do better on literal questions, but inferential ones are next to impossible.  It is bothersome to me that comprehension isn't stressed until 3rd grade.  Why?  We want kids to call words for 3 years and not understand what they saying?  That doesn't make sense to me.  I feel that teaching students comprehension strategies early on, modeling them, and the practicing them should occur from the beginning.  Simple things like rereading a story, paragraph, passage will increase fluency, as well as give the student a better idea of what they have read. I know I have told students, and have heard others state that you need to read an AR book at least twice before you take a test. I like the idea of asking yourself questions as you go along, too.  I know in some of these professional articles I have to ask my self questions and reread to better understand what the author is trying to say.  I mark in my text as was discussed in the chapter. I realize with school textbooks, that isn't an option and maybe for a work of fiction, that isn't necessary, but it can make a difference in helping to jog your memory when you go back and reread.

This chapter really firmed up my thoughts about teaching kids to understand what they read.  It is an important skill across the curriculum, and becomes more demanding as the student progress in school is is required to read on their own in an effort to be prepared for discussion in the classroom.