Anne Maddox Blog4- Routman Ch. 8 "Teach Comprehension"

This chapter title, "Teach Comprehension", especially appealed to me because comprehension is the basis for reading growth and understanding at the upper levels. I do begin teaching comprehension from the beginning of the year.  If my students are not successful with their AR tests, which is one useful tool for comprehension, or their answers to discussions and conferencing are somewhat skewed, I suggest that they spend time rereading their books, or read a book at a slightly lower level.  Children believe, falsely, that after they have read a book or assignment once that they know all there is to know!  That simply isn't the case, even for adults. I try to tell my students that sometimes books or articles are especially wordy that I have to reread sometimes up to 3 times before it makes sense to me.

Word study or understanding is key to the overall central idea about the passage they are reading.  Also choosing books that they enjoy and understand is an important part of reading growth.  One of my best readers had a teacher to suggest a favorite book for her to read, A Wrinkle in Time.  She just couldn't develop an interest in the book and was hesitant to not try to read it.  I talked with her and told her I had also tried to read it unsuccessfully.  That made her feel better and then decided to turn it back into the library.

I stress to my students that if there are many words that they don't understand, then the book is above their level.  I love it when students will come to me and ask me what a word is and I explain what it means.  That lets me know that they are coming to understand the right books to choose and that they are mature enough to ask for help, even if the word is an easy word like "pry". Many times they don't know the meanings because it is a word that isn't used frequently in day to day conversation.

The 80/20 rule is something I am using this year which gives lots of time for application.  But many students think they are reading enough at school and don't put forth effort to read additionally at home. Our mini lessons are important for their understanding.  However,  I do know that for me to be a better comprehension teacher I need to challenge my students in the areas of self questioning.