Comprehension is no doubt the most important part of learning to read, as it is the purpose for reading in general. I think there are a lot of indicators that say children understand a text, including the ones mentioned on page 203 of the text. I thought that this chapter had some really interesting insight about comprehension of text, and I really enjoyed some of the classroom ideas that were listed.
At an early age, before children even hit preschool, a lot of them have knowledge about books, and the text talked about this a lot. However, I think that a lot of teachers assume that every child meets the objectives for developing concepts about books, and that is not always the case. Most parents do read to their children, and most children have been exposed to books sometime before entering school, but there is always some portion of children who enter kindergarten with little to no exposure to books at all. I think that this is important for teachers to remember, because things like a lack of resources and adult illiteracy are issues that are still present today. It is important to include some sort of literacy time in the classroom every day, including a read-aloud, so that children are exposed to books and able to understand text better. If children are read to regularly, they will definitely have a better chance of appreciating literacy and enjoy reading later in life. Additionally, teachers should provide a large classroom library for this reason.
I though that the classroom activities that the text provided for read alouds were really interesting as well. I think KWL charts are a very straight forward way for children to visually recognize what is going on in the text that they have just heard or read, and I also think that maps and webs are helpful as well. Although these methods have been used for a while, I think they are tried and true, and it is always important to have some sort of class discussion after reading any text so that you know the students have comprehended what you have read. However, I also think having the students pair up or form groups is a good way to get them to have meaningful discussions as well, which is why I liked what the text had to say about these types of activities as well. Personally, I enjoy the "think, pair, share" activity, because I think that it is a good way to get kids thinking independently and not relying on their partner or group for ideas. This way, children are actively collaborating, and not just agreeing with each other. Another one of my favorite activities that the text listed was the Reader's theatre because I think this is a really active and creative way for children to understand what they have read. This allows children to interpret text in their own way but also have a lot of fun sharing what they understood.
I enjoyed the ideas that were presented in this chapter a lot, and I thought it was really interesting to see all of the different activities that could be included in the classroom for comprehension.
Hello Ramey!
ReplyDeleteRight from the start I agreed with your starting statement about how reading comprehension is one of the most important concepts of reading instruction. I think this has been one of my favorite chapters so far because of all the different examples and classroom ideas that it included. As future teachers these ideas and strategies are good things for us to store for when we need them in our future classrooms. I completely agree with your thought on making sure children are getting some sort of literacy exposure as least once a day in the classroom. And there are all sorts of ways that teachers can incorporate that into a variety of subject areas! It is true but sad to think that children still enter kindergarten with little to no exposure to books at all. I think that teachers forget about this aspect sometimes because of how much education and book exposure we have had throughout our lives we sometimes forget about the less fortunate. I enjoyed your post!
Hi Ramey!
ReplyDeleteI wanted to talk about some of your activities you hit on in your blog post! So I definitely agree this chapter had a variety of practical activities we will be able to use in our classroom for comprehension. Starting with KWL charts, I also think they are very straightforward and I like them because it allows for pre-assessment as well as giving students an opportunity to share what they are interested in learning about. The one downside of KWL charts is the going back and filling in the “learned” section. I do not know if this happened to you guys in school but I remember filling out these papers then never coming back to finish and the paper just would stay in my folder. Even though this is a great activity I think the teacher must be consistent and allow time to actually complete the whole activity. I also wanted to bring up the think, pair, and share strategy. I honestly do not remember doing this in school. I am sure we did but I do not remember this activity as vividly as others. What do you remember? I feel like I do this strategy more here at Ball State than I ever have. I do enjoy doing this activity because it allows time for students to engage and bounce ideas off each other. Great post Ramey!
Ramey,
ReplyDeleteI always enjoy reading your posts, because you are so great at wording your thoughts, and you are so insightful :) I really love how you mentioned KWL charts! I totally agree with you that they are traditional, yet important activities.They are great visual organizers for students who like to see their learning progress. Even though some teachers might find them overused or outdated, I personally LOVE them. I also really love the "Think, Pair, Share" activity for students. Students are able to write down their thoughts, and also get new ideas from their classmates. They are not only developing collaboration skills, but also working on their communication skills with students.
ReplyDeleteRamey,
What do you think are the best indicators to see if a child comprehends a reading? What did you do as a young child? I think it is sad that some parents do not read to their children or do not read to them enough. As parents, I believe that they should already know to do that; it is like the unspoken rule about having a child. I know that when I have children, I will start reading to them even before they can understand it. I believe that this will help them later in their education and make them better readers. Would you do that if you were planning to have children? I like KWL’s for their straightforwardness too! I think they are a great way to assess what the children already know so that you can quickly brush over that and get to the real lesson. Did you participate in a reading theater in school? I do not remember if I did. It sounds like a great strategy to use!
Emily,
DeleteMy niece has always read to her daughter, even before Charlie was born. She's 6 months old now and her momma (and her Nana, and Aunt Brandy) read to her all the time. Cayla's classmates at college think she's "wasting" her time by reading to her at such a young age. Very sad.
Ramey,
ReplyDeleteYou are right that comprehension is the most important part of learning to read. This post is going to be very short because you and everyone has pretty much summed it up. This is my favorite chapter so far.