The Professional Journal : Theory Into Practice

Use comprehension strategies to build literal and inferred meaning and begin to evaluate texts by drawing on a growing knowledge of context, text structures and language features

While all fields of academia possess some level of practical application, there remains an ever-important and all-encompassing skill which is needed to truly understand each subject: reading. Though literacy rates in the US near 100%, literacy unaccompanied by tools such as context, critical analysis, and sufficient skepticism can leave one lost in arduous texts and vulnerable to flawed arguments. This notion is rarely rejected by anyone at face value, rather, questions regarding the implementation and perceived importance of certain reading strategies alienates differing camps. Many attempts at mitigating the dilemma of subpar reading comprehension have been made, most notably, Daniel Willingham's proposed reform of early education, Michael

Reading comprehension may be the most important skill for any student to acquire and is therefore an area of particular interest to educators. Without adequate comprehension skills, students are limited in their reading, analytical and occupational abilities. To many, including the student’s themselves, comprehension or “good reading” skills begin and end with simple decoding. It is thought that if students can ‘read’ and define the vocabulary they are reading, then they also comprehend what is read. True comprehension goes far beyond decoding, however. True comprehension requires visualization of a text, predicting events in the text, making inferences about the text and clarifying what is not

After presenting the data from content area diagnostic and district level assessments, as well as pertinent research related to this topic, the team expressed their interest and motivation to help close the achievement gaps in reading comprehension. In addition to our team, district level specialists and outside vendors have been contacted and will provide support and their expertise relating to improving student reading comprehension

In determining a topic for my research paper I began to think about what struggles I faced as an eighth grade teacher. I currently teach general education, an integrated co-teaching (ICT) class, and an ESL class in a widely culturally diverse school in Queens. In the last two years I also taught honors classes. I notice that the biggest challenge facing students from all my classes was reading comprehension. It was evident very early on in my teaching career that many struggling students who can technically read quite well don’t understand what they are reading. Their ability to decode words is far greater than their ability to make sense of the words. Without meaning, words are just words!

Teachers can help improve student reading comprehension by generating questions that get students to think about what the text means, and by

In the 1st grade class I observed a narrative comprehension lesson was taught with the students reading a story called “Let’s go fishing.” Research has shown that reading comprehension improves most when teachers provide explicit comprehension instruction to children (Cooter and Reutzel, 2015 p.247). I feel like this is exactly what this teacher accomplished in this lesson. There was no confusion among the students and they knew exactly what to do and what was expected of them. First, the students read the story to themselves then the teacher reviewed the book with the class. The teacher asked the students who the characters were in the story and the setting of the story. Students were randomly called upon and the teacher asked more questions.

Comprehension is understanding the meaning and purpose of a text. There are several strategies that can help students improve their understanding of complex texts. According to Vukelich, Christie, and Enz (2008), one of the strategies is a literacy journal where “children can record observations, questions, and insight to make important links between what they already know and what they are learning” (p. 179). This article talks about a strategy similar to a literacy journal, called a SQUINK chart. This article explains how SQUINK was developed and how it helps children comprehend different texts.

This article discussed culturally and linguistically diverse students entering school and the challenges faced when implementing literacy instruction. This is a challenge for teachers because these students bring with them experiences and socialized patterns of behavior that are not traditional (Bank & Bank, 1997). Culturally and linguistically diverse students are on the same reading and learning continuum as other students; their experiences differ from the mainstream. Reading instruction has been based on European American paradigms for many years. The curriculum mirrored societies that consist of middle income families (mom, dad, two children, and pet). Students who fall in the margin of low-income and single parent families (African American, Hispanic American and Native American) are neglected and tend to fall behind in reading.

The theoretical framework is founded on the pretense that much has been written concerning the problems that many students have with the comprehension of reading materials, especially content texts--science, math, and social studies. Alexander (1988) suggested that these children may be those who have little trouble with their basal readers or trade books, yet are unable to derive meaning from what they read in content area textbooks.

Students having hard times in comprehending the thought of the text and what the author implies. It seems to be reading by words but not reading between the lines. It is important to know how comprehension plays an integral part in a manner of thinking and conceptualizing facts and ideas from the

That being said, comprehension is not just understanding the singular words that are being read, but being able to put them together, along with activating previous knowledge, make sense and develop meaning to the text. Essentially, when a reader is immersed and engaged in text, they are actively developing meaning to the text while formulating questions that may later be answered by the text itself.

Comprehension is a pre-requisite to formation or change in attitudes, memory, intentions, and behaviour. It is a function of several factors, like message, opportunity to process the message and the respondents motivation and ability.There are two orientations of comprehension. One is Subjective and the other is Objective.Subjective Comprehension is conceptualized as the generation of meanings by a particular individual through the activation of mental concepts related to the message and the processing context.Objective comprehension is normally conceptualized as the grasping or extracting meanings from the message. This meanings are considered given and intended by the advertiser.Kara Chan(2000)54indicated that children in grade

The failure of students being able to read and comprehend what they are reading is a great concern for most schools. When students enter the fifth grade and are not on grade level, they are already behind their classmates. Teachers are then responsible for remediating the students to get them on grade level. Unfortunately, these same students are unable to keep up with on grade level standards teachers are required to teach, because they lack the skills needed. These students will continue to struggle throughout their education because they will not be able to catch up to their grade level. Many educators have realized there is a gap between fluency and comprehension. Because of this realization, special instruction such as guided reading and remedial teaching has been implemented.

In this information–driven age, preparing students to read a variety of texts with complete understanding should likely be one of our educational system’s highest priorities. Understanding is more than just the ability to produce information on demand (knowledge) or the ability to perform learned routines (skills). “Understanding is the ability to think and act flexibly with what one knows.” (Active Learning Practice for Schools, n. d.) A review of the literature in the area of reading comprehension of elementary-age students shows two principle areas of focus. There is a body of literature that examines the development of proficient vs. struggling comprehenders and another body of literature that compares methodologies for teaching