Comprehension and Think-Alouds

I immediately connected the readings for this week to a section that I am studying for Educational Psychology.  We were discussing how when a child is learning something that they use their prior knowledge to form a schema about the new stimulus.  It makes perfect sense for educators to also apply this to reading comprehension.  When we read something for the first time as active readers we, or I at least always try to connect it to something in my knowledge bank.  I do not remember if this was something that I was explicitly taught or something that I just started to do.  I really liked the article about how Kindergarten students were learning how to connect to the literature that they were exposed to.  I do not believe that I would have thought to encourage that a such a young age in their reading development.

I believe that comprehending the material is much more than just a few questions at the end of a reading selection.  I know that recent testing has been changed to reflect a more thoughtful response, although I am not sure that more testing is the answer to increasing our student's comprehension in the material.  If a student in unable to connect the material to something that they already know it will become increasingly more difficult for them to comprehend it.  I really liked the different examples of thought map, such as the KWL chart.  I don't remember doing this activity until my Children's Literature class in college, but I believe it would be extremely beneficial to do at all levels, especially as a group activity before beginning a reading assignment.

• Do you think that thought maps and organizers are beneficial to all students for comprehension?
• Can forcing comprehension scare some students away from the joy of reading?

Fluency

When I first thought of fluency I immediately began to connect it to being fluent in a language such as Spanish.  To be fluent in a language it means that you can speak it without hesitation in your communication.  I had not thought of applying it to a child learning how to read.  Fluency is such an important skill that I believe that many educators tend to overlook or mis-define to increase test scores.  I found that both of the readings were very helpful in both defining and giving examples to improve the fluency of my future students.

I found it very interesting that in Classrooms that Work they emphasized rereading books that students enjoy.  This is so common sense, but I would not have thought that immediately.  I know that when I was growing up I had a subscription to American Girl magazine, and I would read them over and over until they fell apart.  I never would have thought that students would want to reread books.  I think part of how our society is now is that we tend to read things and move on.  I am so glad that I was reminded that everyone likes to revisit familiar things.  I also really liked the idea of having older students read to kindergarteners.  This would help both students to expand their love for learning.

I really liked the article about creating fluent readers.  I loved that they emphasized that we should instill in our students a love of the drama that reading has.  If students do not know that reading shows emotion and feeling then they will truly not understand the joy that reading can bring into your life.  I think that using drama and theater would be a great way to show students this in the classroom.  In addition, they would be able to get up and move which is always a positive with little ones.

• Do you think that all students benefit from activities like reader's theater?
• How can you emphasize comprehension over speed?

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Making Words

I was very inspired by the article about "Making Words."  I know that several educators that still accept invented spelling in their assignments.  I think that making the language something that is both tangible and fun for the students will increase their ability to remember the onset and rime of many of the complex words that we have in the English language.  I know it is important to encourage our students to attempt all forms of communication, but accepting a made up spelling will not help them in the long run.  Teaching them patterns will not only help them to read, but help them understand the complex structure of English. 

What are some other activities that we can do with our students to encourage the spelling/decoding connection?

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