Chapter 3 blog

It's hard to imagine that a person with such fluent reading could do so little or no comprehending of what has just been read. Comprehending involves thinking, rather than just reading words and decoding print as the book says. Learning is built off of what we already know and what we can relate to. Reading as a kid, I would always try to imagine a picture in my head since I am a visual learner. It's funny how our minds work- we take something in and try to make a connection to something we already know about or might have heard about. We make the attempt to attach meaning to what we think and is important. If you cannot make any connections with the context, you are probably having a hard time understanding what is being read. It is very important that teachers make reading and comprehending a part of students' everyday lives. We must know what the students are interested in learning and try and match their interests as best as possible (still meeting TEKS). Scaffolding is a tremendous method to student independence- students build skills so that they know what to do if someone weren't there to help them. We want students to build their vocabulary as much as possible. I, like most, enjoy aesthetic reading as opposed to efferent reading. We must find text that is suitable and age-appropriate for our children to read. Activating prior knowledge is the first key to comprehending. This is how the real life connections are made. Guided reading, reinforcing concepts and promoting critical thinking and response are all wonderful ways of building comprehension. Learning is about effective questioning, not just answers. Different students will be on different levels of comprehending. This is known through careful assessment of the students to see how well they are reading and comprehending. Re-tellings and reflections are a crucial part of comprehension because it tells the teacher what the student learned about the reading. When students write in journals or write letters, they are learning. We need to expose students to wonderful literary works.