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Literacy Tip: Teaching Comprehension During Guided Reading
How do we teach our students to comprehend text? “Comprehending is an active, meaning-making process, not simply an isolated outcome or product after reading” (Fountas & Pinnell, 2017, p. 469).
Rhonda, on https://literacypages.wordpress.com, offers these tips on how we can teach and support reading comprehension during guided reading.
1. Think of guided reading instruction as a whole-part-whole process. Start by giving students a sense of what the whole story is about. Then, give them the pieces that will help them to be successful with reading and understanding the story. Finally, show them how those pieces fit within the story as a whole.
2. Be cautious when interrupting a student’s reading because it can interfere with the student’s flow and understanding. If a comment needs to be made it might be beneficial to wait until the child is turning the page to insert comments that support comprehending.
3. Help to facilitate a short comprehension conversation after reading. Fountas and Pinnell write that “talking fuels the thinking” (2017, p. 470). When readers talk with others, their understanding is deepened. Ask open-ended questions and offer facilitative comments that help students respond to each other and expand upon their thinking. Students will be less likely to participate in the conversation if they think you are looking for a particular answer. Use facilitative language to promote conversation and have students give evidence from the text. Some examples are:
“Does anybody agree or disagree with what _________ said?”
“Could somebody add on to what ________ said?”
“Talk more about that.”
“What were you thinking about?”
“Show us the part that made you think that.”
This important work of making sure that our students are actively comprehending as they read various texts is the heart of reading. Thank you for making it happen!
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Because she couldn’t find a book that showed her how to use her own love of books to imbue her elementary students with the same love, Miller, Teacher Magazine blogger, decided to write her own. She recalls her personal journey as a teacher and the surprise and disappointment of learning that book loving cannot be automatically passed on to students. No more having the whole class read the same novel. She gave her students questionnaires to determine their interests and personally selected stacks of books of possible interest to them, then allowed them to read independently—at least 40 books a school year. She recounts the experience of some students struggling and others exhilarated by the freedom to read. Miller’s tactics resulted in improvement in her students’ vocabulary, comprehension, and writing. She also saw students respect book suggestions that came from a reader’s passion rather than a teacher’s agenda. Miller includes reading lists, activities, questionnaires, and other resources. Although aimed at teachers, this book will also definitely appeal to parents interested in encouraging their children to read.
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