I actually really enjoyed this chapter dealing with comprehension strategies and how exposing students to them all the time is such an important thing to do. Learning comprehension strategies can be somewhat difficult as a younger student, but over time I feel like these strategies get really pounded into our minds as we are reminded of them every year by our new teachers; at least I hope this is the case for students. Working towards this goal is going to be very important as a teacher because this is something that we're not only doing for our students, but for all students that will ever have us as a teacher, as well as every teacher any of our students will have. Making these strategies become second nature while reading takes several years of practice and determination and it requires teachers to work together to teach students how to use them well and to remind them often to use them in everything that they read.
Although I'm only nearing the halfway mark in my book-club book, The Watsons Go To Birmingham, I have already noticed myself using many comprehension strategies that I have picked up through the years. Making predictions is always a fun one to do, and the book is absolutely activating my prior knowledge of this time period and the treatment of African Americans in our country at that time. Reading texts also always causes me to create mental images of the characters and what they're doing in the story. So, at this point in my educational career, it has become second nature to me to use these comprehension strategies. However, I know that it has taken me years and years to start using these skills on my own without having to be reminded. I think this will cause me to be even more aware of how important it is to teach these strategies when I have a class of my own in the future.
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I found that while reading my book, Scorpions, I was making predictions as well. I agree that these skills are beaten into a child's head, however, it makes me wonder are these students already making predictions on their own? I think that sometimes as adults and educators we think that children aren't already doing these things, but they really are. Currently in my classroom (3r grade) we are working on finding captions, information boxes, different types of texts, etc. These students use these tools all the time, yet they do not know the vocabulary word for what they are, and they do not know the text book definition. They do, however, understand how to use a glossary, the index and such, yet they are learning what it is called and what the definition actually is.
ReplyDeleteI think students need to learn the proper way to use comprehension strategies, I just wonder if they already know them.
I agree that students are taught comprehension strategies over and over again throughout the years. However like you said, after a while the strategies become second nature and are used often when reading. When I've been reading my book club book I find myself predicting while reading and not really thinking about how I'm "predicting." I also agree that it takes years until students can use these strategies easily and without thought, but there are those that will pick them up quickly. I also think that teaching a variety of these comprehension strategies will benefit students in the long run.
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