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 reading comprehension. How can what we know about the development of readers inform reading comprehension instruction? Reading instruction typically starts in kindergarten with the alphabetic principle, simple word blending, and sight word recognition. Texts read by early readers usually include very little to comprehend. As children develop reading ability, they are able read more complex texts requiring greater comprehension skills. Separate and explicit instruction in reading comprehension is crucial because the ability to comprehend develops in its own right, independent of word recognition. The ability to read words and sentences is clearly important, but as readers develop, these skills are less and less closely correlated with comprehension abilities. (Aarnoutse & van Leeuwe, 2000) While no one would argue that word blending and sight word reading skills be omitted from early reading instruction, vocabulary and listening comprehension may be at least as important in achieving the even... ... middle of paper ... ...aloud in identification and teaching of reading comprehension strategies―[Electronic version]. Cognition and Instruction, 2 (2), 131-156. McKeown, M. G., Beck, I. L., & Blake, R. K. (2009). Rethinking reading comprehension instruction: A comparison of instruction for strategies and content approaches ―[Electronic version]. Reading Research Quarterly, 44(3), 218–253. Nation, Kate, Cocksey, Joanne, Taylor, Jo S.H., & Bishop, Dorothy V. M. A (2010) longitudinal investigation of early reading nd language skills in children with poor reading comprehension. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 51:9 (2010), 1031–1039. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2010.02254.x Rapp, David N. (2007). Higher-order comprehension processes in struggling readers: A perspective for research and intervention ―[Electronic version]. Scientific Studies of Reading, 11(4), 289-312.
… Being read to has been identified as a source of children’s early literacy development, including knowledge of the alphabet, print, and characteristics of written language. By the age of two, children who are read to regularly display greater language comprehension, larger vocabularies and higher cognitive skills than their
I have seen my students trying very hard to make sense what they read and use it to construct their new knowledge. I have seen their frustration for not achieving the demands of reading at a college level. I have also seen them overwhelmed by “big” textbooks which were not meant to be read. The experience I have gained during these years as a case manager has made me realized that the reading challenges of college students are sometimes underestimated. It is my responsibility to enlighten my students’ reading challenges, to reflect on them, and to provide the support and guidance they deserve to overcome their reading
Pikulski, J., & Chard, D. (2005). Fluency: Bridge between decoding and reading comprehension. The Reading Teacher, 58(6), 510-520.
...ed by most, and how dyslexia can cause problems with reading comprehension. It also discussed ways that we can mitigate these problems for dyslexic people, but these skills can and should be used by all learners. Reading comprehension is a perishable skill, one that if you don’t work on increasing your reading ability by building your vocabulary, learn to read effectively, or using the correct reading strategies for the type of reading material being studied will diminish. Even with the largest vocabulary, if the words are not understood literacy cannot be achieved. Literacy is the key to comprehensive reading. It also gave some of the tools for reading and understanding different types of literature and how to get the important information out of each one. Edmund Burk said “To read without reflecting is like eating without digesting” (Gallagher, 2003, p. 11).
Burns, Paul C.,Roe, Betty D., and Ross, Elinor P. (1992). Teaching Reading in Todays Elementary Schools. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.
Four phases of reading development have been established (Ehri 1994, 1995, 1998, 1999) : pre-alphabetic, partial alphabetic, full alphabetic and consolidated alphabetic. These phases has led to the core understanding of children's reading development, apart from the pre-alphabetic phase phonological awareness skills are seen throughout the phases.
The first article, Improving Fluency in At-Risk Readers and Students with Learning Disabilities by Allinder, R., Dunse, L., Brunken, C., and Obermiller-Krolikowski, H. Allinder et. al. described fluency, what it is and how being a fluent reader is such an important skill to have because non-fluent readers use the majority of their brains decoding words, which prevents them from comprehending anything they just read. This article included information that being a fluent reader is necessary to comprehend what is read, but also that being able to comprehend what you read will increase the reader’s fluency (pg. 49). I cho...
Children’s vocabulary development is important from an early age. Studies have shown that children who are regularly read to have larger vocabularies and better success at decoding words when reading (Burgess, Hecht, & Lonigan, 2002). Children’s vocabulary at age three is a strong predictor of their language and reading comprehension in third grade (Hart & Risley, 1995). Further, it has been shown that children with poor vocabulary skills struggle with reading comprehension.
Reading difficulties in such children are established in troubles (extreme) obtaining rudimentary reading skills such as “word identification and phonological decoding” (Harris & Sipay, 1990). Problems such as these have been expected to take place in almost 12% of children aged between 6 and 16 and are usually go specific shortfalls in cognitive abilities such as reading, writing etc (Benton & Pearl, 1978; Harris & Sipay, 1990; Shaywitz, ...
Word recognition involves includes that of blending, applying sight words and Syntactic cues and sit under the umbrella of phonological awareness and reading fluency. Reading comprehension is the process of understanding what is been read and sits under the umbrella of reading vocabulary and reading for enjoyment (pg 10). These components will allow students to recognize words quickly and effortless and with enjoyment. Of all the skills children learn in school, reading is the most important but unfortunately children are sometimes faced with barriers that if not dealt with properly will prevent them from overcoming reading difficulties. Jennings, Caldwell and Lerner (2009) stated that Reading difficulties can be a problem of emotional, neurological, cognitive, and can even be associated with intelligence and intellectual factors. They went on to say that the environment which includes the home, school, social and cultural environment can also influence reading. They pointed out neurological is how the brain performs during reading and cognitive is the mental actions. Any deficit in these areas could interfere with how students interpret information that is presented to them (pg 23-24). Since reading is a vital skill to success, it is important that children who are faced with reading difficulties get evaluated early and given
The first stage of reading development, ‘Emergent Reader,’ is characterized by students knowing at least half of the alphabet, having very
In this paper, I will analyze reading strategies for the content area of language arts in a fifth grade class. Reading comprehension is one of the most critical skills a student can master. Without a firm grasp on the comprehension process, learners will struggle in every subject they encounter, whether it’s science, math, or social studies as well as everyday living skills. The content areas typically included disciplines like science, social studies/history and math, but any area outside of English literature instruction constitutes a content area. The reading associated with content area courses reflects not only the concepts and ideas important to these subjects, but also the text structures used by those practicing the field.
According to Temple et. Al, there are components for reading. “Reading is the act of getting meaning from a written text.” (Temple & Ogle & Crawford & Freppon, 2005, p.7) There are steps to learn to read; first step is “word recognition.” This activity is that readers recognize letters and words. Next step is “phonemes” which is the smallest sounds in language. Readers who in “phonemic awareness” are able to know how to make sounds with letters. In “comprehension” step, readers are able to understand what they are reading. They can improve reading ability by expanding knowledge of vocabulary. If they can understand words faster than previous time and accurately, they are on “reading fluency” step. The last step, which is “interpretation” or also known as “critical reading”, is a time when they are able to understand author’s thought and mind by reading their words and arguments. National Reading Panel categorized literacy by areas of alphabetic, fluency, comprehension, teacher education and reading instruction, computer technology, and reading instruction. Alphabetic includes
Comprehension is a process in which readers construct meaning by interacting with text through the combination of prior knowledge and previous experience, information in the text, and the stance the reader takes in relationship to the text (Pardo, 2004). As educators, we should use strategies that will build student comprehension. These strategies are called before, during, and after reading strategies. Before strategies activate the students’ prior knowledge and set a purpose for reading. During strategies help the students make connections, monitor their understanding, generate questions, and stay focused. After strategies provide students the opportunity to summarize, question, reflect, discuss, and respond to text (“Classroom Strategies,”
Wright, S., Caputa, F., & Fugett, A. (2013).Using e-readers and internet resources to support comprehension. Educational Technology and Society, 16(1), 367-379. Retrieved from Scopus database