Definition: The active process of extracting and constructing meaning out of written language.
Strategies that comprehensive readers use (during and after reading):
-note important details
-predict
-question
-imagine
-clarify
-summarize
-make inferences
-integrate prior knowledge
-self-monitor & self-correct
- engage in metacognition
(see Literacy Reference packet)
What teachers should do:
Teachers should not just assess comprehension, but teach they should teach it. Children are not always aware of the skills they use to read material. They may not know how to monitor their behavior. Students need to be able to expand their vocabulary and concepts about writing.
Reasons for Comprehension Problems:
A student may be struggling with comprehension problems if he/she has a hard time decoding words, if he/she has poor phonemic awareness, or trouble with fluency. If a student is having trouble picking apart words, then it will be difficult to understand the meaning of the whole sentence because once they have figured out the word they may have forgotten what they have read.
Issues for SLLs:
Second Language Learners may have a difficult time comprehending as they may not be as fluent in English as some of their peers. Although some say that SLLs are able to be more phonologically aware because they have so much exposure to differing languages, it can be a very slow process that they embark on when trying to comprehend and doing it fast is another story. Since phonological awareness and letter-sound knowledge are learned in one's native language, it can be difficult to learn a whole new method of processing words and their letters in a new language.
Associated Assessment: Silent-reading comprehension from Comprehensive Reading Inventory
I tried this assessment out on my study student and it was a very effective way of measuring her silent-reading comprehension. I gave her two different stories, one a level 5 and one a level 6. For (only) the level 6 story I read her the prompts before she read the story. She had much more success in the level 6 because of this, even though it was a higher level.
Cooter, Robert B., et al. Comprehensive Reading Inventory: Measuring Reading Development in Regular and Special Education Classrooms. Prentice Hall, 2006.
The New Brunswick Group (D. Strickland, C. Snow, P. Griffin, M. S. Burns, P. McNamara) (2002). Preparing our teachers: Opportunities for better reading instruction. Washington, DC: Joseph Henry Press.
Duke, Nell. TE301, Section 003, Fall 2007, Michigan State University.
