Comprehension seems to be a subject that many people struggle with throughout their lives. To read and create an understanding is vital to many people every day, yet many people struggle. I personally remember many of my elementary classmates discussing how difficult the reading portion of this test or that test was. It is so important for students to learn how to comprehend text because it is all around us.
One of the important parts of comprehension is being able to ask questions about what has been read. If a student can formulate a question they must first understand what it happening to some extent. Teachers model this strategy all day so it is familiar to the students already. I love the idea of having students of any age participating in discussions over text by asking and answering each others questions. By modeling the appropriate way to go about these discussion the teacher can eventually step back and allow students to control their own flow of conversation about text. This also promotes students doing so outside of the classroom because they have an idea of how to discuss what they have read. The less prompting the teacher has to do in a discussion like this the more students comprehend what they have read and socialize in a positive way.
Being able to ask questions is very important when seeing if one understands what they have just read. It is also important that teachers model asking questions so that students become familiar with this strategy. By modeling appropriate ways of discussions the teacher is able to step back, allowing students to take the floor and control the conversation that revolves around what they have read. This technique provides students with the opportunity to discuss what they have read outside of the classroom, encouraging students to socialize with others. If a student has trouble generating questions teachers are able to help that individual connect what they have read with their life, which give the student a way to participate showing that they understand what they have read.
ReplyDeleteBeing able to ask questions is a way that students demonstrate that they are comprehending the reading. When a teacher is modeling good thought provoking questions it is the best way to demonstrate for the students. When the students being to ask their own thought provoking questions off the different levels of blooms taxonomy is when the teacher is able step back and let the students lead the discussion. This is also an appropriate time for the teacher to monitor the students comprehension levels.
ReplyDeleteHaley, you hit the nail on the head when you said the less the teacher has to say the more comprehending is going on! In another post, someone suggested that literature circles were the most beneficial because the teacher wasn't involved as much. I think that is so true! When the students are able to discuss what they've read without guidance they are comprehending fabulously! I think teachers should also model what to do if the students read something that they do not know the answer to. Without that information, the students might just keep reading the words, even though they do not understand.
ReplyDeleteI spent a long time trying to figure out if there was a more important element to comprehension than asking questions but I honestly could not find one. You said that asking questions was one of the most important elements needed for comprehension and I want to go further and say that it is ‘THE’ most important. It is true that every strategy has its strengths but questioning does one of two things. If a reader asks a question he or she is either trying to clarify what is happening (actually comprehend a text) or are interested in finding out more than they already know (gaining additional comprehension on the topic). Some might say that retelling a story (summarizing) is the most important element of comprehension. After all, if they retell the main events they surely comprehend what happened right? I would have to disagree, because if a reader reads a story and does not ask any questions for clarification he or she runs the chance of missing key elements when retelling the story. Sure, any reader can spit back what happened but did they truly understand what a character meant for example on page five. This is where questioning is necessary to the full comprehension of a story. I know that all of the elements of comprehension should be used together but if they were all used separately, I consider asking questions to be the most important one of all.
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