November Blog-Sara Margaret West-Ch. 8 Teach Comprehension

     Model, model, model.  As teachers we must model how to use the comprehension strategies.  Yes, when we read we use more than one strategy.  That is why it is so important to model your thinking as you read aloud to your students.  In my opinion, comprehension is one of those things can be overwhelming to teach.  Not because it is hard, but because there is so much to teach: questioning, visualizing, connecting, defining, re-reading, and so much more. As a teacher, I get nervous and don't want to overwhelm them, but, at the same time, we do all of those things when we read.  We do them without thinking-it is automatic.  That is how we must teach comprehension-teach it so it is automatic.
     In this chapter Routman discusses how we need to make sure our students have the background knowledge and textual knowledge to comprehend a text, otherwise they will be lost.  As I read about this, my thoughts immediately went to the Science and Social Studies textbooks we use. Most of the textbooks are written above grade level and students have a hard time comprehending these texts.  I usually read these texts as shared reading, but if I have them read independently or with partners, I have to ask myself-do they get it?  Chances are they don't.
     When it comes to reading these texts, I need to do a better job with vocabulary and re-reading.  I either assume they know the meaning of words or am too worried about time and want to make sure I teach the material.  For example, as we were reading the text from the Science book, a student interrupted and asked me what a word meant.  I told them, but it made me think. I honestly just assumed they knew what the word meant, so I did not stop to discuss.  This made me realize that I need to slow down and stop more frequently to check in with them to see if the text makes sense. It is not benefiting me or them if I rush and do not model comprehension in all subjects.

Here are my take aways from this chapter:

• I really liked how she modeled for teachers in a workshop the comprehension process.  I do want to have my students read an article, write down a take away, notice the strategies used, and talk about what strategies they used. 
• I need to emphasize rereading.
• When I model annotating, I need to talk about what strategies I used. Most of the time my students just use questioning, so this would help them see they do more that just question.
• Before reading a texts, I need to preview or surveying the book with my class.

I am excited about challenging my students to make comprehension automatic.