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...
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… 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
Literacy, fluency and reading comprehension all play a crucial role in determining how learners acquire skills within the classroom. This paper will review a number of scholarly literatures that give more details about fluency and reading comprehension.
Burns, Paul C.,Roe, Betty D., and Ross, Elinor P. (1992). Teaching Reading in Todays Elementary Schools. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.
Reading comprehension is a skill that has to be learned by most of the population. This includes adults that have been reading for many years. There is a difference between reading and reading comprehension. Read is defined as, “to look at and understand the meaning of letters, words, or symbols” (Read, 2014). Comprehension is defined as, “the act or action of grasping with intellect” (Comprehension, 2014). Even as an adult, people may have difficulties with reading comprehension. There can be visual learning disorders such as dyslexia. There are many learning techniques and strategies that can negate or even overcome these visual learning disorders. This paper will discuss a few techniques and strategies that when used can improve reading comprehension such as vocabulary building, effective reading, and reading strategies. With these techniques the road block of dyslexia may no longer be an issue.
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...
...ding Panel. Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction(NIH Publication No. 00-4769). Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
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, ...
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
Reading is a complex process that’s difficult to explain linearly. A student’s reading capabilities begin development long before entering the school setting and largely start with exposure (Solley, 2014). The first remnants of what children are able to do in terms of reading are built from their parents and other people and object around them as they’re read to, spoken to, and taken from place to place to see new things (Solley, 2014). As kids are exposed to more and more their noises quickly turn into intentional comprehensible messages and their scribbling begins to take the form of legible text as they attempt to mimic the language(s) they’re exposed to daily.
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.
The first stage of reading development, ‘Emergent Reader,’ is characterized by students knowing at least half of the alphabet, having very
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,”
When students attempt to read new material, whether it is a narrative or textbook related, it is a good idea for them to ask themselves to think about the content of this material. They need to devise a way to take a picture by walking through the text; look at headings and chapter titles, and make predictions about various events or words highlighted. Good readers are active in their reading. They ask questions about new words and concepts, make comparisons, and draw on their prior knowledge to assist them in comprehension. (Duke and Pearson, 2002) Developing good reading comprehension is more than just thinking about how to comprehend. Students must also be taught specific skills that are essential to good comprehension.
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
Reading comprehension refers to the ability to decipher the meaning of written text. There are three required elements needed for adequate understand of written material: a knowledge of word...