Decoding first, comprehension second, critical reading…when? The challenge of positioning comprehension at the center of conversation and instruction in many early childhood and elementary classrooms is an institutional belief system that tells teachers and students that reading is a set of hierarchical skills rather than a complex, life long endeavor.
Reading without comprehension is not reading at all – at best, it is efficient word calling. Yet, we continue to send the message to our youngest readers that if they can recognize the letters, pronounce the words correctly, and read them with speed and accuracy…they are "good readers".
It is important to be clear and consistent in our message about what reading is and what it really takes to be a "good reader". The reading process is no different for a young reader engaging in a five page wordless picture book than it is for an advanced reader making sense of Shakespearean literature. You do not do less, nor should we expect less. Reading is like driving – you do not do less driving in the parking lot than you do in downtown New York City…the difference is the complexity of the road.
Comprehension develops over time and across more difficult texts through a series of active reading strategies. Sharing these key strategies with ALL children will help them become strategic and powerful readers regardless of text and context.
Each of these strategies supports deeper and more engaged reading:
- Asking Questions – Questioning is the strategy that propels learners and learning on. If we did not wonder about the text, why bother continuing the read? As human beings we are driven to make sense of the work and it is our questions that open the doors to understanding.
- Infer and Visualize Meaning - Inferential thinking allows learners to grasp the deeper essence of text and information. Readers infer and visualize meaning by taking the clues in the text or the image and merging it with their own background to draw a conclusion, gain information, or arrive at the big idea that is not explicitly stated in the text.
- Monitoring comprehension -Proficient readers know when they understand what they read and when they do not, and are able to adjust their reading accordingly. A young child may say, I don't understand what this means. This shows they are thinking about their reading. We can help children keep track of their thinking in a variety of ways: asking a question, stopping and rereading, reading on, or stopping to jot/draw something that captures understanding. Each "fix-up" strategy helps clear,check, and recheck meaning.
- Activate and Connect to Background Knowledge – Nothing colors our learning more than what we bring to text. Whether we are questioning, visualizing, or synthesizing, our background knowledge is the foundation of out thinking. Learning is influenced and impacted by "what we already" know.
- Determining Importance – Remember the days of trying to memorize everything we read? Proficient reading is not about how much you can "hold", but rather how well you can "sift and sort" out what is most important. What we determine as important in text depends on our purposes for reading. Helping students make those wise and mindful decisions at and early age is crucial.
- Synthesize and Summarize – Comprehension is never static. Out knowledge and understanding is in a constant state of evolution. Synthesizing information nudges us to see the bigger picture as we reader. As we summarize the most critical, most important parts of text we merge that with our own life experiences, creating new and deeper levels of understanding. Whether we change our thinking completely or just gain a deeper more thorough understanding, we are different readers each time we engage in the process.
There is no age requirement or statue of limitations to learn these key active reading strategies. Comprehension is a continuous and cumulative accomplishment that takes a lifetime.
Parents and teachers can make a huge contribution by encouraging children to be an active participants in the meaning making process just by changing the nature of the conversations we have with students around and about text.
As you read and talk about books, try adding "Strategy Talk" into the conversation:
- What does this remind you of…
- What are you wondering…
- How does this help you…
- Close your eyes, what do you see, hear,feel,taste,…
- Does this make sense…what could you do…
- What are you thinking here…
- Why do you think so, what clues are telling you that….
- Does this make you think of anything else you have read,seen,experienced…
- What is most important about…
- In your own words, what do you think the author is saying…
- Tell me about your thinking now…
Kids are brilliant. Every child has both the capability and the capacity to think at the highest levels. Children will continue to devlop thier reading and thinking abilities if these strategies are nutured right from the start! So, what are you waiting for, grab a book now and enjoy the conversation!
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