October 28th Blog Post

I learned a lot from this weeks readings on comprehension. Pardo stated that every teacher should

know that comprehension is a transaction between the reader and the text and from this transaction meaning emerges. I could not agree more. If a student is not understanding what the text is saying, then they are unable to form meaning. As a teacher you must make sure that your students are really grasping and understanding what they are reading, and what they text is trying to say to them. In my opinion, reading is much more enjoyable if you are able to comprehend what you are reading and if you are able to make sense of the text. That way you will be able to relate to what you are reading, which makes the act of reading more fun!

As a teacher you have to allow students to ask questions about the text that they are reading, especially if it is new material for me. You should encourage your students to make connections to the text, to visualize, to make inferences about characters, to wonder, and to recognize text features. I know when I was in school my teachers always encouraged questions and always made me focus on the things listed above. When you give students the task of visualizing or making connections it is much easier for them to comprehend the text that they are reading. In what ways did your teachers teach you reading comprehension? What are some activities that were implemented in your classroom to help you better understand what you were reading?

Below is the link to a cute video on reading comprehension that I found on YouTube. It is from the students point of view, so I think it would be great to show to my students in my classroom. They come up with a catchy song that they sing to help them remember what questions to ask when trying to understand the text a little better. Take a look!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5Xw9yoYCRY