Module 3: Mock Memo from a Reading Specialist

Erica and her classmates seem to have great fluency as they can recognize words using decoding and phonics strategies. I want to stress how important comprehension skills are when reading. Just because a student is able to read fluently does not mean they are able to gain the true concepts and understanding from the text. I wanted to point out a couple of techniques to try with your students. First, before you give the students a reading passage, you should have the students recall all the prior information about the topic that they can think of. This will help them activate their schema, or knowledge, of what they are about to read. You might also want to have the students write down any important information that they read/hear, or something that they have a question about while reading. Also, incorporating journals could be effective for this situation as well. Students could use journals to write a reflection of the story or use it to recall events. You could have them address simple questions like: Who? What? When? Where? Why? Another means for reflection could be a focused discussion group, or “think alouds”. Students can take turns reading together and listening to one another and discussing questions. It is important that students listen to the teacher read or listen to books on recordings. Be sure to stop and point out the voice intonation and ask, “Why do you think the character sounds like this?” or “what emotions does the character have right now?” As your students read together in a small group, voice record them reading and then replay it for them. Have them stop the recording whenever they hear good intonation or stop the recording to point out good miscues. Focusing on reading for understanding, not speed, will increase comprehension skills.