Having our students comprehend what they have read is probably our most difficult task as teachers. Asking a student what they just read in their own words versus the definition of a vocabulary word are two different animals. Comprehension uses a students prior knowledge. Hopefully the new reading reinforces what they already know and not an entirely new subject to them. A students level of understanding, where they can go beyond the reading and think independently on the subject is important. They should be able to characterize what they read using text explicit, text implicit and experience based understanding of the content. From here if they can organize the information. It’s up to the teacher to encourage this behavior by giving the students activities that will allow the brain to store the information just learned. Helping our students achieve this must involve close reading and intergrated approaches such as K-W-L, inquiry charts, listen-read-discuss, and scaffolding. These tools need to be used in order to help our students understand and comprehend and be successful in the classroom. 

We know comprehension is essential in students learning. Not just ELL students but any student. If you don’t understand what you read, then how can you intelligently engage conversation about a topic. Guiding our students and giving them the tools to help them achieve comprehension is essential in our classrooms. Pre-reading is a way to view the story from another perspective to help emphasize what the story in not about. Using anticipation guides to help the students introduce what they expect to happen in the next chapter. Great ways to keep the students on track without really discussing what happened. While actually reading text, students need to use study guides to help guide their thoughts, understand major concepts, develop their own questions, and keep their focus on the main ideas and not stray away. When the reading is done, post-reading is very important. It’s important to make this as engaging as possible, while still making sure there is proper classroom discourse. This is a chance for the teacher to step aside, be a moderator and allow the students to react to what they read. Using these strategies continuously over the course of a year, will help the students gain confidence in their ability to comprehend.

Application:

My school is as diverse as one can get. There are students from all different cultures and all walks of life. Being a school with such diversity brings its challenges too. My students have to deal with the stereotypes and biases that we read from out texts and more so, the ones they deal with in their everyday lives. This impedes their academic language because the culture they are strong does not support what we are dong in the classroom. Cognitively, they can use their experience to help them develop strong academic language. I do my best to use experiences and examples they have had in their own lives to try and relate a story to them. I try to motivate them by using stories that they are familiar with. This is all in an effort to keep them engaged because if they can’t relate to a culture from a story, they tune out. I feel it’s my job to use the stories we read in class as a guide but to challenge them with questions that are part of their diversity or culture and then relate it back to the story. 

At my school where most of my kids are ELL, the process of reading is always challenging. I’m sure the same can be said for schools where english is the primary language at home but in a school environment where the kids primarily speak spanish at home, getting them to read is a challenge. Sure, most of my fifth grade students can read the words on the page but I know they are not comprehending what they are reading. A lot of them don’t have the confidence to read out loud because they still are still decoding at a first or second grade level. Their vocabulary isn’t formed enough to understand the words, let alone comprehend the story. A pre-reading strategy I use that the book talks about is making predictions. Before they even read, make a prediction based on the pictures and what has been discussed in whole group. My students need guides to help them follow the story. Graphic organizers that they fill in with partners to see a map of how the stories unfolding and not just more words to read. Tools that allow the students to gain confidence in their ability to understand what they read will help their overall comprehension. 

Having an engaging conversation about a story we just read is tough when a lot of the class does not understand what we read. In my class, because we do pre-reading, reading and post-reading strategies, every kid can in someway contribute to the discussion of the story. It may be a simple as, “In your opinion…” or to share with the class your prediction on what will happen in the next chapter based on the pictures and title of the chapter. For my higher level students, I will ask for Main Ideas and key details in out post-reading discussions. They always do this in groups because that way I get more engagement out of my lower students. Speaking in a smaller setting will eventually give them the confidence to speak in a whole group setting. The student discourse is high as I simply moderate the room and make sure the groups are staying on task. 

How would you handle a class that had so much diversity and culture, that when reading a story whole group, none of it was relatable to the class? What strategies could you implement to allow the students to comprehend the story better and use strong academic language in discussing the story? 

References: 

Bean, T.W., Readence, J.E., & Dunkerly-Bean, J. (2017). Content Area Literacy: An Intergrated Approach. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall Hunt Publishing Company

Padlet: www.padlet.com. Date Accessed June 2nd, 2018