The purpose of reading is comprehension. The general perception is that if students if recognize the words, they’ll understand the information. If it were that simple, all children who can decode the words fluently would comprehend what they read. We wouldn’t see such diversity in how children comprehend content.
Reading comprehension is not a passive activity. The reader doesn’t “automatically” understand everything about the passage after reading the words in the text. To develop strong reading comprehension, students need certain foundational skills.
Teaching reading comprehension to students must include explicit instruction of learn strategies they can use to comprehend what they read and monitor their thought processes independently.
Participants will learn about
- Research on what good readers do to understand what they read
- The importance of background knowledge in improving reading comprehension
- Teaching comprehension strategies
- How to teach comprehension of fiction and nonfiction texts
- The role of comprehension monitoring
Participants will practice instructional strategies during the session and receive a handout with activities to use in their classes.