Comprehension

"What is it all about?!"

Comprehension is a key factor in determining reading skills throughout all grade levels. However, it is often expected and not expressed. Bassically, we often think it comes automatically (which it does a little) and overlook how to teach comprehension to children. In chapter 7 of Classrooms That Work, comprehension is expressed in detail and several methods of how to teach it are listed.

1. Think-Alouds: A way of modeling or publicly speaking about the thinking going on in your head when you are reading.                                                          

Here are some examples of what we could say to our students as we are reading to them:
- I wonder what will happen next
- I know she must be feeling...
- Mmmm I can smell the....
*The poster to the right could hang up in the classroom as the class is reading.


2. KWL: What we know, what we want to know, and what we learned posters are a great way to track comprehension in informational texts. This allows the children to ask questions and discover answers as they are reading. These can be used for a variety of grade levels but most often used in 3rd-5th grade. Here is a print off!




Other ideas for comprehension that I found on Pinterest include a thinking bubble for the children when they are reading, sticky notes that mean different thoughts throughout their reading, and a reading comprehension chart to place in the classroom!

Thinking
Bubble: --->






"Think Marks":                                              Helpful Poster:

Question: What are some other ideas you have for your future classroom when it comes to reading comprehension? 

Word Study

Making words

Class 10/6/14

Shared Reading:

http://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/shared_reading

• Teacher demonstrates reading by giving different voices to each character and thinking aloud with the children. 
• Ask in depth questions to the children instead of on the surface questions. 
• Nursery rhymes and larger books are great for shared reading

A list of poems to use throughout the year:
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/234539093066869610/

Fluency

Creating Fluent Readers: 
3 important dimensions of fluency:
1. Accuracy in word decoding- sounding out the words in a text.
2. Automatic processing- Using little effort to understand and read the words.
3. Prosodic Reading- Reading with expression, placing emphasis on certain words and punctuation.


Chapter 4:
Reader's Theater is a great way to focus on the dimension of prosodic reading when it comes to fluency.
You can order these online or find
them at a teacher store.
I have personally worked with a first grade
classroom that used this and the children loved the activity! They were able to act like certain characters, which allowed them to give off a variety of expressions and tones.




Word walls are common in classrooms today. They allow high-frequency words to be on display for the children to see. When the children are writing, they are able to refer to the word wall for certain words so they can spell them correctly. These words will vary from class to
 class but it is important to put words on this wall that will be used frequently in your particular classroom.