Theme 5: How do we tie everything together? What does it mean for diverse learners?

It has finally come down to the last theme of the semester. We started off learning the definition behind the infamous term 'reading comprehension,' coming to realize that it is not a stagnant process, but a process in which one learns to compile multiple strategies together. And within the branch of reading comprehension, comprehension instruction and text selection is crucial to aid comprehension.  And in our final theme five, I came to learn what it means to tie everything together to make reading comprehension a system of a beautiful oiled-machine.

In Ch. 9 The Evolution of Meaning by Ellin Keene and Susan Zimmerman, they discuss the difference between summary and synthesis. It is said that "proficient readers are able to summarize as a way of helping them recall what they read and then communicate it to others" (Keene & Zimmerman). A summary is merely one recalling facts from the story. However, synthesis is when a student "incorporate schema from beyond the immediate text as well as beliefs, opinions, emotions, and values that they--- rather than just the teacher --- believe are important to the overall meaning" (Keene & Zimmerman). Synthesis is merely one inputting one's details and thoughts into the content reading, but staying true to the theme of the text. Both summary and synthesis are key factors in building reading comprehension and so, students should be taught to utilize both.

I believe comprehension is a process unique to each individual learner and can be supported through bodily movements and emotions. Just as we can express emotions (i.e. happiness, sadness, anger, fearlessness, etc.) through facial expressions, comprehension can be supplemented with use of dramatic play and movement. In the article Boosting Language Skills of English Learners Through Dramatization and Movement by Christa Greenfader and Liane Brouillette, it says "dramatization helps students better understand the plot and feelings of the characters, even if they do not initially comprehend all of the words." This is beneficial for diverse learners because movement and dramatization is not a language spoken, but still a form of language kids communicate with.

What I learned from the last remaining readings in this theme was that each component from every theme carries over and ultimately, we need to tie everything together. For example, if we selected a grade-appropriate text, but did not provide effective comprehension instruction then the comprehension strategy itself would not be learned. We must be able to combine text, instruction, and strategy together to complete reading comprehension. And within text selection and instruction, we can differentiate towards diverse learners through dramatization and movement, not just oral language. And when we have combined everything together, we see the successful usage of strategies used in students' readings.

Theme 4: Why is comprehension strategy instruction important?

In the last theme, we explored the reasons why comprehension instruction in the content area is different. To sum it up it just means that there are a vast array of strategies students can use and it is up to the students to know which strategies will help them best in the particular content area. Likewise, theme 4 (Why is comprehension strategy instruction important) has similar key points.

As there are so many strategies students can choose from, it is vital that students understand how to effectively use that strategy. As Sunday Cummins says in Ch. 7 Determing Importance in a Text from  Close Reading of Informational Texts, "even when our students actively self-monitor while reading, they still struggle to identify key details that support the author's central ideas." I think the concept of 'main ideas' and 'summarizing' is a skill that even adults have trouble with. With our digital age and access to millions of information' it has become more difficult for students to decipher which information to retain and which to discard.

In Ch. 8 The Heart of the Matter by Ellin Oliver Keene and Susan Zimmerman, they give us four reasons why readers make decisions about what is important: purpose, questions towards reading, questions while reading, and the need to find specific information. Now this can be zoned into more detail by three levels in which readers make decisions of importance provided by Keene and Zimmerman: whole text/idea level, sentence level, and word level.

Comprehension strategy instruction is critical because it provides an example for students in thinking aloud, monitoring comprehension, and asking rhetorical questions in an authentic manner. In Ch. 6 Creating Meaning by Keene and Zimmerman thinking aloud is considered important because it "provides direct access to reader's mind, allow children to observe what is understanding." Holistically, the purpose of a thinking aloud is to "show process of proficient reader making sense of text" (Keene & Zimmerman). When I was reading about think alouds I realized I had a skewed perception on it; I had thought of a think aloud to be a read aloud and a read about should mainly be more pleasure reading for the students. However, a think aloud can be both instructional and enjoyable! It is a great time for teachers to show and example a strategy such as, questions, inference get, synthesizing, etc.

To sum up all these key points and ideas, I think the reason why comprehension strategy instruction is important is because there are so many strategies and information available for our students and it is our job to make students feel comfortable with each strategy. To an ordinary eye, it may seems students understand the strategy through definition, but can the students really implement it and use it on their own? If we do not example and show the strategy through think alouds, students will not understand the strategy to the fullest.

Theme 3: Is comprehension instruction in the content area different?

So far, we've discussed what it means for reading comprehension and why text selection is crucial for comprehension. Comprehension itself relies heavily on interest level of the student; therefore, text selection is critical. Likewise, comprehension is demonstrated through different content areas as well. 

When I read through the readings for theme 3, my take away was that it isn't necessarily that reading comprehension is different in content areas, but the instruction taking place must be matched appropriately to the content itself. For example, in Ch. 12 Content Literacy: Reading for Understanding in Social Studies and Science by Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis, they provide a look into the reading strategies for a history and social studies lesson on page 209. It says to "ask/investigate authentic questions, read/understand variety of sources, understand multiple perspectives/interpretations, do active reading, writing, and discussions, merge thoughts with ideas to glimpse "way of thinking," and speak, write, and advocate opinions." Harvey and Goudvis also goes to mention that students and adults practice two forms of reading: real-world reading and focused content reading. Real-world reading is the reading we do outside of school (i.e. newspapers, magazines, nonfiction, historical fiction) and focused content reading is the reading we do in school directly related to the content areas. 

As comprehension strategies may vary depending on the content area, scaffolding and monitoring our thinking are two things that always occur no matter what type of reading we engage in. In Ch. 3 Mindful Reading by Ellin Oliver Keene and Susan Zimmermann, they explain that monitoring should occur metacognitively. Listening to your inner voice is crucial because "proficient readers listen to their inner voices as they read." An important factor to remember is that readers of all kind will struggle at some point and reading in itself is not an easy task. Keene and Zimmermann provide an analogy for proficient readers with surgeons. Proficient readers are described three ways: flexible, adaptive, and independent. They have, like surgeons, "a tray of instruments (revision strategies) they can use to operate on comprehension problems. Surgeons use their tools flexibly and interchangeably." I really liked this analogy because it provided me a nice visual of how a proficient reader should look like when engaged with the text and it just so happens I've been watching Grey's Anatomy so that was a super plus!

With various content areas, the type of comprehension instruction may vary. In the article Scaffolded Reading Instruction of Content-Area Texts by Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey, they provide examples of different comprehension instructions such as close reading, scaffolded reading, small-group scaffolded reading, etc. I read this article to tie up all my readings for theme 3 and my last take away was that content area does not mean to teach comprehension skills differently; what it means is to allow our students to choose the appropriate reading strategies in that particular content area text and continue thinking about the text. Like surgeons, we are not limiting the students to which tools they should use for their reading strategies but rather, which strategies will better assist them in their reading at hand. 

Theme 2: Why is text selection important in reading comprehension?

From the last theme, we explored the multitude of definitions for reading comprehension. And at the end of it all, it was found that reading comprehension is a personal experience for any individual and is all about strategies. To connect that to theme 2, in order for students to effectively use the vast strategies the text must be suitable for the student.

In Ch. 5 Text Matters: Choice Makes a Difference by Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis, they say "interest is essential to comprehension." Comprehension is not about decoding words, but rather it is about teaching thinking. And in order for students to be able to practice all the comprehension skills, the readability of the book must be appropriate. Harvey and Goudvis categorizes the readability of the books into three different parts: easy, challenging, and just right. Just as it sounds, easy books are books that you do not have trouble understanding the author, you can read all the words with no struggle, and the ideas are clear to you. Challenging books are books that may be an interest to you, but you have immense struggle in understanding the concepts and you find yourself struggling with the vocabulary and ideas. Just right books are books that you understand for the most part, but an occasional concept or vocabulary may hiccup you in the process. Harvey and Goudvis refer the selection of readability as eating. They say, "if we only eat ice cream, we won't stay healthy, and if we only choose easy books, we won't get better at reading." I thought this was a really good analogy because even as adults, we tend to take the easy route whether it is in reading, working, writing, etc. But, we must set the example to the students that you have to advocate for yourself and know when to give yourself the challenge and when you deserve to just have an easy read.

While reading through theme's 2 reading selections, I realized I was practicing active literacy for reading comprehension. My reflection aligned with Ch.14 from Harvey and Goudvis titled 'Reading to Understand Textbooks.' I would definitely say this textbook is a considerate text because the content is well organized and understandable and I understand the purpose and intent of this text.   This textbook's readability is 'just right' because I am able to engage, comprehend, and think about the concepts told in the chapters. With this appropriate text selection for this course, I am able to practice specific strategies and track my own thinking, ultimately leading me to retain the information learned.

I also found many enlightened ideas about how to incorporate more non-fiction and picture books in the classroom. Non-fiction texts have always been a challenge of mine because they tend to be 'dry.' But, when I was reading the article "The Power and Potential of Primary Sources" by Denise N. Morgan and Timothy V. Rainski, it occurred to me that students could gain better insight into the topic at hand. As Morgan and Rainski say, "primary sources allow a student to get as close to a moment in time as possible, to have more of the firsthand, lived-through experience." There is nothing dry about that! I think no matter how young the student is, seeing real-life artifacts, letters, diaries, etc. will be eye opening for any student. With picture books, I always used them more for pleasant reading time, rather than an instructional read. I never thought picture books could be so versatile and have depth to teach reading strategies. But, in Ch. 5 "Text Matters: Choice Makes a Difference" by Harvey and Goudvis, they subhead ways to use picture books with different learners such as, older kids, young children, reluctant readers, linguistically diverse learners, and more. Picture books offer a sense of engagement that just regular texted books cannot. As Harvey and Goudvis say, there is a "picture book for every reader and a reader for every picture book." I think because it can connect the readers in different aspects, picture books are good for active literacy.

In summary, text selection is important in reading comprehension because reading comprehension is a skill, not inherent. It is a skill where students must understand the text, find value in the text, and confide in the text; however, in order to get personal with the text, the student must find that personal attachment. It is up to the student to view all sorts of texts with the appropriate strategies, while enjoying the process.And that is a journey in itself.

Theme 1: What do we mean by reading comprehension?

Reading comprehension has become a term used in society for many years now, but has come to have skewed definitions. From the readings from theme one I was able to really grasp a deeper understanding and connection to what reading comprehension is and tools in which I can use in reading comprehension.

Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis, in Strategies That Work, labeled each individual chapters that sum up what reading comprehension should ideally look like: reading is thinking, reading is strategic, and reading is effective comprehension instruction. To me, reading comprehension should be a natural thing to come by; a skill that does not have to be reminded of for us to use. In the text Close Reading of Informational Texts by Sunday Cummins, it states "the term reading skill refers to what a reader does automatically without thinking." It should be a process that is pleasant, challenging but not impossible, and engaging. Engagement through the text should be seen by self-monitoring and through metacognitive skills. Metacognitive strategies can be of many things, but a few were listed from Ch. 1 in Mosaic of Thought by Ellin Oliver Keene and Susan Zimmermann: monitoring for meaning, using and creating schema, asking questions, determining importance, inferring, using sensory and emotional images, and synthesizing (Keene and Zimmermann, 2007, pg.14). 

I also believe that the best way to enhance and foster reading comprehension is through readiness levels and enjoyable methods of reading. It really struck me hard on this point while reading the article by Richard Allington. There was a good comparison to students vs. adults, as where Allington alludes that "most adults will work to reading any such difficult text" (Allington, 2003). The article goes into specifics on how we, as educators, think if a student is reading with high percentage of accuracy, we tend to think it's an 'easy' text. But, Allington compares the statistic to if we as adults were graded by accuracy then we would be considered not 'trying hard enough.' Reading comprehension should not be measured on accuracy and fluency of decoding words; it should be about the thought process a student is engaging in with him/herself and the strategies they are using.

While reading the texts for this theme, I was able to self-reflect on my own teaching practices. I realized that I had moments where I focused so much on students sounding out words, blending, and phonics rather than the actual comprehension part. I specifically remember during a small group lesson of about 4 students, I had a student who was struggling with letter names and sounds. But, after several weeks of drill and repetition, he finally started to blend sounds and read simple CVC words. One day, he read a simple sentence: A cat sat on the log. When he sounded it out and read the sentence, I was ecstatic! I was so excited that I didn't even realize the fact that although he was able to read the sentence, he did not understand the meaning behind the sentence. Vocabulary was lacking and the connection between the cat, log, and sitting did not click.

The overarching idea that I grasped on reading comprehension is that it is not a stagnant process. Strategies will build upon one another and each strategy and tool we learn in that process should not be forgotten or neglected. Reading comprehension will only improve by vast exposure to reading. Each strategic tool taught will only be of use when a student has a chance to use, implement, and reflect. Reading comprehension should be a personal experience for each student and once that experience is found, it will be an everlasting one.