Here is my blurb for the April newsletter but I am posting it here because I wanted to share the bulleted list with everyone (See below). If all classrooms supported similar language around talking and thinking about reading, I think ALL students would benefit and we'd be developing deep comprehension.
“Deep comprehension is the result of a well-orchestrated system of flexible decision-making strategies working together (most of the time, unconsciously) to construct meaning for the author’s message.” ~Dorn & Soffos
As a teacher of reading, my goal for every one of my students is comprehension or understanding of what they read. Reading without constructing meaning is word-calling and will certainly never hook a student to the joy of reading. Reading is thinking! Students need to think before, during, and after they read. They should infer and analyze the characters in a story, understand the story structure, and interact with their minds about the plot by making connections, asking questions, and visualizing.
Teachers prompt for this level of understanding during read aloud, shared reading, small group instruction, and reading conferences. Having conversations about stories develops the skills required for deep comprehension. However, students need to be taught the skills required for successful conversations so that they not become one-way streets in which the adult does all the talking. One way to support and practice those skills is to provide some possible language prompts that will scaffold dialogue such as:
- I agree…
- I disagree…
- I don’t understand…
- The evidence from the text is…
- I noticed…
- I wonder why…
- The author’s message is…
- I think the author meant…
- That made me think about…
If this language is modeled at school and at home while reading with or to your child, rich conversations and deeper comprehension is sure to follow. This will help build good reading habits and life-long readers.
