One difficulty that was discussed in Teaching Reading Class today is the task of teaching a class containing students who are proficient, independent readers, along with students who need to learn comprehension strategies. As a high school student I would have been frustrated if my English Teacher focused on comprehension strategies because I had no issues with it.As a reading specialist the strategies that I have previously written about and that When Kids Can't Read touch on would be spectacular ideas to teach to students one on one. Additionally, as a new teacher I am assuming that I will have to teach more general English courses than advanced levels, so, more likely than not, the entire class may struggle with comprehension and require these strategies.
When reading a more difficult text, even the most competent of readers would miss some details the first time because of the complexity. It would be reasonable for a reader of any level to, for example, make one prediction (about what is to come in the story) and one connection (to their own personal experiences) a chapter. Another idea (from Teaching Reading) is to have in class reading of a short story and pair the students up. First, they each read silently to themselves, then stop at teacher selected predetermined places in the text to discuss briefly with each other. The conversations will last about two to three minutes, where the students will comment on parts they enjoyed or found profound, ask questions or make connections to each other. Obviously the teacher will need to monitor these conversations to make sure the students do not veer off topic. Does anyone have any other suggestions for teaching to students of all reading skill levels?
(Chapter 7)
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