BUILDING READING COMPREHENSION IN THE AGE OF TECHNOLOGY
Literacy Can Influence You in More Ways Than the Classroom 2/3 of students who cannot read proficiently by the end of 4th grade will end up in jail or on welfare. Over 70% of America’s inmates cannot read above a 4th grade level. 1 in 4 children in America grow up without learning how to read. Students who don't read proficiently by the 3rd https://www.dosomething.org/ grade are 4 times more us/facts/11-facts-about-literacy- likely to drop out of america school.
A Look at Where We Are Now In a study of literacy among 20 ‘high income’ countries; the United States ranked 12 th Illiteracy costs American taxpayers an estimated $20 billion each year 45 million are functionally illiterate and read below a 5th grade level Approximately 50% of Americans read so poorly that they are unable to perform simple tasks such as reading prescription drug labels 50% of adults cannot read a book written at an eighth grade level http://literacyprojectfoundation.org/community/statistics/
The Positive Effects of Reading Twenty-six percent of The Educational Testing Services reported that children who were read to three or four times in students who do more reading at home are the last week by a family member recognized all better readers and have letters of the alphabet. higher math scores. This is compared to 14 The more types of percent of children who reading materials there were read to less are in the home, the frequently. higher students are in reading proficiency, according to the Educational Testing Service.
Before We Get to Strategies It is important to know where your students stand with their literacy. For this reason, teachers should make sure to give all of their students reading assessments to determine how best to help struggling readers succeed and help proficient readers read better.
Assessments for Reading There are several assessments that need to be administered before an in depth plan of action can be determined. These include: Cloze Test – The Cloze test is an assessment in which the teacher takes a work of literature and removes every fifth word. The test this then given to the student to solve. This assessment is great for two reasons: It allows the teacher to determine how readable the literature is and it helps the teacher assess the students reading level. Interest Inventory Survey – This gives the student the opportunity to tell you what they’re interested in. This is important for reading because you can get books that the students will find interesting and engaging. It also shows the student that their likes and dislikes are being taken into consideration. This is good for building rapport.
The San Diego Quick Assessment is a great way to determine where your students are with site reading. This assessment requires students to read from a list of words to determine where they are currently. This assessment works well with our next assessment. The Spelling Inventory is as it sounds. You have your students spell words from the list provided. After they’ve missed ten in a row, you end the assessment. These two assessments, combined, give you two of the three assessments you need to pinpoint your students’ reading levels. The last assessment we’ll be discussing is the Running Records. Running records are a great way to determine how well your student comprehends what he or she reads. You have your student read a short story that matches the basic reading level determined by the San Diego Quick Assessment and the Spelling Inventory and you keep track of words mispronounced or any miscues and you ask him or her the questions at the end of the session. This will help determine the complete reading level.
Planning and Strategy Now that you’ve gotten what you need to help learn all you can about your student, you’ll need to determine a strategy to use to improve his or her reading. There are many strategies out there, but I’ve found that two in particular are useful and effective. The Read aloud strategy The Think aloud strategy A combination of both of these would be ideal for any reader.
The Power of Reading Out Loud As many of you already know, the read aloud strategy is the foundation for literacy development and is the single most important activity for reading success (Bredekamp, Copple, & Neuman, 2000) It is important that we spend time reading to the students in our classroom so that they can build this foundation and improve themselves as readers.
Listening to others read develops key understanding and skills, such as an appreciation for how a story is written and familiarity with book conventions, such as "once upon a time" and "happily ever after" (Bredekamp et al., 2000). Keep two simple questions in mind: Is it a good story? Is it worth sharing with my student? Other ideas to consider when selecting good books include: Is the book worthy of a reader's and listener's time? Does the story sound good to the ear when read aloud? Will it appeal to your audience? Will children find the book relevant to their lives and culture? Will the book spark conversation? Will the book motivate deeper topical understanding? Does the book inspire children to find or listen to another book on the same topic? By the same author? Written in the same genre? Is the story memorable? Will children want to hear the story again?
Using Think Aloud to Model Making Connections “By modeling how fluent readers think about the text and problem solve as they read, we make the invisible act of reading visible. Modeling encourages children to develop the "habits of mind" proficient readers employ .” “Helping children find and make connections to stories and books requires them to relate the unfamiliar text to their relevant prior knowledge. There are several comprehension strategies that help children become knowledgeable readers. Three are: Connecting the book to their own life experience Connecting the book to other literature they have read Connecting what they are reading to universal concepts (Keene & Zimmermann, 1997)
“Helping children discover these connections requires planning and modeling. Parents and teachers can encourage and support thinking, listening, and discussion, and model "think-alouds," which reveal the inner conversation readers have with the text as they read (Harvey & Goudvis, 2000). Parents and teachers can point out connections between prior experiences and the story, similarities between books, and any relationship between the books and a larger concept.” Having relied on the Read Aloud and Think aloud strategies while tutoring students, I’ve found that it works very well and offers a lot of gains in a short amount of time.
A Few Videos to Get You Started Think aloud strategy - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0ZHimY5YZo Cloze Assessment - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUiYhge4lvk Read aloud - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZ2rL0eByfc
References https://www.dosomething.org/us/facts/11-facts- about-literacy-america http://literacyprojectfoundation.org/community/s tatistics/ http://www.nea.org/grants/facts-about-childrens- literacy.html http://www.readingrockets.org/article/using- think-alouds-improve-reading-comprehension http://www.readingrockets.org/article/reading- aloud-build-comprehension
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