Lori Lonon -Blog Post #4 R. Routman, Reading Essentials, Ch. 8

R. Routman, Reading Essentials, Ch. 8:  Teach Comprehension

A few years ago I began teaching "Good Reader Strategies" and my read-alouds have never been the same since.  A book that once may have taken 5 minutes to read to the class, now takes upwards of 20 minutes!  Stopping to think aloud has just become second nature, and I encourage students to use the strategies I model during read-alouds in their own independent or partner reading time.  Routman suggests starting with books students are already reading.  I totally agree as this will grab their interest and they are more than willing to share connections and make predictions when the characters or topic is familiar.  After that I begin introducing genres or authors that I would like for them to explore.  Modelling is crucial for teaching comprehension!  Metacognition does not come easily for all students, so they must see me "think aloud" as I read.  As Routman points out, these comprehension strategies should not be taught in isolation because in reality good readers use them all at different times as they encounter new and unfamiliar texts.
Routman makes a valid case for not just teaching these strategies, but checking to see if students are actually applying these strategies.   I have found partner reading (Read to Someone time) to be the best opportunity for student to make one another accountable for employing the strategies that I have modeled.  I introduce them one at a time beginning the very first week of school (although I use them all during my think aloud sessions as I read to the class.)  Once they have seen me do it, I ask them to practice it with a partner and we come back as a whole group to discuss what we saw our partners do during partner reading.  I find it is easier for them to talk about what someone else did instead of what they did.  This also adds to the accountability aspect because who doesn't want their partner to tell the class something great that they were doing?   

Routman's section on teaching students to ask significant questions is possibly the most significant part of this chapter.   Too often students are only asked to answer shallow questions about texts that they can simply scan to find the answer.  If we want them to develop higher-level thinking skills they must learn to draw conclusions and make inferences about what they read.    The "Read, Check, Switch" (from The Daily Five if I recall correctly) strategy is one of my favorites to have students use with partners, because it forces them to check their partner's understanding before moving to a new page in the text.  I also love to hear the complex thinking that goes into the questions students choose to ask of their partners, which only strengthens their own understanding of the text.  I love the challenge with she ends the chapter- our job as teachers is to provide opportunity for reading strategies to be invoked by our students.  Next year I may let students guide the order in which I introduce the strategies, starting with what they already do just putting a label on it.  Won't they love being in charge of what we learn next?