Reading+Comprehension

Reading comprehension is defined as the level of understanding of a text. This understanding comes from the interaction between the words that are written and how they trigger knowledge outside the text. If we wish for our children to become “proficient” readers than they need to be able to recognize words quickly and effortlessly. In order to have an effective Reading Comprehension Program many things must take place.


 * Bransford, J.D., & Johnson, M.K. (1972). Contextual prerequisites for understanding: Some investigations of comprehension and recall. //Joural of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 11, 711-726.// **Brandsford & Johnson’s research regarding comprehension found that the ability to understand messages are based not only on the comprehender’s knowledge of language but also on his/her general knowledge of the world.


 * Dymock, S., & Nicholson, T., (2010). High five strategies to enhance comprehension of **
 * expository text. //The Reading Teacher, 64(3), 166-178.// **According to their research, Dymock and Nicholson came up with 5 strategies to enhance comprehension of expository texts. (1) Activating Background Knowledge, (2) questioning, (3) Analyzing Text Structure, (4) Creating Mental Images, and (5) Summarizing. The authors believe that each of these five strategies can be easily learned by the strong readers, however, for some students these strategies are the bridge between understanding and not understanding. (Dymock and Nicholson, 2010).


 * Kesler, T., (2010). Shared reading to build vocabulary and comprehension, //The Reading// **
 * //Teacher, 64, 272-277. //**In his article Shared Reading to Build Vocabulary and Comprehension, Ted Kesler used four strategies from his research findings, to guide his instructional decisions for his shared reading time. (1) Possible sentences, (2) using context clues, (3) repeated readings, and (4) using our bodies. (Kesler, 2010).

**Hampshire: Heinemann. **In her book, Reading Essentials, Regie Routman states: “If we want kids to wind up with comprehension, we have to begin with comprehension.” Routman (2003). Many teachers do a lot of assessing on comprehension, but very little teaching of comprehension. Routman believes that if we want readers to be critical thinkers, inquirers, and problem solvers, we need to introduce them to challenging, interesting texts. We need to give them the strategies in order to achieve a full understanding when they read. And then, by all means, let them read. (Routman, 2010).
 * Routman, R. (2003). Teach Comprehension, //Reading Essentials, 117,// Portsmouth New **


 * Stricklin, K. (2011). Hands-on reciprocal teaching: a comprehension technique, //The Reading Teacher, 64(8), 620-645.// **In her article on Reciprocal Teaching, Stricklin sets out to use involves four strategies of predicting, clarifying, questioning, and summarizing to increase comprehension. With reciprocal teaching, students predict before reading and then check their predictions during reading. They stop to clarify unknown words or ideas during reading. They ask questions during reading to check for understanding. And they summarize either a page or the entire text after reading. According to Stricklin’s research, “Fab Four,” have been just the ticket for students when it comes to a way to check their own understanding while reading. (Stricklin, 2011).
 * Vacca, R.T. (1998). Let’s not marginalize adolescent literacy. //Journal of Adolescent & Adult// **
 * //Literacy, 41(8), 604-60. //**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">According to Vacca’s article: “When students read expository text, their strategies for comprehension must change from those that they use while reading fiction. Expository texts have their own unique structures that are different from those of narrative text, and most students regardless of their reading ability, struggle at times with expository text.” (Vacca 1998).