Harvey & Goudvis Reading Chapter 3: Effective Comprehension Instruction: Teaching, Tone, and Assessment
Chapter three really made me think and envision what kind of teacher I hope to be for my students. It highlighted the ‘Gradual Release of Responsibility” model and how important it is that teacher follow these explicit steps when teaching students comprehension strategies. More than ever through my Clinical experience, I am seeing how the ‘Gradual Release of Responsibility’ is implemented and it makes much more sense to me. Reading it in a text only summarizes but does not actually make the information comprehensible until you see it first hand.
I find one of the biggest challenges of being a teacher is remembering what it was like before we knew the knowledge we know today. Reflecting on our own thinking and process of comprehension can allow us to better create lessons that focus on teaching explicit comprehension strategies. However, as the chapter reinforced there are so many different ways to find out what are students are thinking so we can better evaluate and revise our teaching methods. The one consistent pattern that can be found in understanding our students thought process is, knowing our kids on an individual level. The more you know, the more you can help scaffold connections and pick material that is reflective in their lives. There are many approaches of doing this and fostering opportunities for interaction such as ‘turn-and-talk’. While students talk, teachers should be listening and highlighting good analysis and discussions of the topic at hand.
Another way to teach comprehension is using the students ‘words’ to fill out a chart or graphic organizer about the topic. When showing this connection between their words and organizing to better understand the text; students see their thinking come to life. Again, these strategies must be constantly practiced and modeled throughout the year so students can continue practice them and apply them to their individual reading books. It is so important that teachers create an ongoing record of their student’s progress and continually evaluate and reflect on their teaching practices.
I definitely agree with Jenna that seeing these concepts first hand makes so much more sense than just reading them. Comprehension can be difficult for students to grasp. However, there are so many strategies that teachers can use that will make it easier on students to understand. I like the idea of graphic organizer because it lays out the students ideas in a neat way. My students have used this in my clinical 1 experience and it has been successful. Teachers need to see what strategies work for their students and which ones do not so they know which ones to continue to use.
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