After reading Cunningham and Allington's Ch.7 and the article by Pardo I realized that comprehension is the main reason and motivator for reading. I also learned that it is not concentrated on very much in the classroom. In the readings it came up with very interesting ways for teachers to support readers with comprehension. In both readings it stated that connecting on prior knowledge was a huge factor in comprehending a text. I guess now that I'm older and have been reading for a long time, I don't even realize that I am recalling upon prior knowledge when reading a text. I believe that is a huge key factor when reading a text. It keeps you interested because you relate it to something relevant. I can't remember how many times I've read a passage and had to reread it because I wasn't paying attention or comprehending the text. I believe it was because I wasn't relating it to anything or acting upon that prior knowledge. In Cunningham and Allington's Ch.7 I found the "Literate Conversations" activity to be the most interesting. Asking students open-ended questions and getting them to discuss ideas with the class or other students can really help them break down what they just read and to go into more detail about what message the author is trying to convey. 
I also read the Pardo article and the part that I liked the best from it had to do with making connections and prior knowledge. I like how she introduced the concept of teaching children about schemas and explaining about making connections with text to text, text to self and text to world connections while reading.
ReplyDeleteI think that discussion is a great way for students to engage and understand texts, not only is it necessary for students to organize their thoughts during discussions, but they are also given other perspectives by hearing how their peers interpret and comprehend the readings. Comprehension is a difficult task to master, but I think that discussion is a great way for students to become skilled in comprehending what they are reading.
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing to me how many connections we have and we dont even think about it anymore! When reading, I hardly stop to ask myself what any given word means, however, I do make self-to-text connections all the time. I also ask questions all the time. It's very interesting to me to think that these are learned behaviours and not all readers (especially young readers) employ these strategies when reading in order to obtain better reading comprehension.
ReplyDeleteI really agree with you about comprehension being the main motivator for reading. If we are not reading for understanding there is really no point. And, yes, it's so important to have background knowledge. Right now I am trying to write a paper on an African state that I don't know anything about and it is very difficult to read the research on it because I have hardly any prior knowledge.
ReplyDeletePrior knowledge, I think, is the key to really getting into reading. It helps you to interact more with the text. The kids can use their imaginations more vividly if they can make these connections and imagination is crucial in learning.
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