Reading is the ability to understand text.

As I read chapter 6, I began thinking about different ways in which a person can understand a book. One of the more important topics I found was comprehension of the text found in books. Reading comprehension is the end goal that all teachers have for their students. Without reading comprehension, students are unable to understand what they are reading. Comprehension allows students to infer, analyze, and draw conclusions about books, this increases the quality and importance of books to children. Fluency is another large part of comprehension. If a child is not a fluent (being able to read at the same pace as spoken language) then they do not fully understand the books they are reading. I have always been a huge fan of books and reading since a young age. At home my parents would model fluent reading every time they read books to me. They would allow me to feel comfortable when practicing and were very patient with me. I think that school is where I struggled to most when still learning. I can remember my teachers using many different techniques when we read. One way was calling on random students to have us read in front of the whole class without practicing the text first. Today at times I am still uncomfortable reading in front of others. A question to think about is, “How can we make our students feel confortable when first learning to read?”. This is an important component because if a child is not at ease, they are not focusing on understanding the text and reading fluently.

            There are many different techniques that teachers can use when working on a students reading comprehension. A teacher can do this formally by using reading lessons. They can do this by picking out a reading, reading with the children, and reviewing the book afterwards. They can also encourage small group readings, partners readings, have teacher instructed read a louds, and repeated reading of the same books. Listening to a child read is a great way to see if the child understands what they are reading. Teachers can also learn a lot about a child from listening to them speak when they are with their friends or talking during class as well. Another question we could ask is, “How do teachers help parents to know how to work with their children at home to help them learn better?” Teachers could give them literacy games, have students take home the books and answer questions with their parents, and they could have the parents give the students timed reading checks that could take up a lot of time to do everyday at school. “How do teachers help the students that are not reading to the best of their ability? (don’t comprehend the readings/aren’t reading fluently). Teachers can pair the students in groups with the stronger readers and they can help them focus on one of the three components that make them fluent readers. I think that it is important to remember that all students need different support and learning styles and have need to adapt our learning to their specific needs as best we can.