This web page is designed to help beginning teachers in implementing effective reading comprehension lessons for primary aged students. In early primary years, teaching is mainly focused on "learning to read". As a result all the teaching will be on "decoding" strategies using phonological and graphological techniques and literal meaning of the text (Harris, Turbill, Fitzsimmons & McKenzie,
2006.pp.40).
As the students move towards the middle and upper primary levels, they start to "read to learn" and as a result more advanced reading comprehension strategies are introduced for them to think critically and develop confident inquiry skills for more continued enjoyment in reading. With the introduction of more complex literacy structures and rules, in middle and upper primary classes the students are expected to express themselves with more explicit metalanguage and classify words, sentence structures and texts, which is an essential component of reading comprehension (AusVELS, Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority, 2013). Comprehension is integral to all literacies.
Research work on reading comprehension has shown the importance of having good reading skills. What do "Good readers" do? It would be worthwhile for teachers to examine the skills of a good reader in order to understand what needs to be taught.
As the students move towards the middle and upper primary levels, they start to "read to learn" and as a result more advanced reading comprehension strategies are introduced for them to think critically and develop confident inquiry skills for more continued enjoyment in reading. With the introduction of more complex literacy structures and rules, in middle and upper primary classes the students are expected to express themselves with more explicit metalanguage and classify words, sentence structures and texts, which is an essential component of reading comprehension (AusVELS, Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority, 2013). Comprehension is integral to all literacies.
Research work on reading comprehension has shown the importance of having good reading skills. What do "Good readers" do? It would be worthwhile for teachers to examine the skills of a good reader in order to understand what needs to be taught.
- Good readers show purpose (Konza, 2011. Duke & Pearson, 2002)- They have clear goals in mind for their reading. They will be evaluating throughout their reading whether their goals are fulfilling by reading the text (Duke & Pearson, 2002. pg.205). Practical skills such as navigation through the text for information (skimming), knowledge to use a dictionary or thesaurus, content pages, indexes and summaries are some of the skills.
- Good readers understand the purpose of the text (Konza, 2011. Duke & Pearson, 2002). They understand the purpose of different types of text and what each text is trying to achieve. e.g. -a train time table, a recipe, a narrative etc.
- Good readers monitor their comprehension (Konza, 2011). Good readers try to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words and concepts in text, and they deal with inconsistencies or gaps as needed. They draw from, compare, and integrate their prior knowledge with material in the text (Duke & Pearson, 2002 p.206).
- Good readers adjust their reading strategies- rereading, breaking down words, using sound letter knowledge and drawing on prior knowledge. They are independent readers as they can monitor their own comprehension.
- Good readers connect emotionally and intellectually to the text. -That good readers ‘think about the authors of the text.’ and that they ‘evaluate the text’s quality and value, and react to the text in a range of ways, both intellectually and emotionally' (Duke & Pearson, 2002, p.206). Students who display the essential comprehension skills are able to go beyond re-telling the story. They can have the potential to develop deeper understanding about the agenda of a text-what the author wants to convey as a key message or set of values and beliefs. Building on this, students may be able to explain to a teacher or peer how they have responded to the text intellectually and emotionally.
- Good readers find reading both satisfying and productive. - They are able to choose texts confidently and they know which texts will satisfy their interest and prior knowledge.