Reading+Comprehension

__ Reading Comprehension __ Reading comprehension means that the child is understanding what they have read for example the text and illustrations. Reading comprehension is the act of simultaneously extracting and constructing meaning from the text (Hill, 2006, p.190). The three elements that are involved in comprehension are the reader, the text and the activity. The reader is the individual person who is made up of different experiences, knowledge, age and gender. The text can range from all types of books to the internet and has many genres. The activity has three dimensions the purpose for reading, the process while reading and the consequences which is what did they experience and learn from reading (Hill, 2006, p.191). When the students are learning to read they must decode the words they are reading and depending on the level of their knowledge they can lose the comprehension of what they just read. The child learns most of their new vocabulary through reading and if they are not sure of a word the teacher encourages the child to write the word down and research the meaning for it so that their comprehension of the language develops. There are five road blocks that need to be addressed before comprehension can be achieved. They are to encourage active involvement, make sure they have the child’s attention, to be persistence, take the time to reflect and have flexibility when it comes to the children making mistakes (Hill, 2006, p.193). With a range of texts (narrative or fiction and information) available for the students they are able to read in different ways. When teachers are assessing the development of the students reading they can use running records which help determine what level the child is at. The child is given a text that is suitable for their level at that time. The child is then introduced to the book by a short summary if they are unfamiliar with the book. Then the teacher allows the child to read the text aloud and while they are reading we are recording if any mistakes are made (Butler, Turbil, 1984, p.50). By recording this information the teachers are then able to calculate where the child’s comprehension level is at. Teachers also use a conference approach which sees the teacher discussing with the children what they have read. The teacher will ask modelled questions, listen to students in a group, talk about related issues and welcome and appreciate students points of views (Hornsby, Sukarna, Parry, 1990, p.1).