What Makes A Reader A Good Reader?

    

 Having the opportunity to teach at the elementary level for the last 20 years I have encountered the misconception that a "fluent" reader is a good reader.  The ability to read text quickly and accurately is definitely a plus,   However, if a reader is unable to attach meaning to the words they are pronouncing they are not proficient readers. In essence a reading without understanding (comprehension) is not reading.  The purpose for reading is to obtain meaning from the words that we read.
    So, you are probably wondering what is a good reader & how can I help my own children or students to be come successful readers???  A good reader is someone who has a reason or purpose for reading....maybe it is for fun or maybe they are seeking specific information.  Successful readers are actively thinking as they are reading.  This is actually a complicated process....reflect on yourself as a reader~ what do you do when you encounter a word or concept that is unfamiliar or confusing ...are you asking yourself questions are trying to make connections to the text.  There are specific strategies that can propel our students into becoming active and thoughtful readers with a purpose.  I will list many or the research based strategies and will follow in future blog entries with definitions and resources for you to use.  Comprehension strategies: making predictions, questioning during reading, visualization, using prior knowledge (schema), reading with a purpose, understanding of story structure, inferring ( reading between the lines), and the ability to retell/summarize a story.  All of these strategies are so important because they help readers make connections ~~ text to self, text to text, and text to world.
     As mentors we cannot expect that these strategies come naturally to all students we must explicitly and systematically teach and model these strategies....and then implement the gradual release so our children move towards becoming independent readers able to comprehend text.

Check out this amazing Reading strategies site ~ Into The Book http://reading.ecb.org/ it is for both teachers and students.  This is one of the most comprehensive and engaging sites for teaching Comprehension Strategies that I have come across.  Enjoy!

Helping Students Become Strategic Readers

Well...it is that time of the year again~back to school!! Part of my job at the school that I work at is to assist with Professional Development and this year part of the focus will be on ways to help our students become strategic readers. Teachers that can make abstract thinking visible and concrete will cause the students to understand their thinking and students will think to understand.  The goal of reading is not just to read words correctly, but to glean meaning from text. In the book Comprehension Connections: Bridges to Strategic Reading by Tanny McGregor she lists schema,, asking questions, inferring, visualizing, determining importance and synthesizing information as being essential to a reader.
     As we study Tanny McGregor's book this year I will share through my blog the different strategies she stresses and the activities that we found effective for our students.  I had never pondered the idea the process of thinking as virtually invisible unless the individual explains their thinking .  As teacher it is important that we consistently make our own thinking visible to our students in order for them to begin to recognize their own thinking process.  Throughout the year the students will explore the following strategies deemed by McGregor as merging reading and thinking.
1. Schema- making connections and activating prior knowledge
2. Inferring:  figuring out what an author wants us to think. An inference is mainly based on the references found in the text that leads one to a conclusion.
3. Questioning:  Proficient readers will produce questions before, during, and after reading text.
4.  Determining Importance:  extracting useful and needed information.
5. Visualizing:  creating mental pictures in which a reader uses the 5 senses.
6.  Synthesizing:  the changing of thought as a reader responds to text.
As students begin to make sense of these strategies and understand them in a concrete way they will begin to know when to call on a particular strategy when reading text.  Throughout this year we will discuss in depth the above strategies  and ways to make them visible and concrete to our students.