"She's my best reader. She just can't comprehend."
Mary DeKonty Applegate, Anthony J. Applegate, chapter in IRA's "Essential Readings on Struggling Learners"
As every teacher knows, decoding skill is not the same as reading comprehension. If a student does not understand what she has read, it doesn't matter how fluently she reads or how many big words she can sound out. And comprehension is more than being able to restate the text: it is being able to draw meaning from the text, starting with prior knowledge and continuing on to apply what one has read to new situations.
What are the Reasons for Comprehension Struggles? Many students struggle with comprehension due to a lack of fluency or decoding skills. By the time they struggle through the individual words, the meaning of the sentence or paragraph is lost. For others, as in the case above, the causes go deeper. They can include personal issues such as behavior and attendance problems, or a lack of confidence from prior failures. For ESL learners or those from a language-poor background, a lack of prior knowledge and vocabulary can hinder comprehension.
Strategies to Scaffold Comprehension. Fortunately, many techniques now exist to aid readers who struggle with comprehension. The liinks below offer descriptions of numerous interventions that have proven successful in improving students' comprehension and their attitudes toward reading. Check out the downloadable activity below for an example of think-alouds to coach children in comprehension strategies, one such proven technique.
The Goal. The prize for success is a student who can not only comprehend, but who has learned to enjoy reading, fully placed on the "upward spiral" where confidence leads to more reading, which in its turn improves reading skill, overall academic performance, and engagement with the learning process.
