Literacy - C14 - Winter Quarter - Week 5

Cooper and Routman 8 (both chapters are required reading):
How are these two readings similar to each other and how are they different? You might explore this question in a global sense or you might consider a few specific points of comparison. Additionally, what aspects of the Optimal Learning Model are evident in the readings? Why are think alouds so important in comprehension strategy instruction? Have you seen this type of instruction in your placement? What is similar or dissimilar? Please consider these questions and focus on an element of the readings that is of particular interest to you.

The obvious similarity in these two readings is that they both deal with constructing meaning and reading comprehension, but interestingly, Cooper talks a lot about the various strategies that teachers use in order to get students to construct meaning, while Routman's chapter emphasizes that comprehension strategies and exercises, in isolation, can have a negative effect and that, in fact, the strategies often become synonomous with comprehension, something I doubt Cooper would disagree with, although there did seem to be a difference in emphasis.

I found some of Cooper's enumerated strategies to be of interest (particularly those that I have seen being utilized in my placements), although by the end of the chapter I couldn't help but remember Routman's cautionary words that "so much emphasis on comprehension strategies can actually make reading harder." I think there are some really valid and exciting strategies, such as "Making Connections," which both my main placement teacher and DYAD teachers put a lot of stock in, but I have also seen this strategy, like others, become rather laborious and boring to students. A student who is struggling in reading for comprehension is likely to struggle when utilizing the various strategies, so ironically, I guess what is needed is a strategy for teaching strategies for teaching comprehension!

As I understand it, comprehension relies on mastery of decoding and that students who struggle to decode find it difficult to understand and remember what has been read. Because these efforts to grasp individual words prove so exhausting, they have few if any resources left for constructing meaning. These problems can ran the gamut, from confusion about the meaning of words and sentences or the inability to connect ideas in a passage to glossing over detail or a lack of concentration during reading. The first challenge facing a teacher who is dealing with a student with reading comprehension problems is to diagonese the specific problem(s), or else any or all of those strategies could be a collosal waste of time. And yet I have found, in my observations, that this is not such an easy problem to diagnose, and certainly by the time students get into the later elementary or middle school grades, it will become even more difficult, because of the resulting frustration and disappointment that the student is probably feeling.

The guided practice that Routman recommends seems vital and necessary. My only concern (as always) is the amount of time and patience it takes to zero in on a particular student's comprehension problems, both in terms of its roots, and then, by extension, the strategy necessary to correct the problem, and finally, the strategy needed to put the needed strategy into play. Not only can this be exhausting, but I wonder, realistically, how a single teacher deals with this, assuming that there are several readers in a class struggling with this issue. Without trying to be too cynical, I find that while Routman and Cooper expertly diagnose problems, strategies, and yes, even solutions, they seeem to operate in a neverneverland of one-on-one teacher/student instruction. Even in my experiences at Juanita, working with a sixth grader who has some comprehension issues (thankfully not major) demonstrates how much time a teacher needs to analyze and strategize a solution to comprehension problems.

In any event, there is much good information in these articles. I just worry how much individualized attention can be paid to those students who most desperately need to read for meaning, while at the same time not leveling your assigned readings to the point where it no longer proves challenging to students who have mastered the necessary skills of proficient reading.