After reading the readings for this week, I feel like I have a much better understanding of how people comprehend what they read. Although I found few connections between Tompkins’ chapter seven and Quinn and Applegate’s Profiles in Comprehension, I was able to easily connect them to myself as a reader.
As a reader, I tend to remember and comprehend what I read by making text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to-world connections. Tompkins elaborated on these connections demonstrating how they benefit readers. Tompkins allowed me to see why people made these connections and how they benefit people as readers. For instance, text-to-text connections allow students to learn to compare the different styles one author may have. At the same time, the reader can also make a connection between different authors as they read. For me, these connections allow me to better understand what I am reading. The connections allow me to link new knowledge with old knowledge.
Quinn and Applegate’s article opened my eye to how people respond to post reading questions. What surprised me most with this article is how there are so many different types of ways that a reader can respond to a question. After reading this article, I feel that I best relate to the Dodgers. All my life I have tried to be the one that is not called on. Looking back on this I realize how little this helped me.
Although, both of these articles were very beneficial, I still have many unanswered questions. My biggest unanswered question comes from the Quinn and Applegate’s article. How do you find ways to help all eight different types of comprehension students? Is it even possible to help all, and at what grade level should this issue be addressed?
4 comments:
Olivia - I agree that the text-to-whatever connections are really meaningful especially to younger grades. I have students in my first grade classroom that tell me they have made a text-to-text connections because they remember reading a similar story the week before. I beleive that for students, especially the younger one the text-to-self connections are the most meaningful because they connect to their lives directly and know one knows their lives like they do.
Olivia- I agree with the questions that you posed at the end of your blog. Those are also some questions that I have in regards to comprehension. Even with all of the information we have read about it and the exposure to it in the classroom, I still do not feel confident in my ability to help students develop comprehension skills.
I didn't get a chance to read the Applegate article, but it sounds really interesting. Based on what you talked about I would think that I would also be categorized as a dodger, because much like you I have spent most of my education trying not to be the one that called on. I guess I never really thought about it but I see what you are saying about how this could hinder learning, because it was always the teachers that did call on me, or encouraged me to talk that I felt like I was learning the most.
IMO, comprehension and comprehension breakdown should be addressed at EVERY grade level. I thinnk, too often, people think kids in the younger grades can't read well enough to work on it and kids in the upper grades already have it, so no one teaches it. For some good ideas on how to work on comprehension, try looking up some of the strategies listed in the article. If you go to ERIC on the e-resources page of the library, I bet you'll find a lot of information.
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