The importance of Comprehension

The school I went to for 1-8 grade had an incredibly rigorous curriculum. Students were expected to read and write before entering the first grade. I could not. I was struggling to keep up with my reading group that was the lowest group and only had four out of 36 kids in it. I was trying so hard just to get the words that the meaning was almost an impossible goal to reach. Since I couldn’t construct a meaning, all of the comprehension questions were lost on me. I was hard enough for me to get meaning from a sentence, let alone an entire story. We were also tested in every grade with the Iowa Basics Tests. This is a little unusual because normally they don’t test you every year, but my school made an exception. I had a really hard time with these tests and usually fell below the normal curve, well below the averages of my class. I feel that the ability to read the passages and questions was a large part of this. Once my reading skills improved and I was better with comprehension, my other scores in math and science went up as well. I believe Gibbons is right in his emphasis on comprehension. It is a very complex thinking process that students need to master to be literate.
Now my comprehension skills are pretty good when i am reading stories and passages. But, when I get into larger things with more information like a textbook, I still have trouble picking out the main idea. To me, it all seems very important, especially if it is new. So, when I am in my first bio class, I will take hours to read one chapter because I am really trying to remember everything because I really don’t understand what will be important later in the field. I usually refer to this as the pitfall of novice understanding where surface knowledge of a subject is being attained along with a deeper meaning. I feel that sometimes professors, being experts, forget that when you are new to a field, it is hard to sort out what is important. But, I digress because my thoughts on this subject could go on for a long time.In my classroom at Marble elementary school, I think that my students are being set up for good comprehension. There are literature circle roles where there is a passage picher, word wizard, summarizer, illustrator, connector, and discussion director. Each literature circle has one of each and the students rotate roles on a weekly basis. For all of their readings, each student does something dependent on their role. Word Wizards make notes of unknown words and look them up, making lists for their group. Each role teaches the student a different part of comprehension. I think that this is a very good idea because students take it seriously because their whole group depends on them. I would like to use a similar idea in my own classroom because it doesn’t bog the student down with all the responsibilities of comprehension, and it also allows them to work with the individual aspects and master them separately so that they can do them all for themselves later on.

Comprehension

I read “Chapter 8: Facilitating Students’ Comprehension” in Gail E. Thompkins’ book. Thompkins relates how people comprehend with their knowledge about reader and text factors. Through her explanation of comprehension it gave me some insight about my own comprehension process. When reading a book I first examine the cover and first few pages for what genre I am reading. This allows me to predict the type and structure of story I am going to be reading, so I can better identify big ideas. While I am reading text, I look up any vocabulary words that I cannot figure out by using context clue. I think vocabulary is very important while reading because by missing the meaning of a few words can change the author’s main ideas. When I was in elementary I think my lack of vocabulary caused many of my difficulties in my reading comprehension. During my freshman year of high school we had to take an increasing vocabulary class, then I realized how much easier it was to comprehend difficult text when I understood all the words used. I also agree with Thompkins that when text structure is organized and easy to follow it is a lot easier to comprehend. I think this also is true when listening to people speak; if someone tells a story in chronological order you can easily see the main ideas, but if they just tell you the same facts randomly it is hard to understand the point of their story. Other text structures that help make logical sense include comparison, cause and effect, description, sequence, and problem and solution. Thompkins also discussed literary devices. I think by understanding these literacy devices allows one to comprehend better. For example if a student did not understand what personification was and the text said, “the rock was distressed” they would be confused how a rock had emotion. Imagery, another literacy device, can also really contribute to one’s comprehension because it allows one to picture the text.

I am placed in a kindergarten classroom where I see them often creating and developing their comprehension process. They cannot read yet, but I see them trying to comprehend the stories the teacher reads during their literacy lessons. They ask a lot of question to try to make sense out of what was read to them. They also use the illustrations as clues of the main ideas. During the literacy lessons, the teacher is usually focused almost completely on classroom management that she is not able to teach much literacy. It is interesting to watch these children struggle to comprehend since it comes so naturally to me now. I try to look at my past when I used to struggle with comprehension and use the texts we have been discussing to find strategies to help them learn. During the students free time at the beginning of the day I read to small group and try to ask questions and have them make predictions. I am hoping this helps develop their comprehension strategies.

Comprehension

Gibbons states that comprehension is a thinking process in which students engage with the text. When I was in elementary school, I always had a problem with reading comprehension, especially when it came to recalling information about the text. Also, I especially had a hard time answering reading comprehension questions on standardized tests like the Meaps. Whenever my teachers would give worksheets with questions about the stories we read, I never knew where to begin. I think I had such a difficult time with comprehension because my teachers did not teach how to use effective strategies while reading. They just gave us a book and then worksheets and expected us to answer the questions. It was not until I got a tutor that I learned it was ok to re read a story or pause in the middle to summarize what was happening so far. However, as I got older and became more aware of comprehension strategies, I can say that now I am able to go through a mental process to achieve comprehension. After reading Gibbons Chapter 7, I can say that my comprehension skills now come automatic to me. For example, before I even read a text, I read the questions that I will have to answer so that I know what I am looking for while I read. Additionally, I practice the important reader factors for being engaged within a text that Gibbons states. For example, I activate my prior knowledge, predict, examine the text to determine length, structure and important parts, determine big ideas, make connections to my own experiences, and create mental images while reading. I have learned that the best way to comprehend and understand the meaning of a text is to use multiple comprehension strategies at one time.

In my field placement, I see my students practicing good comprehension strategies. However, there are those few students that are behind in reading and have a hard time practicing these strategies. Just like I discussed in my small group during class on Tuesday, we all had students in our field placement classes that have difficulty comprehending because they are so focused on decoding words. Many students may not be fluent readers or may be ELLs which can have a major affect on their comprehension abilities. However, my CT teacher explicitly teaches comprehension strategies, when and why to use them. For example, before every story that my teacher reads to her class, she asks the students to look at the cover, take a picture walk, and make predictions about the story. Additionally, my teacher really emphasizes that reading and writing is connected by providing daily opportunities for writing. The students have a writing folder and write a short story everyday. Since they are free to write about anything they want, the children really enjoy writing time. They are able to draw pictures to go along with the story and express their emotions visually. Also, the teacher really encourages the students to bring past experiences and background knowledge into the texts. She encourages student based discussions so the students are free to build off of each other and really learn about one another. Also, my teacher allows the students to chose a book in which they want to read during silent reading time. Since students are able to pick their own book, they pick something they are interested in and are more motivated to read. As a result, they can comprehend the story better. The more I am in the classroom, the more I learn about how to be an effective teacher of comprehension.

Digital Literacy

Before this class I had never heard of the term ‘digital native’. As soon as we learned the term I figured I was one because technology has always been a part of my life. I have always been very good with technology and am often teaching people how to do things on computers. However, when I took the ‘Digital Native Quiz’ at http://coe.sdsu.edu/eet/articles/ digitalnatives/index.htm I realized I was not. I only knew three of the six terms they asked. I did not know what a wiki, modding, or a smart mob was. I had heard the term ‘wiki’ and always figured it was like Wikipedia, which I use often, but never knew a definition of it. This made me realize even though I am familiar with many types of digital literacy, the definition is always expanding as new technology emerges. This is similar to how our literacy definitions we discussed in class are always developing.

For wikis, modding and smart mobs I am in the ‘emergent’ stage of the digital literacy process. I am beginning to understand how these three types of digital literacy can convey meaning to people, but I could not participate or teach someone about these. However, for other types of digital literacy I am fluent. I think the term “emergent” can be applied to this because it is just showing I am lacking information, but am on my way to become literate in these categories. This is similar to how Tompkins’s said the term was developed by New Zealand educator, Marie Clay. I am excited to begin explore these new types of literacy so I can become fluent in them.

"Emergent" Meanings

The digital natives quiz was interesting to me because I was intrigued as to what types of things they would discuss. I have been around computers my whole life due to schools and libraries. The only piece of technology I ever hated was a calculator because it stopped people from learning ways to solve problems. Though, thanks to physics and statistics, I have come to terms with the calculator. I think it had more to do with the fact that the first time I was allowed to use one was in high school. The digital natives quiz showed me how much I know about technology that I would have never before thought of when describing what I know. I always wrote down on résumés for office jobs that I was computer and word efficient. I never realized how all the little things like blogging and wiki-ing could really be used as an asset to companies. I love my computer and video games, and never really thought of them as assets that other people don’t understand. I feel like I am one of the kids of technology that you hear about. And, since I have been surrounded by technology since childhood, am considered a digital native. I don’t feel like “emergent” describes my technology experience because technology didn’t come into my life where I would have had to adapt to it. I have always been working with or surrounded by video games, computers, and cell phones.

There are some similarities between Tompkins’ ideas of emergent literacy for children and emergent digital literacy. Tompkins discusses in his book that emergent literacy for children is when they begin to see the importance, purpose, and usefulness of written language. I feel that emergent digital literacy is the same except it happens to people when they are introduced to technology later in life. For us natives, technology has surrounded us and its usefulness and purpose seems apparent. For emergent digital learners, I feel that it is this same process that children go through in Tompkins’ emergent literacy. Both groups are realizing the importance of something and are learning it so they can utilize it. This “emergent” process is similar to how I sometimes see things in class during discussion. I do not always originally see things as important, but then after starting to learn about them, see their value and learn as much as I can. An example is when we learned all the different discussion techniques in class. At first I thought that leading a discussion couldn’t be as complex as the articles made it sound, and that all the authors sounded like they were saying the same thing. After seeing the videos with the teachers reading to students, I wondered how the one teacher could be so ignorant of what she was doing. My reasoning became, “If a seasoned teacher could fall into this trap, then I could to. There must be something important about this discussion thing.” I then reread the articles and paid more attention to what was going on. I could be considered an emergent learner of discussion techniques. Hopefully that makes sense. I would hate to have missed the boat on that one.

Digital Native or Immigrant?

Before taking the digital natives quiz, I thought I would score well. Technology has been part of my life for many years now. I feel like I use technology in my everyday life, and it is now part of my daily routine. After taking the quiz, I realized that I am a digital native. The only word that I did not recognize on the digital native quiz was “smart mobs”, and therefore I would say that I am a digital native. I guess this term fits me well because I see technology, such as my computer and cell phone as my friends, not my enemies. So after taking this quiz, I feel like the term “emergent” does not apply to my own digital literacy. I have been exposed to technology for a long time now. I was fortunate enough to have a computer course in high school, and I think that is why I feel so comfortable using a computer. Also, taking CEP 416 really introduced me to new technology systems that we as teachers can use, some of which were terms listed in the digital natives quiz (wikis, blogs, Google maps, web portfolios, and digital storytelling).

When I think about applying the term “emergent” to my own digital literacy, I take in consideration Tompkins definition of “emergent” literacy for children. Tompkins defines emergent literacy as the stage in which, “young children gain an understanding of the communicative purpose of print, and they move from pretend reading to reading repetitive books and from using scribbles to simulate writing to writing patterned sentences” (p. 89). Since I have been using technology from a young age, I have long developed an interest for and understanding of how technology can be used for a variety of purposes. I have been using email and instant messaging for a while now, so much that it has just become part of my everyday routine. So, if I had to classify myself, I would say that I am “fluent” in digital literacy. I have taken many courses about technology, including computer programs such as Word and Excel, and feel like I know how to use them very well. Just like Tompkins states that “fluent readers use comprehension strategies effectively”, when I come across a problem with technology, I am not afraid to ask questions. However, I usually can figure out a problem by myself through trial and error. Just like a “fluent” reader is able to make connections, such as text-to-text, I am able to make connections with technology. For example, if I am trying to figure out Microsoft Word, I can use many techniques that I have learned from Microsoft PowerPoint and apply it to Microsoft Word. So, I am able to use strategies from learning one technology, and apply it to learning a new technology. From our readings and class discussions, “emergent” readers are just starting out and have difficulty comprehending text. Therefore, an “emergent” digital learner may show interest in technology but would pretend to know how to use it. For that reason, I would classify myself as a “fluent” digital learner and hope to use my knowledge of technology in my classroom. It is our job as educators to, “identify learning strategies that are appropriate for Digital Natives, recognizing the different ways they process information and developing learning tools that maximize the potential of their unique learning approach”. This will be a challenge for many teacher’s, but very important to help children succeed in learning to their full potential.

Scaffolding in the Classroom

In terms of today's readings, I found the assigned Gibbons portions to be particularly thought-provoking; for example, I was impressed with Gibbon's illustration of the importance of purposefully utilizing information gaps as a way to propel students into meaningful discussion. Student centered discussions have been a large part of my college career, whether it be in my education, english, or james madison classes. My teachers would typically introduce the topic of the day and then open the floor for us to comment and/or question the material. However, the discussion would often lose its vigor in the middle or before the end of class, mainly because no one had explicit responsibility to talk on a specific portion of the topic. So perhaps it would have been better if we had the expert and home groups that Gibbons refers to, as that would have forced everyone to actively engage with the material. 

I also have not been placed in the field yet, but I think that all of the suggestions in Tompkins and Gibbons would be excellent methods for student scaffolding. I particularly like the suggestions where students basically train themselves or work with fellow peers, such as Tompkins' idea of utilizing portfolios as self assessments and Gibbons' suggestions of group and pair activities in the classroom. I think every student will obviously need a tailored version of scaffolding but I do believe that Gibbons' concept of teacher-guided reporting is an excellent overall approach on how to guide students to their maximum growth. The main question that I had wondered as I was reading Gibbons and Tompkins was with what age groups/grade levels I would use their respective strategies; however, I do feel that teacher-guided reporting can be considered a scaffolding strategy for all learners.