Developing Comprehension is Important in the Primary Grades

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Developing Comprehension is Important in the
Primary Grades An Overview by Elaine
M. Czarnecki, M. Ed.
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Why Developing Comprehension is Important in the
Primary Grades The goal of reading is
comprehension. The National Institute of Child
Health and Human Development (NICHD) has
identified deficits in acquiring reading
comprehension strategies and applying them when
reading as one of the factors that can cause
students to struggle in reading. Though much of
the emphasis in primary reading instruction is on
teaching children to read the words, it is
important not to neglect developing their
comprehension of text, as well. Recent large
scale studies in reading, such as, Preventing
Reading Difficulties in Young Children and
Starting Out Right, A Guide to Promoting Reading
Success by the National Research Council and the
Report of the National Reading Panel on Teaching
Children to Read provide guidelines for
developing comprehension in the primary grades.
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Early Literacy Experiences Research consistently
shows that the more children know about language
and literacy before they come to school, the
better equipped they are to succeed in reading.
Listening and speaking development are the first
components of literacy growth. A wide range of
experiences with printed and spoken language,
from infancy through early childhood, will
strongly influence a childs success in reading.
Vocabulary and Concept Development A childs
oral vocabulary is directly linked to listening
and reading comprehension. Most children enter
school with an oral vocabulary of between 3,000 -
5,000 words and a very small, or nonexistent,
reading vocabulary. This knowledge of word
meanings allows children to listen and comprehend
during shared reading experiences and
read-alouds. It also facilitates comprehension of
content area lessons, as vocabulary is directly
related to background knowledge. As children are
learning to read new words, the task is made
easier if knowledge of the words meaning is
already in place. For these reasons, it is
important to develop a childs knowledge of
vocabulary and concepts in the primary grades.
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Knowledge of Story Structure or Narrative An
understanding of the way narrative stories are
structured begins to develop when read-alouds are
shared frequently. This understanding will help
prepare children for reading instruction, because
they will be comfortable with the basic structure
of stories, such as, characters, problem,
attempted solutions, solution, and resolution.
This knowledge will thus provide a framework
for comprehension of the events in the story.
Activities to develop knowledge of narrative
structure are an important component of
comprehension instruction in the primary grades.
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Becoming a Strategic Reader An awareness that
print conveys meaning is one of the early
concepts about print. This awareness can be
enhanced by providing opportunities for children
to be metacognitive about their understanding of
print. Focusing on interacting with text before,
during, and after reading will allow children to
make the connection that reading is an active
process. Instruction in before, during, and after
reading strategies, e.g., previewing, predicting,
retelling, etc., is crucial for developing
comprehension in the primary grades.
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Reading to Learn Primary reading instruction has
traditionally been characterized as the time for
learning to read, while intermediate reading
instruction focused on reading to learn. The
most current views on reading development contend
that both aspects are important to all ages of
readers. Introducing expository text for the
first time in the intermediate grades has proven
to be too late for many students who struggle
throughout their school careers to comprehend
content area reading material. Just as we work to
build an understanding of narrative structure in
young children, our students will also benefit
from being introduced to the unique features of
nonfiction text in the primary grades.
Instruction that provides opportunities for
children to read to learn in the primary grades
will facilitate comprehension of content area
reading material in the years ahead.
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Overview for this Session In this session you
will learn about the following The 4 levels
of support in reading Concepts About Print
Read Alouds as an Instructional Technique
Student Response to Reading Vocabulary
Development Reading Strategies Non-fiction
in Primary Classrooms