Reading is thinking: Discussion Sample 1

I never viewed Reading as another way of thinking. Reading to me was no more than understanding what the text or story was about and recalling the names of the main characters. After becoming a teacher I then realized Reading goes beyond recalling and understanding. Reading is making sense of what we read by employing numerous strategies when needed. Reading is adjusting our thinking based on what we read and being able to justify why we change of views and opinions. It turns out my definition of Reading was aligned with the one in Strategies that work: Teaching Comprehension for Understanding and Engagement written by Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis: “Reading is thinking.”  The authors explain that true comprehension is more than understanding; the reader must interact with the text in such way that his thinking is mixed with the text and expanded beyond a literal understanding pg. 14. 

I often ask my students to recall memorable events from the story or identify the main idea in the nonfiction text. The truth is this isn’t enough for my students to become avid readers. They need to think not only about what they are reading but about what they are learning.  In order to accomplish this, I must teach them how to think while reading so they can access, remember, and learn information. Since I share a classroom with another teacher and I do not possess my own classroom, I would accomplish this during guided reading or during reading intervention with my students who struggle the most. I often encourage my students to think about what they read but I have never checked how their thinking changes as they read, or what goes through their brains while reading. Fortunately, my co-teacher and I do foster active literacy by having our kids question each other, make inferences, discuss key information within the text or story, and prove their thinking in reading by gathering evidence directly from the text.

Something in this book that prompted me to assess my practice while teaching comprehension was “rather than a single strategy focus, transactional strategy instruction teachers students a repertoire of strategies that [readers] apply flexibly according to the demands of the reading tasks and texts they encounter” (Harvey and Goudvis, 2007 pg. 23). Even though I give my students a repertoire of strategies to use while reading, I forget to emphasized the importance of connecting those strategies in order to make sense of the text.   I often teach comprehension in isolation as the teacher edition text book indicates. No wonder it always feels as if something else in my instruction is missing! Though I will continue to introduce, teach, and model comprehension strategies one at the time throughout the school year, I will make certain I connect them to enable my students become great readers and thinkers.

In assisting my students to be great readers, I perform lots of “think alouds.” While the new Common Core requires our readers to acquire rigorous skills in reading, I do appreciate the fact that it encourage teachers to model and share their thinking with students through think alouds. When doing this activity in the classroom, I encourage my students to watch everything I do and notice what I do while I am adjusting my thinking. However, Harvey and Goudvis (2007) also suggested “asking [students] to share what they noticed after that demonstration” (pg. 46). Other strategies to increase students’ comprehension proficiency are Interactive Reading Alouds where students are just listening for comprehension. This is a great method I may utilize in my inclusive classroom as most of my kids struggle to decode words and therefore, cannot comprehend the text. Interactive Reading Alouds allows for comprehension without decoding or fluency interfering. It promotes students’ interaction with each other and lots of questioning. Finally, Guided Discussions are powerful tools in developing students’ thinking skills. The most important aspect about Guided Discussions is the fact that teachers are just the facilitator. It’s a student-centered activity in which students are in charge of articulating their opinions and ideas based on evidence directly from the text. I recently used this strategy in the classroom with my fifth graders when reading about a 12-year-old who decided to sail around the world by herself in a sail ship. The text explained how critics though her act showed bravery as she inspired everyone to achieve their dreams while others thought her actions were reckless because she could have drowned.  I then decided to write Reckless and Bravery in opposite sides of the classroom. I encouraged my students to think about the character’s actions and determine whether they thought it was reckless or brave.  My students had a lot of fun as they totally took control in expressing their ideas. Not only did they state their opinions, but they successfully quoted information from the text to justify their thoughts. They became so engrossed in this debate they forgot I was there. I was amazed to listen to their ideas which were not even stated in the text.

Another factor that made this debate effective was the use of magazines. The text was based on a real story that included photographs of the real girl and her sail ship, vital vocabulary words such as harbor, bravery, reckless and others. Besides it was the perfect length to do a quick read aloud. According to Harvey and Goudvis (2007), short texts provide students with a focus on critical issues related to our readers. Short texts are easily reread to clarify confusions and better construct meaning. Additionally, it allows young readers to engage in interpretive thinking regardless of their decoding abilities. Lastly, short texts provide plenty of opportunities for modeling and thinking aloud.

The more I learn about teaching comprehension the more I struggle to find effective ways to assess my students’ comprehension. After utilizing multiple choice assessments that are already built in the reading curriculum, I refuse to continue making my students take these pointless tests. End-of-the-chapter assessments do not accurately reflect my students’ comprehension or the areas in which they need support. I always ended up brainstorming questions on my own and having my students write at least three sentences to respond. Fortunately, my philosophy about assessing comprehension corresponds with the experts’: “The only way we can confidently assess our students’ comprehension is when they share their thinking with us. Readers reveal their comprehension by responding to text, not by answering a litany of literal questions at the end of the chapter” (Harvey et. al.,  2007, pg. 39).   Unfortunately, all of our assessments are standardized tests the measure students’ testing skills as opposed to the students’ ability to read, think, and comprehend. As an Exceptional Education Inclusion Teacher in fifth grade, I am lucky to say my co-teacher and I always find a way to assess our students’ comprehension during centers by allowing them to write about what they read. Whether they are making predictions, visualizing, or clarifying questions, I know our students are developing and practicing great readers’ behaviors.

Harvey, S. & Goudvis A. (2007) Strategies that work: Teaching Comprehension for Understanding and Engagement (2^nd Ed). Porstmouth: NH. Stenhouse Publishers.