In my opinion after reading the textbook, reading is not just being able to read each individual word written on a page. It is being able to read the words on the page, but it is also being able to use prior knowledge and thinking strategies in order to comprehend what the text means (Daniels, Zemelman 32). In my educational career, I was never explicitly taught that reading was anything much more than being able to understand what each individual word meant, but in retrospect implicitly I was taught to use the thinking strategies as a way to work my way through a text to attempt to comprehend what the author was trying to say. This came pretty easily to me, so I find it hard to be able to relate with students when they struggle with reading comprehension. My niece, who is in fifth grade, was struggling with reading and reading comprehension when she was younger, and I helped her as much as I could but I found it very difficult to know what she was going through because I had never really struggled with reading in elementary school.
By reading about the actual definition of reading in the textbook, it really became hammered into me that when it comes to content-area reading, even if a student can read the words on the page that does not mean that they understand the content well enough. Also, by reading how reading is defined in our textbook, I realize how important prior knowledge is for our students to be able to actually understand the content being taught (Daniel, Zemelman 32). My eyes have been opened and wheels are turning in my brain just by reading how this textbook describes reading.
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Maegan
By reading about the actual definition of reading in the textbook, it really became hammered into me that when it comes to content-area reading, even if a student can read the words on the page that does not mean that they understand the content well enough. Also, by reading how reading is defined in our textbook, I realize how important prior knowledge is for our students to be able to actually understand the content being taught (Daniel, Zemelman 32). My eyes have been opened and wheels are turning in my brain just by reading how this textbook describes reading.
(289)
Maegan
Hi Maegan! I agree with what you said about implicitly learning to use thinking strategies in order to comprehend a text. I, too, did not struggle with reading as I was growing up in grade school, so I can relate to the fact of not understanding how other people might struggle with that. This reading opened my eyes to the importance of prior knowledge, and how that can be implemented in the classroom. I think that pre-reading activities are crucial to reading comprehension in the middle grades, and this can be beneficial when kept concise during classroom time. (98)
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