December 2004     Vol.5 Issue 12

Comprehension as Part
of Reading Instruction

For instructional planning purposes, it has been traditional to talk about reading instruction in two separate parts - word recognition and comprehension. Word recognition has been discussed in a previous segment. In this segment the focus will be on "comprehension." Comprehension involves a receiving of the message conveyed in printed material.

Strictly speaking, comprehension is reading, since without an understanding of the author's intended message, no communication has taken place, therefore true reading has not occurred. Simply being able to call the words from a printed page (word recognition) does not alone complete the reading process.

Trying to define comprehension and encompass all the facets of it has always been problematic. Ultimately, comprehension is what we call thinking - thinking that is activated through a reaction with printed symbols on a page. So when we speak of comprehension instruction, we are talking about teaching someone to think - think while they are turning printed symbols into words and ideas.

There are two distinct philosophies regarding how to teach comprehension or improve an individual's reading comprehension. The first is to engage in using questioning and a considerable amount of discussion over practice material, which a learner has been "reading." The teacher assumes that the learner will internalize the questioning patterns and from the discussions will learn to automatically analyze what is being read in much the same way it is done in a lesson situation. The teacher's role is that of a monitor, assuring that there is reasonable accuracy in the learner's responses during the lesson.

A contrasting philosophy calls for breaking the comprehension process into distinct parts and teaching lessons that focus on each part. For example, an early focus would be on practice in "getting the details" accurately from what is being read. Another focus would be on "getting the main ideas" from varying reading selections. Other foci would include "word meanings," "getting the ideas in correct sequence," "seeing cause-effect relationships," "drawing inferences," "judging truth or falsity," or "reading critically."

Many teachers use a combination of the two philosophies, relying heavily on the first, while engaging the second one, as learner needs seem to make apparent. Explicit teaching of comprehension sub-skills is done as specific reading materials or reading situations tend to dictate.

Instructional analysts observe that there is quite a difference in the comprehension abilities called for in reading narrative or story material when compared to reading expository or fact-giving material. The study skills taught in upper school grades focus on reading content area or expository material, since the earlier grades tend to teach reading based on the use of story or narrative types of materials. Study skills, then, are specific comprehension skills or strategies called for in a study of relatively difficult content area reading materials.

Since the lesson plans included in Young Saint Louis.com are intended for use by parents or tutors working with an individual middle grade child, the lesson plans follow the first instructional philosophy described above, rather than the second. Questions follow each reading and are intended to stimulate some discussion of the material in the article. An effort is made to vary the questions, so that different types of comprehension are being practiced, or, to put it another way, different types of thought processes are being called into play.

The providing of book reviews for both the child and an adult is intended to encourage a helping adult's interaction with the middle grade child, even when it comes to recreational reading or reading for entertainment. Lots of reading on the child's part will not totally substitute for the adult-child interaction over the outside reading. Certainly, however, such interaction isn't expected over every book the child reads. But some learners require much more adult interest and interaction with them than other children may require in order to continue to make the desired growth in reading comprehension essential to survive in today's information-based world.

As indicated in a previous segment, it does not require a "reading expert" to provide the individual help essential for many middle grade children to "keep up" or even to excel in their reading performance. An interested "helping adult" can make the difference, whether teacher, parent, tutor, or older sibling.