Reading is such a common daily occurrence for an individual to do, whether it is reading a text message, the newspaper, an email, a recipe or even the nutrition facts on a food label. Individuals are constantly reading, even if it’s not a textbook for school or a novel. While an individual is reading all these things daily, it is important for them to understand the information, and be able to process it. Reading a recipe for example, an individual can read what they have to do but will they understand what it means? That is the most important step to reading, without understanding how can an individual proceed with the recipe and ensure it will be edible?
The same applies for students learning in school. The students are expected to read chapters of assigned readings, or a novel for language class to prepare for tests or write an essay. All of which cannot be achieved successfully unless the student understands the information they are reading and can apply that knowledge. Within the Ontario reading curriculum it focuses on teaching students to become effective readers, that is to think clearly, creativity and critically about the information in order to analyze, absorb and understand it. Reading not only helps the students understand concepts better, but also helps with their writing by developing a richer vocabulary, and their own writing style.
Some strategies to help students actively analyze the text as they are reading it would be for the teacher to have students think about the reading before, during and after they have finished. Students can jot down their prior knowledge of the topic to see how much they know. During the reading students can summarize, visualize, predict, question, and identify main ideas. After reading, students can analyze the text and their summaries, evaluate, and use their critical thinking skills to gain a deeper understanding of the text. Students can then reflect on what they know after reading the text compared to how much they knew before they started.
Within the reading strand, there are four expectations that include:
1. Read and demonstrate an understanding of a variety of literary, graphic, and informational texts, using a range of strategies to construct meaning.
2. Recognize a variety of text forms, text features, and stylistic elements and demonstrate understanding of how they help communicate meaning.
3. Use knowledge of words and cueing systems to read fluently.
4. Reflect on and identify their strengths as readers, areas for improvement, and the strategies they found most helpful before, during, and after reading
I have also found a resource that provides 15 different apps to help improve reading comprehension that can be found at Teacher Thought. These apps are geared towards different grade levels and highlight a different component to reading such as critical thinking skills, reading speed, word and sentence fluency and recall.
Resources like these can help students that are struggling to read or help students excel, especially since they may find it more engaging! Teachers, students, and parents need to be aware of resources like these and take full advantage since blended learning is making it’s way into the classrooms. Reading is not boring, make sure to give students different choices so they are interested and become motivated to learn!
Kate Ter Haar. (February 1, 2013). The Love of Reading. (Flickr Image). Retrieved from http://bit.ly/2dXeMYf.
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