EDRG 3321 Courtney Holley Ch. 3

Chapter 3 is all about comprehension. It wasn't until I read this chapter that I understood what comprehension truly is. Comprehension is the process of understanding or making meaning from what we read. There is different ways to comprehend material: reading story/text, looking at a map, environmental comprehension and many more. The idea of comprehening more than just text was a new concept for me. As teachers it is important to have our classroom environment set up in a way that is challenging for our students and will help then expand on their prior schema. This chapter also talks about how the teachers role is to enable and support comprehension by matching students interests and reading ability to "ensure successful reading."(Kasten, Kristo and McClure Pg. 38) The "Questions for Levels of Comprehending" are also going to be very helpful in the classroom. This is just one way that a teacher will be able to assess her students comprehension of the story. Mapping, comic strips, drawing and writing to learn are other ways of assessing comprehension. This chapter opened my eyes to the importance of reading comprehension and how I can help my students achieve this very important goal!