It has been hard for me to think about and answer the question about my buddy’s need, abilities, and interests. In all of our times together Cathy has been pretty shy. I have attempted to get to know her personally, not only because I wanted to but I thought it would help her to feel comfortable working on the reading and writing together. However, since she has not quite opened up to me I think she has been a little reserved while we work together. During our first reading as I tried to find out what she likes to read I asked if she takes book recommendations from her friends. She said that she did not because they are all better readers than her. At another meeting she was reluctant to go on with the word identification lists because they were starting to get more challenging and I think she did not want to get any wrong. If I did not have these two experiences with Cathy I would say that she is a very smart and confident reader and writer. Using some of the activities that we have done together like talk about her writing, the spelling test, and having her read to me I would say that she has been successful in all of those activities.
The one area where I think Cathy could use some help would be reading comprehension. This might be what she means when she says her friends are better readers. She is great at reading the words on the page and is at grade level when it comes to fluency. However, in trying to talk to Cathy about what she has read has made me think that she has trouble comprehending. We have read and discussed three different texts over the course of our meetings. The first time she read to me I thought she might have had trouble paying attention because she was nervous to be reading out loud to me. The second time she read to me it was from a text I selected. It is hard to say if she was having trouble with the text because of the flashback or if she was uninterested in what she was reading. When we read Amelia Earhart last week and she was having trouble talking about what she read from the text I decided that she could use some help with comprehension. I will be curious to see how tomorrow goes after we read a different grade level text. However, I think I will most likely focus on reading strategies and comprehension for Cathy.
The one area where I think Cathy could use some help would be reading comprehension. This might be what she means when she says her friends are better readers. She is great at reading the words on the page and is at grade level when it comes to fluency. However, in trying to talk to Cathy about what she has read has made me think that she has trouble comprehending. We have read and discussed three different texts over the course of our meetings. The first time she read to me I thought she might have had trouble paying attention because she was nervous to be reading out loud to me. The second time she read to me it was from a text I selected. It is hard to say if she was having trouble with the text because of the flashback or if she was uninterested in what she was reading. When we read Amelia Earhart last week and she was having trouble talking about what she read from the text I decided that she could use some help with comprehension. I will be curious to see how tomorrow goes after we read a different grade level text. However, I think I will most likely focus on reading strategies and comprehension for Cathy.
I wonder how reading the third grade text went last week? If Cathy's comprehension improved, perhaps the problem is that the 4th grade texts you worked with are not at the instructional level for her, but closer to the frustration level.
ReplyDeleteEven though Cathy seemed to read well, I'm reminded of what Nancy said about some students having good fluency but no comprehension. I'm wondering if Cathy simply doesn't understand what she's reading. The ability to decode words well isn't necessarily indicative of comprehension.
I agree with your plan to focus on comprehension. Which comprehension strategy were you planning on using? I'm wondering if a vocabulary lesson would be appropriate. Skills that will help her understand unfamiliar words could help her read for and generate meaning. Had you thought of something like this for your lesson?
Thinking of Routman, Tovani, and Cooper, does a particular reading comprehension strategy come to mind as one worth focusing on next week with your buddy?
ReplyDeleteI find it very interesting how you have been able to identify reading comprehension as an area for her to improve on by carefully thinking and comparing your experiences working with her over the past few weeks.
ReplyDeleteFrom what you described it sounds like reading comprehension has been low in general regardless of the difficulty level of the text. One question that pops in my mind is, has she read aloud all of the texts or has she done some silent reading before answering the comprehension questions? If comprehension is still low after silent reading of the text, then working on some basic reading comprehension strategies would be great.
Are you thinking of modeling a reading strategy for her?