Instead, I ask him to give me a moment
while I consider how to respond to him.
I want to actually teach him something
that will be valuable to him as a reader,
and I’m going to take my time to
consider the most effective approach.
A Bit of History
In the early 1990s, I studied research
showing that students who are taught
particular cognitive strategies (see “Key
Reading Comprehension Strategies,”
p. 71) are likely to comprehend text
more deeply. With colleagues at the
Denver-based Public Education and
Business Coalition, I began to teach
these comprehension strategies explicitly, thinking aloud with students to
show how a proficient reader uses the
strategies and then gradually encouraging the students to use them independently (Pearson & Gallagher, 1983).
After experimenting with strategy
instruction at a wide range of grade
levels, I concluded, as did many
researchers, that comprehension
strategy instruction has a significant and
lasting effect on students’ understanding
(Keene & Zimmerman, 1997/2007;
Pearson, Roehler, Dole, & Duffy, 1992;
Pressley, 2002).
© SUSIE FITZHUGH
Since then, I have had the opportunity to work with and observe teachers
implementing strategies instruction in
classrooms throughout the United
States. Today, in schools like James
Lewis Elementary, I see teachers
extending our original ideas about
comprehension teaching in exciting
new directions.
Walking down the hallway at James
Lewis, you see evidence everywhere that
students’ work is valued, their interests
and passions celebrated. Each grade
level has created its own reading area in
the hallways where students can read
under the soft light of a lamp, meet with
their book clubs, or practice reading
with senior citizen volunteers. Indi-
We must teach
comprehension,
not just assess it.
vidual classrooms also contain comfortable spaces in which to read and talk.
The classrooms and public spaces at
this school make me want to grab a
book and join the students who are
deeply engaged in reading, thinking,
and discussing. Even more intriguing
than the school’s visible physical environment, however, are the invisible
components of its success story. The
beauty of this school is the level of
engagement and intellectual challenge
that are evident in its classroom
interactions.
Three Scenarios for Reading
Comprehension
As I consider how to proceed with
Jacob, I reflect on three types of
comprehension instruction that a
teacher might use with students. In
traditional comprehension instruction,
Jacob might be part of a small group of
students who read the same text. The
teacher might ask Jacob and the others
in the group questions to assess their
recall of the main idea and some
supporting details; chances are, the
teacher would already have the “right”
answers in mind. In this scenario, Jacob
and his classmates aren’t really being
taught to comprehend better; they’re
being assessed to determine whether
they have read the text and what they
recall from it shortly thereafter. In a
classic study, Durkin (1978/1979)
showed that the vast majority of what
passed for comprehension “instruction”
was really assessment.
