Chapter 4: Explicit Instruction in Comprehension

"What doesn't seem to ever be confused, though, is every one's belief that the point of reading is comprehension." p. 59

I think this chapter really shows us something that we have all done as educators....confuse teaching comprehension with explaining what is happening in the text.  I know I have done exactly what Beers talks about in the book, and thought nothing of it.  She points out that we must show the students HOW to do it, and focus on being very direct and explicit while doing do.  Her instructional practices really made me take notice, and it was nice to finally be able to see something that we can try to use in the classroom and how to use it.  In a way I think that Beers is modeling how we can use these practices in the classroom with the six guidelines:
1. Decide on specific strategies you want to model and text you want to use.
2. Tell the student exactly the strategy you'll be practicing, before modeling.
3. Model the strategy.
4. Give the students multiple chances to practice.
5. Continue to model as student needs change or the genre changes.
6. Give the student a chance to complete without support from the teacher.

Beers also made it very clear that if we spend more time on strategies NOW then we will have to spend less time on them later....this being really important I think since once a student can use a strategy they will really be able to stick closer with the class as a whole, therefore increasing their confidence.  Guided questioning was brought up all the time in my undergrad, and I will have to really try to focus with the struggling readers to guide my questions towards how to COME UP with the answers, not WHAT the answers are.  This hopefully leading to my students gaining comprehension skills and making sense of the text. 

Yours Reading,
Sara