Proficient readers use a variety of specific comprehension strategies.In April of 2000, the National Reading Panel Report identified text comprehension strategies as one of the five major areas of reading instruction today. The National Reading Panel also emphasized the fact that comprehension is an active process between the reader and a text, a process that is both “intentional and thoughtful.”

In the years of leading up to and following the National Reading Panel Report, much has been written about comprehension instruction. Hempenstall (2004) notes, “when teachers model their own active comprehension processes for their students, and provide encouragement, guidance, and regular practice opportunities, students make superior progress.”

Nearly all educators agree with the assertion that direct instruction for developing reading comprehension strategies is needed; the challenge comes with implementing strategic instruction successfully. With successful implementation, it helps students improve as readers, especially those who are low achieving (Block, Gambrell, and Pressley, 2002).

Comprehension instruction begins by showing students in well designed read aloud and shared reading sessions how proficient readers apply comprehension strategies before, during, and after they read. Booksource’s Comprehension Strategies Classroom Library collections provide teachers with the literature they need to successfully implement comprehension strategy instruction in their classrooms.The texts are selected
to correlate with the comprehension strategiesmost often identified in
current reading research: predicting,summarizing, connecting, questioning,
inferring, and imaging.

These comprehension strategies are interwoven and used
concurrently by expert readers without conscious effort. In order
to help students develop and synthesize these strategies,
they need explicit instruction. Content and chronology are
equally important, as each strategy sets the stage for the next.
Booksource’s Comprehension Strategy Classroom Libraries
are strategically organized scaffolding experiences so that
students develop reading expertise successfully.

For information about Comprehension Strategy Professional
Development visit Gretchen Courtney and Associates, Ltd.

Article provided by Jerry Michel, Gretchen Courtney and Associates, Ltd.