Students who have good phonological awareness, but stuggle with comprehension

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Permalink Reply by Michelle Breum on April 13, 2010 at 6:32pm

Here's a link to a booklet you can download for free. http://www.prel.org/media/139871/74_re_focuscomp.pdf
I found this resource from a blog I follow. Here's a link to the post with a link to more PREL booklets. You'll find resources in the sidebar of this blog also. http://twrctank.com/2010/04/12/articles-on-teaching-reading-by-prel/
Reading Comprehension is a complicated process that will improve with proper guidance and practice. My suggestion is to have a box or bag of books for rereading. Fluency and comprehension improves with multiple readings of the same text. http://beginningreadinghelp.blogspot.com/2010/02/create-collection-...

Permalink Reply by John Michael Tracy on April 13, 2010 at 7:32pm

I think that it's always best to work on talking first, and I find social circle one of the best places to do this. If you don't already, start your class with social circle, where you say hello, shake hands, perhaps play a quick game, then let students talk about whatever they like. This "telling of stories" is crucial. If you find that you have students who can't tell you what they did last night - the 'We went to McDonalds and I ate a hamburger and then we played in the playground and I jumped in the plastic balls" then for me it's the sign of real language issues - the kid should be referred to a speech therapist.
But retelling a story should be a teachers bread and butter - who the characters where, what the setting was, what the problem was and what the solution was for fiction.
She may just need practice. Does she have the same problem when she listens to a story?