Introduction
The hallmark of good reading is that readers actively comprehend and interpret texts, often at several levels, as is necessary in reading complex literature. Excellent readers understand what they read by bringing prior knowledge to new texts and using active strategies to discover meanings. Some reading educators feel that developing excellent young readers is too distant a goal and aim primarily at teaching children to recognize words (Rosenshine, Meister, 1994). Reading involves simultaneous, concerted development of word recognition, comprehension, and interpretational skills. Researchers have progressed in identifying instructional practices that help young readers develop these skills. This article reviews components of skilled comprehension and of comprehension instruction that make for good readers.
Excellent readers understand what they read, largely because they have powerful prior knowledge that they can relate to a new text. They also use active strategies to ferret out the meaning of a text being read (Tan, Nicholson, 1997). It is heartening that many reading educators see it as their goal to develop active readers who have rich prior knowledge, knowledge that they can learn to use to understand what they read.
Comprehension Instruction
Nevertheless, many researches indicate that little comprehension instruction takes place in classrooms beyond asking literal questions about texts. Teachers do not promote deeper understanding and active interpretation. However, we do know how to achieve those goals through various modes of instruction.
It is obvious that students need to be taught how to comprehend text and how to get beyond word-by-word reading. It obvious definitely does not mean that comprehension instruction is getting done (Datnow, Borman et al 2000). In fact, whenever researchers have observed classrooms to identify the comprehension teaching that is occurring, they have concluded that little to none does occur. Teachers usually assess a student’s comprehension by asking literal questions about....
