In chapter 8 Routman stresses the importance of the teaching of reading continuing to be individualized and of course to stray from the norm. The norm being, the boxed set of curriculum that teaches to a test and also isolates individual reading strategies as its main focus. While I was reading the first part of this chapter I thought of my own reading instruction and felt like it was lacking last year. I blamed it on a new program, that we were given very little training on and expected to implement right away. I am guilty of practicing one comprehension strategy for weeks at a time. I was just following the curriculum. Our focus on the one strategy kept my students from thinking about the overall meaning and finding a deeper meaning besides what is your connection to this story. “While it’s fine to introduce an practice strategies one at a time, remember that when we read we use all these strategies one at the same time and that our comprehension process is largely unconscious.” (pg. 119)
In order for students to actively and independently monitor and regulate their own comprehension they must have instructional time to be introduced to the strategy, but also time to apply it. Teachers are taking up so much time instructing, that students have very little time to apply. We should be spending 20 percent of our time on instruction of a strategy and students should have 80 percent of the time to read independently and apply what they have learned. During the 80 percent, teachers can work with students during informal reading conferences. Key strategies to teach include: predicting, questioning, creating images, seeking clarification and constructing summaries.
She also provides four questions to help keep teachers focused on strategic reading rather than on singling out strategies.
1. Are students using and applying the strategies I am teaching?
2. How do I know that? What is my evidence?
3. Am I teaching for understanding of text?
4. How am I assessing for understanding?
To be a strategic readers, students must use the strategies that they know, coordinate them and then shift to a different strategy when needed. Students need to know that is okay to adjust and shift the strategies that they are using in order to make meaning. A good way to do this is to model for students our own way of thinking when we read and show them that we change the strategies we use depending on the type of text and what prior knowledge we bring to the text.
As the chapter ends she urges teachers to keep fluency in perspective. This is definitely something I have learned throughout the time while working on my masters. Students do not have to read fluently in order to comprehend. The best way to improve fluency is to have students practice reading short, familiar text.
“. . . . . we must take care that teaching a particular strategy does not take precedence over reading and understanding text. Students can “know” lots of strategies and also document their use of particular strategies. But being able to complete a strategy exercise is not the same as knowing how and when to use and apply a strategy in the act of reading to gain understanding.” (pg. 129)
I think I was guilty of teaching the one strategy at a time approach as well...but after reading this chapter, I have rethought how to teach reading strategies. Routman makes so much sense as we think about how we really read. I think we need to spread the word to other teachers and ask them to think about what they are doing.
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