Chapter 4: “Explicit Instruction in Comprehension”

In Chapter 4: “Explicit Instruction in Comprehension,” the part that really sticks out to me is the transcripts of Kate’s classroom discussions. I feel that in high school I came across many teachers that just wanted to talk about what something means instead of teaching you how to figure out what something means. For the independent readers who understand what is going on in the texts when they read them for homework, it’s fine. Yet, the dependent readers will just listen and soak the information in during the lecture instead of trying to comprehend the text on their own. It was nice to see how originally Kate thought one way and then after conferring with Beers, she changed her way of approaching the lessons. At the end of that section, it said that the students noticed when she was not thinking aloud.

I can see how using thinking aloud and other strategies in the classroom could really help students understand more about what is going on in class. Once they start to understand how to read and actually understand what they are reading by thinking about the text by making predictions, comparisons, or other methods, it could then transfer over into other subjects, thus improving their overall school experience. To build off the ideas put into place in Kate’s classroom, I think I would like to make sure my students have a general idea of what they will be reading for the year so they have the opportunity to purchase the books if they want. I know personally I like to write and underline in my novels so maybe I could help them learn to “think aloud” by writing in the margins of their own books.