Reading Comprehension

SHERWIN M. RAMOS

By definition, reading comprehension is “extracting meaning from what is read in both interactive and strategic manners which a student analyzes and internalizes.

Reading comprehension actually starts before children can read, when someone reads a picture book to them. They listen to the words, see the pictures in the book, and may start to associate the words on the page with the words they are hearing and the ideas they represent.

Reading comprehension employs strategies, such as modeling, practice, and feedback. In order to read with comprehension, developing readers must be able to read with some proficiency and then receive explicit instruction in reading comprehension strategies according to a study by Tierney in 1982.

The same Tierney study notes that when students preview text, they tap into what they already know that will help them to understand the text they are about to read. This provides a framework for any new information they read.

Thus, Tierney says, when students make predictions about the text they are about to read, it sets up expectations based on their prior knowledge about similar topics. As they read, they may mentally revise their prediction as they gain more information.

Teachers, who play the vital role in creating the love for reading, can help by modeling both the process of asking good questions and strategies for finding the answers in the text.

More importantly, enhancing reading comprehension results to the equally essential matter of writing, when the learning process emphasizes the relationship between reading and writing.

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The author is Teacher III at Sta. Cruz Elementary School, Magalang South

District