I read it, but I don't get it

“I Read it, But I Don’t Get it” had so much good information about the struggles of reading and reading comprehension.  It’s true that most students do not have a solid background in reading comprehension skills, and these need to be taught.  The term “resistive readers” in Chapter 2 fully defines the type of student we will be encountering when the moans and groans begin when assigned a text.  I don’t care what class you’re teaching, the students will have to read, reread, and try to problem solve or think critically.  What we don’t realize as beginning teachers, is that the foundation of these skills probably aren’t there which is usually the reason behind the moans and groans.  The Redefining Reading section and the “Shouldn’t They Have Learned This in Elementary School” sections, although early in the book, really brought it home for me.  As an avid reader, and one without comprehension issues, the list of HOW to redefine reading for those struggling (along with the tools provided throughout the book) were eye opening…especially the Elementary school portion.  I often think about this question.  I naturally have high expectations for my students, o to think their teachers before me were unable to build the foundation for successful reading comprehension is hard to imagine.  However, many teachers do what they can with what they know and most often, skills and strategies do not stick with students.  As with many other skills, repetition is the key to success, each year builds, or should build (scaffolding) on the previous year’s skills.  We need to teach our students patterns, how to ask questions about the text, and how to recognize when they have questions.  I love the idea of guided reading questions, text to self connections, and the “I’m Stuck” activity (I would choose another word than “stuck," but I digress).