Reading Comprehension Theresa Davis M.Ed Instructor

Reading Comprehension MODULE 1     Reading Comprehension -- What It Means, Why We Should Care Overview: Current research at all levels of schooling emphasizes the importance of effective reading comprehension as well as the challenges instructors face teaching it. Even as young adults, our students need guidance with this important ability. For example, the 2006 ACT report, Reading Between the Lines: What the ACT Reveals About College Readiness in Reading, provides the following statistics, which affect not only retention and graduation rates, but also students' performance as they enter the workforce:

Reading Comprehension For example, the 2006 ACT report, Reading Between the Lines: What the ACT Reveals About College Readiness in Reading, provides the following statistics, which affect not only retention and graduation rates, but also students' performance as they enter the workforce: Of the students who took the ACT in 2004-2005, 49% of them are underprepared for college. Student readiness for college-level reading has steadily declined since 1999 to its lowest point in twelve years.

Reading Comprehension The scores of eighth and tenth graders indicate that more of them are ready for college-level reading than they are when they graduate from high school; this indicates that their skills actually decline before they enroll in college. A survey by the National Association of Manufacturers, Andersen, and the Center for Workforce Success (2001) indicates that 80% of businesses have "moderate to severe" difficulty in finding "qualified job candidates" because those who apply are not proficient readers

Purpose Of Reading Overview: Many people--students and faculty alike--assume that when they encounter a text, they simply sit down and read it. Yet different types of texts call for different reading strategies. We should not assume that our students know this or have been taught this; in fact, many studies show that reading comprehension strategies are not extensively taught in secondary schools.

Purpose Of Reading Students often have difficulties reading and retaining information from textbooks because they fail to recognize both the intent of the text and the purpose of their reading. It's like walking into a house for the first time without the benefit of a light or an idea of the floor plan. Newcomers could just bumble around in the dark until they found a doorway and would move from room to room with no clear idea of where they had been or were going. We can "hand students a flashlight" by helping them identify the purpose of the text and understand the stages of an effective reading process.

Purpose Of Reading Our learning goals for this module are: Students will recognize purpose-driven approaches to reading. Students will learn about three stages of the reading process. Students will engage in purpose-driven active reading.

Purpose Of Reading Good readers are good thinkers. Good readers think about and identify the purpose of a reading and then read with that purpose in mind. As you read the following texts, we will ask you to slow down and experience this conscious effort to identify the purpose of your reading, as well as what would motivate you to read such a text, what you do while reading it, and what you learn.

Purpose Of Reading 1.  What could be the purpose of reading a text like this? 2.  Why would you choose to read a text like this? 3.  What did you focus and/or reflect on while reading this text? Why? 4.  What did you learn from this text?

Purpose Of Reading

Purpose Of Reading

Purpose Of Reading

Purpose Of Reading

Purpose Of Reading

Purpose Of Reading