How to teach primary school children

HOW TO TEACH PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN

How to Teach Primary Students the 7 Most Important Comprehension Strategies

Growing up, I was not exceptionally strong at comprehending what I read. Could I decode? Yes. Could I retell enough to make a teacher think I understood a text? Yes. But was I a strategic comprehender? Definitely not!
The main reason for my comprehension weakness, in my opinion, is simply that I was never explicitly taught any comprehension strategies. I remember class discussions about the content of different texts. But I never, at any point, recall learning how to make inferences, consciously ask questions while reading, or determine the importance of information.
As a result of all this, I struggled with certain academic tasks. I often had to read an entire novel a couple of times, because I was not actively making sense of the ideas during my first read. I was also a terrible note-taker. Because I had not learned how to figure out what information was most important, I wrote EVERYTHING down! (And I mean everything – I filled up notebook after notebook!)
The funny part is that I was never considered a struggling reader – I was actually a “straight-A” student. I was fortunate enough to have supportive parents, a decent memory, and coping strategies.
Still, not being taught comprehension strategies affected me negatively – so I can only imagine the impact this would have on a child who does not have the same advantages that I did.
Not learning active comprehension strategies could be completely devastating for a child who struggles with decoding, is impacted by poverty, has a language disorder, or who has a hard time with reading for some other reason. Those students absolutely must have a toolkit of active comprehension strategies that they can apply to get the most out of the texts that they read.
But beyond struggling readers, all kids benefit from learning comprehension strategies. Our students are growing up surrounded by technology, and they are being constantly bombarded by images and text. They need to learn to make sense of it all in order to lead productive, healthy lives.
I know that the Common Core State Standards do not explicitly mention comprehension strategies – but I do not believe that this means we should not teach them! And here’s a quote from Harvey and Goudvis’ Strategies That Work (2007) that highlights the importance of strategy use for comprehension:
“Pearson, Dole, Duffy, and Roehler (1992) summarized the strategies that active, thoughtful readers use when constructing meaning from text. They found that proficient readers:

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  Search for connections between what they know and the new information they encounter in the text they read
  
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  Ask questions of themselves, the authors they encounter, and the texts they read
  
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  Draw inferences during and after reading
  
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  Distinguish important from less important ideas in text
  
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  Are adept at synthesizing information within and across texts and reading experiences
  
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