Comprehension is a complex, invisible process. One of our goals in secondary grades is to purposefully introduce students to deeper understanding and meaningfully engage them in the process. But what does it really mean to understand? Choose any of the following (not all) to discuss: a) What cognitive strategies can lead students to better understanding? b) What can you do to create a climate of rigor, inquiry, and intimacy in a secondary classroom? c) What cognitive strategies are important for literacy learning? d) What is the role of text, genre, and text structures for literacy learning?
Several national reports and much research have highlighted the need for helping our adolescent readers to improve their literacy skills. In their 2004 report to the Carnegie Corporation of New York, Reading Next: A Vision for Action and Research in Middle and High School Literacy, Drs. Biancarosa and Snow write that a focus on early literacy training alone cannot prepare students for the demands of higher education:
“It is clear that getting third graders to read at grade level is an important and challenging task, and one that needs ongoing attention from researchers, teacher educators, teachers, and parents. But many excellent third-grade readers will falter or fail in later-grade academic tasks if the teaching of reading is neglected in the middle and secondary grades.”
What are your thoughts or observations about reading in the secondary grades? What is needed to help adolescent readers read more, read critically, and succeed in reading?
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