For decades, most elementary schools have taught reading as a skill: children have practiced reading
comprehension strategies like «finding the main idea» or «making inferences» on simple stories.
Teachers can't prepare for the content of the tests and so they substitute practice exams and countless hours of instruction in
comprehension strategies like «finding the main idea.»
Not exact matches
While many people blame standardized testing for narrowing the elementary school curriculum to reading and math, the real culprit is «a longstanding pedagogical notion that the best way to teach kids reading
comprehension is by giving them skills —
strategies like «finding the main idea — rather than instilling knowledge about things
like the Civil War or human biology.»
It's a longstanding pedagogical notion that the best way to teach kids reading
comprehension is by giving them skills —
strategies like «finding the main idea» — rather than instilling knowledge about things
like the Civil War or human biology.
For example, teachers use reading
strategies like chunking words or looking at pictures to help learners access bigger concepts
like word recognition or inference and
comprehension.
Teachers select books that lend themselves to practicing the
comprehension strategy of the week rather than systematically teaching kids about topics
like the digestive system or the American Revolution.
Elementary schools — in the United States and, it appears, in Britain — then compound the problem by focusing on reading
comprehension strategies,
like «making inferences» and «finding the main idea,» rather than on building knowledge in subjects
like history or science.
The vast majority of American elementary schools — and especially those serving the neediest students — spend hours every week teaching reading
comprehension skills and
strategies instead of trying to impart any substantive information about subjects
like history and science.
Although researchers
like Keene and Zimmerman have identified central
strategies for strengthening reading
comprehension, early elementary teachers wonder how they can use such
strategies with prereaders who have little knowledge of books or even the English language.