Reading for Comprehension

When my children were in school, reading was measured by dibels testing and Read Naturally. It was mostly about word per minute and timed tests. AR testing and AR books were a tool used to increase student's comprehension; but AR to me seemed to push kids to read and pass the test. It didn't have much to do with reading for enjoyment or a "just right" book. It certainly didn't seem to be centered on comprehension at all, especially in the primary grades. "Good readers are aware of their understanding or lack of it and always do whatever is necessary to make sense of what they are reading. You can't start teaching comprehension in grade 3. You start teaching it the day kids enter preschool or kindergarten."(Routman, p.118)

Routman asks teachers to remember their own comprehension strategies. When reading Routman for this week, I review all the headings and read all the captions and boxes. I try to get an idea of what the main idea is before reading the chapter. I like to read the introduction paragraphs and concluding paragraphs. This helps me as I read the chapter for retention. I also need to hold the book or paper and use a highlighter to mark important passages in the text. This way I can retain more of what I have read and can refer back to the reading and recapture the main idea. "Our students are more likely to increase their reading comprehension when we show them how we understand a text and model a variety of strategies ( such as asking questions,predicting, summarizing and clarifying)." (Routman, p. 122) I have not shared any of this with my students, but after reading Routman, I can see how modeling this for them as my strategy would have more meaning for them.

In my placement I have taught predicting when reading a read aloud book with my class. I will have planned out stopping places throughout the story where I can stop and ask my students what they think will happen next? It is a great way to check for their understanding of what I have just read and to get them interested in what is coming next. In reading non fiction for social studies or reading time, we monitor and clarify, did we understand what just happened in the past few paragraphs? Should re-read these passages for words that might help to convey meaning?

What I don't understand is if comprehension is so important, why are we still using dibels and reading words per minute as assessments for reading? These assessments certainly aren't telling teachers the whole story of what we need to know about a student's ability to comprehend what they read, not just read the words.